Litepanel vs Kino vs Socanland

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danstone

Active member
I searched all over for a comparison and couldn't find one, so we ordered all three and put them together. I've gone through just about every LED panel out there and none of them are remotely close to a clean 5600K. If you're using all the same brand of LED, you can compensate in camera – but forget about mixing them without gelling.

The LitePanels have no color spike but their color temp comes in at about 4500K. Accessories are overpriced.
The Kinos are a perfect daylight but a P.I.A. to lug around and set up for smaller shoots. IMO, Kinos have always been a tad overpriced.
The Socanlands have a crazy amount of light output but a huge magenta spike. Whether the fader will last is also questionable because it flickers when adjusted. They cost as much as the Litepanels but you get more stuff (battery mount, barn doors, diffuser & case).
The Genaray panels B&H sells have such a huge magenta spike that they're pretty much unusable. They're a rebranded generic make.
Kino Celebs... I won't even mention those because they're so crazy expensive. Not enough output but good color.

From left to right: Litepanel daylight bifocus @100%, 2' Kino daylight, Socanland 100W daylight @ 50%.

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Well, that's interesting. A spec that people pay a lot of attention to is CRI, but it's a limited spec and apparently not very useful. So, there's been a movement afoot to supercede the CRI with a new evaluative measuring system for color rendition, and they've run a lot of tests. They have also tested the Socanland (a company from Iceland!), and you can see the results here for a bunch of lights:

http://www.gtc.org.uk/tlci-results/tlci-results-new-format.aspx
 
Oldcorpse: That's a great link! Thanks for that. A better way of measuring color accuracy would be extremely helpful, I think.

Jon: That's interesting. Makes me want to call them to see what's up with ours. The Astras are a tad bulkier than I'd like and... that fan.
 
danstone said:
Oldcorpse: That's a great link! Thanks for that. A better way of measuring color accuracy would be extremely helpful, I think.

Jon: That's interesting. Makes me want to call them to see what's up with ours. The Astras are a tad bulkier than I'd like and... that fan.
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I have a 15 yr old. Minolta Color Meter - so that's what I am measuring with. You said yours was a bi-color - so it could be that(?)

The fan is a non-issue but you can always turn the fan off. W/fan it'll be 4x as bright as 1st gen 1x1, w/out fan it'll be 2x.

Bulk? It's all relative. It's ~4x as bright as a Kino w/ far less bulk.
 
Ours is the bi-focus, single color. We're just measuring by projecting it onto a white board and selecting auto WB on a camera. That might be the problem. Either way, might look into the Astra.
 
I just looked at some write ups about the Astra and I'm not impressed. Plasticy, poorly designed layout, a blow-up chimera that attaches with velcro straps and huge LEDs that leave patterns. I've also heard from someone that the fan noise is, in fact, somewhat of an issue – especially when you're using several units in a small room.

I talked to Intellytech about the Socanlands and it turns out they were just kidding when they said, "No magenta color spike." They said their bi-color units have better LEDs (would have been helpful to know PRIOR to ordering). Support has been really helpful so far, though. I'm exchanging these to see. If not, I'm returning them all and we'll just stick with Kinos. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night and a small form factor is not worth the hassle. If I'm going to have to gel, I'd rather rent a grip package with Kinos and HMIs and do it right.
 
We've rented the Astra for a day and the fan noise wasn't an issue. The main concern were the multiple shadows, but this can be fix by a diffiuson filter.

Yes the construction is rather plasticky but which LEDs (except the uber pricey cineo and area) are not?

The overall light quality was very good IMHO.
 
danstone said:
I just looked at some write ups about the Astra and I'm not impressed. Plasticy, poorly designed layout, a blow-up chimera that attaches with velcro straps and huge LEDs that leave patterns. I've also heard from someone that the fan noise is, in fact, somewhat of an issue – especially when you're using several units in a small room.
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Dan - don't want to belabor this. We're all entitled to our own opinions and obviously free to use the equipment that works best for us. I do want to correct some points though... A blow-up Chimera that attaches with Velcro straps? That's a third-party inflatable softbox called an AirBox.

LP makes one for the Astra which is called a SnapBag, very similar to a Chimera except that it does not need a speedring. It's actually made by DoP Choice, the same company making softboxes for Area 48/BBS. It does attach via velcro but it is secure and in attaching via velcro it doesn't take space away from the front filter channel of the light (as was the case with the Chimera + speedring for the 1st gen 1x1.)

I can also tell you that I have the Chimera for the 1st gen 1x1 and it is a major pain in the butt to mount it to the speedring and mounting the speedring to the light takes some finagling.

The patterns are no different than any other multi-point light. If you diffuse the light you won't see it at all. A Road Rags diffuser works great and the LP Snapbag eliminates them as well.

I can only speak for myself but having filmed interviews in a small room with four Astras running - the fan noise was not noticeable and not an issue.
 
