FloLight LED500 Light Review

MattinSTL said:
The ring light? I don't think it HAS to mount on the camera. I'm talking about a beauty light... not so much an ENG tool. I'm talking about a real light with significant punch... to do what a ring light does, but IF NEEDED, from a greater distance, so that rather then being strictly a gimmick in the kit, it can work alongside another LED-500 type light when you need another "real" light. Consider it a flat key, rather then a ring light. I'd be FIRST in line for one...
Click to expand...

Well thats considerably easier then. What size / diameter would you say is necessary for such a ring light? About 8 to 10 inches is my guess...

MattinSTL said:
Oh man... I almost forgot! Beware the push-button dimmers! AT LEAST be sure to check them out thoroughly! I've bought SIX different units like you mention and the dimming action creates PULSING in the light. It's not visible to the eye, but it's UNUSABLE on camera! There is a big difference in dimmers... so save yourself some $ and check them all at various shutter/frame rates before you commit to a production run.
Click to expand...

I have my own reservations about this too. Sounds like something that could go wrong. I never trust those digital logic circuits that operate off a push button like that as you can get noise in the circuit that confuses it and flickering during dimming is always a possibility with any poorly designed dimmer circuit so you have to pay attention to how it works even with a regular pot.
 
Richard... Ideally (for me) the ring-light would match the total output of the other light, so that it's use as a novelty would be in addition to the option of using it as a standard component of a 3-point package. It should still have dimming or switchable banks, but if it's switchable banks they should switch out in concentric rings. I would like an inner diameter of 5-6" and an outer diameter of whatever size needed to get the same output as the other model we've discussed.
 
As far as switches, the Flolight option of on/off banks seems simple enough to me. No need to make it more complicated than needed. Dimmer or switches, whatever is more reliable and less costly is what I vote for.

But since I started this thread, let me be the one view different on the hard light. It was said that these lights won't replace Flo's.

For me, I'm actually looking to use these in place of flo's for interviews on locations. I know that they won't replace studio flows that are used to bathe a set but for talking heads these LED's seem much easier to use, carry, set up, etc.

I like a real soft light that wraps around. Right now I use a Rifa 55 which puts out a very good soft light and I don't need a fill because the Rifa really wraps around the face if put about a 45 degree angle.

Maybe the proposed "hard light" LED with a diffuser will do the job just a good and be close to a flo or even the Rifa. That is what I'm looking for, but I might be in the minority.

I think Light Panel offers a focused on camera light as well as one with a wider beam for a softer feel.

But again, I've never seen the Flolight 500 LED so maybe putting diffusing gel on it will do the trick as it would on your proposed light (which I'd prefer to buy).
 
A soft led fixture has to have diffusion. I've experimented with bounce/scoop fixtures and the bounce eats up too much output. Even with diffusion over an LED fixture you can still see the point of origin for each LED (vs. the smooth white face that you see on a softbox).

What I did to work with this is make my 1200 LED diy thing work WITH a softbox, so that I could still get the fully diffuse light you are talking about... and that's pretty much the only way to do it. LEDs emit the light from a point about a mm across... and that's the issue.

LEDs are, by nature, hard lights. The light has to be modified further out to be soft. They may eventually "frost" the individual bulbs... or perhaps create a new kind of lens with a frosted front... like a square faced LED that starts as round in the back... sort of an inverted pyramid pointing down into the charge plate (where the light actually is emitted)... <hey, somebody pay attention, million dollar idea there.
 
A little 1-square-foot panel will never be anywhere near as soft as a six-square-foot Rifa. The size of the light source is what makes it possible for the light to wrap around.

The only way you could get the LED to give you comparable softness to the Rifa would probably be, as Matt says, to stick the LED in a six-square-foot softbox.
 
MattinSTL said:
Richard... Ideally (for me) the ring-light would match the total output of the other light, so that it's use as a novelty would be in addition to the option of using it as a standard component of a 3-point package. It should still have dimming or switchable banks, but if it's switchable banks they should switch out in concentric rings. I would like an inner diameter of 5-6" and an outer diameter of whatever size needed to get the same output as the other model we've discussed.
Click to expand...

So, if we want to keep the ring slim (and I think you're supposed to in order to get the ring light effect that people look for) but still allow use of this as a component in a 3 point setup, we need to use higher wattage LEDs to the end of keeping the output the same as the other panel is what I am getting from this.
 
On the issue of hard vs. soft or focused vs. diffused LEDs, I still think its best to use the sharpest beam angle and give the most hard output we can and therefore a longer throw for those times you need it. Using frosted or 120 degree beam angle LEDs would be such a waste as you wouldn't get the light output for your dollar that you expect; although as the price comes down in the future, we could certainly have different versions. But I do think that such a panel (using the frosted LEDs) would have to be pretty large if used all by itself to emulate a flo or a softbox and would therefore have a couple of thousand or more LEDs.

Also, I suppose if necessary we could make a softbox attachment accessory or option for this panel.
 
To go back to the wish-list for the LED panel light--I'd love to see a couple of BP sleds attached to the back, so that we can power them with our Panasonic or Canon or Sony battery packs.

