Hello all,

I'm new to video lighting and I'd like to know what to look for in off-camera LED key/hair/kicker light products to get excellent results lighting scenes / interviews in small set / studio environments. Perhaps a bright soft key light with harder hair/kicker lights. Any advice on what to look for and product suggestions based on personal use are welcome!

Many thanks,
-Johannes

Johannes,

I use the Cool Lights 600 spot with softbox and it does a great job for me. I use a Belcor DC battery for power and have the light mounted on a lightstand and use the battery pack as a weight to stabilize the light stand.

For hair light a lot of folks use a 256 coollight but I think I'll just get another 600 since it is dimmable and isn't that big to start with. I always use the minus green filter.

CL-LED600 600 LED Panel Dimmable - Cool Lights USA (http://www.coollights.biz/clled600-panel-p-114.html)

Harry

Johannes,

Harry's suggestion is a good one, I have not tried the Cool lights but have the Lite Panels (1x1). Their website is very informative (Litepanels Broadcast Lighting Template - 2 Camera Interview (http://www.litepanels.com/lp/broadcastdivision/templates/broadcast_lighting_template_02.html)) and will provide you with useful tips on lighting and configurations.

I have recently purchased a few of these units (Pro 183-LED Video Light for DV Camcorder w/ Portable Power | Camera Flashs | Flash & Accessories | Photography | LinkDelight Limited (http://www.linkdelight.com/E8F-Pro-183-LED-Video-Light-for-DV-Camcorder-w/-Portable-Power.html?keyword=-LED+Video+Light)) that cost $64, which are quite frankly very impressive with a good output. They do take a while to come from Hong Kong (about 2-3 weeks). They run off camcorder power and on a full charge run for about 3 hours when full. I have found them a useful fill or hair/ kicker light.

James

There's a lighting forum here at DVInfo called "Photon Management", there is much discussion about these LED lights over there.

In my limited experience, I don't think I'm going to be able to replace fresnels with LEDs for backlights... but for a keylight, they are great.

I like how they do NOT heat up. I use some older Lowel hot lights and I know first hand why they are called "hot lights."

There's a lighting forum here at DVInfo called "Photon Management", there is much discussion about these LED lights over there.

In my limited experience, I don't think I'm going to be able to replace fresnels with LEDs for backlights... but for a keylight, they are great.

Don't you have that backwards? The current crop of LED's aren't as bright as a 1000wt fresnel so they don't work well for a keylight. But they work great for fill or back lights. Please explain if you've had a different experience with them. :)

With the advent of the betacam, I found I had less use for 1k than before. 300W and 500W would do the job nicely.

I'm glad to say that with every rise in technology since the betacam, videocameras have needed less and less light to do a good job. So I don't really shop for quantity of light, I shop for quality. I find the fresnel lens gives me something I don't get elsewhere, which is a focusable light. The LED is easy to get a big soft blob out of, which for a keylight (or lighting a greenscreen, or a backdrop) is really nice (and was hard to come by before), but it's hard to get an edge out of, which is what I want for a backlight. So I currently use LED for key and fresnel for back. I understand coollights has an LED spot. He didn't go to NAB last year, and I didn't get to see them in person, so I can't testify first hand. If it's spotty enough, maybe it makes a good back as well.

Moved to the lighting forum.