Remote Phosphor Lighting, which one?

[Mark K.]

Hi guys,

Like many here I'm very excited about the possibilities of remote phosphor LED lighting (great colour, great output, low wattage, battery powering).

But with no local stockists, I'm unable to have a proper look at either of the two current options; namely, the Cineo Trucolor LS and HS models, and the BBS Area 48 (if anyone knows of other brands options that are available at the moment please let me know!).

As far as I can tell the Trucolor LS and the Area 48 should be roughly similar in output, I believe the Area 48 draws 160w and the Trucolor 150w (though don't quote me on that the specs are buried kinda deep for both products) but I can't find consistent photometrics for both to compare them properly. The Trucolor HS has a much higher output obviously, but it's also in a much higher price bracket.

The Trucolor is cheaper, but has a separate ballast; and the Area 48 is a little more expensive but you can clip a battery right on the back of it to keep the unit self-contained.

If anyone's had a chance to see both lights (at a trade show or elsewhere) I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[PC Greene]

Just worked on a job with the TS light. Worked a treat. Am also very interested in battery powered mode of soft 48 though I understand it doesn't output nearly as much light...

 

[David Kuhn]

Just worked on a job with the TS light. Worked a treat. Am also very interested in battery powered mode of soft 48 though I understand it doesn't output nearly as much light...

There are a number of redusers with the Area 48 so you should get some battery power feedback. I ordered one a couple weeks ago with Bebob high draw batteries so hopefully there won't be TOO much intensity dropoff.

 

[D Anderson]

Is there bi-color remote phosphor available? I can't recall seeing any.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Nope. But... you simply swap out the front panel for whatever color temperature you need, including chromakey green.

Is there bi-color remote phosphor available? I can't recall seeing any.

 

[Jason Diamond]

Hi guys,

Like many here I'm very excited about the possibilities of remote phosphor LED lighting (great colour, great output, low wattage, battery powering).

But with no local stockists, I'm unable to have a proper look at either of the two current options; namely, the Cineo Trucolor LS and HS models, and the BBS Area 48 (if anyone knows of other brands options that are available at the moment please let me know!).

As far as I can tell the Trucolor LS and the Area 48 should be roughly similar in output, I believe the Area 48 draws 160w and the Trucolor 150w (though don't quote me on that the specs are buried kinda deep for both products) but I can't find consistent photometrics for both to compare them properly. The Trucolor HS has a much higher output obviously, but it's also in a much higher price bracket.

The Trucolor is cheaper, but has a separate ballast; and the Area 48 is a little more expensive but you can clip a battery right on the back of it to keep the unit self-contained.

If anyone's had a chance to see both lights (at a trade show or elsewhere) I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers,

Mark

We bought 2 of the Area 48's and love them. I believe the Area 48 draws 150-160w and we found the 5600k board to read a little closer to 5000k but it's soft even light thats really nice.

 

[Nick Fury]

Just worked on a job with the TS light. Worked a treat. Am also very interested in battery powered mode of soft 48 though I understand it doesn't output nearly as much light...

Hi,

The Area 48 lights run for 1hr. 21minutes at 100% level, with two linked PaAG Pl96 e batteries, freshly charged.

The lights can run but at lower power max one one 96 Wh battery by self regulating but I use the two linked as they are light and want the full illumination capability of the light hand as well as the capacity to hot swap the linked second battery.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[Nathan Pardee]

Hello everyone,

I am in the market to purchase two of either the Trucolor LS lights or the Area 48 lights.

I have some questions about the two units and would love to hear any experiences from owners or users of either system.


•First and foremost, how do the two lights compare usability wise in the field? Is the LS ballast ever an issue? Does either light tend to generate more heat than it should after prolonged usage?

•I know that BBS has a 1- or 2- light case for the Area 48s, but what solutions have people found for cases for the Trucolor LS? Is it possible to fit two of either light in a carry on case like the Think Tank airport security?

•The Trucolor LS is the more affordable option, and seems a beautiful deal for the light. What do those extra dollars go towards on the Area 48? Anything noticeable?

•Accessories wise, what are your experiences with either light? Are there enough on-light cutting/diffusion options? I saw the Area 48 barn door clip on softbox and loved it, but what is the Trucolor equivalent?

•Any customer service experiences on either end?


Thanks guys, looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Lots of good info here on the Area 48... http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?97068-The-quot-LED-quot-light-Group-Buy

 

[Mark K.]

