My Cool Lights Experience

Ryan Mitchell · December 6th, 2009, 10:32 PM

Thanks, Michael - good to know. I'll plan to pick up the softbox when I pick up one of the LED 600's.

Richard Andrewski · December 7th, 2009, 06:02 AM

As Michael said (Thanks Michael!), its a different design than the other softboxes and requires a different speedring. We wanted something new, fresh and easy to setup as well to go along with the whole idea behind these fixtures which is to make everything as portable and compact as possible. So the "speed softbox" is just that, fast to setup without the rods of the older style "studio" softbox.

Ryan Mitchell · December 7th, 2009, 10:50 AM

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the rods, honestly. I always make sure to wear my glasses when I'm fiddling with those because I have visions of those things snapping up and nailing me in the face. "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye...". :)

Thanks, Richard.

Annen James · December 8th, 2009, 11:48 AM

Are you ever going to make a Sony BP battery mount, for the EX batteries? I would really love this!

Evan Donn · December 8th, 2009, 07:49 PM

Was just shooting with a 600 this weekend - something I'm noticing is that LED panels can't be compared directly with either fluorescent or incandescent in terms of 'hardness' as they really combine aspects of both. You get a reasonably diffuse light which is flattering to faces, similar to a flo - but you also get hard specular highlights which tend to highlight oil, sweat, etc on your subject's face. Haven't tried the softbox yet but an opal over the panel definitely smoothes out the highlights.

Richard Andrewski · December 8th, 2009, 08:02 PM

I didn't have any plans to make the BP adapter at this time but you never know in the future if its popular enough and enough call for it we may do. The mold fees are really high for this kind of thing so there has to be a lot of call for it to pay that back.

Ryan Mitchell · December 8th, 2009, 10:29 PM

Evan - what's an "opal"? Are you talking about the diffuser that ships with the LED 256?

Dan Brockett · December 8th, 2009, 10:33 PM

Hi:

Opal is a very common grade of diffusion.

Dan

Zsolt Hegyi · January 20th, 2010, 04:11 AM

Hi,

I got some LED600 fixtures from CoolLights and I'm wondering about which battery to choose. I've seen you guys using the NP-970 style batteries but that only gives 7.2 volts and the lights need 10-24v. This might be a silly question but how can the lights operate from a smaller voltage supply? Any advice here, Richard?

Thanks,
Zsolt

Richard Andrewski · January 20th, 2010, 08:18 AM

Hi Zsolt,

That's the LED 256 that runs on that particular battery. It's not meant for the LED 600 at all. You need either a lead acid type battery belt like some that Bescor makes, or in general any battery solution that provides a standard 4 pin XLR output.

An AB mount type or a V lock type is another choice but you need the interface we sell to go with either of those. I don't generally recommend that someone buy those though unless they already happen to have some for their camcorder. Its a tradeoff of size/weight for cost basically as those AB or V types are quite a bit more expensive.

Michael Liebergot · January 20th, 2010, 11:12 AM

BTW Richard, what should the runtime be on the LED256 with Sony 950 or 970 battery.
I ask because mine are draining pretty fast.

Dan Brockett · January 20th, 2010, 01:20 PM

I was getting about 90 minutes with the Sony batteries on the LED256.

Dan

Richard Andrewski · January 20th, 2010, 04:34 PM

90 minutes or so is about right.

Zsolt Hegyi · January 21st, 2010, 11:15 AM

Can someone tell me what do the full,1/2,1/4 factors mean in the filter namings? In particular, I'm interested in how many stops of light do they cut down from the overall output of a source.

Thanks,
Zsolt

Steve Rusk · January 22nd, 2010, 05:58 AM

According to Rosco International a full CTO filter is 1.1 stop loss, 1/8 CTO is .1 stop loss, etc... Next to their sample images is a spectral chart icon which tells you the amount of light absorbed from each filter.

