1x1 LED light for under 2k

vladwolodarsky

vladwolodarsky

Active member
Hi there,

I shoot a fair amount of events that require on the fly interviews and it would be handy to own a solid 1x1 LED light. I also need a small softbox made to fit the light, at least 2 batteries, and a case for the light. All in I can go for 2k max. I’ve been looking around and it seems like a new 1x1 LED light comes out every couple of months. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
Out of traditional LED diode based panels I have found the Litepanels Astra and the Aputure Lightstorm are probably near the tops. Remote phospher produces an amazing soft light but probably out of your budget to put a kit together.
 
In addition to the 1x1 I would also consider adding one of the newer 95+ CRI smaller on-camera LED lights mounted to a noga arm you can position as a fill, taken off and used as a backlight, or whatever. Just a handy light for events.

As far as batteries go, the 1x1 style lights will need either V-Mount or AB-Mount batteries, and charger. So factor that into your budget. Some of the smaller LED lights can use Canon or Sony DSLR style batteries which will not last as long, but will be cheaper.

You will also want a lightweight stand for that 1x1
 
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I've been shooting with the Astra this last month and I wouldn't want to own one. Light output is good with the softbox attached but the softbox is just to fiddly to mount. It's also a plastic housing that sooner of later will break. As far as colours it's very good but so are my Aladdin Bi-Flex panels and I prefer the Bi-Flex panels as they are smaller, lighter and less complicated to setup. Plus you can have the control box at camera position and make adjustments from there.
 
FrameFarmMedia said:
Out of traditional LED diode based panels I have found the Litepanels Astra and the Aputure Lightstorm are probably near the tops. Remote phospher produces an amazing soft light but probably out of your budget to put a kit together.
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Thanks! I've used the Astra before and I was impressed with it. The aprutre stuff looks kinda flimsy. Does it hold up pretty well?
 
David W. Jones said:
As far as batteries go, the 1x1 style lights will need either V-Mount or AB-Mount batteries, and charger. So factor that into your budget. Some of the smaller LED lights can use Canon or Sony DSLR style batteries which will not last as long, but will be cheaper.
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Thank you! I most apprehensive about the batteries. Are there any reliable off brand v-mont batteries out there?
 
Osslund said:
my Aladdin Bi-Flex panels and I prefer the Bi-Flex panels as they are smaller, lighter and less complicated to setup. Plus you can have the control box at camera position and make adjustments from there.
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Thanks for that tip! I poked around the Aladdin site and the bi-flex looks great for my needs. The setup isn't wonky with a battery on the back of the light?
 
vladwolodarsky said:
Thanks for that tip! I poked around the Aladdin site and the bi-flex looks great for my needs. The setup isn't wonky with a battery on the back of the light?
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It works great even with a V-lock batteri mounted but the battery mounts to the controller, not the light panel.
 
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Lite Panel Astra's get my vote. The quality of light and output are great(I have the bi-color, full power original versions). As others have said, the design sucks, but they still perform well. I made up a two-light kit with 2x Astra's, 2x Chimera 1x1 soft boxes and A/B plates on the panels all in a Porta-Brace bag. I do indoor LS's and stand-ups with them all the time, now. It also pairs very well with the LP 3 light Sola ENG kit.

The rounded corners on the Astra's do make it harder to work with the Chimera's than need be, but once you figure out to attach the center elastic bands to the yolk knobs first, it's ok(or at least easier).
 
vladwolodarsky said:
Thank you! I most apprehensive about the batteries. Are there any reliable off brand v-mont batteries out there?
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I have used different off brands over the years, and to be honest never had issues with any of them.

Another place to save a few bucks is to look on ebay. I purchased a few 1x1 honeycomb grids for $69 each as opposed to the Litepanels price of $175 each.
 
I picked up an Aputure Lightstorm, daylight spot version recently. So far it has worked very well. Happy with color quality, works a bit more like a 650w tungsten equivalent at typical subject/light distances (Erik Naso's review --- which I really appreciated and helped me make a decision -- says 1k equivalent). The design and build quality is nice, I love the remote, separating battery/transformer from head etc.

Only a couple of criticisms about the light -- barndoors/yoke aspect of design will be problematic with some setups. The barndoors when extended limit yoke movement. I typically have the light mounted on a Matthews grip arm, and so I rotate the light primarily from the arm, and only use the aputure yoke to make finer adjustments. Erik's video mentions you can reverse mount it. I find the griparm mount works perfect for my needs 90% of the time.

The other thing I noticed is that these seem to run hotter than I was anticipating (at 100%). They got uncomfortably hot to touch on backside (which _is_ a giant heat sink and means the LED/circuit board should be running a lot cooler) running continuously in 10'x20' room at 70ish. Not saying it's an issue, but all the hours you are supposed to get from these LED bulbs could be cut dramatically if it's subject to excessive heat....

I will say that it cooled down dramatically once shut off for a few minutes. I have made it a mental note to dim when not in active use (easy with remote in many situations) and to not run over an hour continuously without some kind of dimming/shut down. Since doing so temperatures seem more in line from what I've experienced with other array/panel type LED lights. All very unscientific and anecdotal observations I admit.
 
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