hot shoe lighting question

Hi there,

I have an optura 30 which has a hot accessory shoe. my question is, are video lights that uses these hot shoe standard? I see that there are lots of different brands of lights out there but they don't really say that it's standard. I see one for Canon (VL-3) but it's quite expensive, I just want to know if I have other choices to choose from.

thanks.
- Sammy

That Canon light isn't going to help your video that much. It isn't bright enough. I have that exact light that I bought to use on my Optura 30. You will be much better off buying another light that is at least 10 watts. 30 or 40 watts is actually a much better way to go for an on-camera light.

I bought a Bescor light (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=304510&is=REG) which works much better. There are many posts about lights like these on this board. You might try doing a search for the word "Bescor" which should lead you to several threads that discuss lighting. Try this link (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/search.php?searchid=798962) which will get you to what I got when I did that search. Read through the threads about lighting and you will learn a lot.

Sammy, in general each manufacturer's hot shoe is proprietary. You might find a light that works from another manufacturer but you'd have to try it out to be sure.

Good luck.

Dennis

thanks folks for your help!
I guess I'll have to just tell my wife that we can't record at night - which was one of her specs of a new camcorder, unless we want to spend that much.