Lighting gear

Lishuai lights, on Photokina 2012

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:51:08 +0000

All photos made by Igor Drozdovsky for personal-view.com

They manufacture 312AS and some other very popular lights.

Cheap and Good Lighting Idea

stoney — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:44:03 +0000

While reviewing a LED light, I learned the LED light isn't really good with a barn door. When a barn door is narrowed, the LED light gave rows of lights with discrete light strength. Looking weird and unpleasant.

Fresnel light can give more natural looking focused light. No discrete rows of light. Look at this aliexpress deal. It comes with a softbox, too. Awesome!!! It looks heavy, but I already have portable Z96 and CL-LED256. This is primarily for indoor studio work.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/465889231-300W-500W-Fresnel-Tungsten-Light-As-Arri-Softbox-wholesalers.html

There are plenty of reviews about it or its likes, and most buyers seem happy with made-in-china Fresnel light.

I hope we can get a group discount. I'd get it if we can get close to $200. But I'm not a good negotiator... Can someone help please?

rags by the yard - uk help needed

jakepowell — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 06:49:40 +0000

hi guys, where do you uk guys get your rags from? after standard stuff like ultrabounce , muslin, silks, all by the yard (meter foot whatever)

it all seems to be from america ... somewhere like here would be perfect:

http://www.cinegearstore.com/brands/Rag-Place.html

but it appears they can't ship their stuff on the roll overseas which is irritating. (would consider overseas if they can ship and are reasonable in their shipping costs)

cheers

2000LM LED light

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:53:57 +0000

New model, seems to be made by same company as 1400LM and 800LM lights.

Price: $99 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSLRKIT-WALLI-LED-VIDEO-Light-2000LM-5600k-Camera-Camcorder-2x-CREE-XML-U2-/230673052779

Useful as small ring or hair light also.

Alternative to Dedolight DBP Backpack

digger — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 10:11:13 +0000

Anyone know of an alternative to Dedolight's DBP Backpack? I really want that backpack: it's small enough to fit in an overhead bin on an airplane but tough enough to be checked underneath while protecting your lights. You can fit in a nice interview light kit in there including small stands. I like to travel light, so the small size is a huge plus to me. Here's more details on their bag: http://dedolight.com/www/assets/pdf/New%20Product%20DBP%20Backpack.pdf

The problem is price. They charge $787 for it. Anyone have a good alternative? I thought about the Pelican 1510, but I think it's a little too small for what I need.

Choosing Light Kit

divineworld — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 05:22:43 +0000

Anyone can do me a recommendation for a good budget light kit for three point lighting, something decent but not overtly expensive. Also maybe someone recommends me a good small factor led light for three point lighting in thight spaces also to serve as fill in day light. If ac powered they have to be 240/220 VAC

New HID lighting for video... could it be the best cost effective lighting solution

danyyyel — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 07:14:41 +0000

I saw this post on dvxuser about using HID bulb and ballast to do video lighting.

www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?311263-400w-Metal-Halide-6500k-anyone-tried-it

He talks about this $ 35 bulb http://www.hidhut.com/400w-metal-halide-lamp-6500-kelvin-p-418.html and $ 100 ballast. The bulb is 400 watt 6500 k and 90 cri (to be verified). If this is the case for $ 150 dollars you would get a reflector bulb/ballast socket system that would yield about the power of a 1500/2000 watt tungsten light in little overcast cloudy kelvin (6500k) that can be gelled easily with little power loss to 5600. Hard light that can be shaped much more than any soft light.

Lighting Gels 101

stoney — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 02:38:50 +0000

I've never used gels...

Boom pole light solution

Riker — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 13:51:02 +0000

So at this moment I don't have any lightning equipment at my disposal (other than flash)...and I need something dirt cheap and portable. I remember seeing a video where guy lights up the subject with a single boom pole with soft box. All I can find on ebay are 3 stand kits and they all seem to expensive for my current needs.

