Best light for cutting a pattern?

John Foundas

John Foundas

Well-known member
Hey All,

I've always used a 400w lowel with gel and punched black wrap to make patterns on backgrounds etc...
Corp video interviews and such. The heat isn't too bad due to the rest of my kit being LED now.

Anyone recommend a strong wattage LED light for cutting patterns in similar fashion. A 650 equiv sound right but have no frame of reference. What are folks using?


14712823_10154137785412515_393410303244614622_o.jpg
 
Dedolight DLED7 Turbo. Bi-color version is around a 350w tungsten equivalent. Since it is Dedo, you can attach lenses and do all kinds of cool stuff with their light modifiers. Awesome precision with the cut of barn doors.


Zylight F8-100: 1K tungsten equivalent. I don't care for this light anymore because it's less power than the F8-200 and I think is about the same size and weight, so the primary advantage is the lower price. I think the CRI may be a bit better on the F8-100 than the F8-200, though CRI isn't quite as important for a background light.

Zylight F8-200: 2K tungsten equivalent. Brightest Fresnel LED out there for its relatively small size and weight. It's 10.25 lbs, while most other LED Fresnels of this brightness are closer to 20-30 lbs.

Practilte 602: 350 watt tungsten equivalent. I own two of these and love them. Barn door cut and focusing isn't as precise as a Dedo, but the wifi control of brightness and color temp via a phone ap is a super useful tool for hair and background lighting.
 
David W. Jones said:
I'm still using a Dedolight or S4 Ellipsoidal to project patterns.

Would love to test a S4 LED series 2.
Click to expand...

I'm shopping for LED source 4 right now... I think that's the answer if you can't afford Dedo... as an S4 can put up that pattern from a long ways away... and when I hear "cutting a pattern"... an S4 can make that pattern as sharp or diffuse as you want.
 
As much as I love toys, even I can't fork out $2600 for a Source 4 LED. The tungsten versions are a few hundred bucks... One of the best bargains in lighting in this business.
 
DPStewart said:
I just ordered up one of these 60W Chinese LED Fresnels after Wolfcrow's good review. $400.
Sure, it's going to be a bit more fragile than the big name stuff, but for less than half the price it seems great for moderate workload environments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfPsGPY2YtU
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting this! At first I thought this was impossible... another "free lunch"... but it's actually not impossible, although still a dirt-cheap lunch... and I'll have to get one of these to investigate. The video review is very well-done. That's the kind of video I've been looking for on the Aputure. Initially I thought it was crazy that this was approaching the L7-C... but then I remembered that the "C" is for color... i.e. the C has 1/2 the daylight power of the D, which would be the better comparison since this isn't a bi-color light. Still... it doesn't matter as this is so dirt... dirt.. dirt cheap. I'm going to get one to check it out. Thank you.

John Foundas said:
Thanks for the insight!

Different subject: Btw has anyone seen the ridiculous prices on the Dracast Silver 1000 LED's on BH?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._drss_1000d_led1000_silver_soft_daylight.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._drss_1000b_led1000_silver_soft_bi_color.html

I've used these and the CRI is very very good.

This is not a typo
Click to expand...

This? This has got to have a catch somewhere... I ordered 2... and I'm debating ordering 2 more. In the past couple years, when I've come across a deal that I think a camera friend would appreciate, I've bought 'em and shelved 'em... and this definitely fits that bill. If there's any legitimacy to this... a $200 panel (with 1K leds) ain't losing THAT much value anytime soon. Everybody should buy at least one of these. The only thing that concerns me is no picture, and I can't even find this item anywhere else. "Silver Soft" with DRSS... instead of the other numbers. There is no "silver soft" or "DRSS" anywhere else... BUT... Thank you for posting. I have to take a chance on that, just for sake of the camera guys I often work with... "Hey can you use a $200 1K Led panel?"... (no-brainer)... The debate at Wash U? I was with ABC and the set was using the Dracasts that fold in half... those suck as one half takes the brick, and it becomes majorly unbalanced... but the shot looked good, and even if these were that type, sub-$200 is stupid-cheap.

Earlier this year B&H ran a deal for Astra Soft w/ Bluetooth module for $1350. I bought one... if they ran that promotion again, I'd buy another... meanwhile it just sneaked under the radar.
 
Alex H. said:
"... but I wouldn't shine it directly on living things because of UV radiation."

Well, that's comforting.
Click to expand...

Yeah... *ahem*... that's one thing you know you're getting with a name-brand... liability = concerted efforts on safety. I'll still buy one of these, but I may need to buy another lead-kit... it's a little stick that you put this other stuff on, then swab an item, and if it turns pink (something like this)... it means there's lead in the thing you swabbed.

Chinese manufacturing isn't regulated... um... trying to decide if I need to say "anything like here"... or just leave it at that. One of the toughest parts of getting things made over there is convincing them to do anything that reduces profit, or raises a price... including things that make products safer.

Still... I'm going to have to order one. I doubt one of these comes (very) close to the UV that an HMI already produces... i.e. if you don't want somebody standing in front of this, than you sure don't want that person in front of any HMI.
 
MattinSTL said:
Thank you for posting this! At first I thought this was impossible... another "free lunch"... but it's actually not impossible, although still a dirt-cheap lunch... and I'll have to get one of these to investigate. The video review is very well-done. That's the kind of video I've been looking for on the Aputure. Initially I thought it was crazy that this was approaching the L7-C... but then I remembered that the "C" is for color... i.e. the C has 1/2 the daylight power of the D, which would be the better comparison since this isn't a bi-color light. Still... it doesn't matter as this is so dirt... dirt.. dirt cheap. I'm going to get one to check it out. Thank you.



