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F&V Lighting 1x1 LEDs?

Shawn Nelson

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They seem to have been favorably reviewed on several other sites & forums and I've been considering a set as well...
 
It looks same as the Dedo tech pro Filloni Panels. They are very good light size, a little lightly built but other wise very pleased. They are light weight to travel with. Our preference was the Bi Colour high out put version which works well, used them n several commercials and other projects.

You could also consider the Rotolight Anova. Its heavier but has all sort of additional features and is well accessorised. They B48 ringlight complements both well also.

The other small LED is the ubiquitous Z96, appears identical to the Dedo Tech pro small LED panel but at 1/4 of the price, it's deadful flicker if used on AA cels is fixed if using a Sony rechargable 7.2V battery on it. We use then in cars or for a stick up light source. Yes its cheap and cheerful but works fine.
 
Unfortunately all Led's output poor colour response - this is inherently due to the method of light generation and is unlikely to be something that moore's law will overcome. Gels don't really fix this issue unfortunately. It will be up to the next gen of light emitters like plasma to correct this problem.

Zacuto's imminent Plazma light looks interesting from this perspective - and pretty reasonably priced too.
 
My advice is to test our panels and let your eyes be the judge. In the US you can contact Connor through www.fvlighting.com to find out the closest dealer to check out our products and for the EU you can contact me directly. In Cologne, Germany we also welcome you in our F&V showroom to get first hand experience with our lights and accessories - coffee is on us :)

The technology of LED lights is ever evolving. Every lighting technology has it's strengths and weaknesses in certain areas and LED lights are no dead end but certainly one future of lighting. The features of LED lights are being improved constantly. Color response differs vastly between different manufacturers of LED lights and products. As with all products it's best to directly compare and test and draw your own conclusions if possible.

Our lights costs a fraction of similar products from some of the more established brands but don't judge the quality by the price. F&V has a long history in LED lighting and we develop high quality products at good prices.
 
I have one Dedolight and one FV light. I swear they are made by the same company. Both are exact down to the type of side screw and the velcro sides for the disbursing frost.

Honestly, I love them both. The portability of having battery powered lights is unreal. LED lights have come a long way and these were definitely high quality (although plastic...but then again that's also what makes them light weight).

I would get the FV version simply because the Dedolight is very expensive (almost twice as expensive). These lights aren't all the best at lighting up huge backgrounds (unless you had a ton of them) but they are so portable that setup is so easy.

I'd also avoid getting the bi-color one as in both cases, it eliminates half of your leds. You can get a gel to make it match. The daylight one is the choice in that case.

Anyhow, these won't replace long throwing lights like Fresnels and Lekos. They will however be fine for two shots and close-ups. If you had lots of them, you can get away with wide party shots.

These are great lights.
 
Unfortunately all Led's output poor colour response - this is inherently due to the method of light generation and is unlikely to be something that moore's law will overcome. Gels don't really fix this issue unfortunately. It will be up to the next gen of light emitters like plasma to correct this problem.

Zacuto's imminent Plazma light looks interesting from this perspective - and pretty reasonably priced too.

I think "poor" is an over simplification and perhaps even a misrepresentation since it depends on what you are comparing it to and what the use is. And "poor" isn't exactly a specific measured term. :smiley:

Are the CRIs as high as tungsten? No, but they are getting better and there are ways to get "good" lighting results with many LEDs. When Arri decided to do LEDs, I think they became legitimate.

Here is what I think is the hottest thing going in lighting: http://www.prgtrucolor.com/hs-overview
 
When I am desperate I'll pull out the dedo Bi Colour high out put version (don't buy single colour you kind of need the mix to get something half usable)

To pick up on James point... All LED's have colour challenges in some situations. (I am looking forward to testing the PRG remote phosphor heads.) AND be very carefully gelling and expecting an output without agrevated spikes. Don't trust colour meters with LEDs as they simply don't work for 'spiky' light sources.

