Re: LED Softlight Dilemna

E

ectobuilder

Veteran
Re: LED Softlight Dilemna

I need your help to choose an LED Softlight that I will be using as a key light for interviews.

I've been going through different models and scenarios but can't seem to decide.

My budget is between $800 to $2500 for a single light fixture.

I won't specify any requirements I have, other than it needs to be LED + Soft quality. So just give me your reasoning based on what you would use it for.
 
Area48.
remote phosphor.
Very Very bright for a typical size panel.
better light quality than the individual led grids.
no multiple shadows.
strong enough to punch through a thin sheet of diffusion and still have enough kick left to be your key light.

Alternate - Lightpanels Astra. Best light quality yet for a standard type panel. Bright enough to be an interview key light in 'many' situations.
 
Since you won't specify any requirements, I will go ahead and ask... Do you need this LED light to be mains powered, or battery powered via something like an AB or IDX battery?

Are you looking for a Tungsten or daylight balanced light?

Also any particular reason why your key light needs to be LED?
 
David W. Jones said:
Since you won't specify any requirements, I will go ahead and ask... Do you need this LED light to be mains powered, or battery powered via something like an AB or IDX battery?

Are you looking for a Tungsten or daylight balanced light?

Also any particular reason why your key light needs to be LED?
Click to expand...

- AC Power is good. Battery powered not necessary but considered a bonus. Would not prefer the need for a giant ballast.
- I can gel the color so Tungsten OR Daylight OR Variable Color. The soft light should preferably output as much lux as possible.
- LED runs cooler, starts up instantly, no color shifting when changing intensity...etc.
 
What are the advantages with going with a remote phosphor vs a heavily diffused traditional LED?

Are remote phosphors more power efficient per "softness of light"?
 
ectobuilder said:
What are the advantages with going with a remote phosphor vs a heavily diffused traditional LED?

Are remote phosphors more power efficient per "softness of light"?
Click to expand...

Well first off - they're just better lights. Brighter (generally) with better color rendering and you never have to worry about the old multiple shadows effect of the led grid style.

It's a slightly different character of light. Not a lot different like you might see in comparing an led to say a Kino Flo, but not exactly the same character as the usual leds. I find it "smoother" but that's hard to quantify - maybe that's just because the ones I've come across were so much brighter that bare or diffused they just filled the space really well.

I don't know of them being any different as far as power efficiency goes. Perhaps someone here who's used them a lot can chime in.

Other than the light quality I don't know of any other 'advantages'...the remote phosphor sure aren't cheap, they can be a bit more fragile I suppose.
In most other aspects they function the same as typical led panels.

Obviously, if you heavily diffuse a traditional led panel you kill a lot of its brightness.
 
ectobuilder said:
What are the advantages with going with a remote phosphor vs a heavily diffused traditional LED?

Are remote phosphors more power efficient per "softness of light"?
Click to expand...

Intensity per watt, is largely a function of beam-angle, so a 100w LED source with a 45 degree beam is going to have much greater intensity in it's narrower beam than a 100w fixture with a 160 degree beam-angle at the same distance (because the wide angle fixture is spreading it's lumens out over a much greater space). However use both to fill a 4x4 at their respective required distances, and the output you'll get will tend to be pretty equivalent.

Remote phosphor is a significantly different implementation of LED technology than conventional diode arrays, with some considerable benefits. The single source nature, high output and superb colour quality are the biggest things they have going for them. I have a couple of Area48s, and their colour performance trumps both fluorescents and HMIs, so they've become my go-to source for key lights (after tungsten).
 
Every LED light requires a ballast if you are gonna use it to shoot video. The real question you want to ask is if the ballast is integrated with the lamp head. :)
 
ectobuilder said:
Do these require a ballast? Or are they a straight AC plug? And do they use a Baby pin or Junior receiver on the light stand?
Click to expand...

The Cineo has it's ballast offboard. The Area48's is built-in, but it still has an external powersupply.
 
The Cineo HS requires an external ballast (really just a power supply and DMX interface, but that's just semantics.) The Maverick, which is battery powered, is all integrated into the head.
 
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