coolights LED 600 users-i need your opinion!

[robfilms]

if you have used the Coolights LED 600:

did you like the light?

was being able to dim a necessity?

did you get the flood or spot? do you wish you had gotten the other?

For sit down talking head interviews, how far would you estimate placing the light from the subject and still be effective?

how would you compare the LED 600 to a tungsten unit-a Arri 650/Chimera or similar RifaLite?

thanks in advance to those who care to share.

be well

rob

 

[meauounji]

if you have used the Coolights LED 600:

did you like the light?

Yes! Have two and love them!

was being able to dim a necessity?

Necessary? Not really. Very, very useful and convenient? Yes! Especially with both the bank switches and dimmer knob.

did you get the flood or spot? do you wish you had gotten the other?

Spot. You can always diffuse for similar effect to flood.

For sit down talking head interviews, how far would you estimate placing the light from the subject and still be effective?

Never used it for that, but if I had to guess, probably 3-6 feet depending on the space and environment. Again, ability to dim both with dimmer and bank switches will help.

how would you compare the LED 600 to a tungsten unit-a Arri 650/Chimera or similar RifaLite?

It's different. It doesn't give the same look as a fresnel or open-face. Eventually, you'll probably run into a situation where you prefer one of those instead, but LED600 is extremely versatile. Much more so than most traditional lights due to light weight, durability, practically non-existent heat, and very low power requirements.

thanks in advance to those who care to share.

be well

rob

 

[robfilms]

Yes! Have two and love them!



Necessary? Not really. Very, very useful and convenient? Yes! Especially with both the bank switches and dimmer knob.



Spot. You can always diffuse for similar effect to flood.



Never used it for that, but if I had to guess, probably 3-6 feet depending on the space and environment. Again, ability to dim both with dimmer and bank switches will help.



It's different. It doesn't give the same look as a fresnel or open-face. Eventually, you'll probably run into a situation where you prefer one of those instead, but LED600 is extremely versatile. Much more so than most traditional lights due to light weight, durability, practically non-existent heat, and very low power requirements.

meauounjl-

thank you for the thoughtful reply.

good to know you are pleased.

i do a lot of talking head interviews and the head from a tungsten lamp can at times be an issue.

do u know if i can put a LED 600 on a dimmer without color shift?

again, thanks for sharing your experience.

be well

rob

 

[J Davis]

I have the 600 spot plus softbox, and 2x 256 spot
dimmer speeds things up on set, as I can dim instead of moving the light back
afaik there is no shift in color temp when dimming
led600 not as bright as arri650, also not as hard as bare face tungsten
shadows from an led are not sharp and defined because there are multiple sources of light
not one filament

 

[shortnstout]

I have a 600LED spot with softbox and a 256LED spot. The 600 with softbox is not quite bright enough for me. I'm looking into this- perhaps it is my unit- or that is how they all are. I want to be able to use it as a key, but I'm having to crank the ISO more than I want to to use it for this. Besides that it is great. I love the portability and durability. Throw down the extra $$ for the dimming, since it isn't much more and you may find it coming in handy.
I'm curious if I got the flood and diffused it a bit with the included gel or some paper on the barndoors I'd get more light and still have it soft enough- I'm not sure.
Regardless, it is definitely worth the money and much cheaper than other options.

 

[Stu]

Hi Rob

We have been using the flood 600s since they were first produced and so far we have had only one issue and that was a transformer failing.

Here is a link to a working review we did on these lights, you should find it helpful. We use these units for all types of subject matter and regularly for interviews, particularly when we are travelling to other countries where space for equipment is at a premium.

http://www.studioscotland.com/litepan_review.htm

We have a fairly large selection of lamp heads of various types and the LED units, while not the answer to everything certainly get well used.

Regards: Stu
www.studioscotland.com

 

[jimagine]

I use the 600 and 256, in fact I had two new 600s arrive unexpectedly in time for a shoot this week, literally just enough time to get them out of the box and get the paper of of the 1/4 minus green filter. Simply, for the money they're the best lighting investment I think you can make right now.

Nothings perfect and I had a problem with a 256 but Richard took care of it immediately and that's been the case with every person I've read or spoken with who uses them - great company, great lights, great prices.

Anyway I own a few different LEDs that we acquired to test and I won't buy anything but more CLs going forward. In fact I'm about to add another 600 and a pair of CDM fresnels.

This year I moved on from all of our hot lights (except for two Arri 300s that I put Di filters in and now act as 150w HMIs) and we shoot with about 6000w of flos and LEDs. These days I often go with just 6 or so LEDs because they're just so fun to shoot with - I mean they make shooting more fun because it's so fast and easy to work with them. Also the Bescor MM7XLR is great with them. I just put together a small shoot kit with 4 Giotto 210 stands and 4 Bescors. The stands are small and light but nicely built and with the Bescor hunk on the base their solid like a C-stand

Yes the dimmable versions are way more than worth it - I needed these additional CL600s right away for some shoots but would have waited for the dimmable versions had Richard not gotten them to me.

Aside from Litepanels there isn't anything on the market as well built, as powerful and full featured.

 

[J Davis]

I have a 600LED spot with softbox and a 256LED spot. The 600 with softbox is not quite bright enough for me. I'm looking into this- perhaps it is my unit- or that is how they all are. I want to be able to use it as a key...

I'm in this same position too so I don't think it is your unit. More likely the diffusion that comes with the softbox might be too strong. I received a bunch of velcro with it as well.
When I get a min I want to pick up some of that westcott material diffusion and switch it out