I have a flash stand laying around somewhere, what would be the best type of light to buy and use with some cheap softbox? It has to be portable, easy to pack and unpack...

Stackable 240 LED Bi-Color lighting panel

ahbleza — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 13:17:57 +0000

Here's an interesting new LED panel from China.

http://www.prlog.org/12166647-240-bi-color-led-video-light-panel-more-flexible-and-portable-studio-lighting-kit.html

Pricing seems to be US$185 according to this: http://www.led-video-lights.com/240-Bi-Color-LED-Video-Light-Panel_p886.html

Specification

LED QTY 240PCS

Beam Angle 65

Color Temperature 3200~5600K

Color Rendering Index (Ra) ≥85

Illuminance
1965Lux/m

Operating Voltage 6-18V DC

Power Variation 0-100%

Power Supply Method
NPF Battery / DC jack / Optional BP Battery

Dimension 35 x 23.5 x 5.5 cm (13.7 x 9.2 x 2.1")

Weight 1.03kg

LED Light with ears, hides them if scared

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:54:41 +0000

Specs

Power source: DC9V-16.8V(DC Power supply adapter) or Sony F series Li-ion rechargeable battery
Power consumption: 18W
Lighting angle: approx. 60 degree
Color Temperature: 6300K(without filter or diffuser) average
Illumination: 1620-1800lm
Continuous lighting time: Approx. 3hours(using Sony NP-F750)
Dimensions: Approx. 115mm x 115mm x120mm
Weight: 400g

Comes with:

XT-1 LED Video Light
4 Filters
Small ball head
Sony NP-F750 battery
Battery charger
Power adapter

All this for only $85 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XT-1-Super-Power-LED-Video-Light-f-Camera-DV-Camcorder-6300K-1800Lux-w-battery-/261157177670

And $66 shipped only if you don't need power adapter and battery

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XT-1-Super-Power-LED-Video-Light-f-Camera-DV-Camcorder-6300K-1800Lux-/261160339899

Really cool looking light and price is good for output.

New approach to LED with higher CRI

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:12:47 +0000

Epistar Corp of Taiwan combined red LED chips and blue LED chips for lamps that have high color temperatures. When two red LED chips and two blue LED chips are used and electricity (140V, 20mA) is applied, the maximum luminance efficiency is 120lm/W and the CRI (color rendering index) is higher than 85, the company said. It plans to start sample shipment in July 2011 and volume shipment in September 2011.

Source: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20110622/192810/

Flicker free fluorescent

omnidecay — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:18:26 +0000

I am picking up a few par64s to play with and I am looking for some good flicker free fluorescent CRI 93+ bulbs to go in them (both spot and flood). I usually stick to tungsten as much as I can but wanted to branch out and play with something different. So my plan is to turn off all the lights in my living room and re-light using a more cinematic style (maybe turn it into a weekend short). Its really just an exercise/learning experience. I have a gh2 that seems to hate fluorescents in the past and flickers but everyone talks about the colors you can get from them if you can pull something off. Is it possible to even film using the gh2 with fluorescents? I would like both 24p and slomo to be flicker free.

My lighting style is a bunch of little lights vs floods of light and the room itself is a kitchen/living room about 600 sq/ft. I do have one sliding glass door but it doesn't get a lot of light. I will be test lighting both day and night. Thanks for all opinions and recommendations!

Also, just so everyone knows. Setting your shutter speed to 1/50 or 1/60 does not fix this problem. It may reduce it but it has been my experience that it does not.

F&V UltraColor 95 CRI LEDs

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:43:30 +0000

Ultracolor LEDs have high CRI equal to 95 to ensure better colour rendering and will be available in Z400, Z180, and Z96 models.

