Litepanels or F&V lights

[vincent kardasik]

I recently had the opportunity to shoot with a LED lightning set-up, first time ever and I had a blast.
For quick and easy set-up, it's great and I love the result.
I'm on point to invest and as the set I've used was a Litepanel one I was more looking that way but I read that thread about F&V lights (http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?91167-F-amp-V-R-300-LED-Ring-Light).
Price difference is huge, for less than the price of a single 1x1 Litepanel, you can have a 3 kit F&V.
Thing is I never tried any product by F&V so I'm looking for advices regarding your experience with these ones, even better, if you had the opportunity to shoot with both brands, what would be your call?
Thanks.

 

[Wil Wong]

I own a F&V 1x1 and it's great. It is exactly the same as a Dedolight 1x1 (right down to where they put the velcro). I swear they are the same manufacturers but the F&V are less expensive. I also own a Dedolight so that's why I know they are identical.

I haven't worked with the Litepanels and sure they're great too but for the price, the F&V are awesome quality (no flicker). The build is plastic but I find the light weight better then having an all metal casing. Just keep it in a box and sandbag them and you'll be in good shape.

Someone reduser also posted these lights which I am very much considering. Have a look:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camtree-Sup...=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41678d3a1e#payId

 

[Martin Whittier]

I just spent the past week heavily researching options out there that can at least meet the specs of the Lightpanels 1x1 and found the this. http://www.cowboystudio.com/product_p/cn-600sa.htm On the surface it seems like a pretty straight forward copy of the 1x1 at 1/10th the price. Of course I was skeptical about buying off brand but figured why not at this price point. They have decent reviews and my order comes in today. I will post back my thoughts after I try them out.

 

[vincent kardasik]

I own a F&V 1x1 and it's great. It is exactly the same as a Dedolight 1x1 (right down to where they put the velcro). I swear they are the same manufacturers but the F&V are less expensive. I also own a Dedolight so that's why I know they are identical.

I haven't worked with the Litepanels and sure they're great too but for the price, the F&V are awesome quality (no flicker). The build is plastic but I find the light weight better then having an all metal casing. Just keep it in a box and sandbag them and you'll be in good shape.

Someone reduser also posted these lights which I am very much considering. Have a look:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camtree-Sup...=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41678d3a1e#payId

Thanks for your quick reply Wil. I shot with some Dedolights and they were really good, if the F&V are the same, I'll definitely give it a go.

 

[vincent kardasik]

I just spent the past week heavily researching options out there that can at least meet the specs of the Lightpanels 1x1 and found the this. http://www.cowboystudio.com/product_p/cn-600sa.htm On the surface it seems like a pretty straight forward copy of the 1x1 at 1/10th the price. Of course I was skeptical about buying off brand but figured why not at this price point. They have decent reviews and my order comes in today. I will post back my thoughts after I try them out.

Thanks Martin, looking forward to reading your feedback on this product.

 

[Brian Pascale]

I just bought a K4000S Bi-Color LED Studio Panel. I like it but wish it had more punch. Also it has a diffusion that goes about an inch in front of the light, unfortunately it is not very tough and I damaged one of the pegs that hold in on in the first hour of use by putting it in my bag. Overall, the light is a great value, and I love that you can use a v-mount battery to power it. Also really like be able to adjust color balance of light. When running and gunning I find 5600k balanced lights can look blue on the face and if you correct with white balance then the background is too orange. The trade off is brightness.

 

[William Robinette]

I just bought a K4000S Bi-Color LED Studio Panel. I like it but wish it had more punch. Also it has a diffusion that goes about an inch in front of the light, unfortunately it is not very tough and I damaged one of the pegs that hold in on in the first hour of use by putting it in my bag. Overall, the light is a great value, and I love that you can use a v-mount battery to power it. Also really like be able to adjust color balance of light. When running and gunning I find 5600k balanced lights can look blue on the face and if you correct with white balance then the background is too orange. The trade off is brightness.

Any grabs or clips of someone in an interview setting with the K4000? Interested in how it renders skin tones.

How flimsy are we talking? I'm guessing the body is plastic?

 

[Martin Whittier]

I just bought a K4000S Bi-Color LED Studio Panel. I like it but wish it had more punch.

Brian, I felt the same way about the Litepanel brand Bi-colors when I used them, its nice to have the ease of adjustment but it isn't worth the light loss IMO. I decide to buy all CTB LEDs and just gel as needed. I'd rather take a 2/3 stop loss on the CTO than half my light with BiColors, but of course I have to deal with gels. The upside is full power in daylight mode.

