Customer Reviews

Lightpanels MicroPro LED On Camera Light (Black)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I got this unit ( 2 of them) I shot using my Canon 40D it was great, also videoed a wedding and it was great for fill in and indoors.. overall I have no complaints it's pretty well thought out. the ability to adjust the brightness is great, also the fact you can use 6AA batteries works as I have a energizer 15min quick charger and these light last pretty long on a charge. They give off zero heat, and you can use with stands, umbrellas etc... The mount is alloy not plastic like the micro, so the pro is for sure better.

Lightpanels MicroPro LED On Camera Light (Black)

The introduction of the LightPanel Pro was to be welcomed for any photographer not wishing to use flash or heavy lights in tight space situations.

My initial impressions was that it is extremely overpriced. The lightweight nature of the unit together with it's plastic materials are not condusive to a sense of quality product. However, the light output is impressive and the dimmer mechanism is very useful for fine tuning. I was a little disappointed by the uneven or rather narrowness of the lights spread, but overall, I have to confess to being generally impressed by it.
My biggest criticism is the value for money. You would have thought that for the $500 after tax, you would at least get a full kit that includes a mains adapter and doors. A useful, but expensive product!

**Update. When I first fired this baby up, I had put in some rechargeable batteries that were laying around. The lightout put was pretty good.
Then I put a fresh set in, and WOW, what a difference. This thing is BRIGHT. I was able to add some real nice fill in at night from 35 feet away from
the subject. Now I am VERY happy I got this light.

I am a full time professional photographer, getting into video as well. For flash, I have 5 580EX flashes with the Honl adapters, and for strobe, I have the
Elinchrom D-Lite units. I have been just using the modeling light on the Elinchrom's for stills, especially with an 85mm 1.2 lens where I don't need much light.
This has been ok, though they are 3200 bulbs, and only 100 watts of modeling light. This would not be ok with video, as the color is tungsten, and not bright at all.
So with video, the question became, "what can I get to start with for a video
light source that is portable, and not outrageous expensive, like an HMI light?" LED seemed the way to go as the units are small, and can be battery powered.
LitePanels were the first ones to make these small LED lights, and since there is not any fierce competition yet, they are still the 'king', and can still charge
insane prices. After doing some review, it really seemed that the Micro just was not bright enough, so I ordered two of the Micro Pro units, especially since there
is a 75$ rebate until December 31st.

I opened one box, and took a unit out. First thought was...'wow, how can they charge 500$ for THIS?" Once I got over that, I put some AA's in, and fired it up.
First thought was 'Not Bad'. Not bad in terms of light output, and the color of the light, and the dimmable option. With a DSLR like the Canon 5DMKII, you can
get something to work with light wise at about 6 to 8 feet max, especially at a higher ISO. Then I thought about opening the second MicroPro, to use on a camera
hot shoe, and saw the MicroPro was actually pretty beefy to go on a hotshoe. A bit heavy (300 grams), and kind of obtrusive. So, I sent back one MicroPro, and ordered
a Micro. I figure I will use the MicroPro on a stand as the key light, and the Micro on camera as the fill. It's easier to carry the Micro around because it's a
smaller, and lighter (100grams) unit.

This stuff is still WAY too overpriced, but for something that is portable, AA powered, dimmable, and has 5600 temp, it's NOT BAD for now. Mix the MicroPro up with
some existing ambient light and use the Micro as fill, that ought to be enough of a source to throw in a camera bag. I just wish there were light modifiers to
channel the light. I guess I can use black metal foil to scrim the light.

But then I missed the modifiers for the Elinchrom stuff, light boxes, etc. So I just ordered some 65 and 85 watt color corrected compact fluorescent bulbs to put
into the Elinchroms to use as 225 watt and 424 watt equivalent 5600K sources and still be able to soften them with the Chimera and Photoflex softboxes.
So now I will have a small flash set up (The 580 ex units), a strobe set up (the Elinchroms), a small portable set up for video lights (the Litepanels), and
then some high powered fluorescents to put in light boxes when I have AC outlets. That's about as many options available now without getting some kind
of Hollywood light set up.

If I were to get just one LitePanel, it would be the MicroPro since it has twice the light as the Micro. I imagine in the future, these things will be cheaper,
but for now, what I can say about the LitePanel MicroPro is....Not Bad.

This light is ok. It does cast a "spot-light" light on subjects. It has to be turned all the on then adjusted down. I like the coolness of the emitted light. It doesn't get hot, that is to say. Seems too expensive but I could not find the same quality at a better price. It is lightweight and seems flimsy to the touch but that is misleading. It isn't flimsy at all. It is sturdy in my opinion. I did receive compliments from the wedding DJ and two different photographers.

From the moment I picked up the MicroPro out the box I was nervous that I would break it and that it wasn't worth the 400+ price tag. Those concerns was slightly muted when I turned the light on using the dimmer knob (which worries me that I can continue turning after the light is in the off position). This light puts a pretty powerful source from the 12ft range. I used it at a skating rink in near complete darkness and was able to produce enough light to shoots skater in the 5ft range. Also great for photography, and fill light. I would say its worth the buy but in terms of construction it is very plasticy, the attachment knob is flimsy, the battery back is cheap, and there isn't a battery gauge to tell you how much juice you have in your batteries...solutions handle with care, and buy the (over-priced) battery adopter attachment to be able to swop your battery quickly when it flat lines.

When looking at photographs of the Litepanels Micro Pro unit itself I was impressed, but when actually using in the field I was completely let down by the fall-off of illumination and low brightness of this product. The LED's don't have the "throw" in distance from light source a 35 watt MR-16 bulb has and the price way too much for a product that looks like it uses the same LED's used in flashlights you by at the hardware store.

Instead I went with a Frezzi light using a 35 Tungsten bulb and provides great color results, I have to use a separate battery pack but I'm not wasting money throwing away AA batteries because Frezzi batteries are all rechargeable and last a long time.

Great light for night events. I used it for a weeding that I shot for my friends great battery life.

I went to B & H to check this out but was unimpressed by the price. The lights given out by this MicroProLED at the max. strength was less then 100w and does not beam very far. I ended up getting the Bescor NMH-54NC that comes with 2 lights 20w and 35w giving a total of 55w with 1 hr running time on a lithium rechargeable battery pack(weights about 15 oz) Bescor MPL 12V. The lights and the lithium battery came to less then $90. I can get 5 sets of these instead of just one MicroProLED. And the lithium battery can last nearly 2 hrs on the 35w. The LED MicroPro runs only 1.5 hrs on 6 Alkaline AA batteries. In the long run it can be very expensive to use this $500 LED system. By the way the housing is cheap looking black plastic. Do your maths.

THIS OVERPRICED PRODUCT IS USELESS FOR ANY PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY APPLICATION!! A TWO DOLLAR MINI FLASHLIGHT WOULD PROVIDE BETTER LIGHTING! I RETURNED THE UNIT AFTER JUST FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FRUSTRATION.