New LED Lights
 

Ran across this link for LED Lights.

Prices are much less than LitePanels, but they don't seem as well integrated and 'ready-to-go' for field acquisition. But you could put together a talking head setup for much cheaper. Quality unknown compared to the frequently reviewed and critiqued LitePanels.

Hey Patrick,

Was replying to tell you that you forgot to add the link to your post. But when I "quoted" you I see the link.

Weirdness.

Chris, are you out there?

Steph

Hi Patrick again,

The links disappeared after my reply posted.

Steph

Stephanie,

Sorry for the slow reply, power was out for a few hours.

Go to http://vidled.com/products.html for the new LED Lights,

and http://www.litepanels.com for the LitePanels

And bring your wallet, because if you measure by the pound, this is some expensive gear.

Thanks for the link.

how to build your LED panel for cheap

heatsink to glue the LEDs on:
http://www.radianheatsinks.com/standard/hs1591eb.html

Leds (8 x luxeon star white 1 Watt should be enough)
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-catalo...te-luxeons.html
8 Leds are ok to grab a decent picture in a total dark room, but it is not perfect.
If you can , choose 4 white cold LED and 4 whit warm LED.

1 driver for LED (take the DC 700mA dimmable version 3021-D-E-700)
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers-buckpuck.html

If you got some old LCD screen to scap, there are valuable plastic sheet and plexi glass to get from.

Epoxy glue dual-components PATTEX ALU to fix LEDs on Heatsink.
you can use the one for PC (Arctic silver, the glue not the grease ) but it is very expensive
look like this: a dual syringe with mixable resin , containing micronized aluminium
http://www.tedpella.com/14443.jpg
I think PATTEX is german stuff not distributed in USA.
Try LOCTITE Epoxy Adhesive 3805 Steel and Aluminium Epoxy Filler
Before gluing LEDs make sure the polarity of each is disposed in a way that
cabling will by short and easy.

some battery elements Li-ion 3.6V - 2 A (4 are ok)
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.a...TS&Category=739
you can find better , a kit with charger a 8 cell block (16V)
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.a...ROD&ProdID=1287
3.6 li-ion element are nice since the voltage for a led is around 3.4-3.5 Volt.
put 4 leds in serie and 2 series in parallel.

The result is a very light lamp, giving very diffuse light, you can switch on and off without risking a filament break.
People can look at it without being dazzled.
Stay cool enough to stay in the hand (but get hot anyway)
You can choose to mount the leds on a ring around the lens of your camera for MACRO.


Good luck

for info, i give refererence to ledsupply for the luxeon star, but unfortunately, they do not seem to have the LXHL-MWEC-Q model.
MWEC reference is important because it is the cold white 5500 K.
the -Q reference is important because the leds are bin-sorted, and Q is the best quality (highest power).

I found them here :http://shop.dotlight.de/shop/product...roducts_id/224

basically the cost per lamp (8 leds, one driver, one heatsink, one battery pack+charger +all the misc parts) should cost less than 200$.
that is nice for a lamp that can burn several hours.
Ideal for weddings.
will try to put pictures of next construction step on the web.

Hey all,
just wanted to quickly chime in and offer some more info on our LED on-camera
LED video lights. (Thanks Patrick for the mention and the kind email correspondence.)

$225 isn't cheap, that's for sure. We originally set out to do this as a low
cost project and solution for our own use. We soon found out that if this is done seriously, the cost soon adds up.

Here's a recent test we did using two of our lights, and a Pana DVX100:
http://vidled.com/test-september2005.html

By the way, we are currently testing a VIDLED light that uses the same housing,
but is 40 degree, daylight balanced and INCLUDES a rechargeable Li-Ion battery
pack!!! Due probably by early next year.

Cheers,
Marius
vidled.com

I liked the one with cool led and 50%. Although, the prior frame with just the cool led looked pretty good. The final frame at 100% did seem to overexpose the face just a bit.

=gb=

Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately that image on the web is only a GIF file, but it does show the difference quite well, and in the "moving" video at full resolution the same is true: my favourite is the one with the on-cam coolLED and the spot dayLED at 50%.

Oh, and a Back Light using another dayLED would of made it better also.

