Recommendations on LED Bi-Color Lights?

D

DDirector

Veteran
I'm looking to buy some lights to add to my kit.
I have a few options already in mind depending on the type of light.
But looking for suggestions! :smile:


Fresnels:
No idea what's worth considering.
Thought about the Lupo Dual Colour lights, but I don't like how the control/LCD panel is on the side and not the rear. Other than that, I can't think of any other option.

I am seeing Dracast all over B&H, but there are no reviews anywhere. Not sure if these are any good in terms of intensity & colour.
Recommendations?


Panels:
Lupo Superpanel Dual Color 60 seems to be the best light as far as I can see. Aputure just announced one as well so I'm not sure how it'll compare as its the same size and will be the same price.
Having used the Arri Skypanel (s60 in comparison), this looks like a great cheaper alternative. The Lupo light is also a heck of a lot brighter.

I would probably consider the Lupo 30 (1x1) in the RGB version as that would also be for specialty purposes and I see no need in having one in the larger size as a bi-colour would probably be enough for most things. Unless it is worth getting RGB?


Flex Panel:
FalconEyes seems to be the best option; affordable, bright, and good TLCI rating. Compared to Litegear, its almost identical at about 1/4 of the price.
These lights I would probably use for more specialty purposes. Maybe when working in small environments or rigging it to a flat surface (car, against a wall, etc.) as the output isn't the strongest.
 
Intellytech Light Cannon Fresnels are much better than the Dracasts, and their LiteCloth flexible panels are also very good.

I have three of the F-165 Light Cannons and three of the daylight Pocket Cannons, and they make a very good, powerful light kit.
 
Alex H. said:
Intellytech Light Cannon Fresnels are much better than the Dracasts, and their LiteCloth flexible panels are also very good.

I have three of the F-165 Light Cannons and three of the daylight Pocket Cannons, and they make a very good, powerful light kit.
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Never heard of that brand. Will take a look. Thanks :)
 
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I just got off a broadcast series that was shooting a week of pickup and brought the Falcon Eyes flex lights. They really worked out well...... so I've bought 3. They do what a diva or 4 bank will do depending on the size, bi-colour, bright and very cheap. They weigh next to nothing and we ran them off batteries all week to be mobile.

We also had their 480w fresnel and used it outside to light windows and it seemed pretty great for the price and bi-colour as well, but I'm not sure of its noise if used indoors......... It was always 12 feet up in the air....... but it might be quietish?
 
LennyLevy said:
What about the Intellytech fresnels makes them better than the dracast ?
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Intellytech F-165 vs. Dracast LED1500: the Dracast doesn’t actually have a Fresnel lens in it, the Intellytech does. I played around with the Dracast and wasn’t as impressed with CRI. Both lights come from the same factory and share a common chassis and control panel design, but the COB and lens used on the Intellytech are better.

Here in North America, it’s also great to know that Intellytech is based in Denver and will answer the phone. They’re great about helping troubleshoot when necessary, and repairing when needed.
 
The Lupo light is also a heck of a lot brighter.

I own some lupo 1.1 panels. And like them.

They are bright.. but be aware that they hit the loony high 'on paper' figures by being more focussed (narrow beam angle) than many panels.

For example I tried them against atras (6x?) and once you bounced the light/shot through some diff the usable lumens were about the same.

Power draw is a good metric IMO.

S
 
Alex H. said:
Here in North America, it’s also great to know that Intellytech is based in Denver and will answer the phone. They’re great about helping troubleshoot when necessary, and repairing when needed.
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I own products from both Intellytech and Dracast (panels - no fresnels yet). And agree Intellytech does have good customer service. But also have to point out that Dracast also has HQ based in North America - both CA and NJ - and I've never had problems with their customer service (though thankfully haven't had to have anything returned or repaired).
 
"I don't like how the control/LCD panel is on the side and not the rear."

Most times I have my fresnels pointing down from up high and having the panel on the side would help a lot over having it on the back.
 
The trouble with the side controls on the lupo (2000) is that it clashes with the yoke if you have the wrong tilt.

clearly the initial design was for hangining from a studio and they did not think of that.

best is to mount them upside down on stands.

id give the lupo control panel 3/10 .. but it works fine.

Often it would be best to have the control on a balast on the bottom(ish) of the stand. Often my fresnels end up 3m+ high and control at the head is not great.

