light Panels

goodfoot

Well-known member
Looking into some LED 1'x1' panels, primarily for indoor interviews but more often with mixed light (offices with big windows etc). I would also use them for live shots and standups in the pre dawn hours and for a chin light during the daytime.

The lights I'm looking at are the color variable flood, but since they use half tungsten and half daylight bulbs does that mean you only get half the output than that of the dedicated daylight unit? Any feedback for either light is appreciated :)

variable temp
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/608411-REG/Litepanels_LP1_BCF_1X1_Bi_Color_Variable_Color.html

fixed temp (daylight)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/708732-REG/Litepanels_LP1_MF_1_x_1_Mono.html

Thanks!
 

Douglas

Well-known member
The output of all the LED lights I've used stays pretty constant when you vary the color temperature. As one set of bulbs fade away, another set fades up, thus keeping the overall intensity close to constant.

I have some variable LED lights but rarely use the "warm" setting. Although it is convenient sometimes to add a little touch of warmth to a daylight-ablanced shot, a better way is to warm it up via cheating the white balance so the whole shot gets warmer. If I had to do it over again I'd save the money and just buy lights that can do daylight only. That's all I ever use.

BTW, I have a training DVD on LED lighting for interviews that might be worth viewing before you sink tons of money into lights that may not meet your needs.
http://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD_LEDDVD.html

And if you don't have the money to invest in decent LED lights, with a variety of types of intruments, then stay with tungsten. You can't beat tungsten for bang for the buck.
http://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD_ILDVD.html
 

Douglas

Well-known member
I would take that review with a grain of salt. As someone who has gone 100% LED, and owns that exact light he is complaining about, I can tell you that he is sufferering from a bad case of ignorance. He's either got an axe to grind or he just has no idea how to use a professional light. Knowing HOW to use a light is the key (pun).
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
Doug...just took at look at your overview video for the LED DVD - beautifully done. Going to put one in my shopping cart before the month is out! I've been considering dumping my tungsten kit and going all LED but was hesitant...once I check out your DVD I'll make the final decision.
 

Ruff

Well-known member
Doug's DVD is great. I got a copy as I live in a small town with no lighting or camera stores. It was a great way to see the units I was thinking of buying. Lot's of good advice and tips in there.
 

goodfoot

Well-known member
Thanks all!

Doug, since you own the light, maybe you can answer a question for me. When you set the variable temp light to full daylight, is the amount of light thrown out equal to the amount you would get from one of the daylight only models? I figure in both types of 1x1 units there are a fixed number of bulbs. Since the variable temp version has half the bulbs dedicated to tungsten (which are completely off when you have it set to daylight) then it seems like it whould only be half the power than the version with all daylight balanced bulbs in it. (which are all always on) I'd hate to give up half the power of the light for the convenience of not needing color correction.

By the way, great site and video!
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Cyndy, Ben, and Goodfoot, thank you very much for the nice comments. It is very much appreciated.

Goodfoot, the strength of the light from my bi-color Litepanels 1x1 and my bi-color Litepanels Croma lights (I have three of those) is always constant regardless of the color temperature mix.

And, and according to the specifications, the output from a bi-color 1x1 is supposed to be equal to that of a day-light only model. I assume that is why the bi-color costs more. But I can't actually confirm that they are equal because one of my 1x1's is a flood and the other is a spot -- so those lights are not equal.

If you take a look at this pdf on the Litepanels website you will see that it confirms that bi-color vs. single color makes no difference in output strength.
http://www.litepanels.com/language/images/lp_1x1_brochure_2010.pdf

Also, I said earlier that if I had to do it over again, I would buy daylight-only lights instead of bi-color. I would add to that comment that if I was buying lights today, I would also buy the less expensive LS series 1x1 lights that don't have DMX capability. http://www.litepanels.com/language/pages/onebyone_ls.php

And instead of bi-color Croma lights, I would buy one bi-color Croma and three daylight-only Lumas. Sometimes it's nice to be able to add a little warmth with one Croma, but daylight is fine for the other two.
 

Wheatstone Bridge

Well-known member
Ordering right now. .

. . . I am ordering the DVD right now Doug , I've already got your other lighting DVD and also the Sony Ex3 DVD.

But still wating on the DVD that teaches how to do silhouette lighting.. . . .
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Wheatstone, thanks for ordering the DVD. I hope you enjoy it.

Silhouette lighting, huh? 60 Minutes used a shadow that was cast on a wall last night that worked very well.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
Thanks for a very entertaining afternoon Doug. Spent entirely on my computer (between stirring homemade turkey soup stock) listening to/viewing your LED lighting video. Can definitely see the advantages of going that route...and trying to either find a way to afford Lite Panels or (more likely) seeing what is out there that is a bit more affordable and in line with my budget. I realize the possible technical issues with other brands though. But going all LED is the direction I'll be going, thanks.
 

