It's been quite a while since I posted some things to spark off discussions, so here's a topic I hope that fellow video professionals will share.
As we know, LEDs have been quite a popular lighting choice in video production these days. Coming from using traditional tungsten/HMI lightings, to using kino / continuous florescent lighting, and currently exploring to completely switch to using LED technology, I thought that I've gain quite a fair bit knowledge related to using LEDs as a lighting choice for sharing.
I've had my fair share of wasting money and trying out on new LED panels, mixing & matching lighting technology, and more importantly, mixing and matching between different brands of LED panels.
The general pros of using LEDs are of course the savings in energy consumption and low heat dissipation, and let me discuss the 'cons' or the not-so-favourable parts about LEDs in detail.
Color Temperature:
I think that other than the more reputable & expensive brands, it's hard to get accurate color temperature between LED modules of different brands.
To some extend, even LED modules of same brands but different batch of stock will yield different color temperature variations.
Most of the time, I find that minus green filters have to be added to allow a better & more neutral color balance. Some of the panels I used are very cold which measured to be in the range of 6400K with my color meter.
I think it is perfectly fine to use LEDs of not-so-accurate color output for single point lighting especially in event/news gathering style of production, but the problem sets in when dealing with mixed lighting condition.
Based on my experience in dealing with variations in color temperature, I tend to like using my LEDs to be balanced to 3200K in a multiple point lighting scenario.
One important thing I learnt is that if anyone wished to buy a LED lighting kit, always buy in sets of 3 of the same brand & batch for color consistency in basic key, fill & back lighting setup.
Flood vs. Spot:
I think barn doors in 1x1ft led panels are pretty useless despite that some panels come in spot or flood configurations. The effect to block lights
doesn't quite work because LED comes in multiple sources within the same panel.
It's hard to achieve 'kicker' or nice harsh backlight effects for typical interview shoots, and even harder to achieve a high-key styled lighting effect.
I think the main options you can play with are the intensity of your LEDs and it's quite a change in mindset when deploying LEDs as opposed to using tungstens where you can choose to bounce or cut off light spills. Of course the inverse square law theory applies for distance vs. lighting intensity, but I find that the distance positioning technique are less used now because we can conveniently adjust intensity.
The only few true fresnel styled LED lamps are from LitePanel & ARRI.
I have the Litepanel SOLA ENG unit and I thought they can be handled like most traditional spots. As of now, the fresnel LEDs are still pretty expensive technology to play with.
Battery or AC:
Using LEDs in a shoot can sometimes be quite a pleasure especially when you operate alone or only have small crew. Given the duration of the required shoot, I can sometimes plan to run completely on battery operation, which means no hassles on bringing and running AC extension cords, and no limitations on where I can film.
The downside to this is always the what ifs. What if shoot overruns and you run out of juice? Instead of lugging AC cables & extension cords, I tend to bring a lot more batteries just in case....which end up adding to the bulk and weight compared to using tungstens like the more compact redheads.
For AC operations, some LED units can be run on adaptors with 4-pin XLRs or standard DC plugs, and some like the LitePanel SOLA ENG are powered with DC based D-tap plug. This posed a slight inconvenience especially when I had to use non D-tap capable battery systems. So choice of LED's backup power supply definitely have to be in consideration if depending on AC for powering.
Overall Experience:
Generally, for my shoots, I get very welcoming feedback when I deploy LEDs.
Most of the subjects who have been in front of camera told me that LEDs are literally 'cool'. I tend to agree they're cool as they emit minimal heat, and I can pack up immediately upon end of shoot.
No more sweaty foreheads to look out for half-way thru a shoot, and no more worrying about tungsten lamps blowing out.
I have no worries about putting my LED lights next to water sprinklers or smoke detectors, and no need to worry about over loading the ACs and tripping the mains.