New Philips LED array to replace Fluorescents

shian — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:51:36 +0000

Office parks and convenience stores across the country rely on fluorescent lights. These flickering gas-filled tubes suck down far less energy than the incandescent bulbs they replaced but still consume some 200 terawatts of electricity every year. This new super-efficient LED prototype from Philips, however, puts florescents to shame.

It's a matter of lighting efficiency—how much light, measured in lumen, you can squeeze out of every watt of electricity consumed. Incandescent bulbs pull a paltry 15 lumen per watt on average, fluorescent bulbs produce maybe 100 lumen per watt. The prototype Tube LED (TLED) from Philips—200 lumen per watt. That's not only double what a flourescent can do, it's nearly double what existing LEDs, like the Philips T8, can achieve as well.

http://gizmodo.com/5994418/philips-prototype-led-could-replace-fluorescents-and-save-the-us-billions-annually

Yay, no more flicker! Wait.... I occasionally like some flicker, for like mood and stuff.... what kinda magic box do I need to make 'em flicker again?

Lowel offering studio lighting with LED banks

ahbleza — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:45:44 +0000

http://safilmsblog.com/2013/03/12/lowel-debuts-three-professional-led-light-banks/

"All three of the new Lowell LED light fixtures come in your choice of either Daylight or Tungsten, have a Color Rendering Index of 91+, low wattage with power factor ratings of .95m, quiet fanless operation, and come with a hanging clamp and female stand fitting. They also all come with a barn door softening set and honeycomb grids. Ready for implementation in a Studio, all lights are fully DMX addressable as well as dimmable and controllable."

Luxi: an iphone incident light meter

kavadni — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:31:39 +0000

A Kickstarter for about $20 .. I've taken the plunge .. others may like to at their own risk :)
A great idea.

Luxi is a small diffusion dome that fits securely over your iPhone’s front-facing camera. When attached and used with a light meter app, Luxi will help you determine the best settings for your DSLR or other camera so that you can take perfectly exposed pictures.

Lishuai 508AS LED light

TwitHerb — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:01:13 +0000

I had posted this in the wrong place. Vitaly asked me to move to it's own post.

You can get this 508 LED light from the deals: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/717/special-deals-led-lighting-and-lcd-camera-monitors

It seems to be the big brother of the popular 312. It came with a nice bag with two layers of padding; accessories go in the bottom and are held in by elastic straps, then a padding lay closes over them. Put the light in and another padded layer protects it. It also came with to np750 style batteries and dual charger, like the 312, as well as mains cables and a nice mini ballhead:

So far, the only negative is the extremely thin diffuser. It might be thicker than a business card, but just barely. The Z96's diffuser makes this look like tracing paper. Plus the darn thing does not fit in the bag. Seems like it was an after thought. I'll have to find something to replace the thing with:

I haven't done any real testing with it. It is a little blue, but could easily be gelled. A custom diffuser would make that easier.

Here is my small theater with no light:

And here it is with the 508 at full brightness:

Aputure AL-160 LED Light

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:33:34 +0000

Features:
Special LED bulb layout design, small LED light beads scatter around, and big ones concentrate on centre.
16:9 widescreen design & thin borders, light range is wider.
With 4 extensing slots on the 4 sides, you can combine the lights together to achieve some effects.
Brightness can be adjusted to your liking.
Automatic IT circuit control.
Stable color temperature & brightness.
It can be easily connected to cameras by hot shoe.
Multiple battery options (6*AA or Lithium).
Battery power indicator.

Specifications:
Color: Black
LED quantity: 160pcs
Total power: < 10W
Voltage: 5.5-9V
Color temperature: 5600K
Brightness control: Colour filters
Battery: 6 * AA batteries (not included) or NP-F550, NP-FM55H, NP-FH60 battery (not included)
Item size: 15 * 9.7 * 5cm
Total weight: 358g
Package size: 18 * 16.5 * 6.5cm
Package weight: 553g

Price: see our deals

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/717/special-deals-led-lighting-and-lcd-1280x720-camera-monitor

Flash Panasonic DMW - FL360LE reviews and opinions

konjow — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:38:17 +0000

DMW-FL360LE its a flash for stills but it has a led for video. Is this usable (good enough) at least stills or maybe for video as well? Can find any user opinion nor review so far...