Douglas

Well-known member
Hi Cyndy, I'm glad that you found the instructional DVD helpful. Thank you very much for the feedback.

Speaking of budget, if I was to put my light kit together today, I would make a few different choices. First of all, Litepanels has a new line of less expensive 1x1 panels that don't have DMX control. I'd get those. I would also save some $ by not getting a bi-color 1x1 because I find myself using the daylight mode 99% of the time. Bi-color is nice, but probably not worth the extra cost. And finally, instead of the bi-color Croma light, I'd get a daylight-only Luma. I hope that helps.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
Thanks again Doug.

One thing that did and still does have me concerned is the lack of full spectrum from LEDs...I've looked at several studies/color charts and the LEDs fall short of what tungsten can do...some of the colors are not as intense.

Is this why you use your warming cards/to make up for that?
 

Douglas

Well-known member
No, I've been using WarmCards for 12 years with every camera I've owned and all types of lighting. I even use them for headshots and interviews outdoors -- even though daylight is as "full spectrum" as you can get.

The need for WarmCards doesn't derive from the type lighting, it derives from the fact that all the camera manufacturers have always engineered their cameras too look too cool on skin tones when a normal white card is used. I can't stand a normal white balance on faces, and manually dialing in a white balance doesn't work either because you aren't changing the green/magenta mix. The best way to cheat the white balance has always been, and always will be, to set a manual white balance with an off-white card such as those from WarmCards. http://www.vortexmedia.com/WC1.html


If the experts say that LEDs are missing part of the spectrum, I guess we'll have to take their word for it because none of us has the proper gear to test them. But what matters more to me is whether the "missing" wavelengths make any visible difference. I can't speak for all brands of lights, but with Litepanels it makes no difference -- as long as you white balance for the lights you're using and don't mix different types of lights. That's why I am 100% LED, and not just partly LED.

I have done a number of tests white balancing under tungsten vs. LED lights with the same test charts and the same neutral gray cards. The results show there is no visible difference to the eye or on my vectorscope. I invite anyone to do their own testing and see for themselves. As I said, the key is to white balance properly for the lights you're using.

The bottom line is that LEDs look no better and no worse than tungsten if you white balance properly.

But I will admit that LEDs don't produce nice looking skintones to the naked eye like tungsten lighting does. If you are just looking at a setup with your eyes, and not through the camera, I think LEDs are kind of ugly. But through the camera they are fine. Strange how that works, and it could be why LEDs have a bad rep from people who haven't seen what they look like through the lens of a properly white balanced camera. I made that same mistake of dismissing LEDs when I saw them on display in the booths at NAB. But once I put them to work, I saw the light (pun).
 
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Robin

Well-known member
Hi Doug

Thanks for your thoughts on LED lighting.. do you find the 1x1 flood panel is soft enough (for the average interview setup) or do you add diffusion.. I see that Chimera do a soft box for them.. have you ever used them..? any thoughts..

Thanks
 

Douglas

Well-known member
I usually find the 1x1 panels soft enough all by themselves, but the nice thing about LED lights is that you can diffuse them with anything you want because they generate no heat. I do have one of the Chimera soft boxes and it barely makes any difference at all. Save your money.
 

Robin

Well-known member
I usually find the 1x1 panels soft enough all by themselves, but the nice thing about LED lights is that you can diffuse them with anything you want because they generate no heat. I do have one of the Chimera soft boxes and it barely makes any difference at all. Save your money.
Ok thanks.. I did wonder as the box doesnt look to make the actual light source
that much bigger either..

Thanks for your time..
 

Douglas

Well-known member
The Chimera adds 50% more surface area to the light, and you'd think that would make a difference, but it really doesn't. What it does do is suck up a lot of the intensity, and that is not good.
 
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Lensmith

Member
A buddy of mine is in the process of changing out his entire lighting package to LEDs. Of course he looked at Litepanel as well as many other brands. Supplier he's dealing with says if he wants to by the lesser priced brands he should do it soon since the lawsuits Litepanels has going against all the other broadcast LED light fixture makers seems to be coming to a close. End result being fewer choices at a lower price and more paying a higher price in line with current Litepanel costs.

To be clear...Litepanels makes an excellent product. But some other manufacturers also make a good product at a considerably lower price. The supplier claims if one wants to buy other brands apart from Litepanel...they may want to do it soon. Of course, me being a cynic, I told my buddy it sounded more like the supplier making a sales pitch to hurry up the purchase but...just thought I'd throw it out there. ;)

Here's a rather bleak prediction from...a blogger (taken with a grain of salt)

http://blog.planet5d.com/2012/10/the-dark-side-of-led-panels-how-the-litepanels-led-patent-might-impact-filmmakers/

And this is directly from Litepanels about how they view the situation.

http://www.litepanels.com/ip.php
 
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