Customer Reviews

Sima SL-10LX Universal LED Camcorder Light

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was pleased with the the intensity and dispersal of the light produced. No wattage output was listed in the product advertisement so I was not sure what to expect. I actually used two of the the units simultaneously by mounting them on a camcorder bracket with three available shoe mounts. I was videotaping a wedding reception in a dimly lit hall. I was able to get good color rendition of my subjects within a range of about 10 to 12 feet. As advertised, the units did not produce significant heat or loss of intensity after more than an hour of intermittant use.

I got it, tried it out and then returned it.
Why? It's not strong enough.
I have been using the Sunpak 55-RL video light for couple of years. It makes the subject well lighted for taking video. The down side of Sunpak 55-RL is it's short run time (about 17 minutes). This LED based video light beats the Sunpak 55-RL in run time. But it's light strength has no comparison to Sunpak 55-RL.
Video quality is severely degraded if the subject is not well lighted. You can get one from your local bestbuy or circuit city, tried it out first before ordering it from Amazon.

This is a quite bright little light with a very natural color tone, but a very narrow beam that does not work well with normal to wide lens settings.

I bought a Sony HDR-UX1 recently and this Sima light to go with it. The Sima is surprisingly small and surprisingly bright. The light did not fit the accessary shoe of my camcorder but it is not the fault of the light since the accessory shoe on UX1 is different than other Sony camcorders. I decided to put a little velcro to attach the Sima on my camcorder. I had two serious issues issues with Sima. Firstly, it's light beam is too narrow. If you zoom in with your camcorder a bit, it covers the whole area shor by the camcorder but if you're at the wide end of the zoom, the Sima only lights up the center of the area shot. Secondly, Sima's colors are not neutral. I found a bluish/greenish tint in the light that adds those colors to the objects shot.

I then bought the Sony HVL-HL1 video light. It fit the UX1's accessory shoe perfectly since it was designed for it. It also was very bright although Sima was brighter. The HVL-HL1 filled the frame nicely and was also warm tone so no discoloration of the subjects was noticed. The HVL-HL1 works on camcorder's battery so no additional batteries to charge either although it can get very hot after only a few minutes of use while Sima does not get hot that fast. Sima also consumes lot less battery than the Sony light.

Since for me the video quality is the most important factor, Sony HVL-HL1 is the clear winner since it does not affect the subject's color and covers the frame nicely.

Awesome value, but you get what you pay for: it's a little weak on the brightness scale and has a bit of a bluish hint. I'm satisfied!

Light output is OK, though not as bright as I was expecting.
It is far better than having none at all, as my Panasonic GS320 did not come with any form of light for dark settings.
One thing I like most about this product is that it does not produce a lot of heat when using it like other camlights I have used.
Overall, it's acceptable.

This light uses LED bulbs which means it uses less battery energy to run. The unit is small and handy to use. But the big draw back is the actual light. It gives off a very cold looking light. The other problem is that it does NOT give enough light.

For very close shots, it is probably good, but longer shots produce very poor lighting.

Overall a very nice unit but if it only produced more light!!!

This is very compact and works quite good. enough light so that my canon camcorder can shoot in the night without any problem. Light is good and natural.

Light is very bright, compact, and holds a charge for quite a long time.

This video light surprised me with it's brightness and length of battery life. Because of it's price I was expecting less. It worked fine for fill light in a banquet room with low light and lasted all evening (3 hrs)
doing interviews on one charge.

It would be great if they would make it easier to change batteries on the run or allow the light to run on the charger.