REPRINTED FROM NOVEMBER 24, 2004 W W W. T V T E C H N O L O G Y.

C O M

LED LIGHT KIT

LitePanels LED Lighting System

sink covering the back of the
by Stephen Murphy enclosure.
The Mini LitePanel measures
ne of the great things about working in 6.75 x 2.25 x 1.25 inches and

O the industry and writing for TV

Technology is the steady exposure to
new tools of the trade that I might otherwise
weighs less than one pound
without the snap-on battery
pack; total weight with battery
miss due to schedule and financial constraints. pack is about 3.5 pounds.
In the past several months, I have had the In addition to the rear-mount-
opportunity to try out some products that I ed, snap-on battery pack, the
never would have considered essential, yet Mini LitePanel head can be pow-
once exposed, I wondered how I got along ered by virtually any DC power
without them. The LitePanels Two-Lite Mini source that provides 5 to 24 V,
Package LED lighting system is a perfect including a standard camera bat-
example. tery, car lighter or AC adapter.
According to the manufactur-
FEATURES er, the Mini LitePanel is three
The principal component of LitePanels’ times as efficient as comparable
lighting systems is the Mini LitePanel LED tungsten light sources, drawing
head, a compact and lightweight unit fea- just 0.6 Amps at 12 V. The inte-
turing a 20x7 array of white LEDs. grated battery pack provides LitePanels’ light consists of a 20x7 array of white LEDs
The LED array is housed in a rugged more than an hour of continuous in an aluminum case. A dimmer is built into the case.
anodized aluminum enclosure with a Plexiglas use at full-output level. power transformers (with interchangeable
lens. The unit radiates very little heat, thanks The LED array projects a sphere of flick- international socket adapters), two gel kits,
to the efficiency of LEDs and a substantial heat er-free, daylight-balanced (5600K) white two snap-on base plates, two car lighter
light. Each Mini LitePanel includes a collec- adapters, a car lighter Y-splitter, two power
tion of 16 color/diffusion gels that easily slip cable extensions and a shoe adapter.
FAST FACTS under the Velcro-ed clear plastic lens cover. The Camera Lite Kit includes a single Mini
Application The Mini LitePanel head features an out- LitePanel head, gel kit, Anton/Bauer D-Tap
ENG/EFP put dimmer knob for fine-tuning light lev- power cable and a shoe adapter. Additional
els. At full output, the LitePanel produces accessories, such as a shoe-mount swivel arm
Key Features 80 foot-candles at a distance of two feet and ($175) or ballhead ($95), can be purchased
LED heads with battery packs; daylight bal-
18 foot-candles at four feet. The color tem- on the LitePanels Web site.
anced (5600K)
perature remains at 5600K across the dim-
Price mer range. IN USE
$2,195 LitePanels offers a complete two-light For review, LitePanels provided the Two-
package (reviewed here) complete with road Lite Mini Package plus the optional swivel
Contact case for $2,195, or a single light kit for $749. arm, two ballheads and an Anton/Bauer
LitePanels The Two-Lite Mini Package includes two adapter. Upon first inspection, the kit pre-
818-752-7009, Mini LitePanel heads with battery packs plus sents a dazzling array of bits and pieces that
www.litepanels.com a comprehensive set of power and mounting provides contingency for a range of setups
accessories. Included in the kit are two AC and locations.

Copyright 2005 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission.

 The main elements, of course, are the
surprisingly lightweight Mini LitePanel
heads and the not-so-light battery packs.
Once charged, the battery packs were easily
attached to the back of the light head via a
four-post snap-on system.
A two-inch cable is required to provide
power from the battery to the light head. It is
unfortunate that LitePanels did not use the
integrated mounting posts to provide the
power transfer, reducing the risk of delay
caused by a lost cable. Of course, one could
always use one of the longer power cables
provided in the kit in such an occurrence.
Cranking the dimmer to full, the versatil-
ity and power of the Mini LitePanel/battery
combo is immediately apparent. Here is a
self-contained, low-profile soft-light pack
that can be placed practically anywhere, is
moved easily and can be handled without
worry of receiving a second-degree burn.
(It’s hard at this point not to recall the
Sylvania light that my father bought to go Peter Rieveschl, director of photography for the HBO series “Family Bonds,” uses LitePanels
with our Bell & Howell 16mm camera some LED lights in the interior of a vehicle.
30 years ago. If memory serves, I believe I
destroyed the light by melting a penny on the LED lights were, “significantly less SUMMARY
the lens.) obnoxious than typical on-camera lights.” A Overall, I was impressed by the range
With battery attached, the Mini LitePanel glowing review, if you will. and quality of light produced by the Mini
adds a significant amount of heft for on- Although the battery pack is rated by LitePanels, and taken aback by their ease of
camera handheld work; placing the battery the manufacturer at “one-hour plus,” for setup and versatility. I found myself using
in a belt or pocket and using one of the reference, I found I was getting more than the LitePanels at nearly every opportunity
longer power cables is highly recommended two hours of life in typical real-world use. during the review period, whether as an on-
for handheld use. A significant feature of the Mini LitePanel camera fill, surface-mounted fill or simply
Without the battery attached, the addi- is that its voltage is regulated to provide a hidden within the scene to add punch and
tional weight of the Mini LitePanel head is consistent output level, even as the bat- separation to an important object or area.
hardly noticeable. In fact, with the batteries tery power diminishes. That saves some The Mini LitePanels are power-efficient,
mounted on my belt, I was able to comfort- potentially embarrassing moments in the flexible and long lasting (rated at more than
ably use two Mini LitePanel heads on a edit room! 100,000 hours); most importantly the
Canon XL1 (one mounted on-camera for Speaking of consistent levels, I found the LitePanels produce a pleasingly smooth illu-
front fill and one mounted on the swivel lack of a power switch on the Mini LitePanel mination without color shifts, flicker or
arm and set to a slightly lower output for head to be a bit of a disadvantage when undue heat.
side fill). This combination proved to be a using the lights at levels other than 100 per- Although somewhat pricey, the Mini
favorite setup, instantly adding punch and cent. In order to ensure I returned to the LitePanels prove their worth by quickly
production value to medium- and close- same dimmer level after breaks, I found adding production value with a minimum
shot subjects without any additional rigging myself leaving the dimmer set and constant- amount of effort. ■
and hassle. ly pulling the power cable out of the socket
While I appreciated the cool temperature to save juice; that can’t be good for the Stephen Murphy, contributing editor of
of the light heads, the on-camera talent longevity of the jack or cable. Another wel- Pro Audio Review magazine, has more than
greatly appreciated the lack of heat project- come addition would be some hash marks 20 years experience in audio/visual and
ed by the Mini LitePanels’ LED array. One around the dimmer knob for notating and broadcast production. He can be reached
subject commented that, in every respect, recalling levels used for various shots. through his Web site at www.smurphco.com.

Copyright 2005 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission. Reprinted from TV Technology