Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Thanks for the link, I have just seen the very interesting comparison tests with 6 video lights. I understand also Comer 900 look better than Litepanels LP-Micro. I think if I will replace Litepanels LP-Micro with Comer 900 I will get better videos.
I avail myself of the opportunity to ask you a suggestion between Comer 1800 and Comer 900.
I will use above all the light on my travels and a smaller and lighter video light is useful but I am afraid to mistake again. I did a mistake buying LP-Micro. In your opinion will be more useful Comer 1800 or Comer 900 for my travels around the world?
Thanks again.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I would suggest Comer 1800 as it's more powerful and flexible. In situation you need more light, 1800 can deliver. With a full dimmer, you can always dim it down. Comer 900 is a great light too but it only half the brightness of Comer 1800. Also it doesn't have a full dimmer, but only 2 levels of brightness.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Taky what's the green cast on the Comer 1800 like? I would really like to replace my Z96 LEDs in time to something better however for the price of a Comer 1800 I bought a 600 LED sometime ago but also with a green cast, the Comer looks very versatile though. One last question, is the BP-C190S Li-ion Battery any good?

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I never notice any green cast of the Comer 1800 light. Comer manufactures professional lighting products compared to those inexpensive LED lights found on ebay. Also Comer light is 4500K color temp compared to 5600K or 5800K in other LED lights which is made for day light use.

BP-C190S is gooooood.. the price is good too =)

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

@ Adriano,
I know what you mean about size and weight of the fixture and batteries. I use the Ledzilla and SWIT 8u62 batteries for my "rustic" travel.

You may like the Light Panels Sola 3 ENG. It's a new fresnel light with dimming, barn doors and focus controls. Unlike a 4500K light that you lose light gelling for indoor and gelling for outdoor, the Sola is a 5600K light so you only lose light when you gel it for indoor. I think it's the brightest per watt unit out there right now...but check out the specs for yourself and some of the threads here on DVInfo.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I use 4500K both indoor and outdoor without any gel.

I have another video here for our CM 5500 light (5500 lux). It can perform variable color temperature between 3200K to 5600K. You can see the comparsion to see 4500K is perfectly fine to be used indoor as well as outdoor.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

That is your opinion and you probably should say it that way. When I look at your (and other DVInfo folks) indoor footage shot with a 4500K light, the skin tones look unnatural and there's a bluish wash from your light. Similarly, I think your outdoor footage shot with a 4500k light has unnatural orange skin tones.

Of course, for situations when the color temperature is in fact 4500K, it should look fine. The blending approach taken by the Lowel Blender and now followed by Comer only underscores the higher production value of matching production lighting with the natural light.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I did say "I use 4500K ....". Yes that's my opinion. It's a forum here so everything we said are pretty much our opinion. =)

Ever since I start using Comer in 4500K 3 years ago, I love it. When I look at wedding skin tone and wedding gown, the white is natural. It's not too blue or too orange. Just like the video I posted above, I found the 4500K scene more natural. I like it. Some people disagree with me. Then don't shoot with 4500K. =)

Here's another video I did at open dance floor at wedding. There're 3 comer 1800 around the dance floor all in 4500K.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I have to disagree. The DNA of DVInfo was to share information. Opinion comes along for the ride. Many posts here are seeking and dispensing information. Bad information needs to be corrected.

Statements such as "I use 4500K", "Sola is a 5600K light", and "4500K is perfectly fine to be used indoor as well as outdoor." are statements made as facts the latter which I feel is incorrect. That is only your opinion and examples of when it worked out (to your eye) will not change the physics.

It's clear you have a lot of experience shooting weddings and that you like shooting them with 4500K. Considering the mixed lighting and hectic environment, I can understand that. But, using your experience shooting weddings and then asserting 4500K is generally good for indoor or outdoor shooting is, in my opinion bad advice in general and specifically bad for Adriano who clearly stated he is shooting documentary.

