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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

News from Cool Lights

Besides my collection of Coollights CL-LED600 i also have a Flolight LED1000 unit from the time i was researching LED lights (I also have some litepanels).

The LED1000's output is slightly more powerful than the CL-LED600 but it's nowhere near as nicely built as the Coollights. That drove me into buying more Coollights although i was originally looking for the most powerful units.

The Flolights are very uneven. A friend of mine has 4 of them and they all have different CRIs meaning they all needed different kinds of correction so they all match with themselves (!!!). Also, after only a couple of shoots one of his dimmers failed. Lately, i have converted my friend into Coollights as well. :-)

Overall, in my opinion the Coolights are the best in the LED market. They are well built with lovely accessories and nicely packaged with a bag that makes life so more comfortable. The Softbox is fantastic too!
 
Richard Andrewski said:
Thanks for your comments Miltos! Wish I had some progress to report on your namesake fixture but we're still working on details.
Click to expand...

It's OK Richard! The Coollights 'Miltos' 2500 must be the greatest of them all so take your time and make it great!

(Just don't take toooo much time)

:biggrin:
 
Ya at my studio we have 2 kino flo wall-o-lites that we use as high center keys. Ofcourse all the lights I use are attached to a grid.

I don't how popular these lights are.

But yes I would be definetly interested a flo-space light.

It would need to be powerful enough as 2k tungsten unit though.
 
Will other brands of biax tubes work in your units?

Like the Osram brand?

I'm only asking because we have a large stock of these bulbs that we use for our other units.
 
Yes all types of 55w work, Osram, GE, Philips, Kino Flo and of course our own Cool Lights brand.

What I was thinking about developing at some point was a round, 40 x 55w fixture that would draw a bit over 2000w but would put out a similar power to a 6000 to 8000 watt spacelight and I think should be a similar quality of diffused light plus having it available in daylight as well which I think many would prefer these days. It would hang from a grid just like a space light and perhaps they could be hung from each other even to stack them, making taller sources if necessary. Would be great for lighting a multi-wall and floor covered green screen (or whatever color) area with nice flat even lighting, not generating the heat of course that your conventional space lights will.
 
That sounds perfect. Getting something that outputs like the power of a 6k but can be used in a 20amp circuit would be ideal. We own a couple of 2k tungsten space light units here and what I like about them so much is that they are compact in size. I just wrapped on a shoot yesterday where we used 8 6k tungsten space lights and they just ate up so much space.

Richard I would really like to see something like this developed by you. I know a lot of people who would be interested including myself.
 
Hey Richard,
Since you seem to have a high degree of knowledge on the subject of Leds, I am just curious about your opinion on the smd led ribbon with High output Leds. I saw them at HDexpo. They seemed to be quite bright. The viewing angle is 120 deg though, but that would be remedied with a reflective hood of some sort. Do you know how these Leds compare to the type you guys use? The only problem I could see with them is that they don't have too much of a throw. Are you experimenting with this type of led?
BTW, I don't believe that these are a competitor to your product, maybe a possible addition to a product line, at some point.
Thanks for your time and opinion,
Joshua

This is an example. I don't believe these are the higher output version.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002QQ1YOM
 
Michael, you're absolutely right and that's why I want to make a unit like that ;-). Lots of people need that and a round flo fixture of adequate output just doesn't exist. I doubt it would need further diffusion by the way, it probably would be great just by itself, tubes exposed.

Joshua, I have looked at SMD LEDs, its the product I'd most likely use if I was going to make an acrylic, edge lit panel like this one:

square1Cm.jpg


or this:

ring1Cm.jpg


Which those are prototypes we did but I haven't worked on the project in a while with other priorities at the moment. I do think they're weaker though than the 5mm ones we use today. The SMD ones are perfect however for something like the acrylic panel use. Something like that is what you want for lighting in a car for example or taped to the wall in a key spot on a set where you can't put other lighting. Not much throw or power though, even when all 4 edges are lit, so it really is a specialty type of light. I haven't seen the particular brand you linked to though, I just used an SMD we have access to from our suppliers.
 
