The LED Apocalypse. Should I rush out and get some panels ASAP?

[CharlesPapert]

There's a fairly simple test to determine whether your LED of choice produces acceptable color rendition, and that is to shoot the same subject under both tungsten and LED lighting, making sure to match exposure , directionality, source size etc. Then study the footage. You'll very quickly see if "good enough" is good enough. An inexpensive and/or older LED module is likely to be missing critical parts of the spectrum and adding gel won't fill in those gaps. If you want to take it further, do the same test with a color chart.

I jumped into LED's a few years back and gradually became aware that the units at that time weren't satisfactory for lighting faces or color-critical applications. I'm cautiously embracing new generation high-end units but steering clear of the cheap stuff, and using my older units judiciously on backgrounds. My version of "mission-critical" may be different than anyone else's, though. That's why the test should make clear just how much compromise is involved, and whether it is an issue or not.

 

[boulder]

These newer 1000 LED lights are far better than the early ones I got. I had expensive Litepanel lights on a recent shoot mixed in and could not tell the difference when color grading in post. Also that isn't the exact one I got, I would have to search for it. The one I got has a fan built in and the one I linked to doesn't. That first one I linked to looks like the crappy one I got. The trouble is there are so many out there that it's kind of a crap shoot, and you might be better off going with a more expensive one just because you know what you are getting.