So I am in the market for some soft lighting and I am torn in which lights to invest in. I already own a flathead kino flo however I was on a shoot and fell in love with the Litemat s3 and quasar tubes. Now I know in terms of compact and light Litemat and quasars are way better then kinos. My question is are Litemat quality of light better then kino or quasar? Right now Kinos are very inexpensive to purchase and the Litemat isn’t so I want to make a sound decision in terms of light quality.
Debating: Litemat Kino Quasar lights
- Thread starter PIMP
- Start date
LochnessDigital
Active member
4x 2' quasar loaded kino is $1250 from Hot Rod Cameras. They have a 4x 4' for $1700.
Saw this dude on Reddit light an entire movie with Quasars. Ever since then I've been sold.
https://imgur.com/a/bQtb7Ok
Edit: My mistake. I had the price wrong. $1050 is the price for the 2 bank 4' Kino.
Saw this dude on Reddit light an entire movie with Quasars. Ever since then I've been sold.
https://imgur.com/a/bQtb7Ok
Edit: My mistake. I had the price wrong. $1050 is the price for the 2 bank 4' Kino.
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Run&Gun
Veteran
I ditched my Kino's a few years ago(they're sitting in storage collecting dust). I have a client with some of the large Litemat's and the quality of light is nice. I just hate the cable/ballast system. They have the old ones with the $h!ty connectors that are constantly coming off the cables(the new connectors look much better). The panels are insanely light-weight, though. You could gaff them to a wall, if you had to. I own eight of the 4' Quasar X-fade tubes and they are very nice and have a lot of power, but still produce nice soft, wrapping light. Good for lighting or as cool practicals in the shot. I used three of them for key/hair on a shoot last week and I plan on using them this week on a "white screen" shoot I'm doing that I set tomorrow afternoon.
The 4' tubes are ~$275/each.
The 4' tubes are ~$275/each.
CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
I use both Litemats and Quasars on all of my jobs. The choice of which to use on a given setup comes down to their advantages--Litemats for their low profile height and light weight, Quasars for their flexibility (mounted in Kino housing, as bare tubes or more exotic configurations).
CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
There are a few variables: let's assume a Litemat 4, which is the biggest one. The source is going to be a bit more diffuse than a 4x4, so if one was to cover the 4x4 with diffusion on the doors (let's say 250), you'd have a pretty good apples to apples comparison. I think even in that scenario the Quasars should be brighter, by a little. If you can afford to lose the diffusion (having a perfectly even source not that important for a given situation), it should be notably brighter.
rob norton
Veteran
How many bulbs are ideal for a 4 foot kino retrofit, 4 or 6?
I know the original kinos use 4x 4' but I've seen 4 bulb set ups, as well as 6 QS tubes crammed into the retrofits.
Would the weight of 6 be an issue and go against the ease of the kino form, e.g. The difference between armed out on a c-stand vs needing something more substantial?
I know the original kinos use 4x 4' but I've seen 4 bulb set ups, as well as 6 QS tubes crammed into the retrofits.
Would the weight of 6 be an issue and go against the ease of the kino form, e.g. The difference between armed out on a c-stand vs needing something more substantial?
abreu-canedo
Well-known member
Litemat 4 is pretty stellar. Great for small spaces and quick rigging, as well as for moving from wides to CUs and quickly shaping your CUs. Works great as an overhead source, easy to control spill, and works with Lumen Radio so it can be controlled wirelessly from a tablet, when necessary. The Litemat 4 is 200w.
I would also pick up two 4' and/or 2' Quasar or Voyager (when they are finally released), since tubes are super handy. I generally prefer the tubes as quasi-practicals, so throwing a light on a wall seen in the frame when you need a splash of light, but you don't have space to hide it off frame. I know lots of people use tubes as key as well, to great effect, but that is not generally how I've used them. Perhaps just a lack of creativity on my part, but for lightweight keying, I always just pick up the Litemat. I think the Quasar tubes are 50w each (I think).
