NEW YORK—I’m a long-time user of Frezzi batteries and lights and I've worked with them for awhile during my work with Spectrum News, when our Long Form department bought a number of FB-100 batteries to power our Sony FS7-M2 cameras and at least six Frezzi HMI Skylight kits for remote entertainment and Broadway-show interviews.
More recently I bought a number of camera batteries and chargers for our east and west coast operations—four camera batteries and two chargers for each coast. Even though I have no trouble flying the Frezzi FB-100 Lithium Ion batteries, it just makes life easier to not have to wrap them up in plastic and carry them with me on the plane since I fly between Newark and LAX 3-4 times a month.
Small But Powerful
Also, to make traveling and hauling lights easier, I bought two Frezzi 3-light kits, one for each coast. These Frezzi LCL-180 led video lights are small with built-in batteries (Photo 1). They can be placed on the included light stands or mounted onto your camera. They’re dimmable and have variable color temperature and as small as they are, they’re powerful and easy to charge.
Photo 2 is a freeze frame of an interview with author Allison Pataki, daughter of former New York Governor George Pataki. A lot of outdoor window light hit the left side of her face so we needed to off-set that with enough light, about 4900 K color temperature. It was easy with these LCL-180’s: Having white balanced for 4900 K you’ll notice that the lamp over her right shoulder looked a little amber, probably about 2600 K, just what we were looking for.
The biggest advantage of the LCL-180 3-light kit is that Frezzi has packed a lot of portable power in a small case. Three light stands and 3 LCL-180 lights are so lightweight and easy to carry that we recently climbed Mt. Baldy in Southern California to conduct an interview in a cabin a mile-and-a-half up the mountain.
I had to carry a large camera and a Miller tripod, which were both heavy, especially given the treacherous conditions on the trail with mud, snow and ice. I also threw the Frezzi light kit over my shoulder on top of everything else and I couldn’t believe how light it was.
The lights were also necessary for the Pataki interview because we had to off-set outdoor light coming through big windows. So we put the windows behind the subject and lit her up so well that the background wasn’t washed out—the trees and snow in the background looked great. The goal is even lighting, and that was easily achieved with these very portable LCL-180 lights.
No Mic Shadows
You’ll also notice in Photo #1 that the camera on the left has the Frezzi Pro Light, which I use for red carpet interviews. It taps right out of the Frezzi camera battery and positions high on the camera, with no camera-mic shadows. It also makes a nice fill light when using the LCL-180’s in a 3-point lighting configuration. I’m looking forward to using the LCL-180 on-board the camera as well—it will be nice to be able to match the color temperature of the bright red carpet lights behind us.
Finally, I really like the 2-port Frezzi FLC-2AP and FLC-2AV chargers—they’re very portable and I try not to go anywhere without them. I always go to the Frezzi factory to buy my equipment and the service is so good and everyone is so friendly that they make me feel like I’m part of the family.
Robin Sanders is a freelance cameraman/editor/associate producer cameraman. He can be reached at 646-234-8341 and at robin.sanderssr@icloud.com.
For more information, visit www.frezzi.com.
