Linco is showing off a new light head that can be turned on/off with an included remote. The only problem is that from the specs, each head is linked to it's own remote. If you're running a few of these in studio, I can see how carrying a pocket full of remotes can get ugly confusing. Outside of the wireless remote gimmick, these Linco lights are one of the best performing CFL lighting kits for the buck with brighter light output, better color temperature, and less flickering. The heads are more durable and the proprietary umbrella-like softbox breaks down and sets up quick. It's about twice the price of the cheaper CFL Softbox lights I'm using in studio. Mine suck if you ever have to travel with them, but luckily they don't need to leave the building. The Linco Flora lighting kits are available on both Amazon (click here) and via eBay (click here).
Just hours after posting the article about DIY LED lighting with Flexible LED strips, Ibrahim was already at work designing a CD Jewel Case Panel. The LED strips fit nicely in the CD case offering a simple solution to a housing, and an easy way to hold colored filters. [Thanks Ibrahim] If you're just landing directly to this article, remember to check out the original DIY post link on these uber cheap flexible LED lighting strips (click here).
YouTube member DTapeProductions writes in and shares their DIY LED Light panel using LED light strips. Of course you can't exact daylight temperature, and who knows if it can be properly color corrected with filters. Outside of that, it's actually quite ingenious if you think of the price + possibilities. As mentioned in the video, these uber cheap super bright LED lights can be used for accents, instead of the use of colored gels. It would be interesting to see them finish that 1200 LED panel. [Thanks Ross]
Flexible with adhesive backing, these strips are also found in waterproof versions. They are available in a variety of colors from Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White, and Warm White. Often found as the colorful under lighting of cars since they run at 12V. It will run you about $3-4 dollars / 1M (3ft = 60 LED count) found below.
[Update] Chris drops a comment and mentions that if you're not the strong silent soldering type of guy, then there are a variety of connectors available for Flexible LED strips. Check out some of the options available below that will allow you to bend the strips, or join them directly for longer runs. All found on eBay below (click here).
First unboxing review from YouTube member DioxCorp on the latest Aputure 160 LED video light . These new LED lights are available in 126, 160, and 198 sizes. In this video the 160 looks pretty big, so imagine the size of the 198 version. Sorry I can't translate this video, but i'll save you some time. Skip on down to about 6:50, that's where the test begins. At first it's set to minimum light output, but shortly after the light is set on full power. At full power it seems to cover the entire room with little vignetting on the wide lens. The only thing that skews the test is that the camera seems to be on Auto Exposure. You'll find these LED lights starting at around $40 dollars.
This test is in reference to my eariler post (found here). So I charged up the Tekkeon overnight and setup this Timelapse test. The reason I used a Timelapse method was to determine if the light output would change during the duration of battery use. I locked the exposure on the camera to 1/25th F/4 and ISO 100 to see if the light output would dim towards the end. The big 900 LED light was set to full power.
It was interesting to see that the Tekkeon remained at a full 14 Volts during the entire test, and when the indicator was down to the last bar, the battery just shut off instantly. If there was a voltage drop during the test, the 900 LED light would start to dim (it didn't dim). Total run time in this test was about 1 hour 6 minutes (1:06). Keep in mind this is a larger 900 LED light on full. If performed at lower output, or for smaller lights like the 600 LED, or 312 LED at only 12 Volts, it would probably run for several hours.
Don't get me wrong. I'm still loving my little 5V USB / 12V Battery packs that can power many things, but it comes up short if I need to power up the 900 LED video light panels at full brightness. The 900 LED video light requires 14V DC. There's a number of different DIY battery packs I can make but that would limit me to just one voltage. Instead of going straight into the expensive V-Mount batteries, this Tekkeon universal batttery pack (a cheaper solution) allows me to power up virtually anything between 5V and 19V. All it takes to power up any accessory is flip of a few dim switches and select one of the many universal sized power tips. I'm going to give this battery a full charge and then test the run time at full brightness.
There are many versions of the Tekkeon battery, and I purchased the 3450i specifically because of the features it offers. The best price I could find online was over at B&H (click here).
If you're not up to speed, there's a set of 96 LED lights on the market that didn't please many users. The seller Tony seemed to be a straight up guy and worked with all the buyers to accommodate any unsatisfied sales, while he worked to address some features. Serge received an early version from one of the LED lights in progress, but it doesn't seem to be picture perfect just yet. Although Tony seems like a very responsible seller who takes care of his customers, if this light can't totally outperform and outprice what's already on the market, I don't see a big shift. There's also a long written blog article over at Serge's blog found here. [Thanks Serge].