All that said, I usually try not to go all LED, when possible. Maybe it's more theoretically beneficial than practically beneficial, but I try to bring in some black body sources just to fill in any spectrum gaps present even in the best LEDs. For example, I had a shoot recently where I used a Hive 1K Par (Plasma) fixture as a sun through the window, a Skypanel as the soft directional fill from the same side as the windows, and a tungsten 500w kicker (in addition to incandescent string lights. Sorry if this is off-topic...just thought I'd throw it out there. That being said, I haven't done any scientific testing, and my opinion is probably fueled by speculation and perceptions that may not be void of a romanticism around black body sources
I would also pick up two 4' and/or 2' Quasar or Voyager (when they are finally released), since tubes are super handy. I generally prefer the tubes as quasi-practicals, so throwing a light on a wall seen in the frame when you need a splash of light, but you don't have space to hide it off frame. I know lots of people use tubes as key as well, to great effect, but that is not generally how I've used them. Perhaps just a lack of creativity on my part, but for lightweight keying, I always just pick up the Litemat. I think the Quasar tubes are 50w each (I think).
All that said, I usually try not to go all LED, when possible. Maybe it's more theoretically beneficial than practically beneficial, but I try to bring in some black body sources just to fill in any spectrum gaps present even in the best LEDs. For example, I had a shoot recently where I used a Hive 1K Par (Plasma) fixture as a sun through the window, a Skypanel as the soft directional fill from the same side as the windows, and a tungsten 500w kicker (in addition to incandescent string lights. Sorry if this is off-topic...just thought I'd throw it out there. That being said, I haven't done any scientific testing, and my opinion is probably fueled by speculation and perceptions that may not be void of a romanticism around black body sources
So I am in the market for lights and had my heart set on the LITEMAT 3. However someone is selling two kino flos for half the price of one litemat. I realize in terms of weight the LITEMAT wins hands down, but just in terms of quality of light is there a major difference in quality of light?
Run&Gun
Veteran
You didn't say which Kino's. If they're Diva's and your priority is skin tones, and it should be, then NO. I have a nice set of Diva 400's and Barfly's that I bought maybe close to a decade ago and they have been retired for probably two years and I have no plans of ever using them on a shoot of mine again. Real Tungsten and Real Daylight(the Sun) are still the BEST light sources, but I'll take quality LED's over Kinflo's any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Out of my last five shoots, I've lit with Litemats, Litepanels(Astras and Gemini), Quasar X-fade tubes and some Hive 100C's. Oh yeah, and our LD on one of them was using some Westcott Ice Lights just to bring-up faces/people(run & gun production).
But depending on which Litemat 3 you're talking about, that's a hard deal to ignore, if you're needing lights and on a budget.
But depending on which Litemat 3 you're talking about, that's a hard deal to ignore, if you're needing lights and on a budget.
Run&Gun
Veteran
The larger tubed Kino's, like a 4' 4-bank arguably perform better than the smaller tubed Diva's and Barfly's. Something to do with the size(diameter) of the tubes and the phosphor coating inside. I had it explained to me one day by some of the guys at Barbizon. If they'd still be useful to you, that may be hard to pass up. What are they asking, about $900 or so for the pair? I think the s2 LM3 is between $1800-$1900. But personally, for me, I'm done with fluorescent fixtures.
abreu-canedo
Well-known member
I personally skipped the florescent era. I always felt it was not much harder to punch tungsten or HMIs through a 4x4 frame of diffusion.
I'd definitely go with the Litemat over Kino's. The new Kino Select (LED) units are pretty nice, but I'm assuming this is not what you're talking about.
The Litemat 3 is nice. I'd recommend a Litemat 4, if you can afford it or find a good deal, just because it's larger, and the units aren't super bright. They can still punch through diffusion, but you know, the less you need to put in front of the Litemats, the better...in my opinion. The Litemat 2L is also interesting.
Overall, the Litemats are lighter, more durable in the sense that you don't have fragile florescent bulbs, more adjustability with bi-color and dimming, and (I believe) better light quality.
I'd definitely go with the Litemat over Kino's. The new Kino Select (LED) units are pretty nice, but I'm assuming this is not what you're talking about.
The Litemat 3 is nice. I'd recommend a Litemat 4, if you can afford it or find a good deal, just because it's larger, and the units aren't super bright. They can still punch through diffusion, but you know, the less you need to put in front of the Litemats, the better...in my opinion. The Litemat 2L is also interesting.
Overall, the Litemats are lighter, more durable in the sense that you don't have fragile florescent bulbs, more adjustability with bi-color and dimming, and (I believe) better light quality.