Do you know of a LED version of the lowel iLight?

J Davis

Veteran
I'm thinking about experimenting with a camera top eye light but I want 5600k not tungsten

I know about the tungsten lowel eyelight (link), can anyone recommend something similar that is decent quality and LED?
 
Check out this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGwTivCke8

I received a 2400 lumen model 5600K last week after ordering it last month. Awesome unit. Using the best Cree XP'G LED's in them. Super wide 110 degree beam angle, more output and evenness of illumination compared with units costing over twice as much. You can even order them at different beam angles and color temperatures. All solid aluminum, built like a tank. Next lineup will incorporate the Cree XM-L's as soon as they become commercially available. Truly the best out there in my opinion. Little info on them at this time. No barn doors, but I always use it at full width projection. The 1700 lumen model and the 900 lumen version are on eBay for $499 and $349.
 
How powerful of a light do you need ? Light in leds is measured in Lux (lumens) at 3 feet ( 1 meter) as the norm. 1700 lumens is around a 100 Watt incandecent bulb. Anything under 900 lumens is quite useless unless your subject is less than 10 feet away or you can gain up the cam.Led lights are best tried out before you decide.
 
Excuse my limited knowledge on the subject of on-camera illumination. An eye light ? What makes it different than any other form of light ? Does it have something to do with making the subject's eyes brighter, more noticeable, specular highlights ? I am at a loss, though I heard that terminology before but was afraid to ask in fear of exposing my ignorance on the subject. If it is kind of a spot facial fill, then why include the"eye" part ? Why not just call it a spot light like the good old days of hollywood? Also the "run and gun". Why run and why the gun part? Why not just
" grab and shoot? I hate to run with some expensive video gear in fear of tripping along the way.Perhaps I am getting too old at this after 42 years behind the lens.
 
Everyone I know who bought the multi little led units have all the same issues.
1-Not bright enough
2-Not wide enough
3-Color CRI and tint on the blue side
4-Plasticky, cheaply made, China or Taiwan
and here's the biggie
5-OVERPRICED
 
Comer's have been my favorite so far- And I used the LP series and bunch of LED knock offs....

Comer 1800! lacolorshop.com
 
For color-mixing LED, we have the Lowel Blender BLN-10. Comes with a couple of lensing options too. The beam is comparable to the LitePanel Micro, which is a nice bit of lightweight kit, but does not blend. As much as I personally like the Zylights, I don't see the practical application for all the colors.
 
I notice everyone is recommending square eye lights.
Initially I was going to go for something circular but now I'm not so sure. What are your reasons for wanting square rectangular eye lights over round?
(Ring shape I thought might be too specialized - gloss/fashion/music, better to rent when needed)
 
I also use the Rosco LitePad 3" circle for eyelight. Those can be attached with Velcro to your viewfinder or placed into their bracket an put on an Israeli arm.
 
I still don't understand this eye light thing. Can someone please explain what it does and if possible provide a photo or video that can help me visualize the effect. Thanks
 
I still don't understand this eye light thing. Can someone please explain what it does and if possible provide a photo or video that can help me visualize the effect. Thanks

casino royale - look at the light in her eyes

casino_royale_2006_reference1.jpg


jolie
(does she ever get shot without an eyelight?)

article-1302208-0ABDEACF000005DC-937_634x422.jpg
 
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OK ,I get it, or seem to.Please correct me if I am wrong, but that small white point of light can be caused by the reflection of a light source like a flashlight, video light, candle, spotlight or any point type light source. So it is not the name of the light source itself but the name of the effect. So if I go to a camera store and ask for an eyelight, would the salesperson know that I am looking to purchase an effect or a light? I guess even a white umbrella can be used as a light source as long as it is bright enough and far enough. Yes ? No?
 
yes you've pretty much got it Norman

in my own journey of discovery with lighting I want to start playing with controlled eye lights in 1 point lighting scenarios
I seldom shoot tungsten anymore which is why I'm after LED.

I'm also leaning heavily towards a round dimmable eyelight, square might seem out of place should I be shooting certain EXT:
 
The LED light is due to the light emitting diode, i had studied about that . i think this is called the lowel light. the light bulbs mainly contain the tungsten which is the base of the emission of the light. thanks for the thread,.
 
