BBS Area 48 vs Litepanels Astra? (remote phospor vs led)

I purchased 3 Area 48's for the corporate video department that I manage. I also recently bought a Litepanel Astra Bicolor for my freelance gigs, so I have experience with both. These are both great lights and each has their pros and cons.

The Area 48's put out a great, soft light by default, so that is a plus over the Astra. They are metal vs plastic for the Astras. The downside is that makes the Area 48's a bit heavy, so they generally require a bit heavier duty light stand. The phosphor panels get expensive, versus with the Astra being able to dial in the color temp is much more convenient. The quality of the Astra's light is really nice as well, high TLCI, and it has a ton of punch. The snapbag diffusion for the Astra is very easy and fast to put on, while the Area 48's snapbag takes a bit longer to put on.

Convenience-wise, the extra step of putting on the diffusion on the Astra vs having to deal with changing phosphors and the weight of the Area 48's make them about the same.

I don't think you can go wrong with either light. Cost being equal it would be a very hard choice. For my freelance business where I was looking for best bang-for-the-buck, I went with the Astra since it costs a bit less.
 
How soft is the Astra with the snapbag? Soft enough you use it like that straight on talent and it looks good? I often see people using 2x3s and 4x4s and such to diffuse the Astra, which seems more cumbersome and time consuming to setup, though would soften it up more.

The Astra is listed as being 7.0 lbs and the Area 48 7.94 lbs, so aren't they around the same weight?
 
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I think we're getting close but as of right now I don't think a soft, super powerful, easy setup light exists. All of these lights have their ups and downs. The good news seems to be that everybody and their brother is making LEDS and it seems that within the next couple years we may have some better cheaper sources.

I did some research on the snapbag company called DOP Choice. What they're making for these lights and bounce type stuff is amazing. I'm really into the flyball on the Astra. That's what I'm going for. I need something for Ambient levels, and was considering mactech leds. Have you guys heard of them? There in burbank. They convert your old kino fixtures to LED. I'm thinking about that as well for soft light options. There's so many options its amazing.
 
I own a BBS Area 48 light. I use it as the key for my interviews and use the litepanels for fill and the light panels microlight for giving some definition to the head and shoulders. Recently left the Area 48 and other lights and stands in another city for a longterm project and came back to Delhi for a short shoot. I hired two litepanels Astra. Got the Gen 1 litepanels for background and used dedo lights for kicker. I found the Astra lights to be harsh in the sense without diffusion the interviewee will squint. The Astra's also have a narrow beam and give well defined shadows. The Astra's don't come with barn doors like the Area 48. The Area 48 remote phosphor light is soft in comparison and fills up the subject nicely (for want of better word). Am planning to buy one more BBS Area 48 light as soon as budget permits.

Though the specs say that the Astras are slightly lighter than the Area 48, the Area 48 appears heavy and the construction is better than the litepanels.
 
Is it not simple physics? A soft source is a large source - a large source is a large fixture - a large fixture is an awkward thing.

Personally I like small fixtures shot through large diffusers and actually find them easier to work with than large fixtures or fixtures with softboxes on.

S
 
The drawback to pushing through larger diffusion is that you need exponentially more grip; siders for one or both sides to prevent spill, sometimes adding bottom or toppers for same if you have low ceilings or are close proximity etc. Basically you can end up constructing a softbox out of multiple solids and c-stands and it all becomes a pain once you have to move the light even a matter of a foot or two. That said: I do it all the time, mostly with Celebs, Cineos and Lightmats, because I prefer the constant color temperature when dimming vs traditional incandescent in a Chimera setup, although I do a lot of book lights and double diffusion through large rags.
 
Of course. My compromise (for a corporate head) is a 36' pop out semi transparent lastolite plopped in front of a corrected redhead (or other small fixture), Better colour and a softer source than my kino which is a 2.1 and way better look than a 1.1 LED source and packs down a lot smaller, not to mention costing $150

I did have an octobox for a while but you could not actually fit it through a (domestic) doorway so while two things (light on stand, lasto on stand) seems more of a pita to move in reality the octobox was infinitely worse for both setup time (from van) and moving between rooms

Spill is theoretically bad but usually not because the reflection can give a lift to the whole room - of course with very motivated drama lighting that is not cool.

Im designing the 'perfect' softbox in my head!

Overall Im pretty sure I wont be buying any more soft lights - LED fresnels is the way to go.. punch em through diffusion, bounce em or use em naked. To be fair the BBS and the mole softs do look desirable!

S
 
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Mitch Gross said:
I believe there are some patents that are keeping the competition out. I saw some remote phosphor prototypes from other companies that never made it to market.

BTW, the Cineo lights are built like tanks. Absolutely no issues with build quality there. I can't speak either way about the Area 48 fixtures.
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Ah, that would explain why remote phosphors are a lot more expensive than LEDs...Being much simpler systems, they really should be the cheaper choice.
The current market seems kind of backwards with only Arri selling their Remote Phosphor models for $1k less than their Color LEDs.
 