Not long ago I showed off some portable 12V / 5V USB battery packs that were able to power a variety of camera accessories. These battery packs worked so great, I picked up a few more, and there's always one in my backpack (in case my cell phone runs low). YouTube member LucaFurgiuele runs a time test powering up the 352 LED Ring light at Full Power.
It's not often you'll use a light like this on full power the entire time, but these batteries were still able to push about 85 minutes of run time. Definitely not a bad deal for these versatile little packs. You can find some additional information about the batteries in my old post here. [Thanks Luca]
It's not about some secret high-tech million dollar R&D project that's been hijacked and stolen. What Tony better explains in this video is that the patents filed are based on the 'use of LED lights in Photo and Video'. I'm no legal expert, but that pretty much sounds like absolutely no other LED lights, regardless of it's origin, have the rights to be used for anything photo or video related (unless it be LitePanels). LitePanels is a young (not even a teenager) company founded around 2005. What's sad is that this filing would even effect highly respected Lighting companies that have been providing quality lights to the film industry for decades like Arri (since 1917) and Mole Richardson.
Litepanels sued Dot Line Corp. (Dot Line) and Infocus Camera & Imaging, LLC (ICI) in federal court in Tyler, Texas, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,948,823 (’823 Patent) and 7,604,361 (’361 Patent) (litepanels_complaint.pdf).
The ’823 Patent is entitled “Wide area lighting apparatus and effects system” and is directed to a camera mountable lighting frame (302) having multiple lamp segments (306) arranged in a radial pattern around a center hole (303). Each lamp segment 306 comprises a plurality of LEDs (305).
The portable frame could be circular (as picture above) or rectangular. When the portable frame is mounted to a movable camera, the frame follows the movements of the camera.
The ’361 Patent is a continuation-in-part of the ’823 Patent and is entitled “Versatile lighting apparatus and associated kit.” It is directed to an LED light panel with a self-contained battery unit that provides power to the light elements but not to the camera.
So it sounds like LitePanels has a bit of bullying experience in this area, and has successfully sued large companies like Sony with ease. Worried now?
If you read the patents that have been violated carefully, there's nothing very high tech. Here's the patents that were filed against Sony.
Patent 6948823: A lighting effects system comprises an arrangement of lamp elements, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other light elements, on a panel or frame. The panel or frame may be relatively lightweight, and may include one or more circuit boards for direct mounting of the lamp elements. The panel or frame may have an opening through which a camera can view. A mounting bracket and assembly may be used for attaching the panel or frame to a camera. The lamp elements may be electronically controllable so as to provide differing intensity levels, collectively, individually, or in designated groups, and may be strobed, dimmed or otherwise controlled according to manually selected or programmable patterns. Different color lamp elements may be mounted on the same panel/frame, and, in particular, daylight and tungsten colored lamp elements may be mounted on the same panel/frame and their relative intensities selectively controlled by control circuitry.
Patent 7604361: A lighting apparatus comprises a light panel having a panel frame, and a plurality of LEDs or other light elements secured to the panel frame. A self-contained battery unit securably attaches to the outside of the panel frame. The light panel may have a dimmer switch, and may also be capable of receiving power from a source other than the self-contained battery unit. The lighting apparatus can be mounted to a camera or a stand through adapters. Diffusion lenses or color gels can be integrated with or detachable from the light panel. The lighting apparatus may conveniently be provided in the form of a kit, with one or more of a light panel, self-contained battery unit, compact stand, connecting cable(s), adapter(s), lenses or color gels, and so on, provided in a single package.
I agree with most professionals working in the field that LitePanels creates high quality products, and the results speak for themselves. True professionals who rely on quality will always use such tools. I'll admit that if your next film budget allows you to bring LitePanel products on, you would be completely satisfied. Of course, I don't agree that they should have the complete rights to 'all use of LED lighting for anything Photo and Video related'.
So now that you're up to speed, what can you do about it? Well if you don't believe that 'one young company' should own all the rights to using LED lighting for anything photo and video related here's what you can do. I understand we all live busy lives, but without even breaking a sweat or handwriting documents, the easiest thing to do is to twitter this article, facebook it, Google Plus it, just get the word out. When you wake up the next morning, twitter it again.
Linco CFL Flora Lighting Kits Softbox