Best flash for the m43

azza_act — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:27:04 +0000

Hi guys, I shot stills for a real-estate company. We don't shoot HDR and we are only allow to use camera mounted flashes. I shoot using the panny 7-14mm and the flash im using is the Olympus FL-600r. Now the Olympus is a ok flash for small rooms but it does have a lot of throw and burns out quickly. I have a budget of around $600. Btw, I'm mainly a video guy but the company I work for wants me to shoot stills. Thanks

Yongnuo YN568EX Speedlite Flash, for Canon and Nikon

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:42:59 +0000

Circuit Design: Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
Guide Number: 58 (ISO 100, 105mm)
Flash Mode: M, Multi, Sc, Sn, S1, S2
Zoom Range: 24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 80, 105mm
Vertical Rotation Angle: -7~90 degrees
Horizontal Rotation Angle: 0~270 degrees
Power Supply: 4×AA size batteries

Reviews

http://www.lightingrumours.com/yongnuo-speedlite-yn568ex-for-canon-hands-on-review-3327

Available at:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Yongnuo+YN568EX&_osacat=0&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=Yongnuo+YN568EX&_sacat=0

Powerful car lamps or flashlights

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:54:57 +0000

Aluminum casting
Total Emitters - 15
Rated Voltage - DC 10~30V
Power - 45 W
Luminous Flux - 2700 lm
Color Temperature - 6000 K

Available at:

http://dx.com/p/45w-2700lm-6000k-15-led-white-light-indicator-lamp-black-dc-10-30v-178276

You can find similar lamps on dx and ebay and can power them via big batteries (check cheap V mount solutions on ebay).

FV 3 Light Panel Kit

kellar42 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:33:27 +0000

I've been salivating over this kit: http://www.fvlighting.com/k4000-led-studio-panel-3-light-kit.html and wondering if anyone had any thoughts or alternatives? They seem to be solid, powerful light panels. There is such a plethora of cheap ones coming out that it's hard to know the key factors to look for on paper, however. They seem like a step up from the ephoto offerings in the same genre, but then again they're almost a third of the price of ones I've seen described as solid.

Kino Diva vs. Dedolight Felloni

digger — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 12:00:21 +0000

I'm trying to decide between the Kino Diva 401 and the Dedolight Felloni. I would mainly use it for interviews to keep the talent from sweating in front of hot lights. I really like the look of the Felloni with its high color rendering, but the one I'm looking at (the 50 Degree High Output Bicolor version) is $700 more than the Kino Diva (though it is much cheaper than the similar Litepanels 1x1). Or maybe there's a good affordable LED Fresnel out there. Any thoughts?

Flash for a Nikon D50 (and is it at all possible for it to be compatible with a GH2??)

IronFilm — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:50:27 +0000

Am currently looking around for a flash.

What my initial primary purpose for getting a flash now is for club photography (such as this kind of style: http://www.snapstarlive.com/events.aspx ), which means challenging lighting conditions (a fast wide prime lens will be my next purchase after this... but one thing at a time!).

I think the most important features I'm looking for is:

a) ability to bounce the flash off the ceiling (essential!)

b) rear curtain sync (essential!)

c) affordable

d) compatible with my Nikon D50 (of course... )

Would be "nice to have":

e) iTTL

f) would also be compatible with the Panasonic GH2 (as I'm going to buy this for taking video next month, or sooner... as soon as I spot a Christmas sale bargain, was very recently going for only US$499 for the kit. I wonder if I might again see this kind of pricing, or better, soon?)

g) fast recycle

h) swivel head

i) has a battery pack option

Suggestions that fit my criteria? (and is there anything else important that I'd use which I'm missing out from this list?)

