Yes, with a yoke like that, its really made more as a "grid" or ceiling type fixture. You really need a yoke that extends down from the sides and a fair ways below the fixture to use properly and get all the angles you might want.

So we're getting closer on our LED Panel which is in production right now. The CL-LED600 should be out in early December if none of our other products hold it's availability up since a bunch are coming at the same time.

600 LEDs, 9 5/8" x 5/8" x 2 3/8" size. About 3 1/2 pounds weight (or so). Removable barndoors that slide out of an accessory holder. Angle adjustment stand adapter. Black powder coated aluminum construction. 12VDC power supply included: approximately 50w draw at 12VDC. Power input is via 4 pin XLR. Power supply includes a 6 foot cable from power supply to LED fixture and a 15 foot IEC type cord to power supply which has a carabiner on it to clip to some part of a stand rather than leaving it on the floor. Also includes a dimmer pot and bank select switches on the back. It will have two accessories as of right now that can also go on the back of the unit: either an AB Battery mount or a V Battery mount that can go on the back--customer installable. You can either get our battery mounts or probably use other ones too but I haven't tested any others than ours. The pricing for this panel will normally be $479 and $125 for the AB Mount accessory, $125 for the V Mount accessory. For a limited time, we'll be running a special for $379 for the panel and $99 for the battery mounts. As if all this wasn't enough, there is also a free padded nylon carrying case very similar to a laptop type bag but custom made for this panel. The size of the carrying case is 12" x 14" x 5 1/2". Pictures below.

Available in daylight (5600K) and a limited number of tungsten color units (3200K) available as well. Thanks for looking.

So we're getting closer on our LED Panel which is in production right now. The CL-LED600 should be out in early December if none of our other products hold it's availability up since a bunch are coming at the same time.

600 LEDs, 9 5/8" x 5/8" x 2 3/8" size. About 3 1/2 pounds weight (or so). Removable barndoors that slide out of an accessory holder. Angle adjustment stand adapter. Black powder coated aluminum construction. 12VDC power supply included: approximately 50w draw at 12VDC. Power input is via 4 pin XLR. Power supply includes a 6 foot cable from power supply to LED fixture and a 15 foot IEC type cord to power supply which has a carabiner on it to clip to some part of a stand rather than leaving it on the floor. Also includes a dimmer pot and bank select switches on the back. It will have two accessories as of right now that can also go on the back of the unit: either an AB Battery mount or a V Battery mount that can go on the back--customer installable. You can either get our battery mounts or probably use other ones too but I haven't tested any others than ours. The pricing for this panel will normally be $479 and $125 for the AB Mount accessory, $125 for the V Mount accessory. For a limited time, we'll be running a special for $379 for the panel and $99 for the battery mounts. As if all this wasn't enough, there is also a free padded nylon carrying case very similar to a laptop type bag but custom made for this panel. The size of the carrying case is 12" x 14" x 5 1/2". Pictures below.

Available in daylight (5600K) and a limited number of tungsten color units (3200K) available as well. Thanks for looking.

Hi Richard:

This looks very interesting. Do you have CRI and photometrics?

I may buy a few of these from you.

Thanks,

Dan

Thanks Dan. As for light meter readings, I'll take some next week and post as I need to get my meter which is in another city. CRI will be around 80 to 85 based on the LEDs we're using which is about as good as you can get for affordable 5mm and daylight white at this time. Ironically, you can find tungsten 5mm LEDs with better CRI but most people want daylight so that's what we needed to get.

CRI of 5mm LEDs depends upon a couple of factors from what I can tell--beam angle and color temperature influence the CRI you can have quite a bit. We started this project wanting to find a 20 to 30 degree beam LED so you'd have an instrument with super throw--really concentrated but a relatively small beam. One after another though, they all looked terrible. You'd get a halo around the beam that had a green or yellow tinge to it. The only way to minimize that effect if you wanted to use that beam angle was to go to 8000K to 9000K LEDs. The efficiency goes up in that range too and you get more lumen output.

While it may make a lot of sense, I didn't want to spend all my time explaining to people why I wasn't using 5600K ones so we skipped using those and went to a 60 degree LED. Less throw, but you can use 5600K LEDs and not have the halo and the beam is wider anyway so you can cover a larger area with the fixture. When I make a future on-camera smaller panel though we may have a 8000K version on that because it can make sense to have a sharp beam that can cut through things really well and be as efficient as possible for a small light.

Richard.... I'll take 4!

also... have you ever considered a fresnelish plastic sheet that would slide in front of the panel to focus the beam narrower? I picked up a sheet at officemax that is meant for overhead projectors. Also have one that is meant to be stuck on the rear window of a rv or van to give a wide view of behind the vehicle... this one widens the beam. These sheets are only about $10! and can be cut down to size. They appear to be very color neutral.

Keep up the good work! Your 150 daylight Fresnel's have been a fantastic addition to my kit!