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I use Diva's on almost every shoot, so everything else needs to be reasonably correctable around them. The Westcott Skylux and Dracast panels are both almost exact matches with a 1/8CTB added. The fact that the Westcott and Dracast are almost identical (Skylux is a couple points bluer) makes correcting on set lots easier. They're also great edge highlights since they're a little warmer and I tend to prefer that anyway.
 
Jon: Thanks for the info and good points.

crossXcheck: I was actually just reading about the Dracast panels. A lot of punch with excellent color. I like the form factor, too, including their barn doors. Ever have any issues with the adjustment teeth on the yoke?
 
No real issues other then it's a bad design choice, the teeth are too coarse and it might be easy to shear or crush them off if you're in too big a hurry. One of my spare time projects is to see if there's a simple way to replace the teeth with friction washers.
 
Quick update – After reading a few others complaints about Intellytech's light quality, I returned the Socanlands and canceled my order for their bi-color fixtures. Intellytech asked me to leave a review on their site, so I did, praising the build quality and noting the magenta spike, and they promptly deleted it. Selling the lights with the explicit pitch, "No magenta spike," and then admitting they are aware of the magenta spike, is sketchy and an utter disrespect of my time (as well as my $80 for return shipping).

I have been reading really good reviews on the Dracast color quality as well as output (it's listed higher than any other fixture I've seen). I ordered four of them and am going to give them a try. We're shooting a spot next week with Kinos, HMIs – including a couple of 12Ks through silk – and I'm going to mix these in to see how they do.
 
Looking forward to your report on the Dracasts.

Looking forward to your report on the Dracasts.

danstone said:
Quick update – After reading a few others complaints about Intellytech's light quality, I returned the Socanlands and canceled my order for their bi-color fixtures. Intellytech asked me to leave a review on their site, so I did, praising the build quality and noting the magenta spike, and they promptly deleted it. Selling the lights with the explicit pitch, "No magenta spike," and then admitting they are aware of the magenta spike, is sketchy and an utter disrespect of my time (as well as my $80 for return shipping).

I have been reading really good reviews on the Dracast color quality as well as output (it's listed higher than any other fixture I've seen). I ordered four of them and am going to give them a try. We're shooting a spot next week with Kinos, HMIs – including a couple of 12Ks through silk – and I'm going to mix these in to see how they do.
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I'm interested in Dracasts panels ( and FV's Ultracolor large panel) particularly the larger one. I look forward to hearing your experiences with them. Thanks
 
hotchkiss said:
I'm interested in Dracasts panels ( and FV's Ultracolor large panel) particularly the larger one. I look forward to hearing your experiences with them. Thanks
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I received the Dracast panels yesterday and am pleased to report that they are surprisingly accurate and mix beautifully with Kinos. There's no discernible color shift that we can see. We got the daylight version and, barebulbed, they're about as punchy as a 400 Joker through a Chimera (only judging by eye). Though they don't have some of the helpful little features as the Socanlands (like power adaptor that clips to the battery bracket, long barn doors, etc.), their light quality and output put the Socanlands to shame. And for me, it's all about light quality.

The only complaints I have are what others are saying — that the teeth on the yoke probably won't last long and that the brightness dial is a bit jumpy.

I definitely recommend these.
 
danstone said:
I received the Dracast panels yesterday and am pleased to report that they are surprisingly accurate and mix beautifully with Kinos. There's no discernible color shift that we can see. We got the daylight version and, barebulbed, they're about as punchy as a 400 Joker through a Chimera (only judging by eye). Though they don't have some of the helpful little features as the Socanlands (like power adaptor that clips to the battery bracket, long barn doors, etc.), their light quality and output put the Socanlands to shame. And for me, it's all about light quality.

The only complaints I have are what others are saying — that the teeth on the yoke probably won't last long and that the brightness dial is a bit jumpy.

I definitely recommend these.
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Thanks a lot for taking the time to post. It's great news that they match Kinos well. I wish the power adapter could clip onto the battery bracket. That's a feature that I've really come to appreciate on the pair of FV k4000's that I have. No more power adapters getting smacked around.

I'm looking to a large LED panel that I can use as an interview key, and a unit that will provide fill in outdoor situations. The Dracast sounds like a contender. I'm also curious about the large FV Ultracolor units... Decisions decisions.

Thanks again.
 
hotchkiss said:
I'm looking to a large LED panel that I can use as an interview key, and a unit that will provide fill in outdoor situations. The Dracast sounds like a contender. I'm also curious about the large FV Ultracolor units... Decisions decisions.

Thanks again.
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You may also consider the forthcoming Aputure Lightstorm Series:


 
Vik Kamenicky said:
Yes the construction is rather plasticky but which LEDs (except the uber pricey cineo and area) are not?
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I've been using the FloLight MicroBeam 800 spot panels. They're made of light gauge sheet steel, so not flimsy but slightly heavy for what they are and the light they make is very good and they're very bright.
 
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