 

[paul schefz]

i have a bunch of dracast 1x1 lights and they are great....there are some really cheap LEDs out there and i believe they are all pretty much the same but their CRI is under 90 which is not so good....dracast is a middle ground, they are reliable, sturdy, best available technology in terms of output and CRI and are still affordable....
i love LEDs....i prefer spot versions because putting diffusion on them pretty much turns them into floods....i stay away form variable color because the way they work is half the LEDs are 3200, the other half is 6500....the color dial simply blends them....you never get close to the same output as any single color 1x1....

 

[vincent kardasik]

i have a bunch of dracast 1x1 lights and they are great....there are some really cheap LEDs out there and i believe they are all pretty much the same but their CRI is under 90 which is not so good....dracast is a middle ground, they are reliable, sturdy, best available technology in terms of output and CRI and are still affordable....
i love LEDs....i prefer spot versions because putting diffusion on them pretty much turns them into floods....i stay away form variable color because the way they work is half the LEDs are 3200, the other half is 6500....the color dial simply blends them....you never get close to the same output as any single color 1x1....

Good to know Paul, thanks for these infos.

 

[Martin Whittier]

So my 2 Cn600-SA LED panels arrived today. First impressions the fixtures seem well built of actually aluminum not plastic. They include barn doors and hard gels at a total price of $235 per 1x1 panel. I'm so far very pleased with these lights and am looking forward to shooting some test footage this weekend. I will follow up with that more soon.

 

[vincent kardasik]

So my 2 Cn600-SA LED panels arrived today. First impressions the fixtures seem well built of actually aluminum not plastic. They include barn doors and hard gels at a total price of $235 per 1x1 panel. I'm so far very pleased with these lights and am looking forward to shooting some test footage this weekend. I will follow up with that more soon.

Thanks for the feedback. Could you please post some pics of the panels?

 

[Martin Whittier]

I'll put some pics up later but here is the link to the stock photos of them http://www.cowboystudio.com/product_p/cn-600sa.htm I did a couple test shots already to check the LEDs accuracy in color reproduction and there is definitely a spike toward green. They do however include a minus green filter which clears up the issue pretty well. The barn doors I have found are not as useful as you may think unlike with tungsten lights because of the "picket fence" effect as some are calling it, but at least it provides another option for attaching gels and protects the LEDs when in storage. For the price they are what I expected but are still looking worth while.

 

[Mark-André Voss]

Hi Brian,

I damaged one of the pegs that hold in on in the first hour of use by putting it in my bag.

if you did not contact our support yet please do so through support@fvlighting.com or contact me directly and we will replace the broken part for you.

All the best,
Mark

 

[Javier Lloret]

I had a really bad experience with F&V Europe.
I ordered a R-300 light that was in stock for a shooting when I was in a trip. I didn't arrived on time for my shooting.
After 1 month of many emails and phone calls to Germany because I didn't receive it, they ended up shipping it to the wrong address.


After that, they told me that because all the problems with my order I was going to get a second light. That second light never arrived. They told me that the package was lost and that they were not responsible.


So, more than one month waiting to get the light, with many emails and phone calls and what is way more annoying, they don't keep their promises.

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

I'm thinking of getting some f&v, but I hate how there's no barn doors. I understand why. But if I was to put diffusion, say 216, up close to the led's then barn doors would work. But they are so cheap that it doesn't matter too much. Also, their 95 CRI panels are out soon but are something like $1k each, big price jump....

 

[Chris McKechnie]

F&V's are great. EVen though they only have an 85 CRI rating, I don't really see any green/magenta shift shooting on Epic. They are easy to travel with, and the barn doors aren't a deal breaker for me, as most LED's are so broad anyways, even with barn doors applied. The lights are totally worth it.

 

[AndreasOberg]

Javier. Thats a pity. I ordered 6 lights from them and everything landed very quickly with no problems so my experiences are only very positive.
Best wishes.
/Andreas

 

[Michael Winokur]

Since you're on the subject of LED lights, has anyone seen or used these from Pro Aim? http://www.proaimshop.com/pas/PROAIM-1pc.-AURA-24-Power-LED-Light.html

 

[Javier Lloret]

Andreas. I understand that not everyone is going to have the same bad experience.


But when there are some problems with an order is when you realize about the quality of the service that company offers. And F&V, from my experience, offers a really bad customer service.