Thoughts on these LED lights

I own a few of these lights and they're not exactly daylight. You'll need a 1/4 magenta to be near daylight. Overall it's a descent light and a good price but you'll need to gel for sure to get rid of that nasty green tint.
 
DvxHerb said:
jimagine,

What are the particulars on your monitor. You've piqued my interest.
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Hey Herb, I'm going to do a little review of it when I get more time but how about a 19" 720 HD HDMI monitor that wights 6.7lbs, 1/4" thick, draws 25 watts so it can easily be run by the Powersource battery and fitted on a Vesa to 5/8 spud mount with light stand - all for under $400.
 
Erik Olson said:
Lots of DPs carry 1/8 minus green for use with LED lighting kits.
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All the Cool Lights come with fitted filter sets - 1/4 minus green, 1/2 minus green, full CTO and diffusion.

I've found that a custom minus green white balance in camera works great and doesn't have any light loss or setup time.
 
jimagine said:
All the Cool Lights come with fitted filter sets - 1/4 minus green, 1/2 minus green, full CTO and diffusion.

I've found that a custom minus green white balance in camera works great and doesn't have any light loss or setup time.
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If you have a number of mixed sources, you'll eventually have to start correcting them at the fixture instead of trying to do so with a global color balance at the camera.
 
Erik Olson said:
If you have a number of mixed sources, you'll eventually have to start correcting them at the fixture instead of trying to do so with a global color balance at the camera.
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That's why it's really worth it to use a brand like the LEDZ or Cool Lights - the color is consistent. If you mix them with flos you're going to have a temperature difference with some LEDs.
 
Mike Brent said:
So all we need to be able to properly use these LEDs is one of these?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/166302-REG/Gam_GC1582_1_2_Minus_Green_Cine.html

and that's it? Anybody else uses them? It just seems too good to be true...... Do you know where I can find a 1/2 minus green in stock and large enough to cover this light?
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You should be able to find color correction and diffusion gel in most markets - just look up theatrical lighting companies in your area. LEE, GAM and Rosco are the most common brands.

Under hot lights, the color in expendable-quality gels will shift over time, so you'll need to replace those regularly. Cooler fixtures (fluorescent; LED) won't damage them and you can expect them to correct accurately over a significantly longer life.

Keep an assortment of gels in your production package. There are many, many options, but the most commonly used types and values are:

CTO Full; 1/2; 1/4; 1/8 (Daylight balance to / toward Tungsten)
CTB Full; 1/2; 1/4; 1/8 (3200°K to 5600°K / ageing HMI back to daylight)
Minus Green 1/2; 1/4; 1/8 (Remove green spectrum from consumer fluorescents, LEDs)
216 White Diffusion (Softens light; introduces spill)
Tough Spun Full; 1/2; 1/4 (Diffuses without drastically altering beam pattern)
ND .3; .6; .9; 1.2 (Reduce light 1 - 4 stops respectively)
 
Hi Eric, thanks. How do I know how much minus green to use? 1/2 , 1/8 etc ? I don't have a color temp meter and for $800.... I'm not sure I'm gonna get one. Or is this a must?
 
I don't know about those fixtures, but on the LitePads we normally use 1/8 minus green. You could put the camera into 5600 preset and fire up the vectorscope, if so fitted.
 
Do you have a good link to where I can learn how to use the vectorscope for this purpose? What should I be looking for? (a link is fine you don't have to type the whole thing! some people here are TOO nice :-)
 
Mike Brent said:
So all we need to be able to properly use these LEDs is one of these?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/166302-REG/Gam_GC1582_1_2_Minus_Green_Cine.html

and that's it? Anybody else uses them? It just seems too good to be true...... Do you know where I can find a 1/2 minus green in stock and large enough to cover this light?
Click to expand...

As Erik said, you don't want just one gel. For instance most people I know using Cool Lights, shoot with the 1/4 minus green not the 1/2. You really need to have some range in your correction. Also don;t forget that a lot of people handle the cc in post as well as pre/in camera. I'm working with all three approaches.
 
What do you think about this for white balance:

http://www.colorright.com - looks pretty sweet to me.

I don't understand something - the Auto WB averages for 18% gray so when I use the custom WB do I need to use a 18% card or a white card ?! Whats the white card for and whats the gray card is for?!?
 
I wanted to throw the Comer lights in here...I forgot them in my write-up. They're really nice little LED on-camera, fills and kickers, very well made with built in filters and condenser, can be pretty spotted and useful.
 
jimagine said:
All the Cool Lights come with fitted filter sets - 1/4 minus green, 1/2 minus green, full CTO and diffusion.

I've found that a custom minus green white balance in camera works great and doesn't have any light loss or setup time.
Click to expand...
Hey jimagine,

Can you post your custom settings for your in camera white balance.

Thanks
 
Hey Grench,
For some reason I'm not getting notified of posts.
I'm still doing some comparisons but a simple -5 on the green axis does a good job.
I used that setting on an film interview last week, the subject was very pale which can show the green cast pretty well, and it looked good.
I've been shooting outdoor locations this week so no LEDs, but I want to try some variations when I get back.
An easy way to test is to sit a subject and do a bunch of variations as stills, load them on your screen and use a well balanced image as a reference.
It helps to narrow it down quickly for the next batch.
Anyway, a simple -5 to -7 green certainly works well for starters.
 
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