Cheers,
Marius
------------

How bright are the Vidled lights? The Website lists 4 watts and 6 watts. Does this mean they are as bright as a 4 watt or 6 watt tungsten light?

Hey John,
no, the 4W and 6W are what our LED lights use. I would say they are about 15W and 25W tungsten equivalent.
However, our lights are VERY even (no "hotspots") and offer quite a wide, even beam (our coolLED-40 and warmLED-40 versions).

You'd be better off with other lights than these which are like flashlights that don't produce full spectrum well. For $125 you could have an efficient light with battery that would put any LED light to shame.

Hey Walter: deja vue! We have had these conversations in the past. ;-)
Couple of things: our lights are NOT like flashlights. And two, I can imagine you are probably too busy, but if you could squeeze in a couple of minutes, I would like to send you one of our lights for you to check out yourself. I do know that you have tested LED's "since 2000", but I really think you may be positively surprised with ours.

Let me know,
cheers,
Marius (who is looking forward to watching and learning from your very highly touted DVD on lighting, #1)

hello

finished my 2nd led lamp.
here some pictures

leds alone
http://www.giroud2.com/divers/led.jpg

how they are distributed on the heatsink
http://www.giroud2.com/divers/lamp3.jpg

2 views of the finished model.
http://www.giroud2.com/divers/lamp.jpg
http://www.giroud2.com/divers/lamp2.jpg

I just receive the power driver allowing variable illumination (0-100%)
it works very well.

Are there any LED bulbs that approach the brightness of a 100W incancdescent ? I'd just like to try these out as a porch light.
The only bulb-type product I've found at the 100W level is
the non-flashing "obstruction" bulb (138 wrhite LEDs for $60) at the bottomof this page :
http://www.theledlight.com/120-VAC-LEDbulbs.html

LED Light
 

In Tokyo, I came across several LED Video lights last May. Bought DLL-630 wiith dimmable 63 LEDs and shoe mount. Color temp is daylight white approx. 5600K. Luminosity is about 120lux, equivalent to 20-25W of halogen with B3 filter.

Good point is one spare battery of my PD170 can be attached to power the light. They have one for DVX-100A. Price in Japan was almost USD350. It is now available at http://www.digitalquest.co.jp. Good for interview subjects.

Very cool little project mate - any vids of w/o and with the Luxeon LED array as lighting? Just want to guage its effectiveness and if they are too 'hot'. I've got quite a few Luxeons flashlights that blow away incandescants - but are VERY 'hot' and focused light sources.. .Not really suitable for flood purposes due to the focusing reflectors.

Cheers, Nathan.

http://www.dvworld.com.tw/forum/dvfo...threadid=35737

I am "tmtcman"

this is my DIY led lamp

Wiring Digram
 

What an excellent project!

Would it be possible to give a wiring diagram for this lamp. Especially the eight leds (series/parallel), driver & dimmer. Components are expensive and would not want to stuff it up.

Thanks

Wiring Diagram
 

I know asked this some time back but I would really appreciate if I could get a wiring diagram for Giroud's light project featured in this topic.

that is easy. Each luxeon led has 4 square soldering pad.
they are labelled + or - to indicate polarity.
the goal is to wire the led in a way it matches the voltage and the power you intend to use.
each led need about 3.5 to 3.7V, so if you plan to use li-ion elements, you can put as much led in serie (connect a + pad to the - of next led. you end up with a string of led with + and - at each end of the string).
In my project i plan 14.4 V power (4x li-ion cell in serie), so i put 4 leds in serie but you can do the same with 7.2V (2 leds- 2 cells) , 10.8V (3 leds- 3 cells).
each led is eating about 350mA (while a regular li-ion cell can provide 2000mA, so you get the capacity, about 4 hours of light).
When leds are put in series, the serie still sucks 350mA, because it is the voltage who increases.

As the driver i use is able to drive 700mA (2x350), i build 2 series of 4 leds and put them in parallel (that mean, you put together, the + of each string and do the same for the - extremities).
Then you got a total of 8 leds, but you would have 2x2 (4) or 2x3 (6) , it is the same, only the voltage you supply will change.

for example if you plan to go leaded battery, with only 12 V you will be limited to 3 leds in series (10.8 Volt fits 12V , while 14.4 will not).

