New inventory gear ????

[paulisphotoman]

I just started as Video Director for small company. I have 1 Red one, 2 HVX200's, have still to go through the lighting, as this is my first week.

I want to build a nice lighting dept (even if it's small), but am seeking info on anyone who's used LED kits (I've used FloLights), but any other lights that will be long lasting and Bi-color.

Your recommendations are welcome, thanks

 

[Run&Gun]

LED's are nice in certain situations, especially when power and speed/ease of set-up are issues, but I've found myself going back to tungsten when I shoot sit-down interviews ESPECIALLY in 24P. To my eye(and many others), you just can't beat the way tungsten renders skin tones. I have LED's and Kino's and love them, but I use them in mostly "video"/newsy situations(talkbacks/live shots, off-the-shoulder sound at sports events, etc.).

Just something to think about...

 

[paulisphotoman]

thanks R & G;
What about Sola LED's ?

 

[Douglas]

I've been 100% LED for almost three years now and wouldn't even consider lighting interviews with anything else.

http://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD_LEDDVD.html

 

[The Thing on The Sticks]

The newer LEDs are a big leap forward from what was around even a year and a half to two years ago. If you get one of the latest generation models with a CRI rating in the 95 range then you should have much better skin tone rendering and not have any green or magenta spike to speak of. I am not personally a fan of the light panels or any of the older models with the lower CRI ratings in the 80s or lower. Also the newer panels have a lot more kick to them which can be useful in a lot of situations.

But like everything it depends on what you are doing and I will personally default to my tungsten kit, as run and gun says for sit-downs and the like. Unless I am seeking one of the properties inherent to the led or am concerned about, speed/ heat or some other traditional concern.

PS. I am a personal believer in having most or all of the panels I buy as 5600k only and only having one bi color for situations where I need to mix on the fly.

Reason being that
1) you loose half of your output off a given panel by going bi color and can always gel a 5600k light to tungsten if need be.

And

2) you will rarely need the same output in an indoor shoot as you will when fighting the sun or any other type of daylight..... But then it does depend on what type of shoots you are doing, and how comfortable you are mixing light sources and color temps.

 

[Douglas]

PS. I am a personal believer in having most or all of the panels I buy as 5600k only and only having one bi color for situations where I need to mix on the fly.

I agree completely. I rarely use the bi-color feature on my lights that offer it. Almost everything I do is daylight balanced and you can't appreciate how liberating that is until you have unshackled yourself from the artificiality of tungsten light.

 

[Run&Gun]

Paul, if you're referring to the Litepanels Solas, I have a few Sola ENG top lights and I love them. The quality of light is great and you can dim and focus(spot/flood), as well. I do have a few nit-picks about the design, but I don't have any complaints about the quality of the light. But they are very proud of them, though. $$$

Something else, and I've mentioned this before on LED discussions, I would recommend sticking with the same brand for all of your LED fixtures, otherwise you're likely to run into problems with mismatching color between the different brands(one brand will be more green than another, etc). Although some of the higher end stuff(like Arri) actually let you dial in and out green.

 

[paulisphotoman]

hey guys, thanks for all your great input. It's feels sooo good to be back working in video production after getting laid off in the recession, esp since the world goes on without you.

I'm currently training on Premiere Pro CS6, so I haven't yet looked at our lighting/grip gear yet, but am wanting some LED field kits to use that are good, durable lights, preferable dual-color. Yes, keeping all lights from same manufacturer are key, esp since I know I have Lowell lights (Rifa kit)...

Sola lights I know are newer, but Lite Panels, including FloLights I have worked with and liked them, but those panels I know cannot be used for spot focus, only broad lights, so trying to figure out good lights that last.

 

[The Thing on The Sticks]

This is where lumens and foot candles come in handy. Not all 1x1 led panels are created equal in terms of output and a quick comparison of photo-metrics will show this.