It's one thing for you to travel across town, running in and out of buildings shooting a wedding for people who are 100% vested in the event and care more about Aunt Ethel showing up in the video and are kinda happy that you made her look like she has a tan. It's quite another thing for Adriano who is traveling across the planet to Camaroon, Columbia and Papua then hauling all his gear miles into the jungle. For all that effort, he's got to come back with footage that will pass muster in the documentary crowd who DO have an eye for the deleterious effects of punching a 4500K hole in the face of a tribal leader while his nearby 2700K family is huddled around a campfire.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I think you mix up facts with opinions. What you typed in the post is your opinion. I don't agree but I respect your opinion.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

To the contrary. You recognize my opinions because they are expressed as such. My point to you is that you often express your opinion as if it were fact. As a DVInfo sponsor and dealer of Comer equipment, I would expect you to be more careful about criticising your competitor's products/pricing and representing yourself as an expert in lighting. But that is just my opinion. ;-)

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

I clearly said I don't agree with your opinion but I respect everybody's right to share their thought. =)

I think that is very unfair of you saying I representing myself as an expert in lighting. I am never a lighting expert and I never claim I am one. I'm a wedding videographer. What I share was my experience with the lighting equipment that I owned and used in weddings (LP Micro, CN160, Z96, Comer). Those lux output, spread angle and color temperature specs are FACTS. How I find LP Micro is an overprice and a weak light is my OPINION. I am entitled to my own opinion but I didn't make up facts.

Regarding shooting with 4500K, that is from my own experience and I have video to prove they work. If you don't agree, then don't do it. For people reading info on DVinfo (or anything being read on the internet), it's their own responsibility to filter and to judge if information is useful to them. Of course we should be leaving correct information, but everything I said so far including "I use 4500K", "4500K is perfectly fine to be used indoor as well as outdoor." are correct information.

Still, be clear what is "opinion" and what is "fact".

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Now I think it's pretty cool people think I'm a lighting expert! hehe =D

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

@Taky, These online debates are uninteresting. I will give you some slack...english isn't your first language. Read my post again. It says you represent yourself as an expert. It's good you said that you aren't. If someone thinks you are, then that adds strength to what I said. Also, it would only be cool if it were 5600K. Haha

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Debate and sane discussion is good, always good. It's not good when the topic switch from color temperature to one's personal character. That's just not 5600K cool. =) But thanks for thinking of me as a lighting expert (I think you are the only one who did). ..I'm solly.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Taky, just a quick suggestion on your lighting samples...
I know you mentioned that you're not a lighting expert, but you might try shooting your samples where the lighting is more evenly balanced. On a lot of your samples, it seems that the subject is blown out as your key light is always is too hot.

I know that you're trying to show the power of the lights. But if you show how the lights can be used in a real world environment properly and balance the lighting out more. Then it would showcase your lights in a better light.

No pun intended. =)

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Michael, thanks and that's real good suggestion. I shot the Comer 5500 light demo the second day I have the light. I don't know enough about the characteristics of it. For one thing I want to do (like you said) is to show how strong the output is. Since I'm not an expert, I will learn and improve. =)

We sold a lot of the Comer 5500 at the NAB show last week. I guess it's more appealing to see it in person.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Guys .... if I use Comer 1800 and I want a colder shot in day light is not it possible to add an additional filter on Comer 1800 to correct the different gradations of ligh? Then ... it is possible to configure the videocamera for getting colder shots. I think 4500k is not a problem too much big. Do I make a mistake?

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Les I don't want to spark up the debate again but you have a very aggressive stance and a few slippery slopes in your arguments, no need to get personal. Taky never said shoot 4500K at a 2700K tribal camp fire, haha, common sense usually prevails here. In general a 4500K is a good overall colour temperature to have, if you are shooing outside in 5600K sunlight the LED won't really make much of a dent compared to the sun anyway. Forums are not Wikies but a platform for discussion & opinions. Personally I find that 5600K LEDs are too blue for many daylight situations & the 3200K gels for indoor filming don't look great either, 4500K is a nice balance, a person will be using the light indoors mostly.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Adriano,
Do you remember what the lighting was when you shot this? The skin looks a little yellow and that's a sign of daylight lighting shot on a camera set for indoor (Tungsten) lighting.
My unpublished documentaries (indigenous peoples)

In post #85, I made the point that when you have an 4500K light like the Comer 1800 and you want to shoot in daylight, you gel it to make it match the existing lighting and that reduces the amount of light.

Similarly, when you are indoors and you want to match the indoor lighting, you gel the 4500K to match the existing light which also reduces the light output. So in both cases, you are gelling to match existing light and in both cases reducing the amount of light. I wanted you to be aware that if you care about mixing light, you will be gelling in both cases and reducing the light output in both cases. That was my point.