--
In general my lupo set has..
-Given me affordable daylight lumens that massivley upped my 'package' from tungsten
-given my off grid options impossible with tungsten
-the design is/was slightly beta
-the panels pack much smaller than litepanels which have morphed into being way bigger than '1.1'

Today (ive had lupo for 2-3 years) Id look at Apture and some rollable up soft panels. Ideally 4.4 but that is not cheap.

That lupo 2X1 looks very interesting.
 
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My go to kit these days is the new Aladdin All-in RGB 1x1 and 1x2. Great lights with among the highest TLCI scores and they have the smallest dimmers of all flexible panels built into the panel. They still take a bit of time to set up but after that I have a very light weight, powerful and accurate panel to work with that is app controlled.
 
If I owned flexible panels I’d attach them to a thin rigid board and keep them set.

I’d only dismount when I wanted to tape them somewhere odd like in a very tight location or a car roof
 
To really gain time flexible panels would have to be rigged with softbox and all, but then the advantage of having something light weight and thin goes away.
 
morgan_moore said:
If I owned flexible panels I’d attach them to a thin rigid board and keep them set.

I’d only dismount when I wanted to tape them somewhere odd like in a very tight location or a car roof
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Jim Feeley said:
If I'm reading your right, there's a kickstarter for a product like that. Looks fairly well thought out:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/matmounts/mat-mounts?ref=5hkfzj&token=45c6609f

View attachment 135502
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https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/04/27/mat-mounts-a-clever-solution-for-mounting-flexible-led-lights/
 
Advantages of the Lupo Full Color 30 over the Dual Color Soft (in addition to the RGB capabilities) include greater output and the ability to fine-tune your green/magenta bias.

https://www.newsshooter.com/2018/08/10/lupo-superpanel-full-color-30-review/

Regarding flexible panels, they are great in theory and if you have time to set them up. But assembling those frames is a right old pain. I leave them permanently assembled unless I REALLY need to pack small. In that regard, I've always liked the DMG Lumière panels. But they're a bit spendy…
 
roly said:
Advantages of the Lupo Full Color 30 over the Dual Color Soft (in addition to the RGB capabilities) include greater output and the ability to fine-tune your green/magenta bias.

https://www.newsshooter.com/2018/08/10/lupo-superpanel-full-color-30-review/

Regarding flexible panels, they are great in theory and if you have time to set them up. But assembling those frames is a right old pain. I leave them permanently assembled unless I REALLY need to pack small. In that regard, I've always liked the DMG Lumière panels. But they're a bit spendy…
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I have a pair of the Intellytech 160’s(2x2 that folds to 1x1) which aren’t truly flexible, but just foldable, and ‘some assembly required’ is their biggest draw back. Assembling the light itself and then dealing with the janky power supply / control ballast set-up is just a drag. I honestly like the lights, but I’ve only used them twice since buying them last year. If they combined the AC power supply and control ballast(w/battery plate) into one unit that’s about half the size it is now and found a way for the light to be self supportive, maybe a la the snap frame system in some of the new Chimera softboxes, then that would speed deployment up greatly.
 
I would say the Falcon Eyes flex take about a minute each to set up with the x frame and soft box front. So no real issue time wise, plus I have 3 lights that fit in a small production bag and run on batteries, that replaced 3 Kino Parabeams that took up 10x the space for the same output
 
Run&Gun said:
I have a pair of the Intellytech 160’s(2x2 that folds to 1x1) which aren’t truly flexible, but just foldable, and ‘some assembly required’ is their biggest draw back. Assembling the light itself and then dealing with the janky power supply / control ballast set-up is just a drag. I honestly like the lights, but I’ve only used them twice since buying them last year. If they combined the AC power supply and control ballast(w/battery plate) into one unit that’s about half the size it is now and found a way for the light to be self supportive, maybe a la the snap frame system in some of the new Chimera softboxes, then that would speed deployment up greatly.
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This ^^^^^^

Flex lights are cool in theory and dumb in practice. I have two and will probably sell them, I hardly ever use them because they are a PITA to rig and deploy. And to pack up. I use my Aputure LS-1S panels most of the time as they have more ouput and can be set up and broken down much quicker. Flex panels are a hindrance to 90% of users in 90% of situations. I think gaffers should be the only ones who buy them because they usually have a 5-10 ton full of lights and can deploy flex lights when needed and where they make sense. For typical shooting, they suck, but they're genius for cars or putting up in soffits or under kitchen cabinets. But other than that, pass. Just my experience, but I think the hype about them is more than the practicality. They look like they should be cool and magical to use and they aren't.
 
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