I'm in love with the Lite Panels little Sola ENG 4" fresnel. Daylight balance, high CRI, beam focus and dimming. 30 watts with the output of a 250 watt tungsten fresnel. Rather expensive to buy at $700, but much cheaper than the equivalent tungsten fixture, plus dimmer, plus 50,000 hours worth of lamps.
 
Lightting products, (tungsten, halogen,led, hmi etc.) are most always rated in terms of watts. Watts is really the power consumed by the unit and NOT an indication of the lumen or light intensity produced ( brightness). There are no standards in the lighting industry as to the measurement and telemetrics performance of a light source. Some companies rate their products differently than others. The 3 feet distance from a white surface, wether measured in lux, lumens or foot candles, seem to make more sense as now we have a real number by which to measure brightness and not watts consumed. In general one can consider a light bulb as a heater that gives off a little light because of the inneficiency of the filament. Leds do away with the filament altogether and use the available power (watts) more efficiently. The leds really do get rather hot but they are still far from perfect in terms of efficiency and CRI (color rendering index).
The most efficient leds out there produce an average of between 100 to 135 lumens per watt. A filament bulb of 100 watts really consumes 100 watts ( ohm's law Power= VoltageXCurrent) and had a lumen walue of around 1700 lumens from a white surface. A top gun led that is rated at 100 lumens per watt has no trouble shelling out that 1700 lumen value with only 17 watts into it. So one can say that the led is approximately 6X more efficient than the bulb, at least for now, but they are really getting better in that regard. So now we have a rough but fairly accurate ruler to measure things with. Now, at three feet (or roughly 1 meter distance) let's say we take that led light of 17 watt rating and narrow down the beam angle so that the light is more CONSENTRATED on a SMALLER AREA. The distance is the same, the wattage consumed is the same BUT now it gets brighter and brighter as the beam gets smaller and smaller. Now we get to the fun part as to how manufacturers jump up the light intensity.That 1700 lumen value suddenly went to 3400 or more by just narrowing down the beam.( easily obtained by, condensers, optics or fresnels ) Lighthouses use fresnels to narrow down a beam for the ultimate brightness and distance throw ( nothing new).So if someone says their light is 20 watts and is equivalent to a 175 watt, ask at what beam angle it is at that rating. Don.t be surprised to see that it is most likely at that spot, narrowed down, flashlight style beam pattern.
Lights really should have a standard distance, fc(foot candle), lumen rating from a standard white surface.Even the white surface has to be a standard (17% grey). I myself have a flashlight that has a 5 degree beam, if I would measure that point light at 3 feet, I would get around 30,000 lumen or equivalent to a 16,000 watt bulb.
My point is that wattage ratings are truly a rough measure of a light's performance. the true test is of course to put one on your camera and try it out.
 
The LED light is due to the light emitting diode, i had studied about that . i think this is called the lowel light. the light bulbs mainly contain the tungsten which is the base of the emission of the light. thanks for the thread,.

what? i'm not sure if what you're saying just doesn't make sense to me, or if you just wrote it in a terribly incomprehensible way. LED stands for "Light Emitting Diode", it isn't due to it. What is called the lowel light? That's just a brand. Usually when people refer to tungsten, they're talking about color temperature, not necessarily an element contained within the light. An incandescent bulb contains a tungsten filament, and that's what we usually associate with that color light. LEDs and Fluourescents don't contain tungsten, but you can still get bulbs that are tungsten balanced.

Are the Lite Panels sola ENGs Bi-color? I can't find it listed anywhere, but at that price they should be. I think it's difficult to get high CRI in an LED fixture without using some method like that. That definitely looks like a cool light though

I may be wrong here, but I believe LEDs contain some sort of reflector in them to concentrate and focus the light. This makes them more powerful from a light-output standpoint, but also makes them more directional. A typical fresnel uses the fixture to focus the light, but the source itself isn't directional. I think that's also part of the reason you can't measure LEDs accurately in lumens and need to use LUX or footcandles or something.
 
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