DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

Search

Submit A Story

Continuous Lights

Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?

by 1 Comment

The strobes vs continuous debate has been going on since LED lights for video and photography became a thing. It’s a debate that’s probably not ending anytime soon, either. The latest voice in the debate is that of photographer Lindsay Adler. In this video, Lindsay walks us through the pros and cons and when she chooses one over the other. She also goes a little into the history of continuous lights and why they’re now a lot more viable than they used to be.

For most photographers, continuous is often where we start. But it’s not artificial continuous light like LEDs. It’s usually the natural ambient lighting in our environments. As we start to want to shape and control light, we go into flash. But has continuous LED lighting now gotten to the point where it can replace flash? Maybe. In some situations.

Flash vs LED – which is right for your photography

by 1 Comment

There are a lot of lighting myths out there when it comes to flash vs continuous LED lights for photography. There are also many options for both sides, no matter which one you choose to pursue. But which one should you choose? No blanket answer suits everybody, and depending on your needs, there may not be a single solution that covers everything you want to do.

But in this video, photographer Rob Hall at Sharpen takes a look at both flash and LED lights to help you figure out which you might need and why. It’s an interesting look at both systems, covering a lot of the pros and cons of each and why the same answer isn’t right for everybody.

Maxima 3 LED spot announced – Maxima 7 sunlight simulator LED spot finally available to buy

by Add Comment

This one’s taken a while. Initially announced in February 2020 to much fanfare, the Maxima 7 LED spotlight is now available to buy. And it’s brought a little one with it, the Maxima 3. All the specs of the Maxima 7 were previously released at launch, and you can see those here, so let’s talk about the new Maxima 3.

The Maxima 3 is a 300W COB LED light with a CRI of 96+ and a TLCI of 97. It’s available in two versions that are either tungsten or daylight balanced, with a COB LED life of 50,000 hours. As with the Maxima 7, the Maxima 3 LED contains a focusable 8″ Fresnel lens and accepts Bowens mount modifiers.

The Maxima 7 flicker-free LED light is a 1200 PAR HMI equivalent with 700 Watts of power

by Add Comment

LED lighting technology has come very far over the last decade. It’s replaced the more traditional incandescent “hot lights” we used to see in video, movie and photography studios. The Maxima 7 is a new 5600K Chip-on-board (COB) LED light that’s the equivalent of a 1.2K HMI that lets you pretty much recreate the sun on your set.

It’s being developed by a company in Italy, and while there are other 1.2K equivalent LED lights out there on the market, this one wants to separate itself by form factor, light output and versatility. It even has a Bowens mount to let you use softboxes and other modifiers.

The Lightpanels Gemini 1×1 RGBWW is a customisable, full colour LED panel

by Add Comment

The Litepanels Gemini 2×1 announced in 2017 received a very warm reception on its release. Those who have purchased and use them absolutely love them. But sometimes you need something a little smaller, so Litepanels announced the Gemini 1×1 earlier this year. We heard that Litepanels were going to be at IBC 2019, so we decided to swing by the stand to find out more about them and what they can do.

Lumiee is the first cinematic grade wearable light

by 3 Comments

Spiffy Gear has produced some pretty interesting products over the last few years, including the very popular Light Blaster, and Spekular LED lights. At NAB 2019, they have debuted a new type of LED light, designed for wearing, wrapping around things and placing in tight spaces where you want to add just a little bit more light. It’s called Lumiee, and DIYP caught up with Spiffy Gear at the show to find out all about it.

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts