NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Well it’s off to Vegas on Monday for the NAB pilgrimage. Gonna be a nice change of scenery considering we just got an 8”dump of snow on Monday here in the Great White North. I’ve been ruminating about illuminating from NAB for a while now and have finally decided to pull the trigger and go for my Great LED Crusade at NAB. I plan to visit and review, in detail, every LED fixture and manufacturer on the show floor and post my observations at www.thecolouroflight.com directly from their booths via my trusty Blackberry and laptop.

Drop over to the blog and check out my plans and give your input. See you at NAB.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

What's great about NAB is that you get to have hands-on experience with a very, very wide array of products. Enjoy!

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

I'm particularly jazzed about seeing the new Arri LED fresnel and hoping that Kinoflo might be unveiling their new LED product. If I see them I will have a post up ASAP.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Make sure to visit Zylight. The IS3 is a fantastic unit, and the active diffusion is like a magic trick.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Don't forget the little guys. Last year there were a handful of 1-booth wonders hidden in the back of the 2nd floor with basically no signage and some cool stuff. Would love to see some of it evaluated by others.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Gonna do my best to hit every LED vendor. I’ve always wondered how some of the small vendors stay in existence and why some of the big boys never seem to breakout. Here on dvInfo we see a lot of chat about Richard and his Coollight products and the low-end Ebay stuff, but a total void of much talk about some other great lights out there. According to Richard, here on the forums recently, he can’t keep his Coollight products in stock..good for him, but I’m curious how these other guys on the “second floor” make the payroll every two weeks. The class leader in sales/marketing clearly looks like Litepanels but their products are often maligned for not being good value so then why do we all seem to buy one (me included)? Part of my “LED Crusade” is to shine a light on some of these other lesser known products and maybe find a gem out there that I haven’t seen and maybe add a new toy or two to the case. I’ll let you know what I find.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Ok, I might be a little slow to get this news but I just got the word of a new LED panel from Litepanels. The H2 high output light uses 72 1 watt LEDS and that will put it firmly in then territory of the Creamsource panel in terms of light power and coverage. Add to my list of MUST see at NAB next week including the Arri LED Fresnel, maybe the Kinoflo LED and of course now the H2 from Litepanels. If this thing in under $4000 it might be a game changer.
Without a doubt I’ll have output readings and pics at The Colour of Light - Home as soon as I hit NAB.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

It's been a year since they showed the active diffusion and it's still not listed for sale on their web site.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

That's true Kirk, and as we have seen many manufacturers go through these kinds of issues. Obviously the product works, as we saw it at NAB last year.

The huge advantage of the Zylight systems is their ability to not only mix color temps from 3200 to 5600 but from 2500 to 10,000K in precise 50K intervals, as well as providing green/magenta shift (so you can match those inexpensive off-color LED lights!) and even full spectrum color mode to duplicate any "party gel" look. On top of that, every parameter is adjustable via a clip-on pocket remote which can control up to 11 different units.

I really don't like the term "game-changer" because the tech in this industry is moving so fast, the game keeps changing every six months, so why label it as such. What I do consider relevant is tools that shift how you approach the craft, achieve what was previously unachievable or simply increase your efficiency notably. The Zylights represent the latter for me. I'm now able to stand at the monitor and remotely tweak the color and intensity of multiple units which saves an incredible amount of time--in fact it allows me to make adjustments that I may have had to "live with" in the past because I couldn't take the time to bring in a ladder and tweak. Every gaffer I've worked with has been blown away by the IS3 and its capabilities.

Consider shooting a basic three light interview setup as a one or two man band, with multiple subjects being brought in one after another. With an IS3 key and two Z90's as backlight and fill (via diffusion or softbox), you can, say, crank up the key and compensate for ruddy complexion, dial down the fill, warm up the backlight or shut it off for a bald subject, all within 30-45 seconds. Prior to this, those types of adjustments might take 5 minutes at least with a flurry of activity (rustling gel, ladders) around the subject. With the Zylights, I can do it all virtually invisibly. The usual response from producers after I call "ready" that quickly is "wow--really?"

I mention the interview scenario because it's one that many people here are familiar with. But even on large scale production, it's still an amazing tool. On narrative work, I like to have the IS3 headed-up near camera so I can use it as a last-minute fill, especially when the blocking changes slightly and I need to compensate. Recently I shot in a bar that had existing fluorescent practicals with amber plastic covers; I could easily dial in the exact color represented as an edge light on the actors (which would have otherwise required a specific gel to be ordered in advance--and we would probably have had to try a number of different versions to find the one that matched best).