The Particular brand that I say was from "litegear" . The way they were used was by sticking about 12 to 15 rows about 12 inches in length onto a piece of coruplast. It had a Dimmer that was in-line and a power suppy in-line. It was about 250 of the smd leds in approximately 12x12 square. Clearly not as bright as a Panel with 600 Leds. The Litgear ribbon is similarly priced as your one by panel but for about 300 LEDs (16ft of ribbon), a dimmer and a power supply, no fixture. It's a DIY type of thing. You can find the ribbon with smds all over the place but from the photometric specs I have seen they are not comparable, at least in light at a distance of 10 or so feet. I think it has to be the 120deg throw.
Thanks again
 
Yeah that should be an interesting project on the ring and I've got a more powerful 390 LED ring light too that needs to have the fixture finished (5 concentric rings of LEDs each with their own bank selection). So much to do, so little time. The acrylic panel ring light is a bit of a "head scratcher" too, on whats the best way to mount it. Some kind of clamp fitting I think which has an adapter to a rod system for example or some other kind of fitting that can gently clamp to the lens could work. Same issues on the larger, brighter ring light as well. So many different cameras out there, so many different possible configurations. I think though that two basic mounts, one to lens and 1 to rod system are what we want for the most versatile setup.
 
joshua gitersonke said:
The Particular brand that I say was from "litegear" . The way they were used was by sticking about 12 to 15 rows about 12 inches in length onto a piece of coruplast. It had a Dimmer that was in-line and a power suppy in-line. It was about 250 of the smd leds in approximately 12x12 square. Clearly not as bright as a Panel with 600 Leds. The Litgear ribbon is similarly priced as your one by panel but for about 300 LEDs (16ft of ribbon), a dimmer and a power supply, no fixture. It's a DIY type of thing. You can find the ribbon with smds all over the place but from the photometric specs I have seen they are not comparable, at least in light at a distance of 10 or so feet. I think it has to be the 120deg throw.
Thanks again
Click to expand...

Interesting idea with putting them on the corrugated. It is most definitely the 120 degree beam angle thats the issue. And is really why the SMD LEDS come out weaker. For some reason, they just can't do a much narrower beam angle on those. The 5mm types come out ahead because of this. Of course, we can get beam angles down to 10 degrees or so, now that's a bright LED, but not as usable as some though because you've got edge issues with weird coronas around the beam when it shines on the wall, etc.

If we did a 30 degree panel for example it would be brighter still than our current spot which is already about the brightest one out there of its size range. But you'd have to live with a bit of the corona issue though on the beam. Its the main reason I haven't gone to a 30 degree panel. But if we find an LED without the edge issues around the beam, I'll probably make one.
 
I'm looking forward to the 2500- any word on how things are progressing?

Also, is there any chance that the 600's can be mounted like this instead of being separated as they current mount has them?
 

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Still working on the LED 2500, not ready for any more releases on that.

On the mounting for the LED 600, I hadn't planned on any other mountings for the LED 600. Actually the LEDHBAR is well appreciated just as it is and I prefer it to that kind of mount you showed. You can individually angle adjust the LED 600 within its current multi-mount so that they aren't both pointed in the same direction.

That being said, I'm sure someone could come up with a DIY way of doing it by just making a frame similar to the one shown with a yoke on it. Then you could have as many in there as you wanted.
 
Interesting- I thought that the point of mounting them together was to get one bigger source rather then have multiple sources pointed different directions ... Which is why the mount I posted intrigues me- as it looks like it allows the lights to become one big source.

So what is the benefit of having them separate like that? Isn't it going to cause multiple shadows going in different directions?

From the sounds of it, it looks like the 2500 is going to do what I need it to- provide a bigger source with more punch.
 
Given that an LED light of any kind is already multiple sources and a large face emitting light, I don't think you're going to be able to tell the difference between having them butted up to each other or just a couple of inches away from each other. The shadow rendering of an LED unit of any kind will be about the same as a fluorescent--not very defined. The effect will be about the same, just as it would be with two fluorescent lights mounted a few inches from each other. The larger sources will be more soft than something like a halogen worklight double head which is two small point light sources. Then you'd see multiple shadows.
 
Good to know- thanks. :)
 
Hello Richard,

Just received my order of the 600s.. Incredible build & value!!!! As you know, I have more than several LED fixtures costing X3 as much but none are better!!! Ohh and the battery plate knocks it out of the park!!!Thanks for building a great unit at a great price!!!!

NOW HOW ABOUT THAT RING LIGHT??? 5600k spot with a diffuse & CC kit, 140-150mm opening & 19mm rod mount and you are good to go!!! I know it's not easy but I promise you will sell some units!!!

Cheers,
Prio
 
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