Fotodiox FlapJack

I really long for the days when people regularly used light meters so when asking about the brightness of a light they could simply answer with a foot-candles measurement at a given distance.
 
egproductions said:
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.
Click to expand...

Looking forward to your feedback :)
 
I owe you guys some samples and experiences with the flapjacks so far. Below is one such example and I should have plenty more for you in the next week or two.

Thoughts:
So far I really enjoyed using this light for both video and still photography. It's very much what I have been looking for. I was recently assisting a friend of mine on a wedding (still photography) and I brought the 18" to use as a reflector type light. I snapped on a vmount, took off the yoke, and it became an incredibly quick light to move around and adjust color temperature depending on the situation. It overpowers normal ambient light and holds it's own under sunlight. One snafu I encountered was putting it on a boom arm. Someone didn't tighten the stand and it came crashing down. Somehow this ended up bending the thick metal yoke which, by feel, is very solid. Unable to bend it back into shape, I contacted fotodiox and they were able to send me a new yoke. The light itself was perfectly fine.

Here is a screenshot of an interview I just did. The key light is the 32" flapjack, the kicker is the 18" flapjack and the hair light is a westcott skylux. There was a small amount of spill onto the backdrop from the skylux since I was using a shoot through umbrella.
Here is the DPX file (ungraded) if anyone wants to play around
Shot on the FS7, 640IE, metabones speedbooster, Canon 135 F2 @ f3.5(post speedboosted)
flapjacksample1.jpg
 
Good looking lighting. I am also impressed with your colors, usually the Sony FS7 makes people look like corpses (blue/magenta/cyan) but you nailed some nice skin tones here. What were your camera settings? I have seriously rarely seen anyone get these kinds of skin tones on an FS7, nice job.
 
Thank you, I was shooting using CineEI, XVAC and used the Sony slog3 lut in Adobe Premiere using lumetri effect. The rest was just small adjustments of saturation, vibrance, sharpness, white balance and exposure.

My client is about to release a video where I shot using the 18" flapjack as my only light (along with daylight from a window). I'll share it when it's live but you will see that mixed the FS7 with a Canon 5D II and 5D IV. It was surprisingly easy to match the color of all three cameras.

I'm a very active stills shooter and the results i've been getting from the FS7 in 4K are definitely good enough for print (as long as my shutter speed is high enough). The compression is a little annoying but if I really want clean compression I can always shoot MJPEG on my 5D IV.
 
I should also mention that the 32" is quite large and heavy. That being said, it fits perfectly laying flat in the trunk/bed of my car (subaru baja) it didnt come with a case (just foam in a cardboard box) so i purchased an extra large art portfolio for $99. It fits the foam insert perfectly and is now much easier to carry.
 
Here is another example of the 18" flapjack. Boomed over the table to give a butterfly key to three subjects. It was at 5600k and at full power so you can get a sense of the color and power of the light by comparing it to the WB and exposure of the window.

 
Last edited:
egproductions said:
Here is another example of the 18" flapjack. Boomed over the table to give a butterfly key to three subjects. It was at 5600k and at full power so you can get a sense of the color and power of the light by comparing it to the WB and exposure of the window.

Click to expand...

What else besides the 18" Flapjack? The lighting looks good and lighting roundtables can be difficult without going nuts. I have lit them with a Chimera Pancake with the full skirt with three separate hair lights up high, etc. but a lot of gear and time to rig. Tell us more about how you did this one?
 
puredrifting said:
usually the Sony FS7 makes people look like corpses (blue/magenta/cyan) but you nailed some nice skin tones here.
Click to expand...

Shooting CineEI/Sgamut3.cine is key and its not hard to get great looking images and skin from the FS7. So many examples are user skill or bad lighting not the FS7.
 
The home has pretty good natural light that helped fill the scene. The wall color cools down the window light a little. incandescent lights were all turned off. Sunlight was coming from the backlit window as well as a little from the foyer you see in the male contestant shot.

My only light was the flapjack, however, I did insist that we shoot on the bare white table so that the flapjack could bounce and fill a little under their chins.
 
egproductions said:
I owe you guys some samples and experiences with the flapjacks so far. Below is one such example and I should have plenty more for you in the next week or two.

Thoughts:
So far I really enjoyed using this light for both video and still photography. It's very much what I have been looking for. I was recently assisting a friend of mine on a wedding (still photography) and I brought the 18" to use as a reflector type light. I snapped on a vmount, took off the yoke, and it became an incredibly quick light to move around and adjust color temperature depending on the situation. It overpowers normal ambient light and holds it's own under sunlight. One snafu I encountered was putting it on a boom arm. Someone didn't tighten the stand and it came crashing down. Somehow this ended up bending the thick metal yoke which, by feel, is very solid. Unable to bend it back into shape, I contacted fotodiox and they were able to send me a new yoke. The light itself was perfectly fine.

Here is a screenshot of an interview I just did. The key light is the 32" flapjack, the kicker is the 18" flapjack and the hair light is a westcott skylux. There was a small amount of spill onto the backdrop from the skylux since I was using a shoot through umbrella.
Here is the DPX file (ungraded) if anyone wants to play around
Shot on the FS7, 640IE, metabones speedbooster, Canon 135 F2 @ f3.5(post speedboosted)
flapjacksample1.jpg
Click to expand...

Good job ! Thanks for your share :)
 
Awesome, I was skeptical on these but as a photographer like you i think these are killers for interviews or fashion/beauty.
:)
Keep those examples coming, great great job!
 
egproductions said:
Here is a school video that showcases the flapjacks. The seated shots were done with the 18" boomed overhead and the kicker/edge light is the 32" from the back left. Students were passing as we were filming and I would hear them saying..wohh look at that moon! (reffering to the 32" round flapjack)

http://www.eliecreative.com/rynj12132016/Promo%20Video%202016/Drafts/love_always_v2.mp4
Click to expand...

Nice spot. For some reason, you seem to be shooting the only FS7 footage I have seen that I like. What kind of post process are you doing to CC and grade? Shooting with which settings? Lighting looks clean too. It's weird, most of the other FS7 footage I see looks really bad, awful skin tones but your look overall pretty nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top