This? This has got to have a catch somewhere... I ordered 2... and I'm debating ordering 2 more. In the past couple years, when I've come across a deal that I think a camera friend would appreciate, I've bought 'em and shelved 'em... and this definitely fits that bill. If there's any legitimacy to this... a $200 panel (with 1K leds) ain't losing THAT much value anytime soon. Everybody should buy at least one of these. The only thing that concerns me is no picture, and I can't even find this item anywhere else. "Silver Soft" with DRSS... instead of the other numbers. There is no "silver soft" or "DRSS" anywhere else... BUT... Thank you for posting. I have to take a chance on that, just for sake of the camera guys I often work with... "Hey can you use a $200 1K Led panel?"... (no-brainer)... The debate at Wash U? I was with ABC and the set was using the Dracasts that fold in half... those suck as one half takes the brick, and it becomes majorly unbalanced... but the shot looked good, and even if these were that type, sub-$200 is stupid-cheap.

Earlier this year B&H ran a deal for Astra Soft w/ Bluetooth module for $1350. I bought one... if they ran that promotion again, I'd buy another... meanwhile it just sneaked under the radar.
Click to expand...



I bought 3 of these Silver 1000 directly from Dracast about 3 months ago. Not the folding ones. The units are legit with great CRI. I picked up 1 5600k and 2 bi colors.
I will be honest, there was some continuity issues with the units. Hardware was dfferent colors, barn doors were a bit different on each and the ac cables were varying lengths. I complained and they remedied the issue. Maybe the BH thing is them getting rid of a bad production lot for those reasons. Dont know.

They retailed for $1195. I got mine on a flash sale for $500 each. Why they are now this cheap I have no clue.
I will check on the Silver 2000 versions as well. They would be killer for smooth green screen lighting.

The shape the Silver 1000's are like little munchin Kino Diva's. Rectangular in shape rather than square.





Screen Shot 2016-10-29 at 1.11.31 PM.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks alot (sarcastically)! I bought two of the Dracast LED1000 Silver lights. I'll report back what I think of them when I get them.

H3
 
Noel Evans said:
If you have a color meter, I'd be interested in seeing the meter readings.
Click to expand...

I've used those Nanguang fresnel lights, the quality of light was nice (didn't have any meters sry) but the build quality was not. I can imagine this thing working if you really really baby it, but I would not dare rent it out or even use it on anything bigger because its made of plastic and it didn't seem too sturdy even for plastic (esp the fresnel moving mechanism).
 
John Foundas said:
They retailed for $1195. I got mine on a flash sale for $500 each. Why they are now this cheap I have no clue.
I will check on the Silver 2000 versions as well. They would be killer for smooth green screen lighting.
View attachment 118091
Click to expand...

Check your credit card this morning... B&H has refunded my $395 w/o any explanation. Yeah... I figured that wasn't going to work out.

To your comment on green-screen lighting... Costco has some FANTASTIC "led shop lights" right now. They have visually solid tubes (no points of light)... and they're $30. They make AWESOME greenscreen lights. What's the CRI? Is the color temperature accurate? WHO CARES... I'm amazed at how people give this any thought for the actual screen. So what if the shade is a little blue or a little yellow... that shouldn't affect the key for "normal circumstances". Would I bring the Costco lights to a professional shoot? No... but for home stuff and goofing around (or "indi") they are awesome and awesomely cheap.

I just use a zip-tie on the top and bottom, and dedicate a couple stands to a couple lights. For keying... they're extra nice as they're soft, and over 3' long... so one on each side of the screen is enough to illuminate it almost perfectly flat (on waveform).

Anyway... bummer about the B&H thing, but I had a strong feeling that was too good to be true.

Akos Baranya said:
I've used those Nanguang fresnel lights, the quality of light was nice (didn't have any meters sry) but the build quality was not. I can imagine this thing working if you really really baby it, but I would not dare rent it out or even use it on anything bigger because its made of plastic and it didn't seem too sturdy even for plastic (esp the fresnel moving mechanism).
Click to expand...

This week is really busy through Saturday, but I'll put something up regarding the LitePanels fresnel. There are things I like and don't like... but for all the complaining about the quality of construction, I have zero problem with that. They definitely aren't anywhere near the construction of Arri... but there are good deals to be had on these, on eBay. When I compared an Inca 6 to an Arri 300w against a white wall... I was disappointed, but when it's shining into a normal room full of stuff (at night) it's kind of impressive for an LED... at least in how the beam behaves. There's a clear cut line, not as good as tungsten, but very close... on shadows... and what I'm really wondering is... how hard would it be to open this up and replace the actual module with one of the newer CREE options? Mechanically, and construction-wise... the LitePanel makes a good foundation... especially if you get one cheaply.

My biggest complaint is for an LED "650w equivalent"... it definitely is not up to that... and it's much bigger than I thought it would be. The fixture is a little bigger than even an Arri 1000w fresnel. The other side of that is... even when comparing this to an Arri 300w... the 300 is untouchable within a couple minutes.
 
My order is still "pending" after 7 days. I chatted with B&H Customer Service today and they claimed that my order was scheduled to arrive at the warehouse on 11/10/16. I'm not holding my breath so we'll see what happens.
 
teamh3 said:
My order is still "pending" after 7 days. I chatted with B&H Customer Service today and they claimed that my order was scheduled to arrive at the warehouse on 11/10/16. I'm not holding my breath so we'll see what happens.
Click to expand...

I actually made two separate orders... and they have both fallen off the card.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top