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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

Thanks Carlos for your kind words!

Definitely not easy to get people to work quickly these days. That's about the size of the target we're shooting for on the ring light.

When I was initially thinking about this one, I was thinking in terms of RED customers, since I am one, and what they would want. Whether it would be a lens mount or rod mount type of design. I thought most RED customers would prefer the rod mount kind but we will eventually do a lens mount accessory as well for all the cameras out there which don't use rods in the normal course of their use. Just this rod mount alone makes it quite a bit more complicated of course.

By the way, when I tried the acrylic, edge lit panel, it still produces the famous effect but it is much weaker in output and much softer too than the direct LED version would be of course. So you'd have to be much closer to your subject than with the other one.
 
Im torn between getting an LED kit (650 & 250) or the HMI kit (150 & 70).
The sticking point seems to be the life of the products. With the HMI, if a bulb goes after 5000 hrs I can always replace it. If an LED unit goes, I have to purchase a whole new light. Can you illuminate (sorry) any fallacies in this way of thinking. Thanks again for your valuable input.
 
Something else to consider is the quality of light- the HMI's will give you a nice hard light source so you can get hard shadows and easily control the light. The LEDs- from what I understand- will give you a soft-er light that will have softer, less defined shadows and soft light is generally harder to control.
 
Different tools for different jobs. My preference as of late is for big soft sources- which is why the 2500 is of interest to me. However, there are many times when a nice hard light is needed. So it really comes down to your own style and preferences...
 
As an editor for 30 years (and a cameraman when I started out in video) when it comes to using lights...I have no style...yet. ;-) I have a feeling corporate / interviews will be where I start shooting and lighting (as opposed to 35mm film shoots as an editor). Hard times in video land have motivated me to rally my skills (editing / motion graphics/ camera on a jib / camera on a Glidecam X-10). Lighting is the last major purchase to be made and as I invest future retirement funds, I want to make sure I spend the money wisely!
 
My suggestion for you would be to rent first, and then to buy. Renting will allow you to play with different gear before committing the retirement funds- which will save you money and heart ache in the long run. It will also allow you to play with some tools you might not otherwise get to play with.

But when you do know what you want to buy- you can feel confident buying from Richard. I've bought from him in the past, and will do so in the future. He has the best price / performance on gear- and he has GREAT customer service. (Which is as important to me as the actual gear.)
 
I would definitely support Ryan in what he says about Richard and his company.
You are in good hands, he always finds the time to listen to his clients.
 
Shot yesterday evening

Shot yesterday evening

Here a sample of yesterday's night shot.
2 x 600 at minimum power, and a little HM100 JVC. battery powered. 4 minutes to place them. It is a little bit too sharp because the HM100 is too sharp.
Far better in my opinion than too soft fluo, or too hard fresnels for this kind of job.


Olivier
 

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Thanks guys.

Olivier you're right, looks great. Look at that detail and I don't think its too sharp. Looks like you were filming a 'drame policier' ;-).

Martin, probably depends upon the low light performance of the JVC which may be pretty good and therefore not much light needed is my guess, we'll see what Olivier says about that.
 
Martin Weiss said:
Whoops, there was a spelling mistake which changed the nature of my question. What I meant was to ask, why did he use 2 fixture at minimum power, and not just a single fixture with a bit more juice?
Click to expand...

I put the light at the minimum to try to use the very little light from the street (but it is nearly zero, so it is not very demonstrative...), and with this very small JVC (1/4 inch !!) if you want to have some DOF, you have to be wide open.

What I like is that the face has more power than with fluo but no hard shadow (like the one that the noze can provide). No need to use a big box (even if I planed to buy the one that Richard has done, not especially to soft the light, but to make it easier for the subject to watch if the leds are near the axis of the subject's eyes).


Olivier


Olivier
 

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Here are some frames from a commercial i shot 2 days ago:

igkl1ir88h.jpg

cep2vveqe3.jpg

cjf04gn8du.jpg

txrktvx6dq.jpg


This was the second time i used 100% LED lights for a commercial shoot. Everybody loved them! Setup time was ultra fast and this influenced everything in a positive way. We finished earlier. The talents didn't get tired or hot. We didn't need a generator.

Footage was 3K 2:1 60fps
 
Miltos Pilalitos said:
Here are some frames from a commercial i shot 2 days ago:

igkl1ir88h.jpg

cep2vveqe3.jpg

cjf04gn8du.jpg

txrktvx6dq.jpg


This was the second time i used 100% LED lights for a commercial shoot. Everybody loved them! Setup time was ultra fast and this influenced everything in a positive way. We finished earlier. The talents didn't get tired or hot. We didn't need a generator.

Footage was 3K 2:1 60fps
Click to expand...

Great !


How did you lit the background with Led ? Did you put 4 x 600 or more ?


Olivier
 
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