CharlesPapert said:
The drawback to pushing through larger diffusion is that you need exponentially more grip; siders for one or both sides to prevent spill, sometimes adding bottom or toppers for same if you have low ceilings or are close proximity etc. Basically you can end up constructing a softbox out of multiple solids and c-stands and it all becomes a pain once you have to move the light even a matter of a foot or two. That said: I do it all the time, mostly with Celebs, Cineos and Lightmats, because I prefer the constant color temperature when dimming vs traditional incandescent in a Chimera setup, although I do a lot of book lights and double diffusion through large rags.
Click to expand...

That's when you need my 'Orb Light'!

G9BhzIp.jpg


Sets up in about 4 minutes, uses a single combo stand, you can wheel it about (which allows you to reposition it in seconds), and gives you a silky soft book light with a 7' diameter, and a miniscule amount of spill...
 
CharlesPapert said:
The drawback to pushing through larger diffusion is that you need exponentially more grip; siders for one or both sides to prevent spill, sometimes adding bottom or toppers for same if you have low ceilings or are close proximity etc. Basically you can end up constructing a softbox out of multiple solids and c-stands and it all becomes a pain once you have to move the light even a matter of a foot or two. That said: I do it all the time, mostly with Celebs, Cineos and Lightmats, because I prefer the constant color temperature when dimming vs traditional incandescent in a Chimera setup, although I do a lot of book lights and double diffusion through large rags.
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DOP Choice sells all kinds of cool softboxes for a large variety of lights including various 1x1's, remote phosphor lights, and Kinos. Newshooter recently did an article on a larger 5 foot softbox for the Area 48: http://www.newsshooter.com/2015/09/19/ibc-2015-dop-choice-offers-new-soft-box-for-bbs-area-48-light/

There are also options for pairing together two or four Area 48 LEDs and getting their 2x1 or 2x2 softboxes for a larger source.

DOP Choice also sells a 36" x 36" softbox for the Cineo HS which would probably make a nice and soft 2K tungsten equivalent key (and Peele) light.



indiawilds said:
I own a BBS Area 48 light. I use it as the key for my interviews and use the litepanels for fill and the light panels microlight for giving some definition to the head and shoulders. Recently left the Area 48 and other lights and stands in another city for a longterm project and came back to Delhi for a short shoot. I hired two litepanels Astra. Got the Gen 1 litepanels for background and used dedo lights for kicker. I found the Astra lights to be harsh in the sense without diffusion the interviewee will squint. The Astra's also have a narrow beam and give well defined shadows. The Astra's don't come with barn doors like the Area 48. The Area 48 remote phosphor light is soft in comparison and fills up the subject nicely (for want of better word). Am planning to buy one more BBS Area 48 light as soon as budget permits.

Though the specs say that the Astras are slightly lighter than the Area 48, the Area 48 appears heavy and the construction is better than the litepanels.
Click to expand...
What are you planning on using the second Area 48 for? Would you still use the Astra as the fill light or the second Area 48 as fill, or use the second Area 48 as a background light?

I was thinking the Cineo Matchbox would make for a good hair light. It's similar to the Litepanels Microlight, but softer. I already have a Dedolight for when I want a harder hair light.
 
Grug said:
That's when you need my 'Orb Light'!

G9BhzIp.jpg


Sets up in about 4 minutes, uses a single combo stand, you can wheel it about (which allows you to reposition it in seconds), and gives you a silky soft book light with a 7' diameter, and a miniscule amount of spill...
Click to expand...

Looks nice, would be particularly interesting as a pancake light hung overhead...I'd find it somewhat specific for ground level use, since it would be tough to modify (can't see installing a grid over that curved front)!
 
CharlesPapert said:
Looks nice, would be particularly interesting as a pancake light hung overhead...I'd find it somewhat specific for ground level use, since it would be tough to modify (can't see installing a grid over that curved front)!
Click to expand...

Well it's just two 7' lighting umbrellas (a shoot-through and a white-bounce) mounted together with a triple header inside to hold the fixtures, so I'm not sure how easily you could rig it overhead. Works a treat as a key light, beauty light or really gentle fill (if you've got the space). It's definitely a soft, broad wash of light though, definitely not getting a grid on it easily!

When your set or location will let you get away with a broad key light though it saves SO much time being able to just wheel it into place for the next shot.
 
Also, should point out that one of the specific advantages of a booklight over a Chimera or other typical softbox (and Grug's Orb) is that it can be built very shallow, so it can jam up against walls. Even flatter is the curtain light, where you take a piece of bleached or unbleached muslin and hang it on a rail with a lot of ruffle (via a bunch of spring clips, or better yet attach curtain rings or punch grommets into it like a normal curtain), then fire a fresnel or open face into it perpendicularly, from the side. The hot spots break up across the waves in the curtain, creating a very soft and sizeable source, and you can put a camera right up against it if you like. I use it a lot as a sourceless fill and it is a beautiful thing.
 
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