Westcott Mat inside Chimera Lightbank soft box

JPNola

JPNola

Veteran
Anyone tried it yet?

My need is an LED panel inside a large soft box. The strap-on soft boxes made for 1x1 LED panels are too small. I want a big soft LED key light for interviews. One that has minimal spill and doesn't have to be flagged off.

My thought is that a 1x2 Westcott Mat LED could be placed inside my Medium Chimera, the Chimera supported by a ring made for a Tota light. The Westcott Flex could simply be clipped to the Tota ring. The Westcott 1x2 flex LED would take up far less room in my kit than would most LED sources. I could simply roll it up and store it inside my Arri kit.

I am aware that Westcott makes a soft box for their 1x2 LED Mat, but their soft box does not increase the size of the source by much. I want a BIG source. I big source that wraps the face of the subject well yet can be contained, with limited spill on the background. Putting the 1 x 2 Westcott through a 4 x 4 diffusion frame introduces spill. With my current setup of Tota inside Medium Chimera I can greatly control the spill. Particularly so when attaching a fabric grid to the front of the light and closing the flaps on the back of the Chimera Light Bank so that the source light is completely enclosed within the soft box.

Are any of you using a Westcott Flex / Mat as a key source for interviews?


CORRECTION: I meant the Westcott Flex. Apparently the Westcott Mat is a rigid source.
 
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Is there a reason you prefer Westcott's Flex to Aladdin's?

I've been considering adding a couple of flexible LED mats to my kit, & am inclined to choose Aladdin's.
 
to my knowledge their one and the same. westcott i think has the license to distribute it in the US
 
AFAIK Aladdin manufacturers Westcott's Flex, but Aladdin's Bi-Flex seems better built, & more versatile. They also use different mounting frames.

This past year Zylight became the US distributor for Aladdin so they can now be purchased at retailers such as Hot Rod Cameras, & Adorama.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Is there a reason you prefer Westcott's Flex to Aladdin's?

I've been considering adding a couple of flexible LED mats to my kit, & am inclined to choose Aladdin's.
Click to expand...

No reason other than Westcott is a company familiar to me. I recently read that the Aladdin ballast is better built.

I considered purchasing the Kino Flo Celeb, but it is a hefty piece of kit and no means of attaching a soft box to it. It appears that Snap-Bag does not make a soft box to fit the Celeb. I could use the Celeb through a 4 x 4 diffusion frame but that necessitates having to box it in with flags and then I have all sorts of c-stands coming into the mix. Carrying 4 x floppies around isn't practical for 2-man ENG crews.

My Tota / Chimera Medium soft box with fabric grid combo has been an excellent large source that can be easily controlled. One stand. And the Tota lights are dirt cheap. Bulbs available at any box hardware store. 3 Totas w/ Chimera rings fit in the section of an Arri kit meant for one fresnel. Wonderful skin tone reproduction with the tungsten hot lights. The only down side is that they are hot lights. Really hot. A fire danger and they heat up small rooms. And it would be nice to have a bi-color source so that I could easily mix the unit with daylight. I have yet to find an LED that doesn't break the bank that can fit inside a larger-sized Chimera. The Fiilex M1 looks like it would be a good option for being fitted with a Chimera soft box, but it is a $2500 light. An Aladdain Bi-flex 1 x 2 is only $981.

I read that both the Westcott Flex and Aladdin run warm in color temp, but for interviews that isn't a bad thing. Particularly if mixed with Arri fresnel background lights / Kino original style flo's.
 
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Bern Caughey said:
AFAIK Aladdin manufacturers Westcott's Flex, but Aladdin's Bi-Flex seems better built, & more versatile. They also use different mounting frames.

This past year Zylight became the US distributor for Aladdin so they can now be purchased at retailers such as Hot Rod Cameras, & Adorama.
Click to expand...

Just to clear up the illusion that Aladdin manufactures the Westcott Flex.

The following information can be located on the Westcott’s University website: [url]http://westcottu.com/westcott-flex-now-patented[/URL].


Westcott is proud to announce that the Flex product was officially awarded its patent in July 2016. The Westcott Flex is the world’s first high*-quality, flexible LED light source for photographers and filmmakers (United States Patent Number 9,395,068).


A few years ago, our company was approached by an engineering team with a design for a flexible LED panel. After our previous successes with ground*-breaking LED products like the Ice Light & Skylux the engineers were confident in our approach to designing, manufacturing and marketing products. After having the opportunity to serve as the Flex’s exclusive North American and Australia distributor, we recognized that there was a huge opportunity to expand and improve this new technology. Our team began working very closely with engineers to improve the light quality and performance, expand the product line, and develop a dynamic mounting system based upon the renowned Westcott Scrim Jim framework.


