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View Full Version : Cheap 4 Point Accent LED Lighting - Solar Powered



egproductions
07-16-2006, 04:00 PM
I have been looking for accent lighting for on camera and in general and was thought i was set on building one myself because of ridiculous prices out there. I bumped into at costco this set of LED accent lights for the home garden and walkway. It was 49.99 and includes 4 led lights and the solar power panel. There are already batteries in there so no extra costs to you. The solar power charges the batteries and the light claims that a full day of charging in the sun will give you 10 hours of light! At first i thought i would just cut the wire or find a different adapter that i could plug them into and charge them with a camera battery in a cradle but after opening up the box and seeing how long the wires are it seemed pointless the solar panel acts as a very good central power source. Each light has 4 small LEDs with reflectors built in. I havent tried all 4 of them at once yet but from seeing the power one gives off i figure it will light a nighttime scene very nicely. THe lights are somewhat direct so you might want to still use a fill light for a room in general. The lights are made of cast aluminum and feel and look quit professional (they are made to sit outdoors all year round with no problem) The light needed to be diffused since the reflectors caused some annoying glares. as you can see i placed scotch tape over one of them and that diffuses it quit nicely without losing much light (later i am going to open all of them up and place the scotch tape neater inside, is there a better solution than scotch tape out there? - its good but want to know my options , maybe etching/frosting spray) Either way the blue look of LEDs annoy me personally so i am sure it will be ok when i get different colored cellophane to place over it for different shoots. In order for the power source to work it needs to detect that it is dark so to be sure your lights dont shut off on you, you can simply cover the photocell detector with some electrical tape or something. The base of the lights have a thread for spikes to shove int eh ground but some of you creative people can come up with something to use it for in order to support it on a tripod or stand of some sort. Overall i think these are a relatively cheap set of LEDs that offer a nice set up for people who cant bring themselves to build there own light sources and want a quick fix. Of course some people will still want to build there own for possibly cheaper or a brighter alternative.
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egproductions
07-16-2006, 04:01 PM
The pictures dont show it clearly but the solar panel is about 8"x6"