Camera light

I plan to put a Nichia Triple on my (video) camera for lighting. I was thinking of wiring the 3 LEDs in series and driving them off 2 18650s in series. That’s 2.8v per LED when fully charged. That keeps the battery weight down and eliminates the driver. Of course, I am wondering if a driver would be worthwhile and fit good. Any suggestions? In other words, what am I going to wish I did?

2.8V per LED wont work

Use a buck converter and the LEDs paallel
Sou can buy triple parallel with the LEDs and DTP star and optics for unbeatable 7.87$

http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S026302.Triple-Nichia-219C-Neutral-White-4000K-CRI92-LED-Emitter-with-20mm-x-1mm-DTP-Copper-MCPCB-w-optics

Parallel won’t work with only 2 batteries, that’s triple the Amps.

You won’t be able to drive 3x 3V LED’s from 2S voltage without a driver. At least not well, they will technically light up at full charge but will not be even as bright as a single LED.

You can either step down to a single cell and run them in parallel or up to 3 cells and run them in series.

If battery life an issue for you? The 219C has a very low Vf and running them in parrelle with a single cell helps limit max current to a reasonable level per LED (they like to pull over 10A each, I get around 16-18A in triples with thin, long wires).

What host are you using? A triple 219C is going to get silly hot, the smallest light I have found that can remotely handle the power is an eagle eye X6. Even then I have to turn down the max duty but like that it stays at a VERY hot but safe temp for the components.

I planned to mount it to an aluminum ring around the lens. 15 minute use max.

Well keep in mind that a triple 219C will be producing around 60W of heat, that is a LOT. So you need some heat sinking for sure.

My recommendation would be a triple X6, X7 or F13 (or if the new C8 spacers work out that could be an option as well). The cute-3 optics give just the kind of beam you want for a camera, nice, smooth and floody with good tint mixing.

Go with a single cell setup and run the LED’s in parallel.

My X6 with this exact setup works great, on turbo it pulls around 16-18A, has an amazing tint and perfect beam for camera work. It gets hot, maxing around 70C (160F) but doesn’t have time to actually overheat due to the voltage dropping and lowering the current.

I also get about 10-15minuintes before you really start to notice the reduction in output due to the output drop.

Just be sure to use thin wires to limit current, think I used 24AWG, anything less would get hot enough to melt the silicone coating.

It is important to get a good thermal path to cool em

On a Lens you will not be able to run em with too high currents 1A might work so you get about 9W electrical power and 7.5W heat

With a DTP star the heatsink can reach 100dCelsius without damaging the LEDs
http://m.ebay.de/itm/Cree-XML-XML2-XPG2-Nichia-20-16-10mm-COPPER-SinkPad-mcpcb-BOOST-PERFORMANCE-/191063997233?nav=SEARCH

10mm is the smallest stars you find

The LED needs about 3.2V to operate

Use 2 batteries and a buck converter like this

Or a boost converter for LEDs in series

For heatsinking you may find ones like this and cut it in 3 parts

Can a single cell handle 60W without blowing my face off? That would ruin the footage.

lol, yeah a good high drain cell can handle it no problem. Modern high drain cells are rated for around 80W per cell but we could actually get away with more in an FET flashlight since it would not be able to maintain that level of output for long and would then start dropping current.

Either way, cells like the 30Q or vtc6 are rated for 20A or more depending on who you ask.

Read my post above about boost/buck converters

You can run a high drain cell to about average 50W and 80W when its full, but the current will be too much for a converter

And its important for you to get at all times the same light output, so a buck/boost converter with a current limitation is needed

I would suggest 2 cells and a buck converter the LEDs running on 1A depending what the heatsink can manage
Those 5A rated buck converters I trust only up to 3.5A some trustworthy sellers do the same

I wouldn’t run a triple 219C on 60 Watts.
They’re rated around 5 Watts each, so a triple would be 15 Watts, and it wouldn’t get too hot and still be efficient.

I get what you’re saying though.
With the low Vf of modern LEDs it seems a bit wasteful to use a linear driver (constant current with 7135 for example) which will simply burn off the excess voltage.

