With led lights getting better and better every month are these industry workhorses still getting some love? I see a lot of units I would love to have had not to long ago selling for cheap. For somebody that's more a hobbyist far away from rental houses it might be attractive. Just curious what everyone thinks.
Still using kino flo?
- Thread starter lambert
- Start date
morgan_moore
Major Contributor
My 6 X 55w Photon Beard is pretty bright.
In lumens per $ of daylight I think used flouro fixtures can do well.
lumens per Meter cubed they are poor (so bad in your truck)
lumens per watt they are also poor. (so terrible on batteries)
Bottom line for me..
I dont expect to use them on location any more but Im half on the hunt to light my studio greenscreen with a bunch of them Id mount to the ceiling.
I still cant find a way to wash a 5mX5m2 backdrop with LED on the cheap.
In lumens per $ of daylight I think used flouro fixtures can do well.
lumens per Meter cubed they are poor (so bad in your truck)
lumens per watt they are also poor. (so terrible on batteries)
Bottom line for me..
I dont expect to use them on location any more but Im half on the hunt to light my studio greenscreen with a bunch of them Id mount to the ceiling.
I still cant find a way to wash a 5mX5m2 backdrop with LED on the cheap.
Run&Gun
Veteran
I pulled my Diva's and Barfly's out of service probably two years ago and haven't looked back. They took up a lot of precious space in my truck and weren't great on skin(read: bad skin tones). Agreeing with Morgan, about the only thing I'd (personally) consider them for would be lighting a green screen. Quality of light and convenience wise, LED's have passed Kino's by a country mile.
Tungsten is still THE BEST artificial light source on skin, but even I have gone mostly all LED, now. It's actually been months since I've had any of my tungsten cases in the truck(not saying I won't use them if I feel the need). The only real exception to LED's for me recently, is when I'm outside. My main lights for outdoor daylight work are still my HMI's. But I do augment with LED's.
Some people are converting their old Kino fixtures to LED with Quasar tubes, though...
Tungsten is still THE BEST artificial light source on skin, but even I have gone mostly all LED, now. It's actually been months since I've had any of my tungsten cases in the truck(not saying I won't use them if I feel the need). The only real exception to LED's for me recently, is when I'm outside. My main lights for outdoor daylight work are still my HMI's. But I do augment with LED's.
Some people are converting their old Kino fixtures to LED with Quasar tubes, though...
^ This. Like you, R&G, I pulled my Diva 400 & 200 and Barfly out of service around the same time. But I haven't sold them, because I kept waiting for Quasar, or another mfg, to come out with LED tubes for them. And while there have been tubes available for the models with separate ballast, now - and I believe I read it on this forum first (announced at CineGear ??) Ushio is coming out with LED tubes for the Diva's... and they are supposed to have 75% higher foot candle output than the "benchmark tube" - which I assume to mean the Kino flo tubes. So, 4 of them would certainly be a nice big soft source... and I will certainly be trying these out soon.
As a mostly solo op, I always liked the look, but never liked the bother of the ballasts, bulbs, and bulk. Recently put together a 4x2’ “Qino” myself with cross fade tubes. For lower budget solo jobs, it’s like a stand-alone kit... pull 2 tubes out as your backlight and background accent mounted with mini cardellinis, works splendidly.
Grug
Veteran
I invested in the new Remote Phosphor LEDs instead of Kinos when I started buying lighting kit, simply because they were at a comparable cost (per lumen of output) at the time, and having the better colour and dimming of the Area48s seemed a more sensible investment.
If I'd bought in 12 months earlier than I did, I'd probably have picked up a couple of 4' 4-banks.
If I had those 4' 4-banks now, I'd be keeping them and simply swapping out the tubes for the fancy new LED alternatives.
If I'd bought in 12 months earlier than I did, I'd probably have picked up a couple of 4' 4-banks.
If I had those 4' 4-banks now, I'd be keeping them and simply swapping out the tubes for the fancy new LED alternatives.
