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Goods – Works with the batteries that go to my PD150 camera so no need for silly looking belt battery pack or extra batteries. It comes with a 10w or 20w setting. So far it has also proven itself to be durable. Not that I am clumsy but I have dropped it twice and it survived. I understand the bulbs are expensive but I have used it for 2 years now with out the need for a change. It is lightweight and fits on the slide foot on the top of my camera. Most pro and non pro cameras will have this too so i use this with my tiny consumer camera and its great there too.

Bads – I guess this stuff isnt really bad but for folks who might have a pro rig these are the things that might bum you out. No dimmer, no barn doors, so swivel. The one thing I will say though is that this thing is so light that I have a few times taken it off of the camera and held it in my hand up high at an angle so not to shine it in anyones face directly.

I hope this helps!

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bulbs are replaceable. Yet in 4 years of having one bulb never wore out, and heavy usage, 8 hours at a time. (3 fp-970 batteries, such as batterybarn.com sells will give you 8 hours light. the last time I got it off amazon, FP960 for $47 from computer brain. the new 15 hour camcorder batteries power this light for about 2 1/2 hours)

The onlything that eventually broke was the switch. Don’t force it, push down the middle safety button when turning it on or eventually will break it. take battery out when travelling so won’t go on accidentally. you can add a grip by getting a disk shaped tripod adaptor and screwing a hand grip such as hakuba’s monopod / tablepod combo (the most comfortable grip there is, about $25 at places like Fry’s) into the tripod adapter.

It gets warm, almost hot but keeps running no problem with vent slits. Even using it caving in Anza-Borrego, as we knew that we had for sure 2 hours on Li-ion batteries.

Anyway, for indoor shooting in converence halls with bad flourescent lighting, this brings out the colors. You can’t use flash closer than about 2 feet with most objects or you get too much glare from reflection..

so use a video light instead for serious indoor shooting where you can’t have a fixed light stand. use it in 10 watt mode for most objects, for tall or dark objects, switch to 20 watt. When battery is starting to run low, the light will only go into 10 watt mode.

I have the sony video light 3watt for dvd-403. I keep this on top of camera sometimes when too much hassle to get out video light. But it drains camcorder battery unlike this one, and light output alot lower. good for small objects tho.

and by all means, TURN ON FLASH when farther than 2′ and object looks slightly dark. this helps ALOT in your pix. if it looks OK in viewfinder / lcd LEAVE FLASH OFF!

see flashlightreviews.com for general light patterns and battery life of other flashlights incl led lights you might want to buy.

IF sony would just come out with an LED version I’d be happy as a lark! It would last 10 hours or more.

Most flashlights throw uneven ring pattern so are unsuitable for lighting photos.

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I’m so glad I bought it. Used it for my birthday party. Though the overhead light was good, dark corners of the room require more light. If you consider yourself advanced, semi-pro, or a pro videographer, you MUST HAVE a light.

My only major beef is it runs at either 10 or 20 watts. No variable for 5, or 15. It is worth getting a long life battery like the NP-970. Independent power source (battery) is a plus. But no outlet plug adaptor that I know of.

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I was expecting a compact case that would hold the camera as well as the accessories, but this case is only big enough for the spare battery and charger.

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It was very easy to attach to the threads on the front of the camera… it has a rotating disc that can be tightened without rotating the whole hood. This makes it easy to keep the hood perfectly horizontal, with the written text on the hood in your preferred orientation (top or bottom). In terms of size, I think this is a perfect complement to my little camera. Together with my external mic (Canon DM-100) it looks like I have a miniature professional video camera. Wait… I do!