So if you need a lot of leds, you get the choice to increase voltage and put more leds in series (but the driver is limited to around 30V), or increase the current drive of the module (they exist in 350, 700 and 1000 mA, allowing to put 1,2 or 3 led (or serie of led) in parallel)

the problem is you need to eat the mAmps provided by the driver.
if you purchase a 700mA driver, you will have to put at least 2 leds in parallel, else you got the led (expecting 350mA) feeded (fed ?) with 700mA, and it will overheat and burn (leds are very finnicky with the current provided).

the wiring itself depends the way you dispose the leds on the support (prefferably an Alu plate that can help to coold down the led, but each led being self cooled, so , in theory you would not really need to add supplemental heatsink or its size does not really matter).
get the leds disposed the way they should be and rotates them in a way you can have a + pad from a led closer to a - pad of the next led. This way the lenght of wiring is kept to minimum.
keep in mind too, where the power wire will connect (from the side, top , center of plate) so you can organize the pad and leds correctly.
this way you can build a lamp that is like a ring aroud the camera lens, or a simple plate, or many leds with long wire you can you can use as as many point of light. (mounting some with lens to have a focused light source, or in a ping-pong ball to have a diffuse source.
it looks a bit tricky , but it is really simple.

Thanks
 

Thanks heaps. I really appreciate your help and information.

Hi Guys,

Very interesting project, Giroud. I would like you all to check out what we will be announcing at NAB (Booth #C9410) this year. Surf over to http://www.zylight.com and check out the Z50.

Our palm sized LED light can change from 3200K white light to 5600K white light at the push of a button. It also has as creative color mode where the light can output any color of the rainbow. There are two presets for storing your favorite color and there is an on-board dimmer. You can attach any 3" accessory you have (Dedo, Arri) to the front of the light with our adapter plate.

Its a flexible little light and I invite you to read through the web site to view many picture and see what is coming out at the end of April. You can also add yourself to our mailing list.

LED's are changing the way people light everyday. Soft, even light output (on some models) give a subtle quality that not a lot of lights can deliver. Combine that "look" with the reliability and ruggedness and its no wonder why DIY guys are building them. Very exciting stuff.

Thanks for reading.

OK Charlie,

No free plug without the details.

What will it cost?
When is it available?
What is the light output (what does that 22w equate to in luminence)?

Looks very promising. Tell us more!

You right Patrick. No free rides so here you go. There is no output lost in either 3200 or 5600k mode. Runs off of AC or Anton Bauer PowerTap connector. Weighs 11 oz.

Very wide, useable area of light. Our product takes more of the usable light output and distributes it over a wider area. To accomplish that, you need to produce a lot of light and the LED's we use do that. There are no lenses and still its very bright and wide. The best way to put it is that its not a narrow beam but a wide, uniform, full light. There are NO hotspots or deadspots which some LED lights produce. Just shine them on a white wall and see for yourself.

Cost is still being hammered out. Lights will be available for sale on our web site and possibly at the show at the end of April. Light output is close to a 20-25 watt light. Photometrics have not been done yet but very soon.

Again, our light has a lot of usable output over a wider area than any other LED source. If your subject is 2-3' in front of the camera, its great. Two person interview, bring it on. It's not necessarily a "camera light" either. Put it on a stand, clamp it to a door, suction cup it to a window and add some color. You will be really surprised at the quality and quantity of light. Product shots take on a new look. A quick slash on a backdrop is easy with this. Don't run for gels but just turn a dial on the back of the light and find the color you or your client wants.

Patrick, come by and see us in NAB. I look forward to giving you a demo!

Charlie,

Thanks for the additional info. I'm very interested in acquiring an LED light or two and yours sounds pretty useful.

I didn't read the first time that you're a Tourist or I wouldn't have been such a smart aleck. We like to welcome new folks here, not scare them away. You did a great job of providing additional info though and I'm sure I won't be the only member to benefit from it. Thanks for the quick response.

I wish I could attend NAB, but this pesky work thing has me nailed down. I'll keep checking your website though!

No problem, Patrick.

I wish you could get your hands on one to see it. Check back to the website often beacuse we are putting things up everyday. Mostly pictures so people can get a good idea of what it can do.

