Tagged with light - Personal View Talks

Aputure Amaran LED AL-198A with adjustable beam angle

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:56:06 +0000

Price: about $70 shipped

Available for best price at our deals

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/717/special-deals-lighting-fresnels-evfs-monitors

Best Softbox Lighting Solution?

civopo — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:08:52 +0000

Hi,

I am currently searching for an affordable lighting set-up as I'm going to do more interview stuff etc. in future.

The only thing I am sure about is that i want softboxes as light-modifiers, but what kind of light sources should I use? There are so much options. Halogen - Fluorescent - HMI - LED... As far as I am concerned, LED is the new trend in terms of lighting, but whats the reason for? Low energy, portable? Do I need a softbox in use with a LED for example?

I have a budget of approximately 100-350USD.

As a hair light, i'm going to use a 150w or 300w PRO As ARRI Fresnel. (http://www.ebay.de/itm/As-ARRI-Economical-300W-studio-lighting-Fresnel-Tungsten-Light-300-watts-bulb-/221022906307?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3375fde7c3#ht_3350wt_1398)

Thanks a lot!

25mm F/0.95 Voigtlander - Shooting in the dark

Alexauwa — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:08:24 +0000

Hi everyone,

I am shooting on the Voigtlander 25 mm f0.95. I've tried several shots, insight and outsight. I've noticed that in some parts the dark areas were absolutely clear, no noise at all, but in some where were. I've keep ISO between 320 - 640, f0.95.

How do I get, even if there is less light, the most best possible result - here a clean picture? Do I have to raise ISO in order ta achieve better results? (Sensor need more light sensitvity to bring out details, can you shoot on too low ISO?) I always thought: lower IS0 value= better picture quality.

How do you handle night shoots, any tricks? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks, Alex

Project Blue Light - does this make sense to you?

Meierhans — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 04:34:47 +0000

Args.. I am a afraid to start a new tread! Have mercy! ;)

http://www.fourseasonshd.com/cgi-bin/csvsearch.pl?db=db1&tp=tp4&search=bluelight1

Basicly he is putting a color filter in front of the lense to move the exposure of red and blue channel up some stops. Then in post he is trying to fix the tint. Does this make sense? Wouldn´t setting a "wrong" white balance have the same effect?

W96 LED Light

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:10:08 +0000

Main difference if you compare with Z96 is remaining charge indicator, and lower price :-)

Price: $55.50 with shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/Z96-upgrade-96led-Light-CANON-NIKON-SONY-Camcorder-/320726656352

4PC pack

Price: $250 with shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/4PCS-Z96-upgrade-96LED-Light-SONY-JVC-NIKON-CANON-/320726758758

Comer copy LED

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:32:21 +0000

Chinese light, looks like exact Comer copy

Features:

Professional grade 10-LED light
Long life LED lightbulb abotu 30,000 hours usage
Cold shoe compatible with most camera&camcorders
Great for HD wide-angle shooting
Uniform lighting over the entire projected area
Spotlight projection with built-in condensing lens applied
Light diffuser attached to soften shadows and reduce contras
Compatible with Sony camcorder batteries, such as the NP-F770/F970/F750
Energy saving and environmental friendly design with maximum powre consumption at approximately 20W.
Long operating time: approximately 2 hours with NP-F770 at maximum brightness
Wide range of irradiation with homogeneous light distribution (Astigmatism 90 degree, Condenser 45 degree)
High luminous efficiency maximum at 900 lux in 1 meter distance
Lighting distance:
900lux at 1m
100lux at 3m
36lux at 5m
14lux at 8m
Adjustable dimmer to control different intensity of brightness
Switchable color temperature at 5500K or 3200K using the built-in filter
High beam/spotlight setup using the built-in condense lens

AliExpress seller, price only $123 shipped, remember AliExpress has buyer protection, so PayPal is always safe :
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/476669830-Wholesale-LED-BL-900Video-Fill-Light-Flashlight-For-Camera-Video-Camcorder-DV-Lamp-1pcs-lot-F770-wholesalers.html

Other AliExpress seller ($157):
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/469390851-Wholesale-BL-900-LED-Video-light-LED-Video-Light-for-DV-Camcorder-Lighting-Continuous-Lighting-wholesalers.html

Ebay seller, price - $220:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BL-900-LED-Video-Light-Canon-EOS-550D-T2i-7D-5D-II-/170596300020?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b854f4f4

And yes, bag comes free with light :-)

gh2 Low Light Shots

bostonmike — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:45:22 +0000

Testing out my gh2 with Terraquake hack around the house in low light. Settings---- Smooth, -2, -2, -2, -2. 24H Motion Picture Mode, ISO 160, 14-140mm kit lens. Sony Vegas Home Studio HD 11. No color correction, just a few contrast adjustments. Had a nice soundtrack to it, but somehow still can't seem to upload sound on Vimeo yet.

Flags (for lighting)

qwerty123 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:33:28 +0000

I don't think we have a topic on flags. So I thought I'd start it up. Anyone have recommendations for a nice quality, inexpensive flags for lighting? What is your preferred flag setup, etc.

Infrared modifications

fatpig — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:07:20 +0000

I currently bought a small surveillance camera with 6mm lens, for 15 usd on ebay. i was surprised that it can film in almost complete darkness- and this is done by auto switching into the infrared light spectrum, BUT it does NOT have lights on it. It uses the Infrared spectrum of the normal street and house lights.
Does anyone have thoughts on this and- why this is not available on hdslrs as night shot mode?

Light holder for halogen bulbs

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:13:52 +0000

Can be interesting and cheap solution if you have bunch of power :-)

It looks like it could be mounted on any light stand.

Price: $24 including shipping

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/replacement-video-light-news-lamp-case-103619

Light rigs: Opteka CXS-400

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:34:45 +0000

Another light and quite cheap rig.
Of course, they are not up to Wondland or Zacuto quality, but looks good anyway.

Price: about $110

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Opteka-CXS-400-Video-Shoulder-Stabilizer-Support-Rig-DSLR-Camera-Camcorder-/370554840502

LED light - 3 Color Temp

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:51:33 +0000

Bi-Colour LED light

Price: $69 shipped

We have small deal for our members on this light, contact me via PM if you want to get it for $64,99.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Color-Temp-LED-VIDEO-Light-D7000-D3100-K-5-K-r-E-P3-/230545902365

I like this light, it can be very handy if you need to have something with you.
It is small and portable.
I have 5600k 1400LM version and can't say anything bad about it.

1000 LED light....$280 shipped.

jaecjaec — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:06:15 +0000

Perhaps not the latest dimmable LED panels out there, but if you need some cheap bright panels, these are a good value.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1000-LED-Video-Studio-Portrait-Panel-Light-Lighting-NEW-/360345500177?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e643fa11

I would recommend googling the seller, call a gentleman named Richard for a slightly better deal. These older panels are getting phased out and most vendors sell them at close to cost.

US and Canada only!

2x 700 LED lights, variable color temperature

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:37:11 +0000

One strange thing is that on photos you can see "500 Leds :-) "
So, be sure to ask seller.

Price: $545 + shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-700-LED-Video-Light-Camera-Sutdio-Continuous-Light-/120791952896

ND Filter Strength?

drogo — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:07 +0000

I'm looking into buying a 4x4 ND filter for my Trusmt mattebox that is coming. I'm trying to decide what strength to start with. I plan to use it shooting outdoors in the summer. I'm also getting a polarizer. My experience with the GH2 outdoors is that the overexposure is very strong in the sun, sometimes requiring to stop the lens down to min aperture (f16 or f22). My feeling is that I should get one strong ND to go with my polarizer (polarizer should reduce about 1.5 stops). Was thinking about the Cavision ND 1.8 (equal to ND64... or 6 stops). That's a pretty strong one.... anyone have experience with this?

PS - I'm not really interested in vari nd filters, so please don't recommend that. I'm using a mattebox.

Cinematography Style Documentary

Aksel — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:28:09 +0000

GH13 Concert and Event settings 24p with file spanning

DrDave — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:22:19 +0000

I'm starting this thread for people who are interested in a high quality, 24p, stable patch for events such as weddings, concerts, theater, poetry readings, lectures and so on. And pub crawls. Maybe impossible, but progress continues to be made.
Although not always high art, I get a lot of requests to video a show, concert, event, wedding, etc., and these events typically are indoors, with poor or varied lighting.
Sometimes these events run several hours. And for these events, I sometimes prefer the IQ of the GH13 over the GH2, at ISO 400-1000.
My requirements are:
24p for easy editing in Premiere and others. Premiere offers real time playback and effects with Mercury engine.
Reasonably good IQ, regardless of the bitrate
Minimal pulsing (some ppl don't see it but it drives me nuts)
Fine grain at ISO 800 and usable 1600
File spanning, