Adventures in videography

I returned home from a shoot yesterday to find a box containing the light waiting for me, I’m always like a child on Christmas morning when new video kit turns up so I  didn’t waste any time in opening the box. Immediately upon picking up box I became aware of how light weight this light is, so much so that I was convinced the box was empty! Sure enough though I discovered that the box did in fact contain the LP-Micro.

The moment I removed the light from the box I felt disappointed, the construction of this light can only be described as flimsy and cheap, it felt like something that should have cost a lot lot less than it did. The whole thing is made of plastic, the hot shoe fitting doesn’t inspire confidence  that it will survive the rigours of day – day use and the cover that’s used to hold the included colour gel in place felt like it was going to break in my hand.

The operation of the light was also disappointing, it was nowhere near as powerful as the Sony HVL-LBPA that I hired a few weeks back for the Silent Disco filming, it would really only be any use a few feet from your subject.

I feel like I’m being too harsh on this little light, it does has some advantages due to it’s very light weight and AA battery use. Since owning it I have used it occasionally as an on camera light during steadicam shots and for the occasional product shoot to throw a little light on to dark areas.

If the price were more realistic I’d say it was a worthwhile purchase, it’s dim-able, can be used anywhere because it uses AA batteries, and is extremely lightweight. At $275 it’s simply too expensive though, it’s not built like a pro item should be, yet it’s priced to be just that.