Am a little lost when looking at flashes for bargains, but it seems these would be good options:

http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Autofocus-Dedicated-Digital-Cameras/dp/B005KA60BS/ (with this too: http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Universal-Diffuser-Olympus-External/dp/B0017U0WM8/ yes? )

Seems to have everything I want (except I can't tell if it would be any use with a Panasonic GH2?), but I'm a little concerned about quality.

From what I've read about Yongnuo (http://stores.ebay.com/hkyongnuophotoequipment/Flash-Speedlite-Unit-/) as a non-Nikon option they seem like a really good choice, I would quite like to consider the Yongnuo 460 (the cheapest), the 560 (cheapest with an option of later getting a battery pack), or the YN-467 (I quite like that it has a reported extremely fast recycling time in the test) if they would work as that would be ideal (or from any other brand at a comparable sub-US$100 price?). However I've read in quite a few places that although the Yongnuo range for Nikon is compatible with Nikon i-TTL cameras it is not however compatible with D100 D50 D2Hs D2X D70 D2H. Hmm... why? Can I still get it for my D50?

http://speedlights.net/2010/09/10/yongnuo-yn-467-speedlite-review/ The YN-467 originally is reported not to work with certain older Nikon DSLRs but the more recently produced YN-467 models are reported to work with the D200, so would it be reasonable to assume it then works too with the comparably aged D50?

This thread mentions the D50 a few times and makes feel optimistic the Yongnuo range can work with my D50: http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157627857970265/ But they're only mentioning the YN565EX (which is almost the most expensive Yongnuo flash), would it be reasonable to assume from that thread the cheaper Yongnuo flashes should also work similarly with the Nikon D50?

Disappointed I didn't have the guts earlier to pull the trigger and buy this when I saw it: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=543490048 As I'm realising now in hindsight that was a really good deal (even though it doesn't have iTTL).

Thanks

Cheap fluos with softbox lighting kits

spacewig — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 15:25:12 +0000

Anyone have an opinion on using these kind of lights

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHOTOGRAPHY-VIDEO-3-SOFTBOX-LIGHTS-PHOTO-VIDEO-STUDIO-SOFTBOX-LIGHTING-KIT-NEW-/360530409844?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f1497974#ht_4745wt_959

for interiors? Pros, cons, etc?

Thank in advance.

The link above is for illustration purposes only, I don't intend on buying this particular product.

Philips L Prize LED bulbs, High CRI

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:22:36 +0000

Info - http://www.usa.lighting.philips.com/lightcommunity/trends/l-prize/home.wpd

Not a cheap thing - http://www.amazon.com/Philips-423244-10-Watt-60-Watt-L-Prize/dp/B007RKVT4C

Flash with Burst for gh2?

p_hawks — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 15:17:19 +0000

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has much experience using flashes on the gh2. My ideal setup would be using an extreme wide angle/fisheye (tokina 11-16 or rokinon), and then have a flash that can keep up with the burst mode on the gh2 (gh3 might be in my future, might not). I don't care about ttl, I am fine with shooting manually. I want to shoot freestyle skiing at night, and I want to be able to get up close and take a burst as a rider comes through. I saw that the yongnuo 560 ex II has burst mode at low power, but I wasn't sure if this would work with the gh2 or not. Also, will the duration be short enough to freeze the action, or can I use the flash above 1/160. I would like to keep this under $300, flexible if it was something like 2 yongnuos and triggers, but I am also fine with just using it on camera. Hopefully someone can make sense of this and help me out

Camtree Beam Lite DIMMABLE?

katig — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:18:35 +0000

Anybody has some experience with this light? Dimmable ballast, Philips tubes... I never bought anything manufactured in India, can I expect any major quality issues? Price seems very good.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beam-Lite-240-DIMMABLE-Ballast-Tubes-Reflective-Grid-studio-Stand-/271010453928