The price for the IS3 is comparable to the Litepanel 1x1 bicolors, but they can't be used battery powered as easily (48 vs 12v) and are much heavier. The softbox is still a work in progress, and the active diffusion is, as Kirk noted, not yet available (but will be an incredible addition when it is). I still use Litepanels for what they are good at: being low-profile, handholdable and battery-operated.

My other favorite LED source: Literibbon.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

I completely understand the advantage of the Zylight products. I'm just anxious for the active diffusion to become available.

Color Temperature Spectrum
 

1. One thing I'm having a problem with is the color temperature spectrum, especially the green part.
When editing there is more than one peak and it's hard to correct for.

2. One more thing I'd like to know is, does the color temperature shift as the LEDs heat up over time? It almost seems like in the beginning a 1/4 + 1/8 works okay but after 15 or 20 minutes it doesn't seem to be as good anymore. Or am I becoming too critical?

Besides just looking at the units and getting their specs, is there a way you can do some testing of their color spectrum at the same time?

Another note: while LEDs run cooler than halogen or tungsten, by the time you gel them, depending on the design, the gel can block air flow and the fixture can wind up getting pretty warm.

A good LED spot/key light would be nice too.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Richard and Taky both make a presence on this board. I suspect there are other boards like this one that are frequented by some of the other smaller vendors. Yet more smaller vendors might subside on those traveling photo shows or google adwords or the like.

I get the impression you can build one of the LED lights for about half what you can sell them for. So for a $500 light, you make $250. You would not have to sell 10,000 units to make a living... you could quite easily sell 3-4/week and make ~$50k, which is a living wage in most of america (and would put you solidly upper class in most of the flyover states).

Also, a lot of the smaller guys (Taky, Richard, et al) are selling LEDs and Flos at half or less than the big boys, for a very similar and sometimes superior quality. It would be an easy sell.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Yeah, that and "space-age technology" are my pet peeves. We've been In the space-age since the 1960's.

gb

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

OMG!
Active Diffusion!!! Why didn't I ever hear of that???

For people like me, who have apparently been living under a rock for the past year, here's a link to what Charles referred to:
Zylight Active Diffusion at NAB 2010 Video

Charles, I understand you use their products and have been keeping an eye on them for a while now, so even though I understand Zylight hasn't announced availibility of these products yet, do you still have any idea of how much these are likely to sell for?
Also, I wonder about reliability in the field... I mean an 'electronically controlled', 'probably expensive' filter... That's gotta require 'some ' caretaking, huh?

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

I have a meet with Zylite tomorrow. The scoop will be forthcoming I hope.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Finally got some posts up. WiFi is a killer here but hopefully overnight they will load up.

Check it out at The Colour of Light - Home

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Good!
Tell Zylight 'Mikael' said the price shouldn't be too high, so he can afford a few :-)

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade REPORT
 

Thanks for the great report for those of us who didn't attend.

(1) One of my earlier questions got answered - about the possibility of changing in temperature with time (below):

"Prism Reveal LED Fresnel" Report:
One great idea about the active colour [sic][couldn't resist that, eh?] management is that the light will maintain proper colour even as the LEDs age or as fixture temperature changes we usually see colour changes as heat builds up in normal LEDs

This is what I suspected because as I had done some test shots with my gels and thought I had nailed it, then later found what seemed like a color shift. Suspicions confirmed.

(2) One of the things I want to video is instrument playing and for that reason noise, or the lack thereof, is important.

Again, from "Prism Reveal LED Fresnel" Report:
The unit is fan cooled and I was told it uses an oscillating type fan to cut down on operating noise, I could not hear any sound from the unit even when I placed my ear right up to the fan opening so I guess they have the noise issue nailed.

(3) More on why colour meters are useless for LEDs in an upcoming post.
Reply: I suspect because not only from the ambient lighting but because LEDs don't have a flat spectrum, so I can't wait to read the upcoming post.

Thanks again for the report.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Hopefully Chris has updates from this year's show--I couldn't make it but from conversations with the Zylight guys over the past year, it sounds like what they showed last year is still relevant: the Active Diffusion can be rolled up into a tube maybe 4" in diameter, so it's hardy stuff. And the cost for an IS3 sized panel was to be around $400 as I recall. The 4x4 panel was quite a bit more but still under $1000.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Hello Chris! It was nice meeting you at NAB. Your measuring result is great for me to know too..