Thanks Dan. As for light meter readings, I'll take some next week and post as I need to get my meter which is in another city. CRI will be around 80 to 85 based on the LEDs we're using which is about as good as you can get for affordable 5mm and daylight white at this time. Ironically, you can find tungsten 5mm LEDs with better CRI but most people want daylight so that's what we needed to get.

CRI of 5mm LEDs depends upon a couple of factors from what I can tell--beam angle and color temperature influence the CRI you can have quite a bit. We started this project wanting to find a 20 to 30 degree beam LED so you'd have an instrument with super throw--really concentrated but a relatively small beam. One after another though, they all looked terrible. You'd get a halo around the beam that had a green or yellow tinge to it. The only way to minimize that effect if you wanted to use that beam angle was to go to 8000K to 9000K LEDs. The efficiency goes up in that range too and you get more lumen output.

While it may make a lot of sense, I didn't want to spend all my time explaining to people why I wasn't using 5600K ones so we skipped using those and went to a 60 degree LED. Less throw, but you can use 5600K LEDs and not have the halo and the beam is wider anyway so you can cover a larger area with the fixture. When I make a future on-camera smaller panel though we may have a 8000K version on that because it can make sense to have a sharp beam that can cut through things really well and be as efficient as possible for a small light.

Sounds very promising, please give us a heads-up as we get closer to availability, I will definitey be interested in one or two.

Dan

Hi Richard,

I'm interested as well, but save a couple of the 3200k units for me. My largest retail client just completed re-lighting their 1000 plus stores using high-efficiency fluorescents that put out light at 3100 degrees kelvin. (I think it's all about energy costs!)

It's surprised me quite a bit at how warm the light was, but it's really sweet to be able to use all my tungsten gear for highlights!!!

So don't let all the tungsten LED units go away without letting me know!

Take care.

Christopher - what's that Officemax sheet part number or link, please?

Richard.... I'll take 4!

also... have you ever considered a fresnelish plastic sheet that would slide in front of the panel to focus the beam narrower? I picked up a sheet at officemax that is meant for overhead projectors. Also have one that is meant to be stuck on the rear window of a rv or van to give a wide view of behind the vehicle... this one widens the beam. These sheets are only about $10! and can be cut down to size. They appear to be very color neutral.

Keep up the good work! Your 150 daylight Fresnel's have been a fantastic addition to my kit!

So, you actually used those on your existing LED panel and it really has that effect? I have considered those before but never really thought they would do anything. Does sound very interesting--particularly since we have an accessory slide on the front of the panel...

One person sent me a huge list of questions so I thought I would use it to start a FAQ. I'm sure many will have these questions so it may help some.

1) What is the quality and output of the LED lights? Is it as good as or better than the Lowel gear I currently use?

Photometrics to be posted soon. As for questions about comparisons to specific lighting gear I don’t have enough data to be able to tell at this time. In general I would compare it to a 600w Fresnel somewhere in between narrow and wide beam but probably closer to the wide beam setting. When we get the photometric data, that will confirm it.


2) For interviews and small location use, would I be better off with fluorescent lights? Or are your new LEDs capable of excelling in that context? (I'm a bit reluctant to go with fluorescents because of bulb fragility).

LEDs and fluorescents both have their place for sure. Some think that LEDs will replace fluorescent, HMI and tungsten but in my opinion that is a long ways off—if for no other reason than from a cost standpoint.

I view LEDs as usable in specific instances where light can be well controlled and also where power availability is at a premium. For instance, such a panel would be great for filming subjects in a car at night. Or how about a walking interview down a busy sidewalk at night. Other uses would be the person taking video in a cave or out in the wilds of Africa at night filming animals. Notice I said “night” in all those instances. Such a light would be quickly overpowered by real daylight and even fluorescent softlights with their inherent falloff have difficulties. We have people tell us all the time they are able to use fluorescents such as a 4x55w or a 6x55w in a room where daylight is streaming in but I also know there are such situations where it doesn’t work too—particularly if you were actually outside during the day on all but the most overcast of days. That’s what the CDM 150 and all such fixtures in HMI class are for—competing with daylight with their superior throw and projection ability. Every tool has its place in the kit and the proper place to use it. None of them are good everywhere.


3) How many hours are your LEDs rated?

The rating is 50,000 hours. The warranty period is 1 year.


4) Do your LED lights suffer from a green tint like the Flolight LEDs? If so, what workarounds do you suggest?

No, they were chosen based on their CRI which is in the 80 to 85 range. Anytime you see a green bias like that its simply a CRI issue. Daylight white LEDs are some of the hardest to get in a good CRI. Go to 8000K or 3200K and it’s less trouble to get a superior CRI. Daylight 5600K 5mm LEDs though, because of the way “white” is implemented with 5mm LEDs are particularly tough to get right without going to a super expensive solution or a 1W to 5W type LED configuration. We do have planned a multi-1W LED panel solution and I think that will have its own uses and market as well.