Michael L
 
I think "poor" is an over simplification and perhaps even a misrepresentation since it depends on what you are comparing it to and what the use is. And "poor" isn't exactly a specific measured term. :smiley:

Are the CRIs as high as tungsten? No, but they are getting better and there are ways to get "good" lighting results with many LEDs. When Arri decided to do LEDs, I think they became legitimate.

Here is what I think is the hottest thing going in lighting: http://www.prgtrucolor.com/hs-overview

Okay then - details here - I'm comparing it to basic tungsten and HMI lighting. Relative to these LED is colour deficient. I witnessed this myself in tests last week and (despite having used LED lighting in the past for it's huge speed and convenience) opted to not use them on a feature. In the telecine even the director commented on the skewed colours relative to the test image without provocation. It's all down to what you consider acceptable - to me they were not good enough. Others may not care. Various lights swayed either green or magenta and when a suitable balancing gel strength was found, the tones had a marked deadness with no pop to the saturation - this was not a subtle effect in my opinion. Other opinions may vary and I'm sure are equally valid.

Back to continuous spectrum sources for me with all the attendant difficulties of cables and weight. LED's convenience alone does not make up for the poor colour they create in my opinion.

The trucolour seems interesting but comes with a pretty steep price tag from what I can remember.
 
All LEDs at this time have issues of one sort or another I think its fair to say. Our preference is for Bi Color as the mix of LED's tends to have less peaks and troughs in the spectrum but each to their own on this. The PRG fixtures look interesting. Be good to hear of some reviews in use.
 
Didn't mean to hijack this thread. The OP asked about the F&V LEDs and, from what I can see, they are very competitive in their arena. I think LED is usable in a lot of situations (while, perhaps, not always ideal) and the combination of light weight, portability and low power draw are big advantages. I can't speak to the bi-color issue because I almost militantly choose to shoot daylight on my Scarlet as I feel like I get consistently better results. (But that's just me.)
 
i have several dracast LEDs http://www.dracast.com and they are great....
i am looking at these fresnels http://www.zylight.com for my next lights...
about the 1x1 LEDs...i have all spot versions, they are very powerful and run forever on simple V batteries....color IS great, very clean, no more green or magenta spikes....i really do not like the multiple shadows they create (if you shoot someone against a white wall for example), which is why i am looking at the zylight fresnel.....
the ability to light someone using V batteries on location even in bright sunlight is insane IMO....
 
My advice is to test our panels and let your eyes be the judge. In the US you can contact Connor through www.fvlighting.com to find out the closest dealer to check out our products and for the EU you can contact me directly. In Cologne, Germany we also welcome you in our F&V showroom to get first hand experience with our lights and accessories - coffee is on us :)

The technology of LED lights is ever evolving. Every lighting technology has it's strengths and weaknesses in certain areas and LED lights are no dead end but certainly one future of lighting. The features of LED lights are being improved constantly. Color response differs vastly between different manufacturers of LED lights and products. As with all products it's best to directly compare and test and draw your own conclusions if possible.

Our lights costs a fraction of similar products from some of the more established brands but don't judge the quality by the price. F&V has a long history in LED lighting and we develop high quality products at good prices.

Thank you! I would very much like to test your product. Though I live up in Portland, Oregon, will there be a dealer in my town?
 
I just got a set of three and they are very good. Worth every cent. Smart, fit in one case, dimmers are great, bright, really like them for many reasons, battery operated or wired.

They come with everything you need minus stands and include a thee nice soft plexi front covers to soften the source.

They mix really well with daylight and have not noticed any color casts. The build quality is good.

My only minor complaint is how the soft filters attach, but I managed to mod that very easily. I might send them some pics of my very smart solution.

The service was excellent. buy with confidence.

david
 
My only minor complaint is how the soft filters attach, but I managed to mod that very easily. I might send them some pics of my very smart solution.
david

Hey David,
Can you post some images here please (I need modification on my set as well)

How about Barn door any trick?

Cheers
 
Hi David,

thanks for your nice words about the K4000 lights.

We are working on a better solution to attach the filters but to design a nice and reliable solution turned out more difficult than we anticipated, if you have a smart solution we would obviously be interested to see it.

All the best,
Mark
 
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