Bern Caughey
Veteran
I often rent the Kino housings fitted with Quasar Crossfade tubes, & like them a lot. Too often they’re poorly wired, but have a Gaffer who’s sorted that neatly with a bit of zip cord. Also need to be careful with dimming them too much, or they’ll flicker.
Bought both Daylight, & Tungsten, LED tubes for two Diva 400(s), but haven’t done a proper test yet.
Bought both Daylight, & Tungsten, LED tubes for two Diva 400(s), but haven’t done a proper test yet.
rob norton
Veteran
Have you used Kino/QS Rainbow tubes?
Bern Caughey
Veteran
Haven’t used the Rainbow tubes yet.
Had a Astera kit on set recently, but only utilized them as bicolor uplights on the background. Belong to my preferred Gaffer, & he loves them.
Had a Astera kit on set recently, but only utilized them as bicolor uplights on the background. Belong to my preferred Gaffer, & he loves them.
Run&Gun
Veteran
So you're still tied to either daylight or tungsten and swapping or mixing tubes in the Diva's? Then personally, I wouldn't even consider doing the LED conversion. It was one thing to swap and mix tubes a decade ago, but now, that's insane when talking about fixtures in that category/class/use. Almost all of my LED's now are at least bi-color and several (Gemini's and Hive's) are RGBW. I do a lot of shooting in mixed lighting and "fluorescent" lighting environments and the bi-color units just make it so much quicker and easier to set-up and match the ambient light or tweak to get exactly what you want.
gkantziper
Esteemed Member
"insane"? let's be civil...typical jobs for other folk may be nothing like your typical job. You may have missed or forgotten the discussion in Anthropology class about ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric behavior.
Andrew Stone
Veteran
The Astera Kits are amazing but a bit spendy for freelancers unless you have a steady revenue stream from them.
Where is your source for those tubes?
While I don't disagree that I'd prefer to have bi-color in all my fixtures - and almost any light I've purchased in the last 2 years has been bicolor with the exception of a joker2 800 - I would much rather put my two Diva's back in service with a $200 upgrade ( 8 tubes) for better CRI & more FC - then purchase another new bi-color fixture. Having a little salt & pepper (mixing 56k tubes with 32k tubes) is often how I like to use them anyway & swapping out two tubes adds maybe 30 seconds. So long as the led tubes aren't easily broken - I want to see the 75% greater output per bulb! I may even start looking for cheap used Diva 400's if that output is to be believed.
Run&Gun
Veteran
You may have been reading a little too much in or taking me just a little too seriously, Glen. ; )
For me, I've already replaced my Diva's with Astra's and Gemini's, so unless I would have a (new) need for them, even spending just $200 on them is unnecessary. Kind of like buying a new battery for an old cellphone you've replaced and thrown into the back of a drawer in your office. I'd be spending money on something I don't even want to use. BUT that's just my opinion and personal feeling towards them overall. I was trying to get them out of my truck for the last few years I used them anyway, partly because of their size and weight, but mostly because of the sub-par skin tones they rendered. Granted, the skin tone problem would probably go away with quality LED tubes in there, but there is still the size and weight issue. I can carry at least four Astra's in the space that one set of Diva's took up. Now a Gemini is not small or light(actually heavier), but it's MUCH more versatile than a Diva.
But hey, if a need/demand opened up, say, I could rent them out several times a month, or I needed something to leave in a semi-permanent or long term type set-up or location, or it got really busy again and needed to run more than 2-3 separate crews/packages...
hscully
Veteran
I shoot with Kinos all the time. I love the light from a 4 Bank. Same with the Divas - quick setup, no futzing and reliable. I use the flozier on the Divas. They do cast magenta below 50%, but you can switch off two and keep them cranked up. I do have a 2ft single made from a bi-color quasar. It’s great too.
I like the LiteMats.
I like the LiteMats.