December 7th, 2009, 06:02 AM	#62
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	As Michael said (Thanks Michael!), its a different design than the other softboxes and requires a different speedring. We wanted something new, fresh and easy to setup as well to go along with the whole idea behind these fixtures which is to make everything as portable and compact as possible. So the "speed softbox" is just that, fast to setup without the rods of the older style "studio" softbox. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

December 8th, 2009, 07:49 PM	#65
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	Was just shooting with a 600 this weekend - something I'm noticing is that LED panels can't be compared directly with either fluorescent or incandescent in terms of 'hardness' as they really combine aspects of both. You get a reasonably diffuse light which is flattering to faces, similar to a flo - but you also get hard specular highlights which tend to highlight oil, sweat, etc on your subject's face. Haven't tried the softbox yet but an opal over the panel definitely smoothes out the highlights. __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

December 8th, 2009, 08:02 PM	#66
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	I didn't have any plans to make the BP adapter at this time but you never know in the future if its popular enough and enough call for it we may do. The mold fees are really high for this kind of thing so there has to be a lot of call for it to pay that back. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

January 20th, 2010, 04:11 AM	#69
Zsolt Hegyi Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hungary Posts: 59	battery voltage Hi, I got some LED600 fixtures from CoolLights and I'm wondering about which battery to choose. I've seen you guys using the NP-970 style batteries but that only gives 7.2 volts and the lights need 10-24v. This might be a silly question but how can the lights operate from a smaller voltage supply? Any advice here, Richard? Thanks, Zsolt

January 20th, 2010, 08:18 AM	#70
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	Hi Zsolt, That's the LED 256 that runs on that particular battery. It's not meant for the LED 600 at all. You need either a lead acid type battery belt like some that Bescor makes, or in general any battery solution that provides a standard 4 pin XLR output. An AB mount type or a V lock type is another choice but you need the interface we sell to go with either of those. I don't generally recommend that someone buy those though unless they already happen to have some for their camcorder. Its a tradeoff of size/weight for cost basically as those AB or V types are quite a bit more expensive. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

December 6th, 2009, 10:32 PM	#61
Ryan Mitchell Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 120	Thanks, Michael - good to know. I'll plan to pick up the softbox when I pick up one of the LED 600's.

December 7th, 2009, 10:50 AM	#63
Ryan Mitchell Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 120	Yeah, I'm not a fan of the rods, honestly. I always make sure to wear my glasses when I'm fiddling with those because I have visions of those things snapping up and nailing me in the face. "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye...". :) Thanks, Richard.

December 8th, 2009, 11:48 AM	#64
Annen James Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ogden Posts: 161	Are you ever going to make a Sony BP battery mount, for the EX batteries? I would really love this!

December 8th, 2009, 10:29 PM	#67
Ryan Mitchell Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 120	Evan - what's an "opal"? Are you talking about the diffuser that ships with the LED 256?

December 8th, 2009, 10:33 PM	#68
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	Hi: Opal is a very common grade of diffusion. Dan

January 20th, 2010, 11:12 AM	#71
Michael Liebergot Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,505	BTW Richard, what should the runtime be on the LED256 with Sony 950 or 970 battery. I ask because mine are draining pretty fast. __________________ Michael www.lvpvideo.com

January 20th, 2010, 01:20 PM	#72
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	I was getting about 90 minutes with the Sony batteries on the LED256. Dan

January 20th, 2010, 04:34 PM	#73
Richard Andrewski Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Shenzhen, China Posts: 781	90 minutes or so is about right. __________________ Richard Andrewski - Cool Lights USA - RED #114 http://www.coollights.biz

January 21st, 2010, 11:15 AM	#74
Zsolt Hegyi Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hungary Posts: 59	filters Can someone tell me what do the full,1/2,1/4 factors mean in the filter namings? In particular, I'm interested in how many stops of light do they cut down from the overall output of a source. Thanks, Zsolt

January 22nd, 2010, 05:58 AM	#75
Steve Rusk Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Stuttgart Germany Posts: 63	According to Rosco International a full CTO filter is 1.1 stop loss, 1/8 CTO is .1 stop loss, etc... Next to their sample images is a spectral chart icon which tells you the amount of light absorbed from each filter.