In June of 2015, Westcott was granted exclusive worldwide distribution rights to this patented Flex technology. We debuted our entire new Flex Cine system at the 2015 National Association of Broadcasters trade show, where it was met with critical acclaim. Many competitors have recognized the success of the Flex product and have chosen to imitate and manufacture similar looking products that underperform on both quality and construction, while claiming a partnership with our company. This situation has understandably caused a lot of confusion amongst current and potential Flex customers, however now that the patent has been issued for the Flex product we plan on protecting this intellectual property. We pride ourselves on controlling the design, manufacturing quality, and distribution of the Flex series with no affiliation with our competitors.


Since Westcott’s original debut of the Flex series, we’ve continued to develop the Flex’s line-up and expand the range of accessories and kits. Everyone here at Westcott is extremely proud of their relationship with our engineers, thankful for the success of this cutting-*edge technology and extremely happy to announce the Flex’s patent.




 
Aladdin's been offering the flexible LED mats since 2014. Westcott began selling their Flex in 2015 & only recently secured the US Patent (appears it was awarded to a third party named Flextronics AP, LLC, which applied for it in 2014).

http://patents.com/us-9395067.html

Westcott's initail design for the Flex was almost identical to Aladdin's, except Aladdin was first to market. Unless their was a bit of industrial espionage involved it's hard to understand how Aladdin could clone Westcott's Flex considering it hadn't been released yet.

Are you saying no part of Westcott's LED mats was ever manufactured by Aladdin?

Or did Westcott ever license any part of their LED mat's design from Aladdin?

I will be adding flexible LED mats to my kit so so any enlightenment would be appreciated.

And one last questiion...are Westcott's Flex LEDs waterproof like Aladdin's offerings?
 
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Let me ask it this way...

I want a soft LED source that can mount to a medium-sized ( 24" x 36"-ish ) soft bank.

Does such a creature exist?

And by "mount" I mean that the LED source has female receivers, either built-in or via a speed ring, for a light bank.

The Fiilex M1 might be a candidate. By design it has receptors for a soft bank. Receptors that the Kino Flo Celeb and the various LitePanel model 1x1's should have incorporated but did not:

Accessories_FLXA066_M1_Softbox_img02.jpg


Apparently it never occurred to Kino Flo or LitePanel that anyone would want to attach a soft bank to their LED soft lights.

doh
 
Bern Caughey said:
Aladdin's been offering the flexible LED mats since 2014. Westcott began selling their Flex in 2015 & only recently secured the US Patent (appears it was awarded to a third party named Flextronics AP, LLC, which applied for it in 2014).

http://patents.com/us-9395067.html

Westcott's initail design for the Flex was almost identical to Aladdin's, except Aladdin was first to market. Unless their was a bit of industrial espionage involved it's hard to understand how Aladdin could clone Westcott's Flex considering it hadn't been released yet.

Are you saying no part of Westcott's LED mats was ever manufactured by Aladdin?

Or did Westcott ever license any part of their LED mat's design from Aladdin?

I will be adding flexible LED mats to my kit so so any enlightenment would be appreciated.

And one last questiion...are Westcott's Flex LEDs waterproof like Aladdin's offerings?
Click to expand...

I received this response from Westcott President, Kelly Mondora, regarding your questions:
Aladdin and Westcott were approached at the same time by the inventor of the Flex. Aladdin for the European distribution and Westcott for distribution in the U.S. & Canada. Westcott did not release the product right away as it was designed, as we felt there were some shortcomings. We instead brought the concept to our team of engineers and spent time redesigning some of the main components and developing a full accessory line based around the Scrim Jim. When this process was successfully completed, the inventor decided to partner with Westcott for full worldwide distribution and Aladdin lost their distribution status. Therefore, they decided to produce their own version off of the original concept design. The version Westcott designed is not being manufactured by Aladdin nor does Aladdin and Westcott share any manufacturers.

Last month, the US patent was awarded and Westcott and the inventor have full intentions of protecting this patent against any infringers. I hope that helps clear up any matters. Westcott President, Kelly Mondora

And yes, the Westcott Flex is waterproof IP64 rated.
 
I own a few 10" x 10" Westcott Flex's. I regularly put them in some cheap foldable 24" softboxes. I have quite a few Chimera's, but I like the foldable softboxes because they are even quicker to set-up with the small flex lights velcroed inside. I don't think a 1x2 westcoot flex on it's mount will fit inside a Chimera as it will be too wide. You can easily take the flex light off if it's mount and fold it slightly and clip it to the speed ring, though. It will certainly be easier to set-up and lighter than a traditional LED panel. The LED's on the flex light are not directional so it really doesn't matter much the direction in which the LED is facing.

The flex lights have become my primary lighting tool for run and gun.
 
What are you referring to when you say "foldable soft boxes"? The chimeras roll up into a fairly small size for transport and storage.
 
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