FloLight LED500 Light Review

I've been looking at this for a few months now back when All Hallows Fest was going on. I didn't buy it then because we ended up not being able to shoot our film, but since I have a few projects coming up I'm probably going to purchase a couple.

Does anyone here have any direct experience with these?
 
flmmkr said:
I've been looking at this for a few months now back when All Hallows Fest was going on. I didn't buy it then because we ended up not being able to shoot our film, but since I have a few projects coming up I'm probably going to purchase a couple.
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I encourage you to order at least one today and start shooting and post pictures here:)
 
I checked with them about a month ago and they said they were out of stock until late Mar/early Apr and would let me know when they've received a new shipment but I haven't heard anything back yet.
 
I sent them an email a few days ago and haven't gotten a response yet. I may just bite the bullet and place the order, but I'd like to get answers to my last few questions first. Maybe they'll respond tomorrow.
 
flmmkr said:
I sent them an email a few days ago and haven't gotten a response yet. I may just bite the bullet and place the order, but I'd like to get answers to my last few questions first. Maybe they'll respond tomorrow.
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As much as I want you to get one and give us feedback, I'd wouldn't give any company money that has not responded.

In general, companies that pay no attention to their customer service tend to pay no attention to the quality of their products.

I'd be delighted to see that this product is for real and solid, but I'd talk with somebody by phone before making any order.

I was going to get a couple of them but I'm reluctant now. If they prove to be vapor ware, maybe Richard at CoolLights can offer a version. He has been talking about it for a while.

Keep us posted.
 
Kelly Olsen said:
As much as I want you to get one and give us feedback, I'd wouldn't give any company money that has not responded.

In general, companies that pay no attention to their customer service tend to pay no attention to the quality of their products.

I'd be delighted to see that this product is for real and solid, but I'd talk with somebody by phone before making any order.

I was going to get a couple of them but I'm reluctant now. If they prove to be vapor ware, maybe Richard at CoolLights can offer a version. He has been talking about it for a while.

Keep us posted.
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I agree with you 100%. I'm still waiting. 5 days later and still no response. Not encouraging. I first contacted them a few months ago and got responses immediately. Something may be going on with them. I'll email again tonight and try calling in a couple days. I'll let you all know what happens.
 
I am working on V2 of our panel right now--waiting for it to come back from the factory where the prototype is being built. I am always reluctant to give a timeframe however as I have watched how time easily multiplies beyond what you think it can based on circumstances. I like to wait until I have a really good product before I release it and the first panel needed some more work as the dimmer had some issues and the LEDs were not high CRI so the color rendering wasn't great.

One other thing I've been hung up on is the fixture body for it and whether to use our new lightweight plastic type model (with the lollipop) or a more classic metal chassis design with yoke like the Yuyao Lishuai model that Flolights sells:

http://www.lishuai.com.cn/english/En_ProductShow.asp?ArticleID=570

I think I've mentioned before my reluctance to carry that particular model relates to the fact that I can't control the costs very well when I just buy an off-the-shelf product from a factory like that one so it'd be tough to offer it for much less than Flolights. Plus I don't like that its bank select and has no dimmer--dimmers are not so hard to do on LEDs so it seems to be a big oversight on that product.

I was going for a target introductory price of $199 for such a panel and think that makes more sense. I'm also on an active hunt for a lithium ion or lithium polymer battery pack for it too with recharger and that would be a separate option which would have its own price apart from the panel. We would probably put a nylon strap and carabiner on the battery pack to allow you to hang it from the light stand like the ballast on our CL-MF0150 fresnel does now.
My current prototype I am working on has about 512 LEDs and I am considering two models:

1). 256 3200K LEDs and 256 5600K LEDs in alternating rows each controlled by its own dimmer. This would allow you to use the panel as either a 5600K or 3200K panel without gelling. You could even mix color temperatures with the two dimmers but in practice, for our work I don't think you will do that. This model is mainly just interesting for being either 3200K or 5600K with independent dimmers.

2). An entirely 5600K panel (all 512 LEDs as 5600K which will probably be more in demand these days since a majority seem to prefer daylight lighting now) with dimmer.

On both models I was going to choose a 30 degree angle spot LED to give a more round spot-like beam of hard light. I figure you can add your own diffusion panels to diffuse it if you need it but having it as a more hard beam will allow the throw to be longer. Both models would also either use a 12v wall transformer type of power supply or the optional battery pack as power. 12v in allows a lot of flexibility in how you power it and from what kind of source or battery of your own choosing.

We are also obtaining a sample 100w LED and looking at a 160w LED made in the UK but the issue with these single high wattage LEDs is that they are very expensive, require big heat sinks, and are very hard to make a good reflector for them. All these issues mean that the small LED fresnel I've been dreaming of building is still a bit off before we can make it happen at a reasonable price.
 
