Aputure Space Light and Light Dome Mini - NAB 2017
Aputure keeps cranking out high quality, reasonably priced lighting gear and their latest announcement includes two new modifiers for their COB lights (or any LED light with a Bowens mount). These include the Space Light and the Light Dome Mini. Let’s have a quick look at both and talk about when you might choose to use each.
Looking forward to getting our hands on these for review!
Apologies for the wild camera work. I had the clever idea to go super light without a tripod at NAB this year. Lesson learned. My brother Cary Judd was kind enough to suffer through shooting. Thanks bro!
Our Vlogging setup:
Panasonic Lumix GH5 Camera - the in-body stabilization saved us because I had the "clever" idea to travel light and not bring a tripod this year. That was a mistake but the IBIS in the GH5 did a pretty nice job!
Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens - This is the original version of this lens. The new version is a bit pricier but evidently works even better with the GH5 to smooth out camera motion.
RODE Reporter Microphone - great at managing handling noise. I didn't hear any in this recording.
RODE iXLR Audio Adapter for iPhone - Yes, recorded this audio to my iPhone. Pretty good for a phone recording on a noisy show floor.
Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd
Can You Mix Lights with Different Color Temperatures?
A few weeks ago we reviewed the Aputure Light Storm COB120d, an incredibly versatile LED light for video and photography. One specification of the COB that is a little unique is that its color temperature is cooler than others at 6000K. Many people have asked whether it is possible to mix this light with other daylight balanced lights which are rated with a color temperature of 5500 or 5600K.
In this episode, we look at cases where it is probably ok to mix them and other cases where you may not want to mix them.
In short, if you use each light to illuminate a different thing or different sides of a thing, you're probably ok to mix them. If you use two lights with different temperatures to light the same thing (e.g., one as a key light, the other as a fill), things can start to look at little strange unless you use the cooler light as the fill.
Gear used or mentioned in this episode:
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Aputure Light Storm COB120d LED Light (6000K color temp)
Aputure Light Storm LS1s LED Panel Light (5500K color temp)
Photo Basics Barn Doors confirmed to fit the Aputure COB Lights
Panasonic GH4 m4/3 Camera - Still my main video camera
Dracast LED500 Light Special Pricing
If you're in the market for an LED panel light which can be powered via Sony NP-F style batteries, B&H has special pricing on the Dracast LED500 for the next few hours. $200 for a color-tunable LED panel with barn doors, good build quality, and a CRI of 95. Looks like a good, affordable, flexible lighting instrument.
Kamerar BrightCast LED Light Panel Review
LED lights have finally improved in quality and come down in price to make them more accessible to enthusiast filmmakers. This new light from Kamerar called the BrightCast V15 is a flexible LED panel with 256 color tunable LED chips and can be powered via battery (Sony v-mount style batteries) or via AC. Color quality was a big problem on sub-$1000 LED lighting instruments in the past, but the BrightCast has a CRI of 97 and our tests confirm that the color quality is very good. This means you won’t end up with video footage which looks all funky in terms of color. Overall, the BrightCast is a great, compact, light-weight option for location work or shooting in very small spaces like many of us do. I give this one two thumbs up!
Like most LED panels, in some cases you can run into an issue where there are multiple shadows because the panel has 256 light sources. You can easily fix this by diffusing the light coming out of the panel. One way that works great is to use Kamerar's D-Fuse softbox which works nicely with the BrightCast.
Aputure Light Storm COB 120t LED Light Review
Aputure just started shipping a new LED light for filmmakers called the Light Storm COB 120t. This is a tungsten color balanced single LED flood light which has a Bowens S mount so it can accept all sorts of light shaping tools like a soft box, barn doors, beauty dish, snoot and even a fresnel lens. This makes the 120t an incredibly flexible light. It also has great color rendering with a CRI of 97 and puts out plenty of light to use as a key light for interviews or talking head video or still photos. Here we review the 120t in detail.
Aputure LSC20 LED Fresnel Accent Light
At NAB 2016, Aputure announced a very cool little LED fresnel light they call the LSC20. This is designed primarily as an accent light, comes with barn doors and the ability to zoom the beam angle like a traditional fresnel. It also includes a slot for gels to either match your main lights or add a colorful accent. In addition, the light can be powered with 5-18V DC power which means you can use the included DC adapter, a USB charger such as those most phones use, or professional batteries like Sony VLock or Anton Bauer gold mount batteries. Looks like a pretty nice flexible and lightweight addition for location lighting kits.
The only bad news: they're not available just yet, but we should see them in the September 2016 timeframe.
Special thanks to Scott Vanderbilt who was kind enough to bring his brand new Sony FS5 camera to film this series.
NAB 2016: Convert Your Arri Fresnel to LED
At NAB 2016, we talked with Pete Smith at VisionSmith for an overview of their new ReLamp LED bulbs. With these, you can convert your old Arri or Mole-Richardson tungsten fresnel lights to LED at a fraction of the price of most of the current fresnel LED instruments on the market. Your fresnel still focuses just like with the halogen bulbs and the CRI for the daylight balanced bulb is 93, and for the tungsten balanced bulb is 98.
Looks like they're not available just yet, but I'm planning to buy one and review it once they become available.
NAB 2016: Aputure Light Storm COB 120t Hard Light
At NAB 2016, we talked with Ted at Aputure for an overview of their new hard LED light, the Light Storm COB 120t. I can finally tell you that I’ve had one of the first few off the assembly line and love this light. I’ve been in the market for an affordable fresnel LED with good color reproduction. While I don’t have the barn doors, softbox, beauty dish, or fresnel lens just yet, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on those for a full review. If you’ve watched any of my videos over the last couple of months, the back light (kicker) was the COB 120t which I gelled with a CTB gel to match the daylight balanced Light Storm LED panels.
The tungsten color balanced version will be available by end of May along with the light shaping accessories. The daylight balanced and color tunable versions should be along in another 3 months.
Special thanks to Scott Vanderbilt who was kind enough to bring his brand new Sony FS5 camera to film this series. He used this opportunity to learn his camera, so please understand that he did us a huge favor and also learned when auto focus would work or not work. :)
Raya 7 Bulb Softbox 2 Light Kit
If you need an affordable kit for talking head style video, B&H has a great deal on this Raya 7 Bulb Softbox 2 Light Kit.
I find that I like to have 2 soft lights for most of my interview setups, one as a key, the second as a kicker. Then I'll often pull in a third hard light for the background.
Or if filming both the interviewer and interviewee, one soft light for each as a key which then double as the kicker.
You should be able to get all the light you'd need out of these.
Dracast 500 LED Panel Special Pricing
B&H Photo has special pricing on Dracast's 500 bi-color LED Panels toady. If you're in the market, these are worth considering with their 95 CRI spec (I haven't tested that but other reviewers are saying that the color is quite good). This model comes with a v-mount for Sony v-mount batteries and it can be powered via AC as well.
They look to have a pretty thoughtful design with the yoke that can be mounted vertically or horizontally to enable a good range of motion for aiming the head. Cooling is passive so no noisy fans.
It seems to me that LEDs are finally here with decent amounts of output and color that will blend decently with other sources. I have to imagine that in not too many years we'll remember back to the days when a decent LED lighting instrument ran at least $1000 USD...
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