Westcott does it again

[Derek Reich]

I've just finished a scathing post about an epic fail of the DJI Ronin, and decided I needed to flip this attitude with an experience on the other end of the spectrum.

I just recently acquired the latest Westcott LED product the FLEX light immediately before departing on a long trip overseas. I have been a huge fan of Westcott LED lights, specifically the Skylux and Ice Light. This overseas trip required traveling as light as possible, and utilizing RELIABLE and color accurate LEDs for the lightest weight and smallest footprint. I love my Skylux lights, and recently added 3 new Ice LIghts giving me 5 very high quality LED fixtures in one kit. They are all perfectly 5600K balanced, NO green cast, and imminently versatile. The Ice Lights are battery or AC powered, while the Skylux are AC only.

Full disclosure: while I bought all my previous Westcott products and have sung their praises simply because they are so well made and far exceed my experiences with any other LED product, the new FLEX light was shipped to me by Westcott as they were so new that none were available yet prior to my departure. Westcott generously offered to send me one to try out, and I have to say that it is so incredibly impressive that I will immediately be adding at least two more to my kit. The FLEX is an incredible achievement, and the smallest footprint imaginable for a very high powered 5600K LED fixture. It's water resistant, and as the name implies it's flexible. Totally flexible... you can roll it into a tube, fix it in a concave or convex configuration, or leave it flat as a conventional flat panel. It's about the size and thickness of a very small magazine, weighs next to nothing, and will go all day long on a single V-mount battery or you can power it with AC. I had no issues with any of my Westcott lights with 220v. One of the most amazing things about the FLEX is you can mold it to fit just about any surface. It has velcro on the back for such situations, and in one of our setups, we needed to interview a guy on a bus. Solution? Stick some adhesive velcro on the side of the roof of the bus, and stick the flex up there. It was the perfect solution which could not have been achieved with any other light out there period. In fact, it was too powerful and I had to dim it for the light level I wanted. It also comes with a sweet little flozier to soften the source for interview setups. Toward the end of the trip, I found myself using the FLEX more than any of my other LEDs. I believe Westoctt is going to promote the new FLEX at NAB, along with some updates to the Skylux and Ice Light. These guys are far ahead of the pack when it comes to innovative and reliable lighting solutions.

[Adrian Tan]

Looks really interesting!

Here's some other "flexible LED" products:

Aladdin Flexlite: Aladdin Flexlite… Flat Bendable Waterproof LED Panel | Cinescopophilia

Lighthouse LED and Fuji Lights flexible LED: News Shooter | Tripping the light fantastic – Matt Allard rounds up the best new light products on show at Inter BEE

RagLite: Kickstarter: RagLite Is a Super-Flexible LED Light Panel | Popular Photography | Popular Photography

[Derek Reich]

That Aladdin light looks identical to the Flex! Right down to the dimmer/control switch. Makes me wonder if Westcott is manufacturing these and licensing them to other vendors, or if they are licensing from another manufacturer? Either way, that is one great light.

[Adrian Tan]

You're quite right! Coincidentally, the most recent News Shooter article was about these lights: News Shooter | Westcott Flex LED light – A lighting kit that fits in your pocket

[Adrian Tan]

Here's one more similar product:

News Shooter | NAB 2015: Rodney Charters ASC looks at the Brightcast flexible LED light that costs just $199 US

[Mark Kenfield]

Alladdin are the manufacturers of the lights. As I understand it Westcott has the US rights to distribute them (here in Australia they're still branded as Alladdin).

Brilliant bit of lighting kit. I'm really keen to add a couple of the bi-flex models to my kit - they provide some brilliantly easy solutions to what used to be serious lighting/rigging challenges.

[Craig Seeman]

Originally Posted by Mark Kenfield

Alladdin are the manufacturers of the lights. As I understand it Westcott has the US rights to distribute them (here in Australia they're still branded as Alladdin).

Brilliant bit of lighting kit. I'm really keen to add a couple of the bi-flex models to my kit - they provide some brilliantly easy solutions to what used to be serious lighting/rigging challenges.

Thread started in March and it's now September and apparently still no battery solution for the Flex. Ironically that's the key difference between them and Aladdin. Let's hope for something at IBC. Now if they'd add an egg crate to their diffuser.