They will be for sale at the end of April. Thanks!

Hey. Ive been updated to "New Boot"!

Strategically missing was a price estimate, which makes me think of the saying, "If you need to ask, you probably can't afford it".

We need some outfit like Peltz to make a caving multi-LED light with a cold-shoe attachment at affordable prices...

Connectors
 

Hi Charlie:

What connectors do you use. Can use a 4-pin adapter to go into a 12 volt nrg belt?

Would really like to hear a ball park price from you.

Regards,

Jack Hubbard

Hi Jack,

You certainly can use a 4 pin XLR adapter. We will also have adapter cables available. Along with an AC power supply, our light will be packaged with an Anton Bauer PowerTap cable and if you have an adapter that can get you to an NRG belt, that's great. If not, we will have them.

Ballpark price is anywhere from $700-$1000. There are many factors to consider when setting a price and its not an easy process. We believe that when you compare the features our light has and the time it will save you on a shoot, it will be priced accordingly. If you will be in Las Vegas, Jack, please stop by. Thanks very much.

Vegas
 

Very helpful, thanks Charlie. See you in Vegas.

Jack

how bright is that?
 

I was just looking for a battery powered LED lighting solution and came across this thread. i had a 200 watt lamp with a fairly dark gel in it that needed more punch lately, so i had to throw it onto a 350 watt lamp. Since the LED would be emitting the color, it probably doesnt lose as much light as my stand lights with gels in front of them... but even still, is 25 watts... 25 watts? So the 200 i thought was too dim might be 4 times brighter than one of these? The fact that they can emit a rich color would make them more like what... a 50 watt light?

I can see where it could be useful, but i cant tell whether a little led light can actually take the place of incandescent gear or not. I guess thats why most of them have hot shoe mounts.

Still, its an exciting product. I look forward to seeing some videos of the zylite in action.

cheers,

-andrew

Hi Andrew,

Our light is NOT meant to replace any incandescent light you may have but to supplement them. Tuck it into your existing kit and use it when you need a soft, fast and wide color or white light. It's just another creative tool to have.

We would like you to put this light on a stand, a suction mount, a mafer clamp, scissor clamp, etc...and get it off the camera. The fact that our light offers colors opens up a world of possibilities on how and which situation to use it.

Put it on top of your camera, switch it over to "white" mode for interviews. But if you need a colored slash, an accent, a highlight with some color, product shot with a rim of blue, just push the knob and a world of color is at your control.

Please check out this picture on our website:

http://www.zylight.com/images/gallery/wallwash1.jpg

The DP's Arri 150 was going to be used on the background with a colored gel. While he was putting it on a stand, it fell. Lamp broke without a spare. He threw the Z50 on a pigeon stand, dialed in some color he couldnt get with any gel he ever saw, and away they went. The light throws pretty far and with a set of barn doors on the front, its very controlable.

Thanks.

Vidled
 

Well, we're still proud of our lights, in that they are still VERY economical ($210 - $400); so much so, that we have a hard time keeping stock (back in stock this week though).

Also, ever wonder how robust these DIY and "other" lights are?

Here's a little test we did this week (note that this test VIDLED light is throttled back in output, and has been abused in the past already. Once we have a good stock again, we'll redo the test with a more recent version):

http://vidled.com/destruction3.mov

Marius, nice demonstration...I've worked with people like that :)

That's probably the most convincing argument yet for switching from tungsten bulbs.

Vidled tests
 

Is anyone using Vidled and can give their opinion? What's good/bad?

I also would like to see some pictures/tests where the location hasn't got bright walls. I need to shoot a campfire and a dark forest so anything similar would be nice.

vidled
 

The vidled project looks cool, but the sealed unit battery isn't replacable and is expected to only last 500 charges. 1.5 hrs is not a lot of time. Isn't it possible to just run something that low voltage right off the hotshoe somehow?

well the battery is seperate from the led so you can use any other powersource than theirs as long as it fulfil the volt/watt-range they support.

However I would like to find some kind of review before I order...

Review
 

I agree. The video on their site is shot in some room under construction, how about actual production with talent???

Also, how is color temp affected with this light as power winds down on the battery? How will color temp be affected when you dim down?