May 14, 2016 at 8:48PM
Best LED Lighting (Reasonably Priced)?
Hey all, I've got about $1500 to spend on an LED light kit. Prefer daylight balanced (I'll gel to tungsten when needed), battery power available, good output, high CRI...all that good stuff. I want to be able to attach modifiers to it as well. I've been looking at monolights with umbrella mounts (that way I have hard light OR soft light options and usually good output) but they all seem to either be made of plastic, low CRI, loud fan noise, or some other problem. What do you guys like?
I haven't tossed out the idea of an LS1 yet either, but I don't know. I'd like to use it to handle spotlight for dances at weddings but also interviews, which is why the monolight seems like a better fit. Thoughts?
9 Comments
The new Aputure COB 120T LED fresnel light that is equal to a 1,500 watt tungsten fresnel light, has a very high CRI rating and costs less that $600 looks really interesting.
http://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/aputures-new-affordable-fresnels-leds-ly...
It takes all of the standard Bowens light modifiers, and it's built-in fan is truly silent.
May 15, 2016 at 8:27AM
That looks seriously awesome. I wonder how long it'll be for a daylight version...might pick one of those up anyway. Or 2. I suppose I can always CTB. Probably will be back-ordered for a couple months.
May 15, 2016 at 1:55PM
>>> wonder how long it'll be for a daylight version...
It sounds like the daylight version will be about 1-2 months behind the tungsten model which is coming out this month. So you might have to wait until July for the daylight version.
May 15, 2016 at 6:05PM
Sometimes the RESULT is more important than the TOOL.
I always strongly recommend these Aputure lights as an INSANELY affordable option for LED lighting. I have several and they are rock stars. Bright, CRI 95+, battery or cord powered, filters, cases, the works.
Just haven't found many other solutions that can provide the quality of light and still take a beating, for such a low price. As you can tell, I'm a fan.
http://amzn.to/1qrylJb
Hope that helps!
May 17, 2016 at 11:58AM
As someone who keeps looking at those panels, how does the mount hold up? Not having any kind of yoke to hold the weight evenly, and dramatically moving the center of gravity whenever you have to tilt the panel is the one thing that's kept me from buying one.
Thanks
May 19, 2016 at 6:35AM
@Landon, these mounts are built specific to the weight of these lights, which are INSANELY light. Without the batteries, it's like 2 pounds.
I've used these on full stands (You may want to use better stands than the cheap plastic ones), tilted all the way forward, without sandbags, and never had a tip. I HAVE had other LED lights fall because of the weight, but that's why I've replaced with these. You get the bang without the buck.
May 19, 2016 at 3:03PM
We've sold a ton of F & V 1x1 LED daylight units ($415 per light). Their AC power system uses either a V mount or AB mount on the back of the light so it's ready for battery power. They have a 3 light kit...case, diffusion, and ac, all for $1050:
http://www.evsonline.com/f-v-k4000-daylight-led-panel-3-light-kit-v-moun...
Jim Martin
EVSonline.com
May 19, 2016 at 10:09AM
>>>Just haven't found many other solutions that can provide the quality of light and still take a beating, for such a low price
One of the places where I work bought a few of these new CAME TV lights, which are similar to the Aputure Amaran HR672W lights but they are all metal construction. Color is great ( CRI 95 ), they are compact, they are bright, and they can run off of Sony L batteries just like the Aputure lights do. Lights start at $288 US each ( or two for $540 US )
http://www.came-tv.com/576d-daylight-led-panel-p-686.html
http://www.came-tv.com/video-lights-cametv-ultra-slim-led-c-19_89.html
May 20, 2016 at 11:14AM
I do a lot of one man band run and gun work and I have been exceedingly happy with my IKAN dimmable, bi-color, sony-l battery LED's. They're bright, light (but without being flimsy), the batteries are cheap and last a long time (so no outlets). I did 5 different setups in five different rooms - some with windows, some with practicals, others in the dark and they were amazing. And they are flicker-free.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1069045-REG/ikan_ib508_v2_dual_col...
May 20, 2016 at 11:42AM, Edited May 20, 11:43AM
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