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Westcott’s new portable LED makes using modifiers easy

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The development of LED lights over the last couple of years has been quite interesting to follow. 10 years ago, LEDs were the last type of light I’d use for any kind of serious video work, but since then they’ve come a very long way. They’ve become more consistent and colour accurate with high CRI & TLCI, more powerful, and more versatile.

Westcott’s new Solix LED light, though, has a particularly unique feature. An integrated speedring for connecting directly into softboxes. It’s an interesting design that allows the light to keep a small form factor while still offering the use of modifiers.

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Everything you ever needed to know about lights in under 30 minutes

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Choosing continuous lights has become such a struggle for new filmmakers and photographers. Not too many years ago, your options were simple. Either you get some great big super hot tungstens, or you use that big ball of fire in the sky. Easy. These days, there are so many more options. We’ve still got those old tungstens, but we’ve also got fluorescents and leds.

And all this new tech comes with confusing terminology. Lux vs Lumens. CRI vs TLCI, and it all feels a bit like TMI. Information overload. So, here’s a video from Kevin, The Basic Filmmaker to simplify things, with a look at the state of lighting today. He covers all the different types of lights, the terminology used, what’s actually important to know, and what’s not worth wasting your time with.

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Hardware Store LED Strip Lights for Photography and Video

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I have been using hardware store LED bulbs for both photography and video in the studio for a while (click here for a DIY three light studio setup) – but every time I pass the lighting aisle in my local big box hardware store I always take a look to see what’s new and improved.

Well on a recent trip to Lowes I found some really cool LED strip lights that work quite well for both photography and video – continue reading for details…

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Aputure’s Light Storm 300D is a monster 2K LED Light for $1,100

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Earlier this year, Aputure announced their upcoming monster LED light: the Light Storm 300D. And now, it’s officially launched. With impressive 142,000 lux @0.5m , it’s brighter than any light in the Aputure’s arsenal, and it’s comparable to a 2,000W tungsten.

But it isn’t just the brightness that makes this light so powerful. The 300D is precise, easy to shape, and it guarantees impeccable color quality. And all of its features are fit into a lightweight, portable light weighing less than 5 pounds.

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The Aputure MX is the brightest mini on camera light in the market

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A new light is coming from Aputure soon, and it contains a whole lot of brightness in the size of a credit card. Although it’s not officially announced yet, they showed off the prototype on Cinema 5D.

The light is named Amaran MX, and despite the size, it seems really powerful. It’s five times brighter than its predecessor Aputure M9, and it comes along with some other improved features.

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Does the Rotolight Neo 2 live up to the hype? This photographer doesn’t think so

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I wrote about the announcement of the new Rotolight Neo 2 a couple of days ago. Looking at the specs, I wasn’t really all that impressed for my own needs. I have Spekular and Aputure lights for video, as well as Nikon & Godox lights for stills (all of which support HSS). So, for the cost, and limited power, the Neo 2 just isn’t worth it for me. So, I didn’t pay much more attention to it.

Photographer Rob Hall, though, has had a couple of days to really consider the specs of these lights and what they mean for photographers. Are they really the revolutionary product that the fancy marketing would lead us to believe? Or is it all (low powered) flash and no substance? Rob, at least, doesn’t seem particularly impressed, if this video is anything to go by.

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Rotolight’s teams up with Elinchrom to bring high speed sync to the world of LED lighting

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This was a bit of an unexpected announcement. At least, it was for me. Although, I admit that I haven’t really followed the world of LED lighting that closely since setting my sights on getting a set of Spekular lights. The LEDs I do tend to look at are generally more aimed toward video than stills. While LEDs can be great for certain photography applications, they’re not that useful for what I want to shoot.

The new Rotolight Neo2, though, designed in collaboration with Elinchrom, is squarely aimed at stills shooters. An industry-first, all in one, High Speed Sync flash and continuous on-camera LED light. The unit boasts compatibility up to 1/8000th of a second and 85,000 full power flashes on a set of AA batteries. It also feature a built in 2.4Ghz Elinchrom Skyport receiver.

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Here are the pros and cons of using LED panels for portraits

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Other than using continuous lighting for video, some photographers choose to use it for shooting still as well. Jay P. Morgan relies on LED panels for portrait photography from time to time, and in his latest video, he discusses the pros and cons of this approach. There are definitely certain advantages of using LED panels for portrait photography, but some disadvantages as well. In this video, you’ll hear both sides, and let’s see if you agree.

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Turn your Godox AD200 into a continuous video light with the new LED head

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The Godox AD200 flash has proven to be very popular since it was released a couple of months ago. A $299 200Ws flash with a similar form factor to a mid 90s cellphone, and interchangeable heads. Thus far, two different heads have been available for this unit, both of which come supplied. There’s the speedlight-style Fresnel head, and a strobe-like bare bulb, just like the AD360II.

At the moment, you can turn the Fresnel flash head continuous by enabling the modelling light. But now, Adorama have put up a new product for pre-order. A dedicated continuous LED head for the Godox AD200 (or eVOLV 200, as Adorama call it).

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How to build DIY color-changing LED wand light for $30

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Ice lights give nice and soft light for photography and video, but they can cost quite a lot and only come in one color. Their cheaper version called wand light changes colors, but there’s a catch. Out of 360 LEDs on the wand, only 40 of them can change to various colors. So, Jordan Thornsburg from Macroscope Pictures shows you how to bring cheap, versatile and powerful together in this great DIY project.

In this video, you’ll learn how to build your own DIY wand light, which gives out powerful lighting and changes colors as well. You can use it both in photography and video, as a light source or for special effects. I imagine light painting with this would be quite awesome, too. The components cost around $30 altogether, but you can make it extra fancy for 15 more bucks and add a Wi-Fi enabled LED controller so you can control the light with your phone.

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