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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 :)

Portable Lights for interview

For quality, I have to agree with Nick about using LEDS for tungsten. If I have to use them, I don't use them on people except for maybe hair. But to light something in the background, they're OK. Kino's in my mind are a great but are hard to travel with. But, the Barfly 100 is very small and puts out daylight or tungsten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlyuzLw7zdg
 
So if the Leds are mostly good for daylight. That makes them less useful inside, right? Unless you have one of the main lights being the window, or?
Sounds useful to bring it into the forest for getting some light on faces or details like insects and flowers.
/Andreas
 
Bob Gundu said:
For quality, I have to agree with Nick about using LEDS for tungsten. If I have to use them, I don't use them on people except for maybe hair. But to light something in the background, they're OK. Kino's in my mind are a great but are hard to travel with. But, the Barfly 100 is very small and puts out daylight or tungsten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlyuzLw7zdg
Click to expand...

Depends on the LED unit you're using. I have a couple of the Kino Celeb 200 units. They are adjustable from 2700K to 5500K, but are not inexpensive, so probably out of the question for this particular shoot. However, they're AC or DC operable and are fantastic for interview setups.
 
@ Andreas -I shoot almost all day interiors at daylight because there are always windows in the shot, and they are 90% of the time the brightest source of illumination in the scene. If I have the crew and the budget, I'll shot large HMIs through the windows, and fill accordingly. On smaller things, I still go daylight, I just use LEDs inside the house instead of HMIs outside. I only ever shoot tungsten for night interiors, or very controlled scenes with no windows.

@Mark- yeah, some of the new ones are pretty damn good. I did a spot a few months ago with the Lowell LEDs and I was pretty impressed with them. Big and expensive though. I'll have to look at the Kinos. I have just never been a fan. I always thought the skin tones looked weird (I know I am sitting here talking about LEDs and damning kinos for skin tones, makes no sense), and they just scream news set up to me. It's like 20/20 lighting 101, set up the kino package ;-) But I'll definitely take a look. For tungsten though, I just grab a 750 softlight. Boom. Done. Eggcrate. Small, light, tough as nails. I just use tungsten when I need tungsten. Maybe my kino distaste is based on 15 years ago and it's time to reconsider .............

Nick
 
Nick, I hear ya. I went to NAB last year looking for an LED solution worth considering because I wasn't impressed with anything prior for my needs. The Celebs are just the ticket for what they do. I will always love the warmth of a nice tungsten lamp and continue to use them in combination with the Kinos. I'm not a fan of schlepping tubes, swapping in and out to correct color. The LED fixtures solve that for me and they actually look great for a soft light. First ones I've seen that didn't have that LED look we've all come to know and hate. I was wanting the benefits of LED, especially the low heat levels for interviews. People are much more comfortable under them versus hot lights.

But it will always remain important to keep an arsenal of options at hand for lighting.
 
Jason Ano said:
I just picked up an LED ring light from here: http://www.fvlighting.com/store/lighting/led/r300.html. I saw this review and I jumped on it: http://oliviatech.com/samples-from-fv-r-300-led-ring-light-and-comparison-with-600-led-panel-2 It's bright and super compact. I'll be doing an interview with it in a week or so. I'll be happy to post some r3ds.
Click to expand...

Please post what you find Jason. Its super small. I wonder if its strong enough though. Do you think it's flicker free in slow motion? Are LEDs in general flicker free or is it a difference between brands?
Best
/Andreas
 
On a side note, I am watching "Cave of Forgotten Dreams". They are walking around with 1x1 led panels ;-)

Nick
 
AndreasOberg said:
What do you guys think of led lights vs tungesten lights? (hope I'm not stepping on an ant hill here!).
As far as I can see

Led
+ Soft by default
+ very efficient for batteries
+ easy to travel with
- doesnt have the full color spectrum, or has this changed. So a bit less pleasing color
- not possible to focus the light beam as some other lights can

Any other that I have missed?
I guess the best would be to have both leds and other lights. Maybe begin with 1 or 2 led lights for these shots.
Also how important is it to have bicolor? I have no experience with temperature with lights.
/Andreas
Click to expand...


Earlier I mentioned the lights I did because of some of the issues you've mentioned! I trust that is alright...

LEDs are getting better and better. This is why nearly EVERY "traditional" lighting company are now manufacturing these instruments. I think the color issues have been resolved on newer models; but that varies from company to company.

Let's say this... a "rep" the LED company that started this whole crazy STRONGLY advised me against going "bi-color" a few years back. I'm SO GLAD THEY DID! When you purchase an LED that has this ability... you effectively will now get 50% of it's possibilities in total light output in both configurations: daylight and tungsten. Why? Because every other bulb is the opposite! This allows the user to dial in one, the other or anything in between... but limits the total light output. I've personally had better results going all daylight and then using CTO to change to tungsten if necessary! The loss isn't as great either.

In the jungle and these cages: I believe the lights may be a distraction to your animals. I've had similar issues in the past shooting for Animal Planet. Instead... we used a faster ISO, a faster lens, and a wider aperture. What lenses will you use? What is the max F-stop? Say, if it's an F2.8... can you get F2.0 lenses instead? Even better... how about an F1.8 or an F1.4? This will help TREMENDOUSLY! You'll be able to use more 'available light' in these situations. You're right... these are dark environments... but faster lenses can help in this situation. Don't forget about using still primes in these instances! They may be your best friend! The F1.4 lenses are typically VERY small, compared to their PL counterparts. It may be a bit trickier to focus... I suggest some testing and practice.

In terms of using lights and high speed... I would STRONGLY suggest you test ANYTHING you'll use in the field before you go out, and use them in the same circumstances and set ups... you may find the "less expensive" lights won't allow for what you need to accomplish. Perhaps it's better to rent lights than to purchase. Many rental houses do "week" or even "month" rates!

Good luck!
 
Is there anywhere in Europe where I can purchase these big LED panels. I have found litepanels but they cost 3000$. Would be great to find anything for $400-500. As I can see orders from China can take 2-5 weeks to arrive and then we will miss our shoot I'm afraid.
Ordering from USA could work as well, but it's much more messy with import.

Thanks!
/Andreas
 
Mark-André Voss said:
Yes, our lights are flicker free which we also tested with a Phantom camera for example. It's not a general property of LED lights but a feature of a good circuit design.
Click to expand...

That sounds great Mark. Good to hear you have an office in Europe, sometimes it's so hard to purchase cinema equipment in Europe.
/Andreas
 
Mark-André Voss said:
Yes, our lights are flicker free which we also tested with a Phantom camera for example. It's not a general property of LED lights but a feature of a good circuit design.
Click to expand...

Mark how do your K4000's compare to Lite Panels 1x1s? Also, do you have any sample footage of how they look on skin with your ingenious milk white diffusion filter?

Thanks, and Happy New Year.
 
Nick Morrison said:
Mark how do your K4000's compare to Lite Panels 1x1s? Also, do you have any sample footage of how they look on skin with your ingenious milk white diffusion filter?

Thanks, and Happy New Year.
Click to expand...

Nick,
Mark is sending K4000 set and ring lite (coming week). If you interested, Please come by, I am Times Square location.
If anyone is interested please check following open thread for more;

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...dgets-in-NYC&p=1131421&highlight=#post1131421

cheers
 
I've never shot with Led but thinking about it, I'd like the idea of having 3 panels which I can move easily and use for different set-up.
I also like the idea of being able to add a chimera softbox to the panel.
Sorry to hijack this thread but what is the main difference between a 1500$ Litepanel and a 900$ led Panel from FV Light?
 
vincent kardasik said:
Sorry to hijack this thread but what is the main difference between a 1500$ Litepanel and a 900$ led Panel from FV Light?
Click to expand...
Actually the LED Panels from FV Light cost about $450 http://www.fvlighting.com/store/lighting/led/k4000.html.

After some research it doesn't look to me that the difference is at all as big as the price would warrant. I have decided to use the FV Lights. All previews I have seen are good and their support is very helpful. I also like several of their solutions with magnetic snap on filters and the mikly white diffuser that they have for some lights. I'm sure litepanels are good but I suspect one of the reasons for their price is that they were among the first (or first?) to offer LED panels.

I think FV lights will be a sure bet, but I will write more about them after testing them some. The have several clever products.
Best!
/Andreas
 
AndreasOberg said:
Actually the LED Panels from FV Light cost about $450 http://www.fvlighting.com/store/lighting/led/k4000.html.

After some research it doesn't look to me that the difference is at all as big as the price would warrant. I have decided to use the FV Lights. All previews I have seen are good and their support is very helpful. I also like several of their solutions with magnetic snap on filters and the mikly white diffuser that they have for some lights. I'm sure litepanels are good but I suspect one of the reasons for their price is that they were among the first (or first?) to offer LED panels.

I think FV lights will be a sure bet, but I will write more about them after testing them some. The have several clever products.
Best!
/Andreas
Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer Andreas.
I might invest in these FV Lights, just curious to know what kind of accessories we can adapt on it, I'd like to know if the Chimera LED softbox works on it.
Looking forward to your feedback on these ones.
 
vincent kardasik said:
Thanks for your answer Andreas.
I might invest in these FV Lights, just curious to know what kind of accessories we can adapt on it, I'd like to know if the Chimera LED softbox works on it.
Looking forward to your feedback on these ones.
Click to expand...

Yea, I will be sure to use write what I find out about. Will test them in some very cool environments. Really looking forward to testing them both during the night and during the day.
Regarding barn doors, I need to test it myself. However i have heard that the barn doors can introduce some reflections so are not always good. Looking forward to test them out!
Best,
Andreas
 
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