Also like I mentioned in my earlier post. I see the green spike being less of an issue the higher up the CRI index you go and have personally mixed brands once or twice without any noticeable difference, so buy good panels now as they will be brighter and more easily mixed with other light sources.

 

[Starman]

Paul,

I suggest the Dracasts. I have had the Socanland Bi-color 1x1's and those are great especially when shooting indoors with mixed color temperatures, esp. reality and documentary/news shooting. However, I got the 1x1 daylight Dracast panels and they are great! It is probably somewhere around the equivalent of an 800watt, and a 90+ CRI. Dracast also just announced they are out with a Fersnel LED, and it's good to stick with one brand for color accuracy, as has been already mentioned on this forum.

 

[Flaca Productions]

check out zabolight.com - their high CRI lights have treated myself and a lot of other guys here on the west coast very well.

 

[Necktie Boy]

Been gone for a few days....

Yes, LED have gotten better, but still not as good as tungsten lighting. There is link on another thread where the Academy did a comparison with Litepanels and good ole tungsten lights. The charts and model don't lie. The test was done a few years ago, but the colors were much better with tungsten. The Litepanels did have a green spike.

For quick field setups, LED's are very good for that. But if you have the time to light well, tungsten lights is the way go. Call me old school, but have you seen a Hollywood film use LED's?

As for the LED, go 56k, spot. The spots are brighter, and gel for 32k when needed. Don't really see the advantage of bi-color. If you are going to be shooting in inside, most of time, 56k should work.

 

[Tv Shooter]

Call me old school, but have you seen a Hollywood film use LED's?

Quite a few actually. Need for Speed used a lot of the Aadynn lights, especially on car dolly shots. Lot of Nila fixtures showing up as well, along with newer Mole and Arris. LED....not just for news anymore.

 

[paulisphotoman]

What I'm thinking about is this;
Use the Lowell lights we already have, for indoor interviews.
Buy some good durable LED's, bi-color for outdoor use, also use to compliment
the Lowell lights. I see we only have one Lowell Kit (Pro Light, Tota, Rifa), but need more to compliment this kit.

I like LED's, since I worked with FloLights too, but want to produce UHD images.
We do a lot of sports, plus trying to expand client base.

 

[paulisphotoman]

What about additional tungsten gear ??
Since I'm using Lowell, I'd like to mix in Arri too.....
What are the good Arri portable kits out now ??

 

[Necktie Boy]

TV Shooter,

Are those like really pricey lights? But most films are still tungsten and HMI lighting.

 

[Necktie Boy]

As for more tungsten instruments, fresnels? Can't go wrong with them. Nice quality lighting. No one mentioned Kino's?

 

[paulisphotoman]

I've worked with Arri kits before, but that was about 6 yrs ago (prior recession).
I have done some good work with Lowell kits (Rifas), but with the LED lights, I like the quality and long lasting nature to them, plus not as hot....Sola's and some LED's lite-panels are on my radar right now...

 

[paulisphotoman]

Are bi-color LED's NOT worth it, or as always, is usefulness in the eye of the beholder, personal preference ?

 

[The Thing on The Sticks]

Are bi-color LED's NOT worth it, or as always, is usefulness in the eye of the beholder, personal preference ?

I would say they are not for the most part unless you need to match weird color temps often. By going bi color you will automatically lose 1/2 of a given panels potential light output due to the fact that the LEDs putting out the light have to be either 3200 or 5600 and don't do both.

As I mentioned before when thinking about LED panels you generally want higher lumen counts as that equates to higher output and longer throws for the light. Also unlike tungsten, HMI, or florescent fixtures you can dim an LED without a color shift so a panel that say has the potential to output like a 1k tungsten can also be used in place of a 100/200/300 etc watt fixture.

The real drawback with the non fresnel led units is the fact that they throw a soft light and can't be used for a hard beam like a traditional tungsten light. But hey you can always mix and match just throw in some CTO or CTB depending on what the predominate light source is.