5). What is the beam angle of the LEDs?

60 degrees. We experimented with the 15 to 30 degree range but found the CRI to be terrible for real daylight LEDs so we dropped back to the first suitable range where CRI came back to being usable. A 15 to 30 degree 5mm LED would be great for a small on camera light but you’d need to go to 8000K to get a really good CRI. What you get in return is about the best lumen output you can get from 5mm LEDs and great throw but a relatively small beam. We even tried some 45 degree LEDs but they still had the CRI issues. Otherwise, the 60 degree 5mm LEDs are about where I consider them to become useful. That is, until someone makes a better quality 5mm narrow beam angle LED in a price range that’s makes them useful.


6) Will your LED lights mix well with daylight and other light sources? For example, if I gel my Lowel lights to daylight? Or if I use LED lights from other companies, such as an on-camera light for an eye-light or front fill?

So far in my tests, I think these LEDs do mix well with daylight or some other fluorescents or HMI we have tried. I don’t have the facility to test against other products like the Lowels. As I said earlier though, I think these things excel in use by themselves in particular instances where nothing else would work. I think flos are particularly still a great choice for mixing with tungsten or HMI when you’re doing work in normal settings.


7) Will you be including gels for 3200K, color wash FX, and diffusion?

Not at this time. Otherwise it's best to just get the tungsten version if thats what you need. The reason being you'll lose less light than with gelling. I think the best accessory in that area would be a full CTO filter plastic panel that can slide into the accessory frame. Someone also mentioned that the plastic “fresnel” type panels used on overhead projectors work very well for focusing the beam of an LED type fixture and are available in wide and narrow so a couple of those panels would make a great future accessory as we can find them and make them available.


8) How do gels attach?

Gels could attach to the barndoors with clips as many do today. No gel frame at this time. We do have an accessory slide in where the barndoors go. This is just a channel with adequate room for various kinds of modifier panels can go if you take out the barndoors.


9) What does "slideout barn door" mean? How does that work?

As mentioned in the previous example, the barndoors simply slide into the accessory channel and lock into place with a spring loaded lock similar to the way barndoors lock into a Fresnel accessory holder. Having something else in there at the same time is not possible though and you would need to slide the barndoors out to be able to use some kind of light diffusion or modification panel or filter.


10) Will you include reflective attachments for the barn doors similar to Flolight's LED fixtures?

Yes, we’ll use reflective intensifiers attached with Velcro.


11) What batteries will work with the lights? Voltage range? What do you recommend?

I recommend something in the 150WH range in AB or V mount types which are normally around 14V to 15V or so. I haven’t done the tests yet with various kinds but will be by end of October.


12) Can I hook up batteries or battery belts without requiring the optional adapter plates?

Yes, the power input on the back of the unit from our enclosed power supply is a 4 pin XLR male. Thus, if you have a power accessory with a 4 pin XLR female on a cable, you could attach to that power connector and replace the power supply with whatever it is you have. I recommend using only voltages in the range of 12v to 15V DC though.


13). What is the power consumption?

About 50 watts at 12VDC.


14) Do you sell stands for them? What do you recommend and how much do they cost?

Yes we have stands on the site—5 different models from small to heavy duty C-Stand. Something like our CL-LS3 stand is very small and lightweight and a good pairing with this fixture.


15) Will you offer cases for a kit of two, three or four?

The only case we offer at this time is the free one for just one unit. I have other cases, but they are very large and not meant specifically for this fixture. We’ll see what demand there is for multi-cases and make one available as that becomes more clear.


16) Will you offer an extra discount when purchasing multiple lights?

No other discounts at this time. We are already a manufacturer direct pricing model and heavily discounted.


17) Will the lights actually ship in December, or not until next year?

Hopefully by December if no unforeseen delays come into play.


18) Will there be any way to use remote dimming control or DMX control with these lights?

No DMX capability at this time.

Is this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110298670332) a comparable light?

(I realize that one is for 220V, but how does it compare otherwise?)

Is this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110298670332) a comparable light?

(I realize that one is for 220V, but how does it compare otherwise?)

That's the Lishuai 500 panel Flolights sells. The "Cinelight" guy is in Romania and is just another dealer for that panel. Apparently he only sells it in 220v version. By the time you ship it here it's almost the same price as Flolights sells theirs for.

So don't let all the tungsten LED units go away without letting me know!


Understood!

Christopher - what's that Officemax sheet part number or link, please?

this place has been good to me.....

Buy Fresnel lens,Fresnel Lenses,Fresnel lense (http://www.3dlens.com/shop/fresnellens.php)

they have both mag and wide.... make your beam narrow or spread it wider.

also... check out their polorizer sheets... put these on lights and an optical grade pl on your camera and things really get interesting.... vibrant colors like kodachrome!

Understood!

Hi Richard
Your LED's look fantastic! I want to by two of both 3200k and 5600k! is there a newsletter I can sign up to or pre order?

// t

Hi Tobias,

Just send an email to info@coollights.biz letting me know specifically what you want and we'll put you on the list. Thanks.

Richard,

Do you ever make it to Beijing? would love to see one of your lights. Is there any dimming function at all on them? can you turn off strips of LEDS to reduce output?

Dan

Hi Dan,

Yes I do sometimes. Don't have a trip scheduled right now but send me your email address and we'll see if we can meet. Yes there is both continuous dimming and 5 bank select switches so people that don't like color temperature shift during dimming (everything shifts color from flos to hmis and even tungsten really) can just use bank select switches.

Hi Richard,

The CL-LED600 looks terrific. I'll email you for inclusion for advance notice of the debut.

They look like winners, in both color temperatures.

I am unclear about the 12volt power supply included as rechargeable or battery not included.

My best,

Mike

Litewave | A new led light for the film and television industry that gives you total control | Features (http://www.litewave.tv)

Can I ask if anyone has any thoughts or comments about this LED light and what it might be useful for?
thanks

Seems like color temperature, CRI, lux readings, and prices are omitted from that web site?

Seems like color temperature, CRI, lux readings, and prices are omitted from that web site?
I understand that the price is 795 UK pounds plus sales tax.
I will try to get the other specs.

I am unclear about the 12volt power supply included as rechargeable or battery not included.

Mike

No battery included. We do have two optional battery mount plates: AB or V mount of which you would only need one. So, you supply the pro type battery of your choice and pay $99 extra for whichever battery plate you would need. You don't have to use the optional battery plate though--you can use anything that has a 4 pin XLR female type cable on it as long as its in the voltage range we require. Thus, you could use the D-Tap to 4 pin XLR type cable from whatever external battery you may have. The battery plate is a great convenience obviously when you don't want to have a battery dangling around.

12vdc power supply is included and has a 15 foot AC American type IEC cable on one side and a 6 foot dc output cable with a 4 pin XLR female using the standard pin 1 as GND and pin 4 as +12. IEC type power cable means you can change it out to whatever the cable / plug type of the country you are in. That is the same kind used on PCs around the world making it easy to change the plug as needed.

One power change since my last update is that now the power input to the panel can be anything from 9VDC to 24VDC as I added a buck/boost regulator internally to all power input whether from battery plate or the 4 pin XLR input. What this means is that whatever voltage you put in (as long as its in the range of 9VDC to 24VDC) will be translated to what we need internally and will stay constant. In practical terms this means that the light output will stay constant as a battery voltage drops, during discharge, until it gets below 9VDC and then it just goes off. In my tests with a 160WH AB type battery I got a solid 3 hours before it went out. Got about 2:45 with my 140WH RED brick V mount battery. Which is all consistent with the panel's 50 watt draw.

Richard,

Sounds better all the time, any chance of a photo of the rear of the unit with a v-plate attached? would be good.

Dan

It'll probably be about a week or so before I can get that as I'm not in that area right now. I'll post as soon as I have one.

Finally have some LED 600 panels rolling off the assembly line. Here are the promised pictures I took today of one of the units including of the back with some descriptions. I'll try to include one tomorrow with a battery plate attached. To attach a battery plate (V or AB) to the back of the unit, simply remove the 4 screws and take off the door on the left, pull out the molex battery plate connector (keyed so there can be no mistakes), attach to the battery plate, screw the battery plate down and you're ready to go.

The picture on the right shows the bottom of the unit with dimmer and stand adapter.

The picture on the bottom shows the top of the fixture with the carry handle and the spring loaded accessory locks which hold the removable barndoors in place.

Richard, I see there are Flood and Spot options for this light on your web site.

How do you switch between the options with the same hardware?

Making a flood or spot version of the panel is just a difference in the lens of the LED (and thus the beam angle), thus its not possible electronically or in real time to change from flood to spot, just like with some other types of panels that come in flood or spot as well. Perhaps someday someone will invent an LED where its possible to electronically change the angle. Otherwise, I've had some ideas for how you could change from spot to flood on a future LED panel (using 1w LEDs) we want to do. It would be a mechanical change though with a focusing knob similar to the way you change from flood to spot on a fresnel. That's another story for another day though...

Richard,

Sent you an email.

Congrats on getting the first units off the line and looking forward to testing.

Ned

Litewave | A new led light for the film and television industry that gives you total control | Features (http://www.litewave.tv)

Can I ask if anyone has any thoughts or comments about this LED light and what it might be useful for?
thanks

That product could be single LED with a lens. Or it could even be 6 MR16 type bulbs. I'm unclear on the size. One change with LED is higher output single LEDs becoming giving out much more light. The are four and five watt single LEDs.

Vendors of stage and portable LED lighting are going to units with far fewer but much more powerful LEDs. These are controllable through a protocol called DMX for just about any thing a light can do. More expensive units ($1000) even allow input of a specific color temperature.

