Diffusing cheap led lights?

G

gutterball321

Well-known member
I bought a couple of these cheap LED light panels: http://www.amazon.com/light-Panel-V...id=1382201299&sr=8-2&keywords=led+light+panel

just because they were more portable for my travel shoots. The stands are crap, can anyone recommend decent stands for under $40? but mainly i need a way to diffuse these, they are way too bright and even dimmed down if you accidently look at these you cant see anything else for a good 10 seconds. I dont see anywhere for the plastic diffusers on these, am I mistaken? Do they make mini softboxes for led lights this size? Or do I just need to buy some diffusion paper? I dont want to go this route b/c that will look a lot less professional
 
There is nothing unprofessional about using diffusion paper. That's what it is for. But if that doesn't meet your needs, you may want to consider a silk in front of the LED light for diffusion or dimming the light. That's more clutter on the set and more things to carry, but it may give you the look you seek.

You can use one of these on a C-stand in front of the LED. http://www.filmtools.com/flagcutandfl.html
 
since these don't give off hardly any heat you could seriously put tissue paper over it and it will work. Just try all sorts of different papers or light light fabrics and see what results you like. You can also try getting some thin nylon, it would certainly last a lot longer than tissue paper... but don't laugh, I carry tissue paper on my box of goodies because you just never know when it might come in handy.

If you can find a nice light material, what you can do is have someone sew an elastic around the border of your square material and this way just stretch it over the front. I have something similar for my dimmable flo banks but same principle applies.

Hey, I just got an idea! Why not go looking for different sized shower caps and maybe one that is like a white plastic material. This might work!

White_color_shower_cap.jpg


:)
 
gutterball321 said:
mainly i need a way to diffuse these, they are way too bright and even dimmed down if you accidently look at these you cant see anything else for a good 10 seconds. I dont see anywhere for the plastic diffusers on these, am I mistaken? Do they make mini softboxes for led lights this size? Or do I just need to buy some diffusion paper? I dont want to go this route b/c that will look a lot less professional
Click to expand...

Pick up some diffusion gels... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/searc...ls&ci=1329&N=4062040399+4291255266+4294955678

They are only $7.00 so you can get a few different ones to test the waters and see which works best for you. Attach them to the barn doors with C-47's, close pins.

And as far as not looking professional, only someone new would worry about that. Professionals have been doing this for years.

Good Luck!
 
TOP SECRET. I buy a fair number of a certain type of Shower Curtain from Home Depot/Lowes. Very similar to Rosco soft frost. Neutral color -1 stop. and about $6.00 + tax. I used it for two months as a scrim in the studio and then cut it up for makeshift Diffuser/Scrim.
The Hardware/5&10/Second hand store are YOUR FRIENDS !
  • Mildew resistant to keep your shower clean longer
  • White coloring
  • Clear coloring
  • 72 in. high and 70 in. long
  • MFG Model # : H28WHD
  • MFG Part # : H28WH
You can guess what I do and do not use it for ;)
 
If there aren't any soft boxes made at this size what about umbrellas? These lights mount onto the light stand so are there any side mounts to get an umbrella attached to a light stand?
 
My led light doesn't attach by a hotshoe or screw, it's a custom rectangle piece so I cannot use a different mount. I need something like that that screws into the side if a light stand
 
gutterball321 said:
If there aren't any soft boxes made at this size what about umbrellas? These lights mount onto the light stand so are there any side mounts to get an umbrella attached to a light stand?
Click to expand...

+1 for brollies, I use them all the time. Quicker and easier to setup than diffusion, and they make your source much larger and softer.
 
gutterball321 said:
My led light doesn't attach by a hotshoe or screw, it's a custom rectangle piece so I cannot use a different mount. I need something like that that screws into the side if a light stand
Click to expand...

Sorry I thought it was a on-board video camera light, now I realize your light is a lot bigger than that. My bad.

I would do as others have said and buy a some sheets of diffusion material. If you can construct a frame, you might be able to get yourself some velcro to keep it it in place and detach easily.

Cheers,
 
My favorite diffusion material is Savage Translum which comes on a 54 in wide roll that is 18 feet long for about $38. It's a thick matte-ish plastic that does an amazing job of evening out the light spread. I've been using this stuff since the 80's for large format still photography, and now for video work. I wish they sold this stuff in smaller amounts, because it can take me more than a decade to use up the whole roll. ( the plastic is pretty indestructible, so you can keep re-using the same piece forever )
 
Testing these LED lights next to my $90 fluorescent kit I'm wondering if I should even bother with the LEDs. I don't see a single advantage using them over my cheap fluorescents. The colors worse (far more blue than daylight), they are almost like spotlights, creating terrible shadows even with the wall over 10 feet behind the subject and they blind the talent. In what scenario would I choose LEDs?
 
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