Lupo Dayled and Superpanel Lights for Video: Overview
What is unique about professional level LED lights for video? In this episode we take a look at the professional grade Lupo Dayled fresnel and Superpanel LED lights.
Links to gear discussed and used to record this session:
Lupo Lights now available in the USA from B&H:
Dayled 650 5600K
Dayled 650 Dual Color
Dayled 1000 5600K
Dayled 1000 Dual Color
Dayled 2000 5600K
Superpanel 5600K, No DMX
Superpanel Dual Color, No DMX
Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera - my main camera
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS ART Lens - my main all-around lens
Sennheiser MKH 8050 Supercardioid Boom Microphone
Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer
Rosco 1/2 Soft Frost Diffusion
5 in 1 Reflector (with scrim) - this is the very first piece of gear that any photographer or filmmaker should buy. Well, maybe right after a basic camera and good microphone.
Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd
Affordable LED Light Panels: CELADON 2XL and 2XL Pro
Need some portable LED lights for your video or photo shoots? CELADON offers the 2XL and 2XL Pro which are small sized LED panels which you can mount on top of your camera, on a stand, or anywhere else you might imagine.
In this review we take a closer look at the color quality, build quality, battery life, beam angle, and light output. Overall, these LED lights are a great portable lighting option for a very good price.
Gear used to record this episode:
CELADON 2XL PRO (160 SMD LED Light Panel - this is what I used as the key light in this episode)
CELADON 2XL (280 LED Light Panel - this was the rim light in this episode)
Panasonic GH5 Camera - My new favorite little camera
Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens (1st Generation)
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 Lens (talking head shots)
Audio Technica AT4053b Microphone - My go-to microphone for recording dialogue indoors
Sound Devices 633 Audio Mixer/Recorder - My "Pro Level" audio recorder
Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd
Aputure Amaran Tri-8C LED Panel Light - NAB 2017
Aputure keeps cranking out high quality, reasonably priced lighting gear. In this announcement, Ted from Aputure runs us through the features on their new Amaran Tri-8C LED light panel. The light features the ability to power with AC, Sony NP-F style batteries or even Sony V-lock or Anton Bauer Gold Mount batteries. This model is color tunable from 2300 Kelvin to 6800 Kelvin. Light output is roughly equivalent to a 650W tungsten light (though speaking in equivalents is fraught with issues).
I've been working with this light for a few days now and it works great as an accent light and I was very happy with the results when I used it as a fill light for an outdoor talking head piece.
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
More Info on the Aputure LS1s LED Panels
I"ve been lighting my videos for the last several weeks with the Aputure LS1s LED panel and must say that I'm really liking it! I've ordered two more which are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Can't wait to put them all to use as a kit.
There are a few things I've learned about them that I wanted to clarify since I made the review video.
First, in the video, I said that the yoke can get in the way when aiming the panel down with its barn doors. It turns out I overlooked the fact that you can mount the panel from its yoke two different ways. I had mounted it the traditional way, but there are also two holes in the side of the yoke which allow you to mount it to a light stand like this, with full up and down range:
Secondly, while this panel has barn doors, they don't really cut the light like you may be accustomed when using a fresnel or other hard light source. LED by nature are softer than fresnel lights. Also, the fact that they covered the inner part of the barn doors with a silver coating sort of just reflects the light. You can use the barn doors to roughly prevent too much spill in any of the four directions, but you certainly won't get a hard line. For me, this is not a problem when I'm using this as a key or a flood where I want lots of soft light. However, you'll need to look elsewhere if you're trying to really sculpt the light for a backdrop or some other sort of dramatic lighting effect.
And thirdly, for reasons beyond my knowledge, either Aputure or their resellers have increased the price from $599 USD to $695 USD. Is that a show-stopper? Only you can decide that for yourself. I went ahead with the purchase of two because I really find them useful and convenient with fantastic color rendering.
I stand by my earlier assessment that this is the first LED panel that I genuinely like!