It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that LED video lighting will move away from panels like litepanel/coolltes produce to units that are more like traditional hot lights.

The color variable stage units use a combination of RGB LEDs that can bet set from 0-255. These can be set to any color. These can also be dimmed without color change or flicker. How does RGB lights work with video? I don't know. I'm going to test this unit: Products COLORdash? PAR | | CHAUVET® Lighting (http://www.chauvetlighting.com/colordash-par.html)

There are new, big LEDs coming on the market all the time. From what I read manufacturers seem to be looking more at CRI. High CRI lights are somewhat less energy efficient than regular LEDs, but who cares. For video use, and for home use, highly efficent lights with an incomplete spectrum aren't going to be used.

I believe zylite is using stage-type lighting in their on camera LED. I don't know the quality of this light. Zylight - Intelligent LED Lighting (http://www.zylight.com)

Richards lights are a nice price for 48 watts of LED. As long as it takes a gels it will be great.

Richard,

Congrats, This is a great late Christmas present. I better get an order in.

Dan

***Edit*** Just looked at the site, any idea what the shipping to Beijing is going to be? I'd like to get some to test with the 5DmkII as soon as possible. Also, are the battery plates a special design? I have a few already but I'm not sure they will fit.

Hi Dan,

Shipping will be minimal to Beijing. Shoot me an email at info@coollights.biz.

On the subject of battery plates. I just took some pictures showing the battery plates and how they attach. Pretty standard stuff although I certainly haven't taken a survey of all the different options out there and how they all work. Ours have a bottom plate which attaches to whatever and then a top plate with the battery adapter on it that attaches to that. First pictures shows the V Mount bottom plate just attached to the back of the unit. You can see the molex keyed connector sticking out ready to attach to the battery plate. Next picture shows the V Mount attached to the bottom plate. 3rd pictures shows an AB Mount plate attached instead of V Mount. 4th pictures shows an AB Battery on the fixture with the AB Mount.

The Blinder! Or, a quick way to get 1200 LEDs (or more) on one stand.

The CL-LEDHBAR allows placing two fixtures on one baby light stand and includes two baby male 5/8" studs on a powder coated, lightweight steel bar and one baby 5/8" female / junior male adapter at the bottom.

The CL-LEDVBAR allows stacking the CL-LEDHBARs vertically for 4, 6, etc. panels on one light stand. Availability at same time the panels hit stock.

That's some nice stuff Richard.

Looking forward to using them.

Thanks!

Dan

Hi Richard...

Any comparisons between the color quality of your light and the one marketed by FloLights?

The FloLights require a minus green filter to attain a better match to daylight.

Nice work on the light design/manufacturing.

Hey, Richard

Does the A/B plate include a power tap connection, to maybe power two lights off the same battery?

Dean,

Thanks for the kind words! If you want to use the fixtures by themselves, with custom white balance on digital mediums, minus green isn't necessary. It's mainly necessary when mixing them with full spectrum sources like HMI, CDM, fluorescent, real daylight or real tungsten. At this point, you should count on 1/8 minus green for just about any of these type of LED fixtures that use the lower cost 5mm round daylight LEDs. Using RGB LEDs or other similar "mixing" tricks in other fixtures we will be able to obtain a better LED product that can mix well with other light sources.

Brian,

On the battery plates, yes there is a D Tap and I would think that should work although I didn't think of it as a test. If I get a moment, I'll pick up a D to D cable and try it.

Dan,

Thanks! A lot of hard work went into this.

Richard, I'm looking to replace my existing two Lowel hot light setup (Totalight in 24x36 Photoflex video softbox box and iLite in 12x16 Photoflex box) with equiv type LED's - this item looks like it will meet my needs to replace my Lowel Totalite - what's the equiv light output in relation to a totalite? I use it primarily in my Photoflex video softbox for doing interviews and wondered what the light quality was in relation to my 24x36 box - I currently have to back it off because of the amount of heat the thing generates and I would like to have the light be daylight balanced and cool to work with in tighter shooting situations.

I need a two light kit that is compact since all my shooting is on location (and eventually to remote locations) and I'm not totally sold on the LightPanels - especially since they are so expensive in relation to this product. I would match your product with a lightpanels micro as a hair light and double duty on camera light for my two light kit.

If this meets my needs, February won't get here soon enough

I'll probably be the last person to say that LEDs are superior to fluorescent or HMI/CDM lighting--at this time. There will always be tiers of products and no one product will serve well for all uses.

You have to remember, we are in a very early stage now with LEDs--especially the smaller 5mm ones like this. Think where fluorescent was 10 years ago and you have the picture with LEDs. Fluorescent manufacturers didn't care about CRI back then. It was much harder to find a usable fluorescent tube for video/film at that time. Fluorescent was for early adopters back then. Today its so much more advanced and getting more and more common to find a good tube with good color temperature and color rendering. LEDs are now for early adopters and those that need something compact, solid state and with a high leverage for power input vs. light output--which if you consider them from a LUX / footcandle output to watts consumed, they beat all other lighting. And, DC operation is easy with them. I see them, as I have said many times, as a specialty fixture for use in those situations where batteries/low voltage DC power would help out a lot because of lack of normal power mains.