Richard,

Glad to see you chime in! I like option #2. More power of one color temp and if we need 3200K then we gel. I also like the heavy duty plastic better than the metal but I'd buy whatever you chose.

I think you'd sell these like hot cakes at $200 (can you get hot cakes in China?).

Also, I know that they would be reliable inside and out if made by you to your usual high quality standards.

I have the butter and syrup. Just put 'em on the griddle.
 
R-

This sounds great, can't wait to check them out! I would like to suggest NOT hanging a battery, but making it affixable to the unit. Anything hanging of a fixture is just messy and annoying during moves, as well as being much easier to break. That could be a deal-breaker for me. It's different when the head cable is long enough to put the ballast on the floor, away from the unit, as opposed to 6-8 inches. It would just be 100% more professional to have a solid mounting.

I am surprised that no-one has come up with a fixture that has both 3200 and 5600 bulbs in it. It could be very handy! Perhaps the technology isn't there yet in order that both temps are bright enough? Could you give us an idea of what 256 and 512 bulbs would be comparable to, output-wise?

Is $200.00 really realistic? If so, put me down for a few!

Thanks and Good Luck,
Wilson
 
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I sent an e-mail to Prompter people who are the sellers of the FloLight 500 LED and asked why they were not responding to people from this board and this is the response which came back right away.

"Hi Kelly,

Give us a call at (408)866-9100 and press 1 for sales. We have people answering the phones from 7:30am-5pm M-F PST.

I'm not sure why people have not gotten a reply but the phones do get busy and calls can go to voicemail. Calls are always returned quickly. Give us a call and check us out! Best Regards, Flolight."

Seemed like a very fast response to me, so maybe there is hope. I'll call and see what they say and post results.
 
OK, made the call and talked with Kevin at Flolight. Very nice gentleman and he explained that they should be receiving product for shipment next week.

I also suggested that a company rep make a presence here to explain product and answer questions and he indicated that somebody may show up in this thread.

I suggested they put up pictures on their website of the light in action and Kevin directed me to a hands on review with photos of an interview set up which can be found here:

http://www.dvfreelancer.com/articles/ledlights.html

If anybody has question, I suggest they call Kevin at Flolight, also know as The Prompter People. His e-mail is Kevin@Flolight.com
 
I just read the above hands on review at DVFreelancer and it makes the light very tantalizing. Expensive in a way, but seems like a lot of benefits and once it is paid for you forget the cost.
 
Wilson said:
R-

This sounds great, can't wait to check them out! I would like to suggest NOT hanging a battery, but making it affixable to the unit. Anything hanging of a fixture is just messy and annoying during moves, as well as being much easier to break. That could be a deal-breaker for me. It's different when the head cable is long enough to put the ballast on the floor, away from the unit, as opposed to 6-8 inches. It would just be 100% more professional to have a solid mounting.

I am surprised that no-one has come up with a fixture that has both 3200 and 5600 bulbs in it. It could be very handy! Perhaps the technology isn't there yet in order that both temps are bright enough? Could you give us an idea of what 256 and 512 bulbs would be comparable to, output-wise?

Is $200.00 really realistic? If so, put me down for a few!

Thanks and Good Luck,
Wilson
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I think $200 is realistic if I use the metal chassis idea but not so realistic with the more expensive plastic / lollipop combo. That could add quite a bit as those parts are more expensive. Also, please note that this is intro pricing and won't last forever.

Over time we may have both metal and plastic versions. Maybe we come out with the studio (metal) model first then the plastic one later. As for battery packaging, I think the cable will be long enough that you can have it on the floor. The battery is too big to try to put in the chassis so I think it needs to be an separate package.

I too am surprised no one else has thought of offering both 3200K and 5600K in the same fixture as it seems like an obvious choice to me. Let me do some tests and get back to you on what the equivalents to tungsten are. Anything I give now is just theoretical as I haven't actually tested the new one yet. You could expect though that the 3200/5600 model would be half output of the all 5600K model since you'd likely only have one color temperature lit at a time and thats only 256 LEDs.
 
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Would it be possible to have LED's with adjustable color, like the Zylight? So all bulbs can be running 3200 or 5600?
 
$200!? How so cheap? The Flolight one is more than double. This would be an awesome deal and I've heard great things about your lights. It's tempting to almost wait for your lights to be available. I would be good for at least 3 of them, potentially up to 5. I was planning on purchasing new lights next month. I know you don't like to give dates, but is that a possibility, or perhaps shipping very early May? If so I'd wait and see what happens, otherwise I may have to buy some Flolights now. I have projects coming up that will really be made a million times easier with these LED lights.
 
Hey Richard,
I say just build some LED versions of the CL-2x55 or 4x55 studio models, use the same case, just with your LED design. I'll buy a bunch.
 
Oh, yeah Richard, I also prefer option #2. I agree with rather having more light at one temp and then just using gels.
 
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