Fotodiox FlapJack

egproductions

egproductions

Veteran
Does anyone have experience with this light?

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-FlapJack-C-700RSV-Bicolor-Studio/dp/B013TSPWXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476902134&sr=8-1&keywords=18%22+round+led+edge+light

This one is an 18" (and I see there are smaller sizes as well) but I also noticed that they use to produce a 32" version of the light and then stopped production about a year ago. Has anyone heard if they plan on coming out with another 32" version of the light? If so I believe I would be interested.
 
Dave Dugdale posted a review of these lights, comparing two different branded ones that seemed to be the same light. Personally, I find these to be of limited use. No softbox or egg crate means no lighting control, it's just a big, messy blob of semi soft light that goes everywhere, but to each his own. Have not heard of the 32" version but if it's available, wouldn't that be a ***** to travel and fly with? It would be like traveling with a giant rigid hula hoop.
 
Puredrifiting, I agree with what you are saying which is why I never wanted to buy LED panels, this however, is much larger and really doesn't need any diffusion. I personally want this for a specific type of light that will save me setup time and space as compared to modifying a different type of light.
 
egproductions said:
Puredrifiting, I agree with what you are saying which is why I never wanted to buy LED panels, this however, is much larger and really doesn't need any diffusion. I personally want this for a specific type of light that will save me setup time and space as compared to modifying a different type of light.
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I get it, the light is a cool idea. But how do you control the spill going everywhere, lighting up your background, areas around your talent when you don't want it to, etc.? That's my only beef with the light's design, no control over it and the large one would basically be a huge PITA to transport and impossible to fly with. That and for $900.00 including shipping, I can buy an Aputure LS 1S, a softbox with an egg crate for it and still have $200.00 left over. It's your money, I just don't see it as a very practical solution. Let us know how it works for you if go for it.
 
I don't have any experience using these lights in the real world, just saw them at NAB and really liked them, and hope to get one eventually. I see them as perfect for a corporate interview, where you need just one light that is fast, simple, and makes your subject look great without a lot of fiddling. I think it would also present itself better to clients/interviewees - people who don't know much about video production, and might look at a complicated 1x1 setup with barndoors and a clunky eggcrate on a softbox that takes a long time to setup, and wonder who is this clown?

On a related note, the meanest thing you can say about a person is "who is this clown?" Because it implies a) they're a clown, and b) not even one of the better known clowns.
 
puredrifting said:
I get it, the light is a cool idea. But how do you control the spill going everywhere, lighting up your background, areas around your talent when you don't want it to, etc.? That's my only beef with the light's design, no control over it and the large one would basically be a huge PITA to transport and impossible to fly with. That and for $900.00 including shipping, I can buy an Aputure LS 1S, a softbox with an egg crate for it and still have $200.00 left over. It's your money, I just don't see it as a very practical solution. Let us know how it works for you if go for it.
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Currently there isn't a way (other than DIY solutions), however, I can definitely see a grid (much like a beauty dish) being created to provide diffused yet controlled light. This light is essentially my replacement for my large beauty dish setup. I can use it for butterfly lighting or I can use it as a really quick and easy key light for interviews. Another great use will be in lui of a reflector (gold, silver, and everything in between) held by an assistant I really appreciate the v-mount and Sony NP option and that it can be mounted directly on the back of the unit making it all one self contrained peice of equipment.

I don't fly all that much for work, most of my equipment is not suited for air travel for various reasons. When I travel, I bring only what I need and consider shipping or renting the rest. I'd love a large, round, flexible bi-color light source instead of this. That might happen in the future, however, right now, it would be much more expensive.
 
To my thinking, the only value to a round fixture is reflections. Seen in someone's glasses or a window, a circular light source may be less objectionable in some situations. But I think the advantage is minimal.

I believe these are architectural in origin and repurposed for our industry, much as the original Rosco light pads were.
 