That being said, these fixtures will work fine as an equivalent to a 650w fresnel (wherever you might use that) and wherever you can control the other light in the room (windows, practicals, etc.). Just remember, LEDs like these work well by themselves or mixed with similar ones to themselves but aren't great for mixing with other tungsten, real daylight, flourescent or HMI. So, view them like that and you will have a great portable source that can work off batteries when necessary. Your tota mixes well with other light, including daylight if you gel them, because they use tungsten and that's a full spectrum source. A good fluorescent or HMI will do the same. Another issue is that the output is very hard compared to your diffused softbox tota. Adding diffusion to the LEDs will weaken them. I would think that the best thing to use for diffusing somewhat would be a cracked ice or prismatic plastic panel like used on some ceiling or fluorescent fixtures, but it will be harder to get that big surface emanating light like a 24 x 36 softbox and be as strong. LEDs can have a very strong output but they can be weakened quickly by something like a silk.

If you're not needing to work off batteries or super portable isn't of the greatest necessity, I'll still recommend a fluorescent or CDM/HMI any time for energy efficient soft or hard light, great color rendering and ability to mix with other fixtures well. Plus you can't beat the cost effectiveness of fluorescent and CDM for shear output and cost per lumen too.

Richard - the needs I have for shooting with a light source entails having portability as a paramount feature - hence the reason for asking about this light as a primary source - The softboxes are secondary - I can use diffusion scrims if needed and have in the past, but I need a soft light source that can be used either off a DC or AC power source. I figure with one of these lights along with a smaller light for hair/rim/background, this compact kit will travel well and meets the needs of how I shoot as a self contained video shooter (solo video journalist).

Fluos do just fine as soft lights, so there may not be much need to soften LED lights...

However, I'd very much like to find a cool (as opposite to boiling-hot tungsten) hard light source like fresnel, hopefully in LED version.

Equivalent of 650W-1K Lowel DP light without all the heat would be cool. OK, bad pun :)

Anything like that on the horizon?..

PS - just read Cliff's post above, and it seems like Richard is being torn in two different directions here :)

Alex,

HMI lights don't have infrared in their beam, so while the fixture itself gets hot, the light from an HMI doesn't heat up the talent. So, that horizon you seek is technically here already. Cool lights' 150w HMI fresnel produces the equivalent light of a 650w arri tungsten with a daylight gel, only draws 150w and isn't hot for the talent.

Oh, and it doesnt cost much more than the arri fixture either. pretty crazy.

Alex and I have talked about the 150 cdm before and I think he would prefer LEDs. Many think the CDM 150 is a great size but Alex thought it was too big for his needs. You just won't get much smaller than that I'm afraid to get anything useful and that can do everything a fresnel can do. Focusing, wide beam, narrow beam, projection, hard shadows--it's hard to beat that form factor. There just is no such thing as a single point source LED fresnel at this point and I don't think there will be for a long time. We have looked at a 100w LED but the problem is that it would require a huge and heavy heat sink to keep it alive. There goes portability and weight. Its okay for street lights because you can hang the heavy heat sink on it and they can cost justify the extra cost of the LED too. Thus, if we tried to use that, the form factor of the fresnel would be totally different to make the wide/narrow beam functionality. It would be too expensive, too heavy and not what you want (at this point).

Put an array of LEDs together and you approximate some of what you're looking for but there are multiple shadow issues so you can't use it everywhere you would normally use the single point light source fresnel (tungsten or HMI/CDM). Like for "cookies" for instance or when you need a hard shadow across something. LED arrays won't do that.

We're not really torn, its just realism and that each of these tools still has its place in the arsenal: flo's and hmi are far from dead. I know its not what many want to hear but its just too early--we have some more advancements to go before its what you really want to replace everything.

When designing fixtures you have to know what people are expecting in each form factor and when people say the want a "fresnel" there are certain behaviors they expect from that. Hard shadows, projection, wide or narrow beam, etc. The single point light source of an HMI/CDM or tungsten bulb is all that we have that can do that well and cost effectively right now. If you can settle for an array of LEDs for just general lighting of a subject, and you can control the other lighting in the environment (or add gels where necessary to adjust the fixtures) then the LED fixture will be just fine.

Richard - the needs I have for shooting with a light source entails having portability as a paramount feature - hence the reason for asking about this light as a primary source - The softboxes are secondary - I can use diffusion scrims if needed and have in the past, but I need a soft light source that can be used either off a DC or AC power source. I figure with one of these lights along with a smaller light for hair/rim/background, this compact kit will travel well and meets the needs of how I shoot as a self contained video shooter (solo video journalist).

