What's your LED fixture wishlist?

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ozmorphasis

Well-known member
When looking at both the improvements and limitations of LED fixtures, what is it that is missing for most folks? What fixture and at what price point would you like to see developed?

Raw Power (ability to compete with HMI, for example)
Light quality. Are we there yet, or is even better color rendering needed?
Hardness of light source. A more concentrated, closer to point source for sharper shadows?
Bicolor, RGB-w, etc?
Focusable
Cost
Weight
number of connections, integrated vs separate ballasts, etc.
 
I'd like to see some TRUE 1:1 HMI replacements.
Light quality is pretty darn good. There's still room for improvement, but I'm pretty pleased with most of my LED's, now.
Would love some "cuttable" LED's. I have the fresnel attachments on two of my Hive's(200-C's) and they don't come close to the cut from an Arri 650, etc.

The biggest thing I'd like to see is built-in ballasts/power supplies. So many LED's are freaking erector set lights.
 
Run&Gun said:
I'd like to see some TRUE 1:1 HMI replacements.
Light quality is pretty darn good. There's still room for improvement, but I'm pretty pleased with most of my LED's, now.
Would love some "cuttable" LED's. I have the fresnel attachments on two of my Hive's(200-C's) and they don't come close to the cut from an Arri 650, etc.

The biggest thing I'd like to see is built-in ballasts/power supplies. So many LED's are freaking erector set lights.
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Thanks. Can you elaborate on the 1:1 HMI replacements. What specific wattage HMI fixtures would you like to see taken on?
 
I currently use my own 3D-printed DIY LED fresnels, and I'm super happy with them, but I'd like them to be RGB (right now I have some 3000k and some 5600k ones). That's beyond my electric engineering skills, though (I know how to make them, but only in a way that would introduce flicker).

What I like about them is that they are relatively powerful (equivalent to a 650W tungsten fresnel), yet very small and light (around a third of the size of the equivalent Aputure light), take little power (at 96W, a big but cheap battery lasts around an hour), don't make noise or get hot (they have a very-low-RPM fan and a heatsink that makes 70% of the mass and volume of each light), continuously dimmable from 100% to 33% (I'd like that last number to go lower, though) and have absolutely no flicker (I have tested them at up to 960 fps).

I use them with cheap photography stands, umbrellas, softboxes, etc. That saves a ton of money, space and weight too.
 
Samuel H said:
I currently use my own 3D-printed DIY LED fresnels, and I'm super happy with them, but I'd like them to be RGB (right now I have some 3000k and some 5600k ones). That's beyond my electric engineering skills, though (I know how to make them, but only in a way that would introduce flicker).

What I like about them is that they are relatively powerful (equivalent to a 650W tungsten fresnel), yet very small and light (around a third of the size of the equivalent Aputure light), take little power (at 96W, a big but cheap battery lasts around an hour), don't make noise or get hot (they have a very-low-RPM fan and a heatsink that makes 70% of the mass and volume of each light), continuously dimmable from 100% to 33% (I'd like that last number to go lower, though) and have absolutely no flicker (I have tested them at up to 960 fps).

I use them with cheap photography stands, umbrellas, softboxes, etc. That saves a ton of money, space and weight too.
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Interesting. I'd love to see photos of your build.

But to summarize, for you it's:

Weight
Cost
Size (even less than Aputure fixtures...that are already very small!).
RGB-W
Fresnel Optics
Flicker Free
Dimming ability
and photometrics up to an Arri 650 Fresnel
 
5600k .. Power Power Power.

Maybe 800-1500watt fixture from 4 or six lights ganged together.

I ususally shoot my key into/through a diff of some nature
Dont need..
sharp fresnel
RGB
3200
Softness
DMX
BLuetooth
Apps
Wifi
Battery plates

Just power and maybe a 1/2 and 1/4 power settings.
Balast should probably be on the ground

Something like big boys Litepanels Hilio D12
 
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ozmorphasis said:
Thanks. Can you elaborate on the 1:1 HMI replacements. What specific wattage HMI fixtures would you like to see taken on?
Click to expand...

Meaning, for example, an LED advertised by the manufacturer as an 800 watt HMI equivalent would truly have the photometrics, performance and equivalent size of a real 800 watt HMI. Generally speaking, you currently have to go at least to the "next size up" LED fixture to get the performance claimed on the smaller LED.
 
- Sometimes 1% is still too much so it'd be helpful to have finer tuning from 0-1%.

- Build quality with some manufacturers is getting quite good but more weather proofing for lights that will regularly be used outside.
 
ozmorphasis said:
Interesting. I'd love to see photos of your build.

But to summarize, for you it's:

Weight
Cost
Size (even less than Aputure fixtures...that are already very small!).
RGB-W
Fresnel Optics
Flicker Free
Dimming ability
and photometrics up to an Arri 650 Fresnel
Click to expand...

It was several years ago that I said I would make a thread about my lights and maybe sell a few, and never did...
One of the main reasons is quality control: I haven't found a simple switch that will survive for months, eveything I buy seems to die after a few hundred actuations, they just get stucked and I have to open the controller box to fix it, it's OK for me but not for a paying customer. But apart from that, I think my design is genious. I'll post some pics here when I get home.