Seems like these are good efficient battery packs, that we all already have charging solutions for. I think the circuitry will permit LEDs to be driven off of varying voltages. Maybe do two in series per pack? I'm a bit out of my depth there, but it sure seems like it'd be a tidy powering solution.

This is a super interesting thread! Probably going to end up costing me a bit of money!
 
Many of my focus group threads do end up costing people money ;-).

On the battery attachment on the back. The issue I see with that is that there are so many different types of battery attachments that it makes it more difficult to accomodate them all.

Plus its not quite so simple to accomodate varying voltages. While there might be some variance its best to specify one voltage to make things more reliable and also considering warranty issues. We would probably go with 12v just because its so standard for so many different things.
 
Jeez, I'm away from board for a few days and this thread grew like a wildfire! I'm very excited to see Richard working on some LED designs.

I've been looking into LED lighting primarily for the low weight, low heat, low power requirements, high durability, long bulb life and portability. I'd love to have a handful of units in my kit but the cost/output ratio has been extremely high to date.

I was going to pick up a FloLight to test out when they became available but with Richard talking about $200 for a similar unit AND with a dimmer? Heck, I'd buy three of them right away... Definitely would be interested in the LED fresnel if it becomes a reality. Looks like I may have to sit and wait it out for a bit.
 
Same here, have been working a lot lately and not checking my favorite online community - and whoop there it is!

Great to see new developements from CL!
Any chance of an on-camera version of your LED lights, Richard?
 
OK, so on the hard vs. soft it looks like I have to stick with a Rifa 55 that I have or get the new Rifa EX series which has a center part that you switch out to to accept compact screw in flo's.

But I still like the idea of the LED light and might be able to find a place for it in the light kit even if it won't be ideal for soft lighting talking heads.
 
Spartacus said:
Same here, have been working a lot lately and not checking my favorite online community - and whoop there it is!

Great to see new developements from CL!
Any chance of an on-camera version of your LED lights, Richard?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wondered where some of you guys were ;-) at least its for a good cause if you're away.

I hadn't thought to do an on-camera version at this time as it seems so many of you want the big gun type fixtures.
 
Make something like the vidled. Many want to get one and the company doesn't deliver. I would buy one.
 
Cool Lights said:
Yeah, I wondered where some of you guys were ;-) at least its for a good cause if you're away.

I hadn't thought to do an on-camera version at this time as it seems so many of you want the big gun type fixtures.
Click to expand...

Hehe, yeah and that good cause hopefully leeds to a portaflo order soon:thumbsup:

Hm, I really like my Vidled(s) and Marius is a great guy to deal with.
But there also is A LOT of room for improvement on such a unit.
The new Litepanels Micro looks like a good option.

Anyways, looking into on-camera lights is a no brainer, most people probably buy on-camera lights first, before they move up to a light kit.

An 150 LED array, light weight housing, dimmable, 5600K, this as a mount
and a cheap powering solution or Pana/Sony battery adapter and (as mentioned before) you will sell hundreds (maybe thousands...).
Keep up the good work!
 
Dimmable 5600K on camera LED that powers with your PanaCanoSony battery packs--yes please! I'm trying to build one right now, and have (I think) all the parts, but I'm not sure it'll come together by the time of my next big job.

I do think there's a huge market for this, if you've got the China inroads to sourcing the components. I'm watching all of this with baited wallet.
 
Hey what is the diameter on that screw mount that Spartacus showed there?

1/4"?

Looks like a gooseneck pipe in the middle which makes a lot of sense and is just what I would do. As for mountings, where do you want it to mount on the camera? As a hot shoe mount (but not drawing power through)?

Otherwise, what would be the best mounting hardware for something like this on the camera itself?
 
By the way, this is a hot shoe mount I found a while ago at a local camera store. I have no idea where to find this yet in larger quantity but it looks like a nice professional mount for such a light. It has a 1/4" bolt mounting on one side and a plastic (dumb) hot shoe mount on the other side. Power would have to be drawn from a separate battery cable with such a setup. The top part has a ball type action which cam move around to different angles and lock off with the thumbscrew in the middle.
 

Attachments

  • HotShoeMountCm.jpg
    HotShoeMountCm.jpg
    42 KB · Views: 0
I suppose a wish list could go on for a long time but I just thought of something which was kind of touched on before in a way. It was requested that there be a way to clip many of these together to build a larger light.

My idea is one light that is actually two panels hinged so that they fold together when closed, and open up to make twice the light. Kind of like a laptop.

Since the description of the prototype resembled an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper, when closed it would still be small for transport and when opened you would get 1000 lights. Assuming that it has switches or a dimmer you would still get a lot of control.

The 1000 lights with a heavy diffusion filter put in front of it would be great for talking head interviews and have enough light to make up for the heavy diffusion and this would give a softer, almost Flo like look.

Then simply fold it up and pack it away in any of a million laptop carrying cases

Still would be a bargain at $375 to $399. This I know I would buy and forget about the Rifa.

Maybe two versions, one with just one panel of 500 LED's and the other a double with 1000 LED's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top