My thinking pretty much too. We made this for the person that travels a lot and can shoot in controlled circumstances. The flood panel will be great for that. We have a spot panel too, but ultimately for guys like you or Dan Brockett, you'll want an even smaller spot than this panel for use as hair / rim / back light and keeping things small, minimalistic and super portable. Something with maybe 150 LEDs or less in as small a package as possible. That's one of our next products because we hear this story a lot and we know what people are looking for. Can you use our 600 LED spot panel as a hair / back / rim light? Of course, but its a bit of overkill though and you'll find yourself reaching for the dimmer a lot. I ran some tests with that and it's large but still small enough it can be positioned behind someone's head and obscured for the rim effect. It can also, of course be placed up on a stand behind the person for the hair light. You can put it on the floor and shine it up against the wall for a beam effect as well, although I think a fresnel still excels the best for that effect.

Anyway, all these instances are where the smaller 150 or less LED spot would come in really handy. Or we could do it with 3 or 4 1w LEDs--that's certainly another way to go as well.

Given the nature of the kind of work I produce, and working self contained, this light appears on paper to really be ideal for my needs (could have used it yesterday on a shoot) - specifically for the head and shoulders type interviews typically done.

Hi
I had tested this led light and i thing it is very good (The one with 60° degree head) Camlight (http://www.camlight.com.cn/edetail.asp?sort=pics&id=147)
*keep shooting*
Chris

Hi all:

I received the LED 600 lights air freight from Richard in China last week. Both lights came packaged nicely. The nylon bags that the lights come in are very nice, black ballistic nylon with a white Coolights logo silk screened onto the front with an adjustment strap. The bag also features plenty of room to house the power supply for the lights.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10517&stc=1&d=1232432579

A very nice lanyard with a aluminum caribiner clip is attached to the lights so that the power supply can be hung from your light stand. This adds the benefit of better air circulation around the power supply. As we all know, less heat equals longer life in electronics. Since I am in the U.S., the power supply came equipped with a detachable 12' standard grounded threee prong OSHA cord. The cord is heavy duty and not cheaply made. Not sure what the AC cord supplied for 240 V countries will be like. The power supply itself is variable voltage so it will be the same for all LED 600s the world over. The power supply terminates in a four pin DC XLR cable.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10518&d=1232432576

The rear of the light panel contains a larger master power switch flanked with five bank power switches. This allows you to vary the output of the instrument without dimming. Dimming in LED fixtures does cause a shift in color temperature in the output, although this varies from instrument to instrument. The light also features a nice rotary dimmer underneath the fixture near the light stand adapter. I like that the dimmer knob is fairly long, it makes it easier to find in the dark or when you are not looking underneath the instrument for it to adjust it. The dimming effect is nice and linear, no major jumps in the dimming percentage. I do not own a color meter so I was not able to measure the color temperature shift as the instrument was dimmed, but I assume that there is some shift.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10519&stc=1&d=1232432646

The light will fit into the main compartment of the bag with the included barn doors in place. The barndoors are very nicely done and extend to about 8" on all sides. Since the instrument is square, it seems as if all four barndoors are the same length. This makes folding the doors up easy and quick since you don't have to search for which set of doors are the horizontal and which are the vertical as you would on most lights. Richard has discussed the possibility that he may supply various accessories for these lights in the future that could include color correction panels, diffusion panels and possibly a speed ring for softboxes. The channels that hold the barndoors and would be used to hold these opther accessories are very heavy duty and could easily hold additional weight and width besides the barndoors. The clips that hold the barndoors to the light are spring loaded and heavy duty, much as you would get on an Arri or other professional instrument.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10520&stc=1&d=1232432646

The front of the instrument features six hundred 5mm LED lights, arranged in a square. The LEDs are bare, there is no safety glass or protective panel in front of them, although with the barndoors folded over the light, the LEDs are protected during transport.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10521&stc=1&d=1232432646

The light stand adapter includes a standard 5/8" receiver that will easily allow the light to be mounted on a standard light stand or C-stand arm. Adapters are available from third party sources to adapt this standard 5/8" receiver to other configurations like junior and senior pins, 5/8" recepticles, etc. The tie down knob is plastic but seems to be large enough to crank down on safely and the light stand adapter feels as if it would hold the additional weight and leverage of a small Chimera or other softbox fairly well without sagging or drooping the light fixture down.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10522&stc=1&d=1232432646

I received two LED 600 panels, a 5600k flood panel and a 5600k spot panel. I was interested to see the difference in output between the two so I set them up for some informal testing. I took light measurements and readings with both my Panasonic HPX170 and with my Sekonic L308s light meter. The readings were taken in an otherwise dark room with no ambient or other light. I recorded the following exposure readings in each situation.

These are real world numbers, not laboratory measurements of the lights since I do not have all of the necessary equipment to set up and measure from a truly controlled situation.

I recorded the following exposures. I was impressed with the output levels.

