An led thread, but from a photographer who has done a good amount empirical testing

J

JK12

Member
Hi "dvxuser" forum. Thanks for being such a great resource on journey to find the perfect lights. I thought I had found them with the "Area 48s", but it might not be worth the money for my purposes. I do lots of still life work with an 8x10" view camera, and really wanted a powerful softlight led to replicate window light. I wanted led for how cool to the touch they run as I'm in a small studio setting and their low power draw.
As far as light's I have tried, including tungsten bulb sources, I have tried a Westcott Skylux(way underpowered) Lowel Rifa 55ex softbox(Nice, but hot and cumbersome), Arri 300W(ok, but hot and maybe not bright enough once proper diffusion is added), Dedolight Dled.9.1 (really nice, really expensive, and hardly any modifiers available, but still a contender if I build some type of diffusion panels) and finally an Area 48 (really nice quality of light, enough available modifiers, but honestly not as bright as I was expecting and maybe a bit expensive for what it is).

Despite being still photography I don't want to use strobes. I have nuances I need to see before I make an exposure. I am using large format film and can't just check and check and check immediately.


I want something bright as hell, casts a nice, relatively broad, soft light that can be dimmed down when needed, has good color, is compact enough that it can be used relatively close to small objects (the panel style actually work really nicely for this). I don't need a battery operated option, although it's a nice feature, but overall I need really bright and even. I have some d.i.y. diffusion panels that I use for additional diffusion when I need to further diffuse out specular highlights on shinier objects.

Is the "Litepanels" Astra or brightest "Felloni" significantly (a stop or two) brighter than an Area 48? Will good diffusion completely alleviate multiple shadows with a more led panel?

Honestly, I've been reading this forum daily and specifically this section for all the best information I've been able to glean on the subject of contiuous lighting. Thank you incredibly much in advance!

Jordan
 
The Hive Bee light looks like a great low heat flood light option. I'm debating between it and the Astra personally. The Bee is more expensive but I really like it but might not be able to justify it over the Astra.
 
If cash is tight and you're doing studio work, why not get a quad and a dual biax flo (kino-style) setup? Quads can be found for $300 or less, they're about 1k worth of pure daylight.

The worst thing about quads and six-tube biax units is finding a bag or case for their big, flat shape. But in the studio, they're great lights.

Either LED or Biax, you'll need diffusion for most shots - but for just about any soft light look beyond tabletop, you need 4x4 or 8x8 regardless of the fixture. And most of the affordable LEDs are going to need some minor gel tweaks - non Kino biax tubes usually need some light gelling as well.

Just my .02, but LEDs seem to be sort of a knee-jerk idea (especially for people new to shooting, sounds like you have experience) but if you're not on location, "light is light" becomes more of a working hypothesis. Biax is a dialed-in technology and the price has come way down. Power and heat are in the LED ballpark, esp. compared to tungsten.
 
I use a 6 light BIAX from Flo light. The sockets are fiddly, I had to make my own case (huge) and I usually gel with a 1/8 Magenta, but it puts out an awful lot of light. I increased the light output substantially by fixing silver reflective card to the doors which effectively mirrors the bulbs and adds that toward the front. Diffuse the heck out of it and it puts out a ton of light. On a bigger budget just put a pair of Diva's together or buy an 8 light Kino. I've done a DIY 8 light Kino from shop lights that works great for a client who keeps them in one room. (need to change the bulb transformer though.)
Forget about LED's if you want output. (Though you could gang four YN600's on a single arm and diffuse them)
 
How many panels are you using to try and get the light you want? You mention window light, so have you stacked up enough panels of LED to form a window sized light source?
 
Michael Carter said:
The worst thing about quads and six-tube biax units is finding a bag or case for their big, flat shape. But in the studio, they're great lights.
Click to expand...

Not to go off topic, but does anyone have advice for a soft case for quads? I have several of the Alzo Pan-L flos as well as a cool light 6 bank that I would love to have a case for. Everything I see seems to be these huge hard cases and I just want something with a little padding and a shoulder strap for when I'm moving them from gig to gig.
 
Thank you all for your responses thus far. I looked into the florescent units like the Kino Flo's but didn't see that their output was that great especially in comparison to their size. Unless their "Parabeam" "Kinos" are supposed to be great. I could wrong about them, but they also seem really cumbersome. I know I said I had a studio, but it's small and mostly for table top still life. I'm looking for light I can get close to the objects and ones I can pull back and still have decent throw. I know it seems like I'm wanting too many looks from one light. The panel style seems to be a good option if the light can get bright enough and I use the right modifiers. I wouldn't mind purchasing two lights; a soft light and and a spot like a fresnel or Dedolight. I want build quality, reasonable size and weight, and most of all great light. I use reflectors and diffusion to help. I don't mind having one light either. Thanks and please keep the suggestions coming.
 
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Cases for flos: look into things like audio mixer soft cases. I use the Cool Lights roller case, which can carry 3 quads. But it's awfully big for just one.

Regarding the cost-value ratio for Kinos… Kinos are grossly overpriced. Chinese knockoffs (at least the ones I have purchased) have been great. They don't use tru-match bulbs though, and in mixed lighting scenarios need (usually) 1/8 minus green and sometimes (oddly) 1/4 CTB (they can skew yellow and need a violet-ish shift… opposite of yellow). Or just balance to the flos and you'll be fine.

I suggest biax a lot on the LED threads, but some people are just deadset on LED, "it's the newest thing", etc. And for small size and battery power, they're great.

The Astra BiColor is getting some raves nowadays. I'd like to get one for location interviews - looks really impressive. Pricey though, but I don't really need the "bi color" part - less than half the price for a daylight model.
 
Thanks again thus far for all the thoughtful responses. Michael, I looked at the biax lighting systems and they seem good and I'm glad you're also somewhat interested in the Astra. The Mole softlites also seem good as well. However, for the sake of opening this up a little further I am interested in hearing thoughts on the "Hive" light per Farm's suggestion and since we're in the general realm how the "Zylight f8" series, "Fiilex", Dedo (like I said I did try the hled9.1 and liked it ok), or an Arri. I envision softening it near the face of the light and then some more nearer my still life objects, which is why I need power. Perhaps a single focus-able beam or flood with modifiers might give a more versatile light. My budget is around $2400 for one good light.
 
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