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The LitraPro is the world’s first full spectrum bi-colour action light

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Just after we got done comparing the LitraTorch vs the Lume Cube, Litra announces their next generation of LED action light. The new LitraPro offers the same rugged build as the Torch but raises the bar with full spectrum bi-colour LEDs.

Litra is calling the new LitraPro a “new category of compact, rugged, professional lighting” and it does seem to fit the bill. It sits in size between the tiniest of tiny action camera lights and small on-camera LED lights like the Aputure AL-M9. But how its light output will compare is currently unknown.

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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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This is what the light from a 500W, $500 LED looks like

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LEDs are developing at a ridiculous pace lately. They’re getting more colour accurate and much more powerful. The power of LEDs often comes at some expense, though. While LEDs do run much cooler than traditional tungsten lights, they can still get rather hot.

In this video, Matthew at DIY Perks unboxes a very beefy 500 Watt LED. After hooking up the power, we see just how bright it is. What’s particularly crazy about it, though, is that the LED itself isn’t much bigger than a postage stamp. Everything else is just to extract the heat to prevent the LED from burning itself out.

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The LitraTorch is a powerful versatile and waterproof LED light that fits in your pocket

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The LitraTorch smashed its Kickstarter goal when the project was running, raising over $100,000. Their goal was a mere $25K. Well, now, all the backers have been shipped their lights and they’re now available for the rest of us to buy

It’s a 1.5″ cube that provides up to 800 lumens of continuous light at a daylight balanced 5700K. It’s flicker free, has a smooth light pattern, lithium ion rechargeable battery and micro USB port with a touch aluminium body. It has a pair of 1/4-20″ tripod sockets, magnet, GoPro mount, and it’s waterproof.

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Spekular is the light that does it all for photographers

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Spekular is spectacular! Hmmm – a little over the top? Not really. I recently had the opportunity to put this new LED lighting system from Spiffy Gear to the test. Spiffy Gear are the folks that brought us the Light Blaster (buy link).

Spekular is a modular lighting system that can take on all kinds of shapes depending on your needs and this can save you money and the time needed to pack and set-up light modifiers especially when you are working on location. Spekular comes as a kit of 4 LED sections. Each section is built with aluminum and ABS plastic. The sections can be configured using the included hinged connectors or with the accessory extension kit.

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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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Photonicz is a Strobe/LED hybrid that can take a splash and keep working

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So, this is an interesting, if rather unusual idea. Photonicz is an LED based strobe (a world’s first, apparently) designed to offer the advantages of both strobes, and modern LED technology. Lots of power, lightweight, portable power through V-Mount batteries, weather sealed… It sounds ideal. But, it does kind of just look like a giant heatsink with an LCD bolted on.

The product is currently being funded through Kickstarter where they say they’re ready to start tooling and production. On paper, they look quite impressive. They boast flash durations as fast as 1/50,000th of a second, with up to 30 pops per second at full power. Full power, they claim, is the equivalent of a 2500Ws traditional strobe. It also offers high speed sync for a whole bunch of camera brands.

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Spekular LEDs are like a Swiss army knife for lighting

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Just when you think you’ve seen all LED lighting panels that the world can have, here comes a new LED light that makes you open your wallet again. Spekular is an all-in-one lighting panel that in addition to being a “panel” can also be a ring, a strip, an octa and even a star (how do you like them catch-lights?).

The idea is quite simple and will probably be familiar to anyone that likes playing with LEDs. Each kit holds four super-bright sections that can be connected and manipulated into various shapes.

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What’s the most important feature in an LED light

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Over the last few weeks, we shared a series of videos covering almost everything there is to know about buying LEDs and creating some basic lighting setup with them. You can watch the series after the jump. What I’ve learned from this series is that there are waaaay too many factors to consider when buying an LED light. The tow most obvious ones are brightness and price, but there are many other factors to consider when getting a light, like CRI, light pattern, the number of LED chips, and many others.

Here is my question to you, what are you looking for in an LED light? if you are not sure, hit the jump for one of the best primers by Caleb Pike and have a thought.

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The best LED video lighting kit you can get for $500

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With as much competition as there is in today’s LED marketplace, it can be tough to know what’s worth buying. There’s so many models out there that look almost identical to each other (or are identical, but with a different brand name). CRIs are all over the place, as is colour balance. As a beginner looking to pick up your first video lighting set, you might not even know where to begin.

Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter has been doing some comparisons recently for lights at different budgets. In his newest video, he puts together a complete beginner LED lighting kit for video. It’s a pretty versatile set of gear, and offers many options to get you up and running without breaking the bank.

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