Litepanels 1x1 vs Cool lights 600
- Thread starter clevet
- Start date
Greg Smith
Veteran
By the numbers, the Cool Lights provides almost twice the light (3200 vs. 1700 lux at 4 feet for the dimmable spot model) for about 1/3 the money -- it would appear to be not much of a contest there.
The Litepanels, on the other hand, has built-in DMX and is more compact (thinner). And they're available from stock, whereas Cool Lights seems to have many models on back order.
What you can't tell by reading catalogs is which one gives better quality light, has more accurate color, is more durable or easier to handle in the field/studio, or which company has better service and support. I'm looking at a similar choice (also considering fluorescents) and would appreciate any insights from users who have actually tried one or both.
- GDS
The Litepanels, on the other hand, has built-in DMX and is more compact (thinner). And they're available from stock, whereas Cool Lights seems to have many models on back order.
What you can't tell by reading catalogs is which one gives better quality light, has more accurate color, is more durable or easier to handle in the field/studio, or which company has better service and support. I'm looking at a similar choice (also considering fluorescents) and would appreciate any insights from users who have actually tried one or both.
- GDS
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Kelly Olsen
Well-known member
I can tell you hands down that CoolLights has better service and support. Have you ever heard of the owner of LitePanels ever replying to a sales inquiry or a need for a product to be serviced? Richard, the owner of CoolLights will answer your questions here or by e-mail usually within hours, if not sooner.
I have two of the CoolLight flos and love them. Because of long story which I won't bother you here with, I needed my lights to be serviced. It was taken care of immediately with no problems. Richard and his service person took care of the issue and I was up and running in very little time. I didn't have to go through a bunch of people and wait for somebody in another department to get back to me and all that other crap. One e-mail and I was taken care of.
All you have to do is do a search here on this site and you will see that the company has an excellent reputation for a great product at a lower cost that the others and the best possible service. He's been on this site for at least 5 years. You will never be sorry you bought a light from CoolLights.
Stop looking any place else and buy from Richard. And no, I'm not his brother-in-law and don't work for the company
Just an extremely satisfied customer and there are many others here as well.
I have two of the CoolLight flos and love them. Because of long story which I won't bother you here with, I needed my lights to be serviced. It was taken care of immediately with no problems. Richard and his service person took care of the issue and I was up and running in very little time. I didn't have to go through a bunch of people and wait for somebody in another department to get back to me and all that other crap. One e-mail and I was taken care of.
All you have to do is do a search here on this site and you will see that the company has an excellent reputation for a great product at a lower cost that the others and the best possible service. He's been on this site for at least 5 years. You will never be sorry you bought a light from CoolLights.
Stop looking any place else and buy from Richard. And no, I'm not his brother-in-law and don't work for the company
Just an extremely satisfied customer and there are many others here as well.
I was avoiding LEDs for quite some time but decided to try out the Cool Lights 600. It is a great kit for the price and I would recommend the spot version since you can always soften it. The 600 is surprisingly bright and that you can get this much light from a battery powered option is amazing. The barn doors don't do much so LEDs aren't great where really tight control is needed. For me, the color is better than I thought it would be and the included filter set is very nice since a little correction to get to 5200k is needed. I also purchased some Cool Lights flos not long ago. For a price, the Cool Lights products are hard to beat considering they are half the price or less than LitePanels or Arris. I have Arri tungstens and they are great fixtures, but the Cool Lights stuff is getting it done for me. One word of caution, with the flood of new LED product hitting the market, things are changing really fast, some good, some not so much.
As Kelly mentioned, Richard, the owner of Cool Lights, is always available to support his stuff, and quickly! Look on his site, there is more info offered there about lighting than any of the big name brands. Good product, fair prices, great support.
Grant
As Kelly mentioned, Richard, the owner of Cool Lights, is always available to support his stuff, and quickly! Look on his site, there is more info offered there about lighting than any of the big name brands. Good product, fair prices, great support.
Grant
Patryk_Rebisz
Veteran
My problems with CL is:
- you NEED pink gels in front to get rid of the greenish ting (LitePanels have it build in) and as the filters for CL are so thick you don't be able to put 2 different filters in the socket
- when running of the battery the lights slowly dim as the battery's charge gets smaller
That said though CL come with very useful barndoors, are 1/3 of the price of LPs and the owner of the company is a "frequent flier" on this forum.
- you NEED pink gels in front to get rid of the greenish ting (LitePanels have it build in) and as the filters for CL are so thick you don't be able to put 2 different filters in the socket
- when running of the battery the lights slowly dim as the battery's charge gets smaller
That said though CL come with very useful barndoors, are 1/3 of the price of LPs and the owner of the company is a "frequent flier" on this forum.