So here's a bit of sharing of my personal experience dabbling with LEDs for video work. I hope that fellow videographers & video professionals will share their love-hate experience with LED lightings. :thumbsup:
As we know, LEDs have been quite a popular lighting choice in video production these days. Coming from using traditional tungsten/HMI lightings, to using kino / continuous florescent lighting, and currently exploring to completely switch to using LED technology, I thought that I've gain quite a fair bit knowledge related to using LEDs as a lighting choice for sharing.
I've had my fair share of wasting money and trying out on new LED panels, mixing & matching lighting technology, and more importantly, mixing and matching between different brands of LED panels.
The general pros of using LEDs are of course the savings in energy consumption and low heat dissipation, and let me discuss the 'cons' or the not-so-favourable parts about LEDs in detail.
Color Temperature:
I think that other than the more reputable & expensive brands, it's hard to get accurate color temperature between LED modules of different brands.
To some extend, even LED modules of same brands but different batch of stock will yield different color temperature variations.
Most of the time, I find that minus green filters have to be added to allow a better & more neutral color balance. Some of the panels I used are very cold which measured to be in the range of 6400K with my color meter.
I think it is perfectly fine to use LEDs of not-so-accurate color output for single point lighting especially in event/news gathering style of production, but the problem sets in when dealing with mixed lighting condition.
Based on my experience in dealing with variations in color temperature, I tend to like using my LEDs to be balanced to 3200K in a multiple point lighting scenario.
One important thing I learnt is that if anyone wished to buy a LED lighting kit, always buy in sets of 3 of the same brand & batch for color consistency in basic key, fill & back lighting setup.
Flood vs. Spot:
I think barn doors in 1x1ft led panels are pretty useless despite that some panels come in spot or flood configurations. The effect to block lights
doesn't quite work because LED comes in multiple sources within the same panel.
It's hard to achieve 'kicker' or nice harsh backlight effects for typical interview shoots, and even harder to achieve a high-key styled lighting effect.
I think the main options you can play with are the intensity of your LEDs and it's quite a change in mindset when deploying LEDs as opposed to using tungstens where you can choose to bounce or cut off light spills. Of course the inverse square law theory applies for distance vs. lighting intensity, but I find that the distance positioning technique are less used now because we can conveniently adjust intensity.
The only few true fresnel styled LED lamps are from LitePanel & ARRI.
I have the Litepanel SOLA ENG unit and I thought they can be handled like most traditional spots. As of now, the fresnel LEDs are still pretty expensive technology to play with.
Battery or AC:
Using LEDs in a shoot can sometimes be quite a pleasure especially when you operate alone or only have small crew. Given the duration of the required shoot, I can sometimes plan to run completely on battery operation, which means no hassles on bringing and running AC extension cords, and no limitations on where I can film.
The downside to this is always the what ifs. What if shoot overruns and you run out of juice? Instead of lugging AC cables & extension cords, I tend to bring a lot more batteries just in case....which end up adding to the bulk and weight compared to using tungstens like the more compact redheads.
For AC operations, some LED units can be run on adaptors with 4-pin XLRs or standard DC plugs, and some like the LitePanel SOLA ENG are powered with DC based D-tap plug. This posed a slight inconvenience especially when I had to use non D-tap capable battery systems. So choice of LED's backup power supply definitely have to be in consideration if depending on AC for powering.
Overall Experience:
Generally, for my shoots, I get very welcoming feedback when I deploy LEDs.
Most of the subjects who have been in front of camera told me that LEDs are literally 'cool'. I tend to agree they're cool as they emit minimal heat, and I can pack up immediately upon end of shoot.
No more sweaty foreheads to look out for half-way thru a shoot, and no more worrying about tungsten lamps blowing out.
I have no worries about putting my LED lights next to water sprinklers or smoke detectors, and no need to worry about over loading the ACs and tripping the mains.
So here's a bit of sharing of my personal experience dabbling with LEDs for video work. I hope that fellow videographers & video professionals will share their love-hate experience with LED lightings. :thumbsup:
