Quality of LED lights out now?

Josh Bass said:
A client just bought a 3 light kit from ikan consisting of 1x1 bi-color (uses pot to switch between 3200-5600) dimmable leds with a digital readout of color temp, dim level, etc. couldnt say cri but i gotta tell you they are pretty damn nice. Good throw, look decent on skin (editing footage using them now), etc.


$2900 for the 3-light kit, around $900-1000 individually via b&h.
Click to expand...

Ikans are always rebranded Chinese lights you could get off of ebay for at least 1/3 the price or better
 
my contribution to the thread.

Akurat LL2120hc2
I 've been using this LED light as a photographer for over a year now.
* it has the most even illumination I've ever seen
* It doesn't change WB even in dimmest setting
* It is very small and light so I can hold it with one hand and take photos with the other
* It has dual WB so I can compensate for indoors or outdoors
* It is very durable, metal made, fallen twice and nothing broke

It cost me 280eur with Sony NP-F battery plate
I am so thankful of it I could recommend to everybody.
Videographers would love its wide illumination angle and its cast-free color.

P.S. I am not a seller!
 
You can be as dubious as you want, but I have used the Kino-Flo Celeb's and they are as color accurate as any other lights that I have used. They matched with HMI's and tungsten lighting and we did not have to correct the instrument. In fact the only negative that I have is that they are heavy.
 
After buying a Kino-Flo Celeb... I changed my lighting style, and I sold both my Kino-Flo Divas.
Now I white balance for the ambent light and match the colour temperature with the Celeb.

Yes it's more expensive then other lights... but it's the light I use every day.
I'd like to buy one more LED and have been considering the Arri LoCarter, but I think I'll wait until after NAB 2014.

Bill Kerrigan
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
http://www.kerrigan.ca





 
I've hated all the LED lights i've owned (mostly the panels and also chinese ones). I've not liked some of the more pro panels either.

However i bought an Area 48 Remote Phosphor light (replacing some kino stuff) and really, really liking the output. Both in terms of intensity and colour rendering. Even to the eye, it's just better, in fact it's just 'right' on skin. Also having a panel emitting the light means a true soft light, almost like a window source. It will even run off v-mount batteries - try doing that with a Kino. The light output is a bit more than a Kino Diva 400. As remote phosphor matures and prices come down, i think these are the ones to watch.

I'm also interested in the new Dedo DLEDS (the 9.1 looks good) and the Fiilex lights have had some very good write ups.

cheers
Paul
 
I have two Yongnuo YN600 LED lights, and two Fotodiox LED-312A lights. The Fotodiox has a magenta cast like they're overcompensating for a green spike in the LEDs. The yongnuos on the other hand cast a really nice clean light. I have no issues with them whatsoever and have been really pleased with the skin tones I've gotten out of my footage. I was considering trying out the F&V lights, but given how happy I am with the YN600s, it's hard to justify even the reasonably priced F&V lights...

Yongnuo - http://amzn.com/B00E4LFP0G
Fotodiox - http://amzn.com/B0054EI79I
 
In theatre lighting we're just starting to see light sources using multiple colour sources. Started with RGB, then RGBA but now with many more colours in an attempt to even out the spectrum so the output is flatter with less peaks and troughs. Maybe this idea will creep into video kit too? Theatre needs are for led sources to be able to use the same gels as we've always done, and there are hundreds of subtle shades. The snags video people have getting white are the same as we have trying to get say, lavender from a white LED. Lee Filters have a range of gels that convert LED white to what we are used to, but if you look on the Lee website you will see they are very odd colours of gel to the eye. The new multicolour light sources may well do the trick for us? To expensive for me yet, but we'll see.
 
The Digital Sputnik DS LED system looks to be exactly what I'm after (just not the price)...

Found out they use RGBW chips, which to the naked eye isn't high CRI... But they have balanced each R G B value to match a sensor's individual RGB sensitivity. Cool concept eh? Wonder if they have different profiles for each sensor type: Red Dragon vs Sony FS700?

Won't be buying any in the near future, and they quoted me $13k for three light heads with all accessories and 1PSU to power them.

Anyone see them first hand in the RED booth at NAB? They are also in showrooms in LA if anyone is there and wants to give us a review!:2vrolijk_08:
 
I'm not so sure matching them to the sensors curve could be counter productive - if the spikes in the lighting match the sensor maximum sensitivity points then exposure becomes very tricky. One colour becomes super sensitive, yet a subtle change in colour, nearly the same becomes very dull by comparison. This, I believe is what makes saturated LED blue look awful on many video cameras - especially Sony's. The blue looks vivid, but all the detail seems to vanish in everything that is not that exact colour. A bit like when you view a scene lit with lights that have UV output, but the fabrics used also fluoresce slightly - the colours look 'wrong'.
 
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