New(to me) cheap 50W fresnel type LED - worth a shot? (like Boltzen/Caliber/J-500)

S

scotchtape

Active member
So I've been looking at getting one of those Came Boltzen / Litepanels Caliber / Fotodiox J-500 small LED focusable fake fresnel lights for hair/rim/kickers
As always, still looking for a lower priced option, somehow stumbled across this light on eBay.

- http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-CRI-Bi...506722?hash=item3ad0a3eb62:g:oxsAAOSw32lYxlpm
Did more searching and came up with more details (I can't read Chinese though so I'm assuming what some of the numbers mean)
- http://www.miedongdong.com/detail/9999289.html
Apparently a Starison FC-500D??

$190 USD(!)
50W LED
CRI around 93
5-50 degree focus
8,900 lux @ 1M spot
1,790 lux @ 1M flood
No fan (but gets kinda hot?)
46.8lux/$!!! (double Aputure COB120 at spot)
Separate power supply like Aputure LS
Head weighs 3.5lbs (I'm assuming with the yoke and barndoors)

I'm not sure if it will just explode on contact but it looks kind of legit. Definitely competes on the specs and price.
Says bi-color but they just mean comes with orange filter of questionable quality.
Seems to be a battery option for $260

What do you guys think? Worth the risk? (Also looks like they make bigger fresnels too so I'm going to see if those are available on eBay).
My Godox mod is taking way longer than I thought it would and the fan mod isn't that much quieter - I think due to the design of the front.
But I'm going to add in a fan controller to help with that part.

I've been eyeing the Boltzens... but would rather wait for gen 2.
 
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Found one for $260 BIN and another bidding for $230.
IT's hard to search for, I have to use "50W led spotlight bi-color"
There's no brand name or model in the listing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-LED-Spo...512866?hash=item3f75d01d22:g:Zw0AAOSwnHZYfgfG

Edit: 80W version is $270 and includes v-mount option
But the head is stated 6.2lb... kinda heavy to boom.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Hi...357964?hash=item4b069ad68c:g:MIMAAOSwa~BYU4Bu

3 pack for $720 with case and stands.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Video-3...507489?hash=item3ad0a3ee61:g:7LgAAOSw4CFYoQ~A
 
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Wow, Alumotech? Those are the funkiest barn doors I have ever seen. You pay your money, you take your chances. Little to no pedigree, reputation or lineage. I wouldn't but let us know if you do and what you think of them. I just went through this with buying a relatively cheap (under $700.00) tripod head. I came across half a dozen brands I had never even heard of that looked okay, but if I have never heard of them and there are no YouTube or web reviews, I pass. I ended up buying a Miller heard, I know Miller and have used their heads in the past and there were lots of reviews on-line. But Secced, E-Image, Sirui, etc?? Never heard of them, no reputation, no thanks. For lights, I just bought a pair of the Kamerar Brightcasts. I had never heard of Kamerar before last Fall, they are new, Chinese (isn't everything that is cheap as far as video gear?) and didn't cost much but I am very happy with them. Because they sent out a lot of units to reviewers and there are lots of on-line reviews. They are not perfect, are built kind of cheap but for what I needed them for, they are fine and a good value and I pretty much knew what to expect. Semi disposable lights, if they last me a couple of years, I'll be happy.

At the rate of R&D and innovation we are at, anything LED will be seriously outdated in six months anyway so buying lights that are supposed to last twenty years like my Arri fresnels is kind of outdated. I think buying stuff like the Arri Skypanels is taking a big chance. They are great, I have shot with them, but hyper expensive. And there will probably something within a year or two that will be better, have a lot more output and better light quality for less than half the price. LEDs are just screaming along with innovation, output goes up, quality goes up, features and CRI as the prices are dropping. We are kind of in the Golden Age of lighting IMHO. We have had more LED innovation in the last three years than we had in the last thirty years in tungsten technology or really even in HMI other than Plasma.
 
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Might consider buying through the US channels, like A-zon. At least, there you might get reviews (of course, if the number of the reviews is low, then it's the CEO, COO and the GM reviewing own product).
 
Yeah these are obviously Dedo knockoffs. That said, if they are anything close to a Dedo they are a steal... I actually played with one of these in person in a camera store I found when I was in Myanmar a couple months ago where they were selling for ~$160 converted and I was pretty tempted to take one home with me. I had recently seen these appear online right before my trip.

These are mis-advertised as bicolor, really they just come with a CTO plastic filter, which I'm always skeptical on an LED since filtering LEDs tends to exacerbate color spikes...

The 80W seemed more interesting to me since it can take DC or AC power and has more substantial output, but they didn't have it in the store. It seems awfully heavy for the output though.
 
nyvz said:
Yeah these are obviously Dedo knockoffs. That said, if they are anything close to a Dedo they are a steal...
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out. I haven't been looking at Dedo because of the price so I had no idea these looked exactly the same.
Looked up the specs of the Dedo DLED4 and it kills this thing, but also "kills" it budget wise at 6x the price. The Dedos actually look really cool with all the options but way out of my price range.
Also the specs seem wrong on their site - they're stating 36,000 lux @ 1m for spot for the daylight version, meanwhile their tungsten is half that. The funny thing is all the other numbers on the daylight are similar to the tungsten so I think they just messed that one up.
Assuming it's closer to 18,000lux (22K on BH site) it's 2.5x the light output for 6x the cost compared to this knock off (also way more efficient if it's 40W vs 60W).
Per dollar the knock off is 3x the value for output so it wins there.

Puredrifting - there are a lot of really good asian brands that are not just knock offs. Sirui is really good, they even won an award for most stable ballhead (K-20X) in some german magazine shootout a few years back. I own lots of their stuff, really good for photography. Their monopods for video were legit too, but not their video heads. iFootage is another example that comes to mind that makes good stuff. Ikan is constantly rebranding chinese stuff too. I think everything is becoming disposable which is good and bad. Good is it's cheaper and since things keep getting better you can upgrade faster. Bad because stuff keeps breaking or going out of date so quickly. You are right though - it is a golden age indeed!

Decisions decisions...
 
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It looks like you win those lights in a box of cereal. They look like 3D prints!

I'll gladly eat my words if they do OK for you but I would pass.

LEDs are becoming like cameras - new versions constantly coming out making previous versions worthless.

I'd like LED manufacturers to stop going so cheap on the build quality, similar to how cameras are all pretty good now, and changes are coming in the form of physical improvements.
 
Yes the dedos are more efficient at narrow spot for sure but otherwise the output appears to be higher at flood on the Chinese one.

Actually I kinda wish these were more plastic, if I recall the body is mostly metal but that makes these kinda heavy for the output.

Btw anyone notice the schematics actually reference dled4 on the Chinese one? The design may be taken directly from dedos...
 
nyvz said:
Yes the dedos are more efficient at narrow spot for sure but otherwise the output appears to be higher at flood on the Chinese one.

Actually I kinda wish these were more plastic, if I recall the body is mostly metal but that makes these kinda heavy for the output.

Btw anyone notice the schematics actually reference dled4 on the Chinese one? The design may be taken directly from dedos...
Click to expand...

I think it's only "higher" because the beam angle is wider on the Dedo, so you apples to oranges.
It would be nice if it was lighter for sure.
 
Specs are one thing but my guess there's more to the Dedos than just numbers like optics and especially reliability. I would never purchase these knock-offs and use them in my line of work. I do have two DLED7´s and although expensive they'll last a long time.
 
Why not use those LED RGBW stage light - with DMX control - you can control light intensity, color
and a lot cheaper than those LED panels
 
jpham said:
Why not use those LED RGBW stage light - with DMX control - you can control light intensity, color
and a lot cheaper than those LED panels
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Because almost all of them have loud fans, fixed beam angle, multishadows, poor cri, impossible software, and low frequency pwm dimming meaning flicker at anything but full power. Also most Chinese ones inflate wattage by a ton. I've looked at those, they look like poormans digital Sputnik but really they barely even work for camera at all. Might find a workable one if you are super picky about pwm specs and cooling... Most of the ones that might work are actually quite expensive. If someone makes an affordable one with narrow beam, wireless remote, voltage dimming, and silent cooling I'd be all over that.
 
Uh, after NAB and looking at the videos, why would anyone not buy the Aputure Mini 20C? If you can wait a few months for them to show up at retailers, it looked like THE light to fulfill this role. I will be buying at least two of them. I have three Aputure lights and they are great for the money.

 
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puredrifting said:
Uh, after NAB and looking at the videos, why would anyone not buy the Aputure Mini 20C? If you can wait a few months for them to show up at retailers, it looked like THE light to fulfill this role. I will be buying at least two of them. I have three Aputure lights and they are great for the money.
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Do you know how many watts that light is rated for? Looks interesting, but can't find that spec.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Do you know how many watts that light is rated for? Looks interesting, but can't find that spec.
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From Newshooter's write up...

"The LS-C20 is claimed to have the equivalent output of a 120W conventional fixture. If true, then that isn’t far off the output of the venerable Dedolight DLH4, which is rated at 150W with its 24V supply."

So it's sounding like only 30 or 40 watts? For how I would deploy it, that's fine. Hair/rim/accent light at less than $200.00
 
Just a shame that Aputure didn't add remote control like nearly every other product I own from them.
You need to press the single knob on the side to switch between brightness and temp, but you can only see which mode you are in by looking at the side readout.
So changing the setting while it's up on a boom or a high stand could be a hassle.
A little wired remote rigged down the light stand would be alright, or just charge an extra $50 and give it wireless control.
 
Duncan Craig said:
Just a shame that Aputure didn't add remote control like nearly every other product I own from them.
You need to press the single knob on the side to switch between brightness and temp, but you can only see which mode you are in by looking at the side readout.
So changing the setting while it's up on a boom or a high stand could be a hassle.
A little wired remote rigged down the light stand would be alright, or just charge an extra $50 and give it wireless control.
Click to expand...

Oh man, I guess I didn't want the videos carefully enough, I just assumed it had the same wireless control since all of the others in the line do. I agree, that is the one light you really need wireless remote for, hair/rim for interviews or little hero light for a featured object in the BG. Too bad. Yep, I would gladly pay an extra $50.00 for the wireless remote.
 
Pretty sure the Mini 20C is 20W... Likely pretty dim especially if it's only 20W at 4300K and 10W at 5600K and 3200K. If Aputure's naming convention follows from their COB line which puts the max power draw in the model number that is. Pretty sure I saw a video that said it was 20W as well.
 
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