Sure, but a gobo could do this for you. Or you could take a 1x1 and cut a circle into a sheet of cardboard for when you needed this effect.
 
puredrifting said:
.... how do you control the spill going everywhere, lighting up your background, areas around your talent when you don't want it to, etc.? ..... and the large one would basically be a huge PITA to transport and impossible to fly with.
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When I saw these at NAB, my gut reaction was 'cool'. But a minute later, puredrifting's comments were exactly what I was thinking as I walked away.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Sure, but a gobo could do this for you. Or you could take a 1x1 and cut a circle into a sheet of cardboard for when you needed this effect.
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If they made a 4x4 I might go for that but 1x1 is so much smaller. and just wouldn't be diffused enough. Anyway, I don't see how a 1x1 gives you much more control than this. Yeah you can add barn doors but you can also flag the flap jack if you really care about spill. I'm also coming from a still photography world where this is a great beauty dish/reflector/window light substitute. I'm not blind too it's limitations, however, everyone lights differently and shoots different things this product is definitely going to streamline at least 50% of my work (which I'm currently using my skylux with a beauty dish or large umbrella). For the other 50% I can choose from my other lighting (lekos, westcott skylux, pro-lights, tota, alzo 3300 etc.)

All this being said, the way to control light from a beauty dish is to use a grid (similiar to the soft grids on a softbox, but thinner/rigid/metal) I'm going to see if I can easily put together a grid for the flapjacks. Photographers, who tend to be a lot more particular about controlling light, swear by beauty dishes in the studio.
 
egproductions said:
If they made a 4x4 I might go for that but 1x1 is so much smaller. and just wouldn't be diffused enough. Anyway, I don't see how a 1x1 gives you much more control than this. Yeah you can add barn doors but you can also flag the flap jack if you really care about spill. I'm also coming from a still photography world where this is a great beauty dish/reflector/window light substitute. I'm not blind too it's limitations, however, everyone lights differently and shoots different things this product is definitely going to streamline at least 50% of my work (which I'm currently using my skylux with a beauty dish or large umbrella). For the other 50% I can choose from my other lighting (lekos, westcott skylux, pro-lights, tota, alzo 3300 etc.)

All this being said, the way to control light from a beauty dish is to use a grid (similiar to the soft grids on a softbox, but thinner/rigid/metal) I'm going to see if I can easily put together a grid for the flapjacks. Photographers, who tend to be a lot more particular about controlling light, swear by beauty dishes in the studio.
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Your any feedback is helpful :)
 
yatti said:
Your any feedback is helpful :)
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I bought both the 18" and 32" bi color. I'm currently using the 18" on a music video and so far its very nice. (i'll share the final product after its complete) They are both a little heavier than I wish but I expected them to be somewhat heavy. I just wish the 18" was lighter for booming purposes. I love how both of them run off of v-mounts

I'm going to be using the 32" on cooking demonstration on Monday. I'm still figuring out a good transport solution for it though. I think it's going to wind up being a custom Road case or a extra large art porfolio case.

I wish they both put out a little more light than they do but they are both decently bright. I want to compare the 32" with the output achieved from my wescott skylux bounced into a similiar size white umbrella.

Actual samples to come down the road.
 
Really seems like this must be super low output. I don't see any specs on power but from the battery life spec it seems like the 18" is only about 25W? And soft, wide beam angle... must be pretty dim for its size and price.
 
nyvz said:
Really seems like this must be super low output. I don't see any specs on power but from the battery life spec it seems like the 18" is only about 25W? And soft, wide beam angle... must be pretty dim for its size and price.
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The 18" is 60W for the bi-color (72W for daylight). The rated illuminance is 1065lux/m for the bicolor and 1510lux/m for the daylight (I believ ethe 32" is a little more than twice the output.

That being said, it's very important to keep in mind that these lights don't need any further diffusion so you would have to compare it to a light with a softbox of equal size to really get a sense of how practical the lights are.
 
I just used a whole bunch of Aladin bi-flexes on a shoot. They suited the purposes I needed them for and very easy to transport, however, they were pretty annoying to work with. I found it very hard to diffuse them properly and setup in a frame. I would tak ethe flapjack any day as a easy to work with light, to each his own.
 
Just got done using both the 18" and 32" flapjacks on a shoot along with the westcott skylux. My impressions is that they match pretty well in terms of coolness at 5600K (of course the flapjacks can be dialed down to 3200K). The output from the flapjacks were better than expected. The 32" was able to outpower the skylux bounced into a large white umbrella by (and I'm guessing) about 2 stops. I boomed the 18" to light a dining room table scene from overhead with one person at the head and two on the sides. So far so good. I'll post frame grabs and finished projects as they come in.
 
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