As for the list... I'd change it slightly:

high CRI (mine are 93, which is good enough but could still be improved)
Weight
Size
Cost
Powerful (at least as much as a tungsten 500W light)
Dimming ability
Point light (not a panel; but also not necessarily a fresnel)
RGB-W (not for all lights: I'm happy with my white LEDs, it would just be nice to have also a couple of powerful lights with this option)
Flicker Free
 
Run&Gun said:
Meaning, for example, an LED advertised by the manufacturer as an 800 watt HMI equivalent would truly have the photometrics, performance and equivalent size of a real 800 watt HMI. Generally speaking, you currently have to go at least to the "next size up" LED fixture to get the performance claimed on the smaller LED.
Click to expand...

This^
 
David W. Jones said:
This^
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Yep, the honesty is definitely much needed. However, still wondering what actual output you're looking for out of a fixture. The new Hive 575 is obviously aiming at a 575 HMI. Is that our threshold currently when it comes to power equivalence out of a single fixture hard source? Does an 800w HMI equivalent even exist, regardless of the manufacturer's claims?
 
Most interested in LED hard lights. Would love something with the flexibility of K5600’s Jokers that could be used with a glass fresnel, ellipse, softbox, or China Ball. Would have to be at least bi-color, but RGB+ is most desirable. Should be controllable from a phone app, & if it doesn’t have built-in Lumen Radio then provisions for DMX.

Manufacturers should also adopt one standard for Bluetooth connectivity so all lamps could be controlled by a single app instead of having to jump around between many. Would also love to see DMX either replaced, or simplified. Gaffers Control goes some way to solve DMX issues, but seems a new protocol could further simplify it.

https://youtu.be/qJwy9n8mBBI

Hive’s 575 sounds interesting (still waiting to see the size of the ballast), but wished it was at least equivalent to a 800w, & like David, a 1200w+ would be even better. Think it was Phil Rhodes who said LEDs are roughly equivalent to HMIs only when they draw equal amounts of juice, & in my experience that seems accurate. Another issue with COB LEDs is their pattern spreads too wide which causes diminished output when used with an add-on fresnel, or ellipse. And many RGB LEDs output is severely diminished when set to primary colors.
 
David W. Jones said:
I don't know about the other folks out there, but a 1.2K HMI equivalent is what I would like to see.
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But also equivalent in compact size/power supply too? Or would you be happy with a ginormous fixture?

Recently I said I wished there was an M12 sized M-series light, smaller than an M18. After thinking about how big LEDs are I take that back, the M18 is TINY.

I was on a shoot that used a Dedo 9.1 LED. It's pretty much the same size as a joker 800!

The HMI replacements aren't going to be cheap. I'd rather "invest" in whatever Arri/other established companies come out with when they decide their M-series lights are getting old vs. loading up on a company that may or may not exist in a few months.
 
When I’m shooting outside(for anything more than just down ‘n dirty fill), I still use my HMI’s. Even though I own a set of Nila Boxers, which are(or at least used to be) advertised as 800 watt HMI equivalents, they’re not. And they weigh way more than my BK 800 HMI’s.
 
I'd settle for an 800w HMI equivalent LED - but preferably a bit smaller / lighter than my K5600 joker2 - and no fans - and perhaps smaller ballast and less than 800w power draw but same output. And, like Bern, I'd also want it to be capable of using with glass fresnel, ellipse, softbox, or China Ball - and "zoom". A guy can dream, right? I don't see this happening any time soon.

I agree with most everything that's been said in this thread... we're getting better LEDs all the time - but they are also getting bigger, with more fans and aren't cheap. And I'm with Rob on not investing in a company that may go "poof" and disappear.
 
An LED fresnel that costs and does exactly what the Arri 650 Fresnel does. Daylight only, but I want the same output at the same cost and I want those damn barndoor cuts to look identical. Guess that's too much to ask as nobody has even came close with an LED.
 
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(forgot to take the pics yesterday, sorry; I'll be shooting with these lights this weekend, there will be plenty of time to take pics then)

markfpv said:
- and no fans -
Click to expand...

I don't think this is an option. I coupled a 50W LED with a big passive CPU heatsink (with heatpipes and all), and found that it would overheat in less than a minute. You can let your tungsten and HMI bulbs work at insanely high temperatures, but an LED will fry itself unless you keep its temperature under control.*
A smaller heatsink with very slow and quiet fan (it makes less noise than the one in my p4k) works perfectly up to 100W.
But that's precisely my 650W-tungsten-fresnel-equivalent, so, really short of the power you people are asking for here...


* Maybe there's a specific kind of LED bulb that's designed to work at very high temperatures, I'm not an expert on this. Still, "runs cool" would also be very high on my list.
 
I'm kind lover/hater of LEDs. I think it's great technology that as much of technology over-promises and under-delivers.
I own a bunch of original 1x1s in metal housings (because they last longer than plastic), though the power output from never LEDs is very impressive - if only they ever decided to re-house it in metal...
Some of the other manufacturers smartly put their LEDs in metal but then quality of other parts suffer. I've seen G&E guys (or talent) abuse lights so often than longevity of the light IS very important.
Beside the 1x1s, i also have some 4ft Quasars mostly because i can tape those guys anywhere and their build quality is satisfactory.

For the rest of my needs i rent. Need RBG = rental. Need lots of output but very little power is avail = rental (AAdynTech - TERRIBLE company name, i can never remember it).
When power is avail i LOVE simplicity of traditional units. Some of my favorites recently were rewired 9-light fay (9x 650w) or 6-light (6x 1k) - both rewired to work from three Edison outlets. For simple daylight, my go to are still 575s and 1.2s.

Bottom line: i don't expect wonders from technology anymore.
 
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