When considering LED lights it’s often easy to think, “If it’s available in bi-color, it’s worth the extra money for the flexibility”. But there are often times when a Bi-Color LED is not the best option. Bi-Color LED Lights Bi-Color LED lights are a pretty common sight, as the rise of LED technology within filmmaking naturally brings more advanced and flexible lighting systems. A Bi-Color light by definition is one that can offer the user multiple color temperatures. Some are user switchable between 3200K and 5600K, others give mid-way options such as 4300K, and others will transition from one end of the spectrum to the other, offering a whole variety of Kelvin color temperatures. This versatility makes them very popular – after all, why have a fixed temperature light when you can have Bi-Color, right? Well, it’s not always the best option, and here’s why. Some LEDs are less color accurate in Bi-Color mode. Testing the extended CRI on them can yield lesser results when compared to the respective straight tungsten or daylight LED fixture. But this is quite a broad statement, so let’s make the assumption that we’re considering good quality LED lights, where high-extended CRI values are a minimum expectation. Generally speaking, many Bi-Color panels have less output at respective Kelvin values then single-temperature fixtures. And this is when you should consider what fixture is the right one for you. Are Daylight-Only LED Lights Sometimes Better? For simplicity, I’ll generalize approximate 5600K (Kelvin) fixtures as Daylight, and approx. 3200K as Tungsten, and work on the assumption that we’re always trying to color-match environments correctly (for example a daylight lamp in a daylight environment). When shooting in a daylight environment, you are often competing with some sort of daylight. That could be room ambience, a visual-in-frame window or an exterior. If you were to take an ambience reading with a light meter in a daylight space like this, you’d generally get more level reading than if you were in standard tungsten-lit room. This is usually the kind of situation where you want the most out of your lights. A high-powered, daylight-balanced light means you can compete with ambience levels and you can modify your fixture by cutting or diffusing as you feel necessary. A daylight-only fixture will nearly always be brighter than its Bi-Color counterpart – you will therefore get more output from a daylight-only fixture than a Bi-Color one. Let’s look at the Litepanels Astra family as an example. I use these in one form or another on nearly every shoot, so I know them well. The Litepanels Astra is available in Daylight, Tungsten and Bi-Color, and they have also now released a new 6X model which is brighter across all versions. Below are the lux ratings of each lamp: Distance of 5 feet/1.5M away Litepanels Bi-Color at Daylight – 4577 lux Litepanels Daylight – 5790 lux Litepanels 6X Bi-Color at Daylight – 6330 lux Litepanels 6X Daylight – 6612 lux You can see from the figures above that you will get the most output from your LED light when it is a fixed temperature fixture – although, again, Litepanels has closed the gap with its latest model. But where does that leave you with mixed temperature or Tungsten lighting, if you go with a daylight-only LED light? My experience with these types of environments is that you have more control over the ambient levels – mixed temperature or Tungsten light is a strong contributing factor to your light levels because daylight is less apparent. It’s these situations where you can sometimes afford to have less output from your light. Therefore, adding a corrective gel to the front of a daylight fixture is an acceptable compromise to having a Bi-Color option. There are of course exceptions to this theory. I can’t speak for the masses, as there is an infinite amount of scenarios with lighting. But it’s a consideration worth taking on board when considering an LED fixture: Does it really need to be a Bi-Color LED or will the extra output from a Daylight-only fixture be more useful to me? A small tip I’d give for those considering Daylight-only fixtures and adding gels when appropriate: always consider Rosco or LEE filtration over the correction packs supplied by the light manufacturer. Many light manufacturers will mass-produce colored gels that won’t have the consistency of output and color accuracy of a company that solely specializes in filtration. Finding a few grades of color corrective Rosco/LEE and cutting them to size can be handy, and adding magnetic strips or some small dual lock will make them as quick and easy-to-use as a native corrective filter. What’s your preference? Would you prefer the instant flexibility over the temperature of your light in a Bi-Color lamp? Or does the extra output on a daylight fixture make more sense to you?

At NAB 2017 we took a look at the Visionsmith ReLamp system. An ingenious idea: use your old light fixtures, and upgrade them with LED replacement bulbs! Courtesy Erik Naso – Showing ReLamp LED replacement for ARRI 650 ReLamp LED Replacement Lights ReLamp allows you to replace old halogen lights, such as ARRI fresnels, and upgrade them with an LED component – a great idea for those who have would like to give a new lease of life to their old fixtures. These revamped versions that Visionsmith showed off at this year’s NAB now feature 90V – 250V compatibility and offers LED replacement units for a wider variety of housings. While many cinematographers have complained that LEDs don’t render perfect colour, I believe the game has changed significantly. Visionsmith claims their LEDs have a CRI of 98, and apparently there are no colour shifts during dimming. The benefits of using LED include being eight times more efficient, meaning you can save a whole lot on your electricity bill. Additionally, there’s no heat to worry about: a halogen grid is like a grid of industrial space-heaters, compensated by heavy-duty air conditioning. If you’re running lights for 12 hours a day, the numbers add up fast. The new VisionSmith ReLamp will be available in various versions. Here are some of the prices: ARRI 650W LED replacement: $495 ARRI 1k LED replacement: $695 ARRI 2K LED replacement: $995 For more information please have a look at Visionsmith’s website. What do you think of ReLamp? Has the time come to move over to LED? Please let us know in the comments below.

There’s a bright update regarding lights here at NAB 2017. The Aputure Light Storm C300d is the latest addition to their lineup and it’s really bright! Ted Sim from the A Team talks us through all the features. Aputure Light Storm C300d Not very long ago, I did a review on the Aputure Light Storm C120t. The t in that model stands for tungsten, so the d in Light Storm C300d clearly stands for daylight. Simple! At 150% the size of the previous tungsten version, the new Light Storm C300d fixture is the bigger brother of the C120t. This light is tremendously high-output, and as such, its LED COB (chip on bard) system needs some serious cooling and the enclosure space to house it: not one but two fans and a large heatsink are built right into the unit. Basically, this light can replace a much higher-powered HMI source but without the need of a power outlet. With 300W of power, Aputure claims a massive 82,000 lux of light output. However, that’s its rating at about 0.5 meters. Since lux ratings are usually measured at a distance of 1m, these 82,000 lux may not actually mean so much. I’m walking on thin ice here, but I assume this number translates to about 20,500 lux @ 1m when consulting the inverse square law to do the math. EDIT: Ted from Aputure just got back to me via mail and he’s telling me that the rating is actually 31,000 lux @ 1m. Nicely done, indeed! To clarify even more, read the following comment by Aputure’s Ted Sim: When we said 31,000 lux, we were talking about at 1m with the Bowens Reflector which puts it at a 60 degree beam angle. With the fresnel, we’re looking at 187,800 lux at 0.5m. One thing to be careful of though is that lux isn’t really an accurate measurement of output since it’s only testing the brightness of a fixture at a single point in space. It isn’t measuring every ray of luminescence that light is emitting, which means that if a light has a hot spot in the middle of the beam when compared to the edge of the light’s cast (ex. a 4:1 ratio rather than 2:1), that can cause a light to give off higher (even double) lux readings even though it isn’t actually any more efficient or bright. We specially design the Light Storm Reflector to give as even of a spread as possible. We think it makes for a better tool in cinematography where you want as much control as possible. However, it does mean that if you test the center of the light and compare it to the edge of its cast, the lux readings won’t vary much. We’ll be releasing full photometrics the following week, but the best thing to do is have users compare the lights for themselves and in person. At the end of May in NYC and at the beginning of June in LA, we’re going to be hosting an open house where anyone is welcome to bring their lights and compare fixtures. The external ballast is also a bigger version of the original. It now sports two V-mounts, though you can order a Gold Mount, too. In terms of stamina, we’re looking at about 100min run-time at full power when you attach two 150Wh batteries to the ballast. That’s not a vast amount, but it does allow you to have a very bright light in the field. Just bring a bunch of batteries and you’re all set. You can still remote control the ballast and group several fixtures together. The dimming knob is also still there. Just as the C120t, the build quality is pretty solid without too much plastic. The Light Storm C300d still has the Bowen-S mount to attach a vast variety of available light-shaping accessories. Also, the Light Storm C300d will ship in a case, which is always a nice accessory to have. Pricing and Availability The Aputure Light Storm C300d should be ready for shipping in under three months, so we’re looking at a July 2017 release. No final pricing has been set but according to Aputure they are trying to get it under $1,000 which would be nice to see, of course! Do you have a Light Storm fixture in your kit already? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Litepanels are offering a flash sale on their Astra E panels, placing the “lower powered” daylight model into sub-$500 figures. The sale is for US retailers only, and will last until 5pm PST on 10th November. I’ve been using the Litepanels Astra for years. For me, they’re one of the most versatile portable light fixtures on the market. Dimmable, bicolor, great color reproduction and most of all, powerful. The latter means you can use these fixtures in ways no other panel can. You have the ability to modify your light heavily to obtain much larger and softer sources, whilst retaining good light levels and still remining portable. The Astra comes in three brightness models: the straight-named Astra being the most powerful, followed by the Astra EP and finally the Astra E. There are daylight, tungsten and bicolor versions of each model as well as an Astra Soft. This flash sale is for the Astra Daylight E version, a great cost-effective option for more controlled environments like studio or interiors without lots of windows to compete with. The current sale is valid in the US until 5pm PST on 10th November, saving you $133.00.