Weary Willy

Emmett Kelly would have approved - because these Hobolites are going to make people smile. They will be a boon for video shooters as well as their subjects.

The revolution that has occurred in lighting since the introduction of the LED has been nothing short of amazing. We see any number of tiny LEDs gridded out on panels and driven by any number of battery and circuit combinations. Many video shooters - as well as still workers - use them to provide quiet and cool studio and location lighting.

Yet - to be be ample sources of light, you need a lot of them on the panel. A big panel is, well… big - and heavy, too. You need big stands and big batteries and strong assistants to lug the gear to and fro. If you are only going fro, you can use smaller helpers…

Enter Hobolite - with integral batteries, large LED lights, and sophisticated housings. Several sizes of light, extensive sets of matched accessories and light shapers, and the ability to adapt the colour temperature and intensity of light to the ambient conditions. Perth Theatre workers who cope with badly-lit venues will be able to dial in settings from “ abysmal “ to “ questionable “ to match the room…

The joyous thing I saw was the build quality of the lights. These are not some plastic internet boxes - we’re talking cast metal housings, vents for cooling, and camera-quality controls ad screens. I was even impressed by the barn doors - though my experience with these in a studio has been mixed. You are always shutting them after the model has bolted.

I was also taken by the adjustable nature of the zoom lens on the larger light to focus the thing for portraiture….and the clever use of magnetic attachment for the accessories on the smaller light. The entire premise of the system is to be able to come to a shoot - set up in minimal time - and pack away in a trice. Venue and location shooters will recognise what this means for them at the start  - and particularly at the end  - of a hard job.

We studio workers can just shut off the lights and go home - other people have to work long hours to finish a job.

 They can truly be Weary Willies. 

Want to keep on reading about Hobolite? We do have more posts here. 

Text and Images by Richard Stein