It's good to care about color temperature. Mixing light temperature can make your footage look bad...especially with skin tones. Whatever lighting you setup, doing a white balance in your camera is a must but mixed lighting means the parts of the picture that have light from a light at a color temperature different from what your camera is set to, will be off. I know that when doing in-country shooting, sometimes you can't do a white balance and so being able to dial the light temperature to the existing light will give you even lighting which gives the best results. That is why I suggested looking the Lowel Blender for an on-camera light that lets you adjust the temperature and also has a dimmer to adjust the output.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/653915-REG/Lowel_BLN_9145LB_Blender_LED_1_Light_Kit.html

Nick,
I hear you. Please interpret my positions as passion about good documentary lighting. Post #90 is a personal attack on me and later posts put words in my mouth I didn't say. #94 is my attempt to give grace and to diffuse with humor to no avail... the misrepresentation/attack continued.

To your point, I objected to the response to my post #85 when it was said in post #86 "4500K is perfectly fine to be used indoor as well as outdoor" as if it were fact. It wasn't stated as "I think 4500k is perfectly fine". Are there situations you can make it work? Yes. Is it "Perfectly fine" for Adriano? I think it is not fine and am concerned that it was bad advice or just a Comer dealer just pushing a product. In either case, I felt Adriano should know that.

I've done "in-country" shooting and experienced the difficulties lighting in those environments. I think saying "4500K is perfectly fine to be used indoor as well as outdoor" is bad advice to Adriano. If you want great documentary footage in 3rd world environments, paying attention to color temperature will give the best results. Compromising to mixed lighting can, of course, be managed if you have to but I would always opt for matched lighting over mixed lighting whenever I could. But that's me. YMMV.

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Les,
you are right, I agree with you but.... you have to agree with me too when I will use Comer 1800 I will often use my camera with automatic white ballance. Therefore, I think, the problem will disappear. I think so.
Then .... often I shot on afternoon or on sunsite and the problem disappear, I think. Nobody shots with under favourable conditions of day light. Daylight changes colormetry many times during a day. It can be 7000 or 8000 and also 10000 K° but also 4500K°. I think!

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Adriano,
You are correct. Lighting from the sun has color temperature changes depending on where you are (desert, shade, indoors...).

But let me be clear. Shooting 4500K and using auto white balance does not make the problems of mixed lighting disappear. The goal is to have all the light sources close to the same temperature as much as possible and avoid mixing lights of different temperature. This is the advantage of a light that lets you adjust the temperature. You can at least match your light to the other major lights in the scene instead of introducing a second or third temperature. Gelling whatever light you use will also help. If it's important to you, look at how hard or easy it is to gel the light as you shop for one. I asked that exact question about the Sola 3.

When different parts of a frame are lit at different temperatures by different lights, your camera's Auto WB picks a color temperature that is some average it calculates and uses that. The further away from that temperature something is lit, the more wrong it will appear. On a bad day, only a small part will be right and much will be wrong. When you have mixed lighting and you try to color correct the wrong parts in editing, the right parts then go bad.

I just want you to understand the issues. I can't say for sure but this example on your site seems to have even lighting whereas the other example has very different lighting temperatures:
My unpublished documentaries (indigenous peoples)

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Taky, just remember that since these lights are dimmable then intensity really isn't a huge factor as much as how they function in real world environments.

For indoor studio shots like your examples proper lighting is more of a need than intensity, especially with studio lights like the LED5500. Even outdoors the lighting with the LED5500 was too strong as your models sin tones were blown out.

Now with the Comer 1800, strength is a feature that viable for field use, but show samples of it in the field (your weddings) and again if you shoot at close range dim the light accordingly.

Even though I love the intensity of the Comer 1800, I rarely use it at full blast at a reception, but rather dim the light to balance out my subject and environment.

Oh, and can you talk to Comer to see if they can develop a light similar to the LED5500 but a smaller version like the Coolights LED256. I love using my LED256's in the field, and use them all of the time at receptions. But I hate my current solution of running a large Bescor battery belt into the light, just so I can setup a remote control lighting rig.

I would love to have a small form factor light like the LED256 that is remote controllable. As this would make my kit perfect for filed use, as I hate lugging around 40 lbs. in battery belts. =)

Re: Litepanels LP-Micro
 

Michael V-Mount batteries work quite well & are very compact for LED's I have a 600 LED (China brand) that gives me 3 hours of full power operation on a 90Wh battery.