Rosco Litepad vs. Litepanel 1x1

S

seanbasaman

New member
I'm looking to purchase a lighting kit in the next few weeks and I'm trying to decide between the Litepanels and the Rosco Litepads. I've used the Litepanels quite a few times and I really love them but they're a bit on the pricey side. The Roscos are much more affordable and seem great but I haven't used them in real life yet. Now I know the Litepanels website says that they have a better output and throw than the Rosco does but I also know how those numbers can sometimes get fudged a bit so does anyone have any real world experience with both that they could share?

Thanks!
 
The Rosco litepads are not as bright. The light from them is all indirect, they have LEDs all the way around the perimiter of the light that are pointed inwards. The light is then reflected off the surface outwards. The advantage is that they're much thinner than a 1x1 and smaller ones can be taped onto things due to their weight. They also come in many sizes, some much larger than a 1x1 which would give more wrap. But a 1x1 is definitely more bright.

They're really two totally different instruments and what you should go with depends on your needs.
 
Have you looked into the F&V LED lights? I'd love to see a lighting comparison test between these two. The F&V are a fraction of the price of the litepanels.
 
LitePanels are MUCH more bright than Roscos because as Moseph pointed out those are two VERY different lighting instruments. One (Rosco) is about size and ability to hide the light in nooks and crannies, the other (LPs) is a more rounded fixture but also much harder to hide.

Although there are many knockoff lighting fixtures if i were you i would go after used LPs. There are many "much cheaper than the original" fixtures but if you are doing this for a living you know that the maxim you get what you pay for is never more true than when it comes to film set gear.
 
lightpanels vs litepads? two different lights for two different uses. one is NOT a replacement for the other. and many folks would say NEITHER.

if you want LEDs on the cheap. look into the variety of chinese litepanel copies. many folks actually PREFER them, and they are like 1/4 the price
i have a variety of ikan LEDs that i like ok. they are about half the price of litepanels.
 
wgzn said:
lightpanels vs litepads? two different lights for two different uses. one is NOT a replacement for the other. and many folks would say NEITHER.

if you want LEDs on the cheap. look into the variety of chinese litepanel copies. many folks actually PREFER them, and they are like 1/4 the price
i have a variety of ikan LEDs that i like ok. they are about half the price of litepanels.
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I like a deal as much as the next guy, but Chinese lights make me nervous. I know nothing about ikan, so I can't speak to that, but a friend bought some no-name Chinese lights off ebay that were are rip off/copy of a well-known brand (looked identical), and when using them, one of them started smoking and caught fire. I looked at the the other ones he had, and I could clearly see the problem - inferior electric components, isolation that was cracked or peeling, switches which were loose and so forth. I'm not saying all Chinese lights are like this, or that this is uniquely a Chinese problem, I'm just saying that sometimes when they copy a well-known brand they may not always use the same class of components - and if someone cuts corners on electric stuff that can catch on fire, it just makes me nervous. At least with a known brand, you hopefully are guaranteed some level of QC... though sadly, I've seen shabby materials on good brands too (guess where they make 'em!).

Bottom line - you absolutely can score some amazing deals, but it can be a bit of a gamble sometimes... and when it comes to lights, I'm just a nervous nelly - imagine one of those things falling on your talent and setting them on fire... yikes! But then, I tend to have dream nightmare scenarios before shooting, so I'm just probably overly cautious. Pick carefully, and I'm sure you can do well.
 
traviswears said:
Have you looked into the F&V LED lights? I'd love to see a lighting comparison test between these two. The F&V are a fraction of the price of the litepanels.
Click to expand...

I'm woking on a production since 3 weeks where we have 6 of those F&V lights.
Mostly outdoor shots under wintelry conditions in Canada, and I would take them any day over LightPanels. Much better bang for the buck at the same (if not better ) build quality.

Frank
 
Good to know Frank, just picked up one of those used F&V lights. Nice to have something portable I can run off a battery!
 