Kelly Olsen
Well-known member
I'd be interested in knowing what you mean by the minus green filters being so thick that you can't use others filters? You can get Lee or Roscoe minus green filters for about $7.00 a sheet and are the same as any gel filter, which is about as thick as a piece of paper. Maybe I just didn't read you statement correctly. And yes, LitePanels do have the filters built in, but as you point out there are really much more costly. I think buying a gel for a few dollars and putting it on your self is worth saving hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
And then there is the customer service which is, as they say, "Priceless."
Kelly Olsen
Well-known member
I don't have the LEDs, I have the CoolLight flos, but I always like buying something that is made custom for a product. But you can do a search here on this site and you might find other discussions about that point. I seem to remember a discussion about the soft box for the LED. Or, you can just send an e-mail to Richard. My experience is that he will give an honest answer even if it means you not buying a certain item. In other words, he won't say something just to get you to buy his product.
His e-mail is: info@coollights.biz
Matt Gottshalk
Resident Preditor
Indeed, i keep a sheet of 1/2 minus green in the led600s at all times and then just throw in the full CTO hard gel when needed.
Also, it isn't just leds that need minus green. I always keep a roll of it whenever i rent any hmi as sooner or later the bulb will go green as it gets older.
Also, it isn't just leds that need minus green. I always keep a roll of it whenever i rent any hmi as sooner or later the bulb will go green as it gets older.
Patryk_Rebisz
Veteran
The gel part is inconvenience rather then deal breaker, but still it would be nice if one didn't have to deal with it - the LItePanel way seems better.
The BIG problem is the loss of output with the loss of battery's charge.
The BIG problem is the loss of output with the loss of battery's charge.
Kelly Olsen
Well-known member
Sliding in or taping up a small thin piece of gel is really a very minor task. It will take time, maybe as much as 60 seconds. I suspect that you might even be able to fix it so that you only have to put it in once. If you don't buy the CoolLights and instead get Litepanels, you'll wish you had bought the CoolLights because you will find some other item you will need or want and if you had bought the CoolLights, you'd still have the cash to get that item.
I was kind of in this position, to a much bigger degree when I bought my CoolLight flos. I could pay the price of the dimming flos or save some money and get the ones without a dimmer. Both have bank selection. So if I got the non-dimming ones I could cut the power with the bank switchs or move the light if I needed to have less light.
But what if I needed light power that switching the banks didn't get me to the amount of light I wanted? With the non-dimming lights, I'd have to move them or throw on a ND filter and go through different densities, which could be a pain to get the right light amount. So it would be more often than not I'd have to move them. I'm shooting interviews in many unknown places, often small places. So what If I didn't have the room to move the light? Then I'm screwed with having to put on different ND filters. But if I had paid extra for the dimming units then I could get the light to a pretty exact level with the dimmer and I didn't have to be exact where I put the light and I didn't have to worry so much about light placement or small spaces.
So I paid extra and I'm very happy that I did because the dimmers have given me the flexibility when I need to adjust just a bit. You set up by eye and then look in the camera and if it's not working it is a lot easier to walk over to the light and dial it up or down than it is to move the sandbag, pick up the light, move it and put the sandbag back. That dial comes in real handy sometimes. But you can make either work.
But when it comes to something like a choice between a light with a minus green gel built in or one that you put on in 60 seconds or even leave on, I'd buy the CoolLights and spend the saved money on a better microphone or a directors chair with my name on it.
Cool Lights
DVXuser Sponsor
Its a design philosophy difference between a Litepanels and our model. You can't say that is 100% better for everyone to include minus green in the LEDs themselves, you can only say that for you it would be better.
The LED 600 was mainly originally designed for people that mostly needed a powerful, controllable battery powered light in "power starved" locations. I never foresaw that so many would take it and use it for everything they do and that's been the case. Raise the CRI by building in minus green and you lower the output--the 1x1 is a pretty weak fixture compared to ours and that's one major reason why. You'd never talk about running a softbox for example even on their spot version.
Some people just need all the light they can get running off a battery and CRI is not their primary concern. I was mainly thinking of them when we designed this product. They add the external minus green filter when it is a concern. When its built in you have no option, its always there and the lack of light for the internal filtering is always there too. You simply won't find anything that can last as long on a battery that size and put out the amount of light that the Cool Lights LED 600 does considering wattage draw vs light output.
The Bi-color process that we use on the new 1200, which is pretty unique by the way, and I haven't seen any other company do it quite the way we have, is really the best and most economical way (for now) to solve the issue of green spikes and have no external filtering.
On number of gels you can put in. If you don't mind leaving off the barndoors, you can put several acrylics in there and just use the accessory lock to hold them in. You'll never find everything in one fixture, that's why we still make other models / types.
The LED 600 was mainly originally designed for people that mostly needed a powerful, controllable battery powered light in "power starved" locations. I never foresaw that so many would take it and use it for everything they do and that's been the case. Raise the CRI by building in minus green and you lower the output--the 1x1 is a pretty weak fixture compared to ours and that's one major reason why. You'd never talk about running a softbox for example even on their spot version.
Some people just need all the light they can get running off a battery and CRI is not their primary concern. I was mainly thinking of them when we designed this product. They add the external minus green filter when it is a concern. When its built in you have no option, its always there and the lack of light for the internal filtering is always there too. You simply won't find anything that can last as long on a battery that size and put out the amount of light that the Cool Lights LED 600 does considering wattage draw vs light output.
The Bi-color process that we use on the new 1200, which is pretty unique by the way, and I haven't seen any other company do it quite the way we have, is really the best and most economical way (for now) to solve the issue of green spikes and have no external filtering.
On number of gels you can put in. If you don't mind leaving off the barndoors, you can put several acrylics in there and just use the accessory lock to hold them in. You'll never find everything in one fixture, that's why we still make other models / types.
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Patryk_Rebisz
Veteran
as i said before the lack of build in filter for the greeenish tint is an inconvenience, the main problem i see is the fact that the light doesn't have the power converter (or whatever it's called) to maintain the brightness of the lights as the battery's power goes down.
astigmatic
Well-known member
i have love hate with cool lights. Cheap, but almost everything I've bought from them needed or still needs repair..but the service is good so you can send it back for repair quickly.
problems:
1. 2 x portable single bank flo's: barn door trims fell off. Both lights trip the house fuse(aren't they supposed to be low consumption?).
2. 2 x cdm 150s: The plugs to the ballest needed to be replaced, old one blew out a ballast.
3. 1 x 650 watt tungsten. Soldering on power switch came loose, crappy soldering job. Had to re-solder myself.
4. 1 x 256 led spot. Sony batter connection has loose contacts so battery doesn't work. The xlr connection is loose, so it flickers or turns off when plugged in. The zippers on the carrying bag broke.
From reviews it seems like I may just have bad luck with this company, but just a heads up that the build aint arri quality but neither are the prices.
problems:
1. 2 x portable single bank flo's: barn door trims fell off. Both lights trip the house fuse(aren't they supposed to be low consumption?).
2. 2 x cdm 150s: The plugs to the ballest needed to be replaced, old one blew out a ballast.
3. 1 x 650 watt tungsten. Soldering on power switch came loose, crappy soldering job. Had to re-solder myself.
4. 1 x 256 led spot. Sony batter connection has loose contacts so battery doesn't work. The xlr connection is loose, so it flickers or turns off when plugged in. The zippers on the carrying bag broke.
From reviews it seems like I may just have bad luck with this company, but just a heads up that the build aint arri quality but neither are the prices.
metrospace
Active member
I have quite a few CLs, and have had my share of problems. My CL-455 trips a GFI if plugged into one, and the trim around the doors came off. My CL-SFT1 softbox didn't last long (are these guaranteed? can I send it in for an exchange?). However, I have a few CL-255 in the studio and they are built like tanks. I have a CL-SFT1P and love the softbox, although it won't stay on the speedring very well. The CL-SFT1 fixture has no on/off switch, and the cheap plastic adjustable bar handle will break when you torque down on it, which you must do when you get the weight of the softbox on it. Richard is available, which is great and rare for a company head; but I have been told i can't get individuals parts I've needed.
But I keep going back for more. Why? Because the light quality is great, and the price is great. Despite problems, the CL-SFT1 or CL-SFT1P produces a flattering, cool, and even light for interviews, and is an absolute incredible deal. I am willing to make some conscessions so I don't have to fork out all the bucks for a Kino or a Chimera. Just understand you get what you pay for.
I have a feeling a CL LED1200 is next.
But I keep going back for more. Why? Because the light quality is great, and the price is great. Despite problems, the CL-SFT1 or CL-SFT1P produces a flattering, cool, and even light for interviews, and is an absolute incredible deal. I am willing to make some conscessions so I don't have to fork out all the bucks for a Kino or a Chimera. Just understand you get what you pay for.
I have a feeling a CL LED1200 is next.
Kelly Olsen
Well-known member
It is already listed on the CoolLight's website and there are two treads about the light on DVXUser's website.