Can anyone recommend any of the following lights?

Sony HVL-HIRL
Sony HVL-HFL1
Sony HVL-HL1

This will be for just general lighting, ie when a room lamp isn't quite doing the job and the pic is coming out a bit grainy....

The HVL-HIRL is InfraRed, you don't need light at all for this one.

The others are only 3 Watt !!! What do you want to light up with 3 Watt ??? It is good for a meter or so, but that's it.

The absolute minimum for lighting up a normal room is about 20 Watt, and that is still on the low side.

I use both the HVL-HIRL and the HVL-HFL1. They both have 3 watt video lights that will help considerably on subjects that are approximately 5ft. away. This is fine for things like head and shoulder shots of people, or items on a table or floor. This is not for lighting up a room. But it will help brighten up the colors and details considerably of a subject 5 or so feet away in a dimly lit room. The beauty of this system is that you can just pop it into the AI shoe and you're good to go. It uses the battery of the camcorder so just make sure you have a well charged battery. If you want to light up a room, you will need a much larger light, and that will require an external power supply of some kind, either a battery pack or an AC connection. In other words, much more equipment, thought and planning. But the results will be much better. If all you want to do is add an assist light to a subject 5ft. away these little lights will work just fine without all the hassle.

If you think this little video light is all you need, then you need to decide if you also want a larger flash for your still photo's (HVL-HFL1), or if you want to greatly improve your camcorder's NightShot capabilities(HVL-HIRL). The flash unit on the HFL1 will greatly improve your flash photo's over the standard little flash that comes on the camera. It will easily light up a room and you will be able to take group shots much better. If you ever plan on getting a wide angle lens for your camcorder, it is a necessity for flash photo's because the lens will block the on-board camera flash. And this little flash unit has no trouble lighting up the increased wide angle of the lens either. But if you find that you like using the IR feature of your camcorder's NightShot, then the HIRL is the one for you. It will greatly improve your camcorders NightShot ability. The difference is like night and day (pun intended) HA HA!

I needed both the flash and the IR lights, so I got both. I wish they made one unit that did all three.

If you don't need the flash or the IR lights, just get the HVL-HL1. It uses the same 3 watt video light system, so the results will be as I described above.

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Ernie
Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHD HDD User