OldCorpse said:
I like a deal as much as the next guy, but Chinese lights make me nervous. I know nothing about ikan, so I can't speak to that, but a friend bought some no-name Chinese lights off ebay that were are rip off/copy of a well-known brand (looked identical), and when using them, one of them started smoking and caught fire. I looked at the the other ones he had, and I could clearly see the problem - inferior electric components, isolation that was cracked or peeling, switches which were loose and so forth. I'm not saying all Chinese lights are like this, or that this is uniquely a Chinese problem, I'm just saying that sometimes when they copy a well-known brand they may not always use the same class of components - and if someone cuts corners on electric stuff that can catch on fire, it just makes me nervous. At least with a known brand, you hopefully are guaranteed some level of QC... though sadly, I've seen shabby materials on good brands too (guess where they make 'em!).

Bottom line - you absolutely can score some amazing deals, but it can be a bit of a gamble sometimes... and when it comes to lights, I'm just a nervous nelly - imagine one of those things falling on your talent and setting them on fire... yikes! But then, I tend to have dream nightmare scenarios before shooting, so I'm just probably overly cautious. Pick carefully, and I'm sure you can do well.
Click to expand...

That's my point too. It becomes pretty obvious - and quickly - which film gear was made by people who encounter the rigor of film set and who never step their foot on real set. The "non-setters" care for the light to work but for how long it doesn't matter because they never saw a set light being on for 6 hours straight - so in their mind inferior components (that would be fine for hobbyist) are fine. It goes a step further. The hobbyist never had to spend $500/h coloring their film so for them using an inferior CRI instrument that forces you to spend extra 5 min at home doing CC is not a problem... Try that in that $500/h suite and the price of higher CRI light all the sudden becomes very cheap.
 
Patrick with all due respect.... you could have talked that talk 2 or so years ago. But just because you had bad experiences back then doesn't mean that things don't change. In fact things do change... and they are changing faster. To be honest, I don't really give a damn about names / brands. I am in no way a loyalist... no one benefits from being that, just makes people look stupid in the long run. I am however a huge fan of things that work, and even more so things that work (better...?) and is cheaper than big brands.

It's a fact that Litepanel's 1x1 don't have the greatest CRI. In fact they are easy to spot during tv broadscasts because they didn't bother CC the footage (or didn't have time). They look god damn awful... end of story and the Tecpro Fellonis are that much better to look at either.

New things, even things out of China, are catching up FAST. In some cases they even have catched up. I like my FloLight fluorescents better then I like the Kinos I've worked with... less hazzle, same light (except while Kinos start out white they magenta out during dimming, and FloLights have a consistent slight plus on the green side which is removed with a sheet of 1/8 minus green.), and no BS with external ballasts and what not.
Heck if you are going to argue CRI and suggest that Kinos are still better....... just change bulbs to Tru Match' and there we go.

I was even about to spring for the FloLight LEDs but then I saw F&Vs and the few tests I've seen along with the price tag AND now Franks "testimony" says to me that while Litepanels might have succeeded in pitching themselves as the goto brand for a number of years, at some point you gotta wake up and start taking chances on something else.
Litepanels have rested to heavily on their own success and are being punished now.

The suit in the US hasn't meant a lower supply of off brand LEDs in Europe, and man am I happy for that.

Arris, well when I can have a used Arri fresnel in top condition for the same price as an off brand hungarian thing, I'd still choose Arri, but in the case of Litepanels. Man I just don't consider their 1x1s good enough anymore.....


In regards to the OP question, many have already said it. The Litepads will be fun in some places and the flat LEDs will be fun some other places. Take a look at the car scene in "Collateral". I think that was lit with Litepads taped inside the roof of the car along with some cutaway roof and so on, but that look was interesting for that scene.
I noticed in the first couple of minutes of "The Raven" that when they guys entered the room, it was pretty apparent that a Litepad was attached to that lantern he was carrying.
In both cases the Litepads would have been close to the subject they were lighting.

So different purpose tools for different jobs. I'd love to have a set of Litepads, would be fun to play around with :)
 
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Seems FloLights' fluorescents only come in yoke mounts. That's OK for a square-shaped light, but awful for other styles.

Back to original topic: It's been a couple of years since I used LitePads, but back then they flickered (actually scrolled) when dialed too low.

On another note: A friend was recently at LiteGear & saw several lamps he was ready to buy. Turns out they are demos only, & not for sale, rather meant to show some of the possibile configurations of the LiteRibbons. He explained he's a Commercial Gaffer, & unlike Feature Gaffers, doesn't have time to sit around building lights. Think he struck a cord, & LiteGear may start manufacturing some complete lamps.
 
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