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LED set lights

sonnyboo

sonnyboo

I got a chance to beta test these lights on a short film shoot recently...

http://www.vimeo.com/27640030

They are kick ass. Bi-color LED lights that run off batteries for hours and are dimmable? Sign me up.

You can change the color temperature from tungsten to daylight or dim them all without cables. We did so many setups in a 3 hour shoot for what would normally be 7-8 hours.

Can any of you experienced guys out there take a look?
 
Thanks for posting, Sonny.

My first red flag is that he's not comparing it to Kinoflo's. That's a cheap fluo fixture. I've worked with them (have even owned two) and the quality of light is nothing in comparison to real Kino's.

In that comparison, the LED should win out for sure.

He should have compared to serious light if he's trying to make a point against traditional fluo's.

However, the LED is still more efficient either way: you should be able to run that on batteries, and adjusting color temp on the fly (while dangerous) can also be of some help.

Question for you, since you've messed with them: did the unit produce more green in the 5600 (daylight) spectrum requiring you to dial it down to something less daylight? And, how did 3200 ish perform? Added pink?
 
Thanks for that post sonny. I'm waiting for other expert analysis on this also. I'm used to using cheap 5600k lights. This looks like something I would want/afford. Can't afford Kinos yet
 
Kholi said:
Thanks for posting, Sonny.

My first red flag is that he's not comparing it to Kinoflo's. That's a cheap fluo fixture. I've worked with them (have even owned two) and the quality of light is nothing in comparison to real Kino's.
Click to expand...

The comparison was with a Kino Diva.... not a knock off. I was there for that shoot and I saw it with my own two eyes.
 
I've actually been looking around for something just like this, great post sonnyboo, I'm probably going to buy a dozen of these. Battery power conservation is a must for high mobility shoots like stock.
 
My biggest problem with the new LED lights coming out is the pattern they cast. The simple fact of having all those bulbs means that trying to shape the light isn't going to work. Do you see the double shadow that the LED is giving off and the Diva Lite doesn't? Also, because of how many bulbs are on an LED lite panel the light becomes very hard to control and the fixtures spill light everywhere. Most people think low wattage pull, bright, dimmable, bi-colored, and they think they have hit gold. I disagree. I think that they are good for a quick run and gun key, but thats about it. Not very versatile. Give me a 5k fresnel through bleached muslin any day. But that's just me.
 
Brooksy said:
Also, because of how many bulbs are on an LED lite panel the light becomes very hard to control and the fixtures spill light everywhere. Most people think low wattage pull, bright, dimmable, bi-colored, and they think they have hit gold. I disagree. I think that they are good for a quick run and gun key, but thats about it. Not very versatile.
Click to expand...


Check this out
http://www.vimeo.com/27671724

Here you see a quick demo of controlling the LED's pretty well. Using similar setups to a softlight kit, you can control the LED's, shape the light the same as any other.

Brooksy said:
Give me a 5k fresnel through bleached muslin any day. But that's just me.
Click to expand...

Give me something more green, conserves power, can be run off batteries and still look just as good without all the time to set them up, run cables, make sure you have enough power, etc. and I'll have my shoot done in 1/3rd the time at 1/20th the power and still look great....
 
LED panels are a great replacement for soft lights, but I would hate to be stuck with a kit consisting of only LEDs. Sometimes you need light with a longer throw or hard shadows.
 
Well, I wouldn't call that controlled at all. Take the "wall washer" light as he calls it in the video. There is no shape to that light. It is just spilling all over the place. That isn't control. I can't flood or spot in an LED. I can't black wrap an LED to give it a circular shape. It is very hard to make it gradate. I can't get hard shadows with it. With a 650 fresnel tweenie I can not only get very hard shadows making the image interesting, but I can put very heavy diffusion on that light and make it soft while still being able to control the look I want with the light. The LED is not an end all be all light. There is lots you can't do with it.


Have you ever seen "Cinematographer Style"? There is a part in that movie when Bill Dill, ASC, talks about what light HAS to do and then what it CAN do. If you want to work with LEDs and make the lighting do what it HAS to do then great, more power to you. But if you want to make the lighting do what it CAN do, then give me a fully loaded grip truck because the LEDs aren't going to work to give one the best image possible. I am not trying to make my movie as fast as I can. I am working on giving the best quality I can.

Perhaps we differ on opinion here because I am striving to become a cinematographer and I believe you are striving to become a producer/director. Either way those are just my thoughts/opinions.
 
This reminds me of the discussion as video took over from film.

Today, every time someone comes to the boards asking about
shooting film they are overwhelmed by people telling them NOT
to shoot film. Every change comes with resistance. And every
change takes time to reach its goal. LED lights are getting better
and better. Spotable, focusable.

Today, right now, there is no replacement for fresnel tweenie, but
the Sola6 is getting there.
 
Brooksy said:
The LED is not an end all be all light. There is lots you can't do with it.
Click to expand...

No, I agree with you on that - LED's are not the end all be all light. You are right that on a bigger shoot, I prefer to have the full grip truck, as LED's are not good for everything, but I don't think they are limited to just a fill light as you said before. I think we're more in agreement than it may have appeared.


Brooksy said:
Perhaps we differ on opinion here because I am striving to become a cinematographer and I believe you are striving to become a producer/director. Either way those are just my thoughts/opinions.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not really striving as much as making a living as a producer/director....

;)
 
Nice. I gaff for a living. Done any commercials that have played in Wisconsin here that I might have seen? Any films made it here that I can check out?
 
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