Thanks for your thoughts fellas! How would you say the light output and versatility of these units compares to an industry standard like the Kino Flo 401 units?

 

[PC Greene]

That's great...which makes offer this?

Nope. But... you simply swap out the front panel for whatever color temperature you need, including chromakey green.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

That's great...which makes offer this?

Area 48

 

[Bob Gundu]

That's great...which makes offer this?

Any phosphor based lighting will have the option to change the phosphor panel.

 

[Neil W. Smith]

Area 48 remote phosphor LED lights

Area 48 remote phosphor LED lights

We had the pleasure of doing the post on Ketch's 'The Red Dress' project ... first time we've graded something shot on the DRAGON ... Ketch used the Area 48 LED lights .... what an amazing combination ... very clean and pretty light especially on skin tones ... we dialed in the Whitepoint to 5600 in RCX-P and switched to RedGamma3 and RedFlimLog and the image quality was superb! ... best looking RED skin-tones we've ever worked with and we've graded every RED camera since day #1.

If you're thinking of upgrading to DRAGON you should definitely check out the Area 48/DRAGON combination ... something quite magical about the way the two interact ... spectral sensitivity of the DRAGON sensor and the purity of the Area 48 light seems to be very complimentary from a post-production point of view.

Neil

 

[Nick Fury]

We had the pleasure of doing the post on Ketch's 'The Red Dress' project ... first time we've graded something shot on the DRAGON ... Ketch used the Area 48 LED lights .... what an amazing combination ... very clean and pretty light especially on skin tones ... we dialed in the Whitepoint to 5600 in RCX-P and switched to RedGamma3 and RedFlimLog and the image quality was superb! ... best looking RED skin-tones we've ever worked with and we've graded every RED camera since day #1.

If you're thinking of upgrading to DRAGON you should definitely check out the Area 48/DRAGON combination ... something quite magical about the way the two interact ... spectral sensitivity of the DRAGON sensor and the purity of the Area 48 light seems to be very complimentary from a post-production point of view.

Neil

Hi Neil,

have you had occasion to assess the magic between the the Area 48's and the Epic X? I know Ketch has extolled the virtues of this amalgam.

Thank you very much

Fury

 

[Neil W. Smith]

A new aesthetic ...

A new aesthetic ...

Hi Neil,

have you had occasion to assess the magic between the the Area 48's and the Epic X? I know Ketch has extolled the virtues of this amalgam.

Thank you very much

Fury

Not knowingly, Nick ... don't usually ask the DP what lights he used (always ask about the lenses) but in this case there was something quite uncanny about how delicate and sensitive the light appeared in 'The Red Dress' that I asked Ketch about it and he explained why he chose the Area 48 LEDs ... Ketch is a very knowledgeable cinematographer and 'painter of light' and his choice was based on both his artistic vision and his deep understanding of the interplay between the spectral qualities of the Area 48 lights and the RED sensor ... Ketch explains it way better than I ever could in the post-prodcucton section of the BTS interview we did with him after we finished grading his project.

The other factor to take into account is of course the choice of glass .. Ketch went for the Leicas (as did Fincher and Jeff on 'Gone Girl') ... very clean image which goes well with prettiness of the Area 48s and of course the resolving power of the DRAGON sensor.

I said to Blair Paulsen after we'd had a chance to really study the 'Red Dress' footage that I think that this combination is almost a new aesthetic in the art of digital filmmaking ... some people might not like the look and the feel of this clean delicate style but personally I think it's quite beautiful.

As I say, Ketch explains it all much better than I do in his BTS interview.

Neil

 

[Nick Fury]

Hi Neil,

That's the thing. Ketch AFAIK was going to shoot Epic until just before the production began and certainly for months he was using the Area 48's with Epic. Just wondered if he had sent you any of his work with that combo

ay any rate he was ready to shoot as such. Right ketch?

 

[Mark K.]

No one can speak for how RP units compare to conventional flourescent softlights?

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

I recently purchased the Cineo / Trucolor HS & LS units.

Opinion comparing remote phosphor to fluorescent: I prefer the remote phosphor. Some reasons:

Impressive output - one HS fixture exceeds the lumen output of a 2K soft using less than 500 watts AC.

Better visual feel to the light.

Higher CRI - up to 97 at 4300K

Swapping panels versus bulbs to change color temp - very fast - panels are also easier to transport than bulbs.

