SUNPAK RL-20 Readylite 15 Watt Super Compact Video Light

I was a lil skeptical at first because of the low price, but gave it a shot, knowing it had a short battery life. BUT despite the short life of the battery this video light i have to say is what they say in the other reviews...POWERFUL (warning do not test it with your own eyes, you'll see bright light scars for 10-20 minutes), second it feels solid, not cheap or flimsy. Price is great, but like they say if you dont mind, but a couple. I myself bought a 3watt video light on top of it with the double shoe braket for close up for your subjects. You may not want to use the sunpak RL for close up, it is blinding. thank you

The Sunpak Videolite RL-20 gives great lite for cost, only draw back is the battery last only 12-15 min. This lite is a good value and sturdy for videotaping family and occasions where the built in light in camcorders has little or no effect. Consider extra batteries, charging time per batteries (5hrs) each.

Great light for the money; this little light will do wonders if you need a little fill light for videos. If you need a lot of fill light look elsewhere, and be prepared to shell out some serious cash.

I purchased two of this video light. Each would light up for 10 to 11-minutes on a full charge. I have tested each light for four times and the results were fairly consistent. In the tests, the lights were switched on immediately after five hours of charging and switched off when they became dim.

This light seems brighter than the built-in camcorder light. It enhances the video quality when filming indoors or under low light conditions. However, it also appears to have added a slight orange tint to the picture. The light can be mounted onto the hot/cold shoe of a camcorder or a tripod. It is not so small compared to the size of a palm-held camcorder and its glass lens is about 34mm in diameter. The 15-Watt halogen bulb is replaceable, so is the rechargeable Ni-Cd battery (the replacement bulb is $18 and the battery is $20 directly from ToCAD America, Inc., the Sunpak distributor).

The drawback is the battery's short illumination time per full charge. Five hours of charging would yield only 10 to 11-minutes of constant use. The Ni-Cd battery could suffer the voltage depression (memory effect) and further reduce the usage time. The DC port (opposite the red on/off switch) is for charging the battery only. It cannot be used to power the light by a DC adapter.

At the $30 price tag, it is a decent and useful video light, despite the short usage time per charge. I would suggest keeping at least two of this light in the camera bag, instead of just buying the spare batteries.

Note: 55RL is the "Cat no." for this Sunpak ReadyLite 20.

It's small and convenient. It fits well on my Olympus Digital camera and Hitachi DVD camcoder. However, 5 hrs avg. charging time will last for only 15-20 or less minutes usage. I had Phillip 30W, cost $80, lighting last for ~ 20 minutes per 3 hrs charing. I am not complaining too much as it fits my needs well.