A buck driver on 2x 18650 in series would be nice for a 219C triple.
For 15 Watts you need approximately 5 Amperes driver output.
Should do around 1500 LED Lumen (you will lose some in the optics of course)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boost-Buck-Voltage-LM2577S-LM2596S-DC-DC-Step-Up-Down-Power-Converter-Module-/322041999051?hash=item4afb32eecb:g:q~wAAOSwnbZYFurg

This converter can be used for series LEDs and you can adjust the max current
As for all of this type you need 2 series batteries as the start to work at 4V

You can use an external potentiometer to variate the lights nrightness
I did a video about this

Parallel LEDs will limit the max current as the buck converter of this size usually is limited to 5A

Those heatsinks look good if cut in 3 parts
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-lot-LED-Heatsink-Aluminum-Base-Radiator-For-1W-36W-High-Power-LED-Cooler-Sunflower-UFO/32413262236.html?spm=2114.010208.3.10.ywBrxl&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10065_10000073_10068_10000077_10000074_10000032_119_10000030_10000026_10000023_431_10000069_10000068_10060_10062_10056_10055_10000062_10054_10000063_301_10059_10099_10000020_10000013_10103_10102_10000016_10101_10096_10000056_10000059_10052_10053_10107_10050_10106_10051_10000097_10000094_10000091_10000007_10000050_10084_10083_10000100_10080_10000047_10082_10081_10110_10111_10112_10113_10114_10115_10000089_10000086_10037_10000083_10000041_10000044_10000080_10078_10079_10077_10000038_10073_10000035_10070_10122_10123_10121_10124,searchweb201603_1,afswitch_1,ppcSwitch_2,single_sort_2_default&btsid=16205df6-02a9-4943-939c-f086988bc3f6&algo_expid=fb2cd6f3-7b12-4120-b939-1902781e40f7-1&algo_pvid=fb2cd6f3-7b12-4120-b939-1902781e40f7

I’m thinking maybe a single 30Q cell and lexel’s boost converter. With each LED at 3.4v/4A that’s 41 watts and 3240 lumens total, right?

I would be VERY surprised if you got 3200 lumens at 4A with a 90cri 219C (which is why you are going with the 219C correct?).

I get about ~3400 lumens @ 18A out of the 219C’s (or 6A to each LED).

That boost converter is rated 2A output, but needs 2 cells to operate

Nichia 219 LEDs are rated 1.8A
https://www.nichia.co.jp/specification/products/led/NVSW219C-E.pdf
You can go higher on a DTP star but the efficience will suck the more you go, its better to add more LEDs

It cant be run on a single cell as the electronics need at leat 4V to operate

Fid you ever touch a 18W LED lamp when it ran a while?

The heat has to go somewhere, 3 nichias at 2A will produce 13W heat, thats more important than speculating on 4A per LED

I can build you such a light, because I have the knowledge of electronics and heatsinking them

If sou just add a ring of aluminum and mount 3 LEDs @4A on them the will cook themself in less than a minute, reaching soldering temperature and fall off on best case

Texas_Ace, what type output would you expect?
Lexel, why 2A and 2 cell? It says 4A input and 94% efficiency. So that should be 3.76A output. And it says it works down to 3v, granted, I will need to stay above 50% SOC to keep getting 4A.

4A input at 3.6V = 14.4W
The battery will go down to 3V if empty so its only 12W in worst case

I am a hobby photographer and I can tell you that 3 spotlights on a macro lens will give you not the result you are aiming for

It is better to go with 1.5W 7030 LEDs that are also availiable in 95 CRI mount them as close together overlapping each other and add a suitable diffusor foil

Running 3 nichia LEDs at 1.8A max rated current will work on a single cell of you get the regulation IC supported with a higher boltage like from an 9V battery buts its easier to ass a 2. lithium cell and double the output power

If you check the 219C test link in my sig you will see at 4A I got 950 lumens.

Figure a bit less in the real world due to worse heat sinking them my bench setup so that puts you at ~2700 lumens before optic losses.

After you factor in optic losses figure somewhere in the 2200-2500 lumen range depending on the optic setup you use would be my guess.

No macro here. Do you have a link to the 95cri 7030 you mentioned?

Or a suggestion for a 2000+ lumen camera light ring that’s pre-made?