Has both local and DMX512 dimming. If you want, you can control your entire setup with a board.
Note: DMX control is on the ballast which can be as far as 100' away from the fixture.

100% flicker free.

Build quality is excellent - they will outlast me.



Disadvantage versus Kino's:

Weight. 14 lbs each for the fixture and ballast. I'm more comfortable flying a Diva at the end of a boom arm - an HS, no. Have not tried flying one of the LS yet - outputs would be a better comparison. (Fixture is under 5 lbs.)


About cases: I was aware of some cases made for the HS units when they first came out. Since then, the ballast was redesigned. Have not seen anything new yet. Might place an order for a custom case soon.

I have not had a chance to work with both the BBS A48 and Cineo HS side by side but look forward to the opportunity.
An advantage (for now) with the BBS units is the ability to run off batteries.
Cineo has something in the pipeline but no announcement of a release date yet.

They do have a different RP called the Foton which is AC or DC, but this is in a different class usage than the others.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

We had the pleasure of doing the post on Ketch's 'The Red Dress' project ... first time we've graded something shot on the DRAGON ... Ketch used the Area 48 LED lights .... what an amazing combination ... very clean and pretty light especially on skin tones ... we dialed in the Whitepoint to 5600 in RCX-P and switched to RedGamma3 and RedFlimLog and the image quality was superb! ... best looking RED skin-tones we've ever worked with and we've graded every RED camera since day #1.

If you're thinking of upgrading to DRAGON you should definitely check out the Area 48/DRAGON combination ... something quite magical about the way the two interact ... spectral sensitivity of the DRAGON sensor and the purity of the Area 48 light seems to be very complimentary from a post-production point of view.

Neil

Hi Neil,

have you had occasion to assess the magic between the the Area 48's and the Epic X? I know Ketch has extolled the virtues of this amalgam.

Thank you very much

Fury

Not knowingly, Nick ... don't usually ask the DP what lights he used (always ask about the lenses) but in this case there was something quite uncanny about how delicate and sensitive the light appeared in 'The Red Dress' that I asked Ketch about it and he explained why he chose the Area 48 LEDs ... Ketch is a very knowledgeable cinematographer and 'painter of light' and his choice was based on both his artistic vision and his deep understanding of the interplay between the spectral qualities of the Area 48 lights and the RED sensor ... Ketch explains it way better than I ever could in the post-prodcucton section of the BTS interview we did with him after we finished grading his project.

The other factor to take into account is of course the choice of glass .. Ketch went for the Leicas (as did Fincher and Jeff on 'Gone Girl') ... very clean image which goes well with prettiness of the Area 48s and of course the resolving power of the DRAGON sensor.

I said to Blair Paulsen after we'd had a chance to really study the 'Red Dress' footage that I think that this combination is almost a new aesthetic in the art of digital filmmaking ... some people might not like the look and the feel of this clean delicate style but personally I think it's quite beautiful.

As I say, Ketch explains it all much better than I do in his BTS interview.

Neil

Hi Neil,

That's the thing. Ketch AFAIK was going to shoot Epic until just before the production began and certainly for months he was using the Area 48's with Epic. Just wondered if he had sent you any of his work with that combo

ay any rate he was ready to shoot as such. Right ketch?

No one can speak for how RP units compare to conventional flourescent softlights?

When I make decisions on lights, to me is always a matter of quality of light output, a light needs to have the cleanest and most pure withes, (I only use 5600k daylight) it needs to be evenly spread, and have a decent trow, for the LED choice, needed to definitely be better then any fluorescent fixtures, and the Area 48 blow away any Kino any day, also I wanted portability, and the Area 48 have a Battery Module in the back that you can leave on or remove as needed, I went with V-Lock battery plate, but it also comes in the AB version, Barndoors, SoftBox (SnapBag), OneyComb Eggcrate (Snap Grid) accessories are also available for the Area 48, as well as soft carry bags, which make this fixture ever more desirable.

I have shot the Red Epic MX RGB, Monochrome, and now also the Dragon and the Area 48 delivered beautifully in all sensors.

They are extremely kind to Skin tones, and do have the trow no other LED fixture has, additionally they have absolutely NO flickering issues at any frame per seconds for slow motion, and also great for Macro work.

The BTS vid interviews Neil talks about can be seen in my YouTubeChannel and many BTS pics on my facebook page.