There were so many LED light manufacturers in Central hall. I bet over half of them are Chinese manufacturers. Weird thing is, they all know each other and yet copying each other's product.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Good to meet you as well Taky. Got home to a bit of a family situation, my baby is sick so I haven't had time to post the reviews but this weekend I should get some of them up. I visited and measured every single Chinese LED in Central Hall and let me tell you what a painful chore that was. Some were great products, others....well see the forthcoming series of reviews on what I have dubbed the "China Crap Panel".

Anyways check back on the weekend.

thecolouroflight.com

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Man, just spent a while reading your blog. GREAT JOB. I was there and was so blinded by the crap panels that I gave up looking at anything with an LED in it after about 20 minutes. You sir, are a machine. :)

Very interesting about Desisti as well.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

great job Chris! I really like to know what chinese brands specifically are potential.. we see 2 Litepanel brands here in Singapore. Total ripoff design. I have a cool light but i'm ok with it since they are pretty honest on their claims (I'm no light expert thou).

Your inputs would be a great guide for future purchases.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Hi Charles, (or anybody who has used it)

Would you use the Zylight IS3 as a Diva 400 alternative?

I am looking for an LED Soft Key light, for my travel kit. For standard interview setup - sometimes competing with natural daylight in the office / hotel etc.

Is the IS3 soft enough? How does it compare in output to the Diva 400?

I have a Coollights LED 600 - which is handy, but the softbox it came with reduces the output too much for me, and it's too bulky for travel.

Thanks very much,

Ben

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Hi all,
I’ve been very delinquent in posting the reports to the blog. Got home from Vegas and life has just gotten in the way so I haven’t had much time to get posting. I promise to get the pile of posts up soon, thanks to all for the very encouraging emails.
Of interest are the emails I’ve been getting directly from manufacturers, seems some are not too happy with me and other are wondering if they meet my “C-C-P” designation (read the blog to decipher that one). I also received a very professional and encouraging email from the president of DeSisti in response to my less than positive review of their NAB booth. I will post portions of his comments on the blog as they are one of the reasons I started it—open discussion about the benefits and pitfalls of LED production lighting.

I’m also going to make an Excel spreadsheet of all my findings so people can download the info in an easily comparable format. At the end of it all I’m gonna post my opinions as to the winners and losers and see if anybody agrees.

The Colour of Light - Home

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Hi Ben:

In looking at the photometrics, the output is somewhere between a Diva 200 and 400.
With the softbox added, I'd guess more like a bare Diva 200. So less than you are used to. In a room with high ambience as you are describing, I have foregone the softbox. The panel is still soft without it, it's just that you can see color fringing in the shadows unless they are well-filled (as would happen in an ambient situation).

I haven't used the Coollights gear but the IS3 isn't the most travel-friendly unit out there--it is on the heavy side, especially compared to Litepanels or Diva's. And unlike the Litepanels, it can't easily be battery powered.

These are the specific downsides of the unit. The upsides are so many that I find these inconsequential. RGB LED units are just starting to emerge elsewhere (I learned about the Arri fresnel from Chris' blog, thank you Chris) but these guys have been doing this for a number of years now. It's such a massive improvement in lighting workflow on the set that it's honestly hard to describe in words. I look forward to the day when all the units I work with have this feature set.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

Finally got a few more reviews up. Camlight, T&Y and Hakutatz LED panels.

ExpoDisc White Balance Filter useful with LEDs?
 

Like others, I've been a bit frustrated with light balancing when using my LEDs. Sometimes they're too green and other times too pink. I can balance them fairly close using 1/8 filters but it never seems to be quite "good enough".

Just wondering, would something like an ExpoDisc White Balance filter be useful with LED lighting?

Or with mixed lighting? Like LED plus, say, tungsten or real daylight?

ExpoImaging - ExpoDisc

P.S. I would also like to really compliment Chris on his technical reporting. I really like Chris's writing style and the way he says it without mincing words.

Re: NAB 2011, the Great LED Crusade
 

The Expodisc works very well for setting color temperature in mixed lighting, but not for magenta/green bias. That said, try to not use mixed lighting. Gel the lights or windows and match sources (where you have the time). You will have fewer headaches and lower costs in post.