Camera exposure
Camera - Panasonic HPX170 P2 camcorder
ISO: I rated the HPX170 at ISO 500 at 24 fps with a 180d shutter. The readings were taken from the subject position with the Sekonic L308s light meter at exactly 6' from the LEDs to the subject, female with white skin. Besides the light meter reading, I also let the camera meter the subject, I used the camera's zebras set at 75% and 100%. I adjusted the camera to record the highlight areas of the face with a decent amount of peaking at 75% and highlights anywhere near 100% exposure. The readings from the HPX170 and the Sekonic L308s were identical. I metered each light individually and recorded the following exposures.

5600k Flood Panel direct at meter/subject
24fps @ 180d @ 6' = f 4.08

5600k Spot Panel direct at meter/subject
24fps @ 180d @ 6' = f 5.65


I then proceeded to take a different set of measurements to check the actual FC/lux output. Since my light meter does not have FC or lux readouts, I had to do some calculations. I am not sure if these measurements are exact as the EV/FC and lux scales are logarithmic and not linear. Standardized FC measurements are always taken at ISO 100. I recorded the following measurements. Note that these readings were take at a distance of 5', not at 6' as the above camera exposures were.

Flood Panel
EV 8.5 @ 5' = 900 lux = 83.6 FC

Spot Panel
EV 9.5 @ 5' = 1800 lux = 167.2 FC

By this measurement, something seems off. The spot panel does seem a lot brighter than the flood panel but not twice the FC. My calculations may be off here as I am using an EV to lux calculator. In the measurements above, the EV reading is definitely accurate but my calculations in converting to lux and or FC may be off so if you are a stats whiz, please feel free to run these numbers and see if your results vary from mine.

Color Cast
As expected, the LED600 panels do exhibit a small green spike in the color output. Evidentally this is endemic to 5mm LEDs and I can tell you from experience that the LED500 Prompter People panels also exhibit the same green spike.

The stills below were taken with the setup shown below with the spot panel punched through the small Chimera as a key source and the flood panel bounced off of a 42" white flexfill. LED lights have a harder light quality than fluorescents so I would typically not use them without diffusion or bounce. I was concerned that the LED 600s might not have enough output to use as a bounced instrument or for use through a softbox but they surprised me. They worked quite well, both through the Chimera and bounced off of a Flexfill. The samples below are lit only by the two LED Panels, the only ambient light in the room was an incandescent practical shining on the wall (the orange looking wash on the picture) and some twinkle lights on the potted plant. Both practical sources were located about 18' behind the subject so they did not affect the color cast on the subject at all. There was no hairlight or rim light used to separate the subject from the dark BG.
(this still was shot during the day but the test shots below were shot with the same setup at night

The first image was shot at 5600k wb preset on the camera.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10523&stc=1&d=1232432646

The second image shows the same image after color correction in FCP's three way color corrector using the grayscale chart the subject is holding.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=10524&stc=1&d=1232432646

I am going to shoot some images using manual WB, which I suspect will work almost as well as FCP's three way color corrector. You can see that under the 5600k preset on the camera, the lights do have a definite green spike although it was quite easy to correct with the color corrector in FCP. Another alternative would be to mount some -1/8 green gel in front of the lights while shooting. There are three easy and effective solutions to mitigating the slight green spike in the LED600s.

I am continuing to shoot tests with the LED 600s and will keep posting as I discover more and more. Please feel free to PM me or post in this thread if you have specific questions about the lights. Now that I have done some testing, my next challenge will be setting up a decent looking shot using the LED 600s along with possibly some tungsten and or fluorescent instruments. As long as the LED 600s are being used solely to light the subject, I do not foresee problems is adding other color temperature instruments as background and accent lights.

I will be posting a lot more as I explore these lights. I did not order the battery plate that Coollights has available but I am toying with the idea of buying a lower cost battery belt to see what sorts of run times can be achieved in using these lights on location using battery power. More on that later.

Dan
__________________
Using the HPX-170 to produce extraordinary content for all of your favorite DVDs.

Dan,

I've received my Coollights now too, they are pretty impressive. I took the battery plate option though. One quick question, what softbox are you using on the one in your picture? and how did you attach it?

Dan

Hi Dan:

That is a small Chimera Quartz bank (24" x 36"). It is actually not attached to the LED 600, it is being held in front of it on a separate C-stand. I have been speaking with Richard how users will want an integrated or add-on speed ring for softboxes for these lights so hopefully one will be forthcoming. In the meantime, I may create one for myself.

I already looked through the existing 250 models of Chimera speed rings on the market and none look as though they will fit the 9.75" wide channel on the LED 600 so at this point, I may have to fabricate my own or go to a metal shop and have it done. I am sure that Richard can have them made much more efficiently in China though. Really all that needs to be done is to take the barndoor frame, remove the door panels and weld on four socket receivers for the Chimera rods. Piece of cake.

Best,

Dan