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Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?

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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.

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The world’s smallest silicon LED could turn your phone into a high-power microscope

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Researchers at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have developed a new silicon Light Emitting Diode (LED) and holographic microscope which between them could help turn your smartphone into a powerful, high-resolution microscope. Together they are both the world’s smallest LED and the world’s smallest holographic microscope.

This LED, they say, is comparable in output to much larger silicone LEDs. But, by “much larger”, we’re not talking huge. Remember, this is the world’s smallest silicon LED and it’s very small indeed. Smaller than the wavelength of light itself.

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Flash vs LED – which is right for your photography

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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.

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New LED street lights are killing night photography with a purple hue

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Cities around the world are abandoning old sodium-vapor streetlights for more efficient LEDs, but the switch is leading to an unfortunate phenomenon. Unfortunate at least, for any nighttime photographers.

The issue seems to be that some of these LEDs are failing and turning a mysterious hue of blue or purple. Some areas of New York City or Vancouver, for example, have been reported to be experiencing this unexpected problem.

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Godox teases with prototype of new 1200 watt LED bi-colour light

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We saw quite a few lights at IBC 2022 with several brands launching bigger, better, brighter LED lights. Godox wasn’t to be outdone, however, and had their latest piping hot offering, the 1200watt MG1200 on display. Ramon Uitervijkwinkel from Godox’s European distributor showed DIYP the new light.

It’s a 1200-watt bi-colour LED light, that goes from 2800K to 6500K. Throughout the different colour temperatures, the light maintains an even 1200 watts.

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Take a closer look at Prolycht’s hot-off-the-press new powerful LED spotlight

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“Maximum power, maximum colour”. That’s what Prolycht is saying about its new flagship light. Launched just today, DIYP caught up Mitch Gross from Prolycht to find out more about the brilliant Orion 675 FS.

The Prolycht Orion 675 FS LED full spectrum spotlight is built inside a single unit. It’s designed specifically for Film and TV professionals, and is frankly, a bit of a game changer. This light is really powerful, and we witnessed it lighting up the vast IBC Show ceiling with ease.

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How to combine strobes and LED lights for captivating sports portraits

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Light painting can be a lot of fun, and it’s even more fun when you combine it with regular old flash to create dynamic and interesting images. Portraits, particularly of athletes or dancers can provide the perfect subject for experimenting with this technique as it appears to show movement in a still image, which is what sport and dance are all about really.

In the video below, photographer Bee Trofort shows us how she captured these intriguing images of an athlete using a combination of Spiffy Gear’s innovative wrist wrap light bracelets, the KYU-6.

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This is the world’s brightest DIY LED flashlight at over 1.4 million lumens

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Last week, we showed you the most powerful commercially available LED flashlight that’s around today projecting the bat signal onto clouds. It’s the Imalent MS18, boasting a very impressive 100,000 lumens. But for the folks at Hacksmith Industries, this just wasn’t enough. So, they decided to build their own LED flashlight, which puts out a ridiculous 1,414,224 lumens.

They actually have the Imalent MS18 in their video to be able to compare it side-by-side with a regular standard household flashlight you might find in a local store, as well as to their DIY monster of a light that actually melted the device designed to help them detect light output.

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Here is the world’s most powerful video LED blowing up a power supply

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LEDs are getting more capable and more powerful every year. And this one claims to have the crown at the moment as the world’s most powerful COB LED designed specifically for video use. It costs an insane $1,350, requires 1500 Watts of power, it’s 5600K daylight and has a CRI of 95+. As an LED addict, Matt at DIY Perks managed to get his hands on one to test, but in doing so, he blew up two power supplies.

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This brain-melting video explains why our cameras see in RGB – just like our eyes

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When we’re kids, in school, we’re taught that the primary colours are red, yellow and blue. But this isn’t entirely accurate when it comes to light. Pure white sunlight is made up of a whole spectrum of colours, with the primaries actually being red, green and blue. Our cameras with Bayer filter arrays on the sensor see RGB. Our monitors also display RGB.

But have you ever wondered how we’re able to get so many different colours from just three? And why just blasting red, green and blue LEDs at an object doesn’t always give you true white light? This fascinating video from Technology Connections isn’t really specific to photography, but light in general, and how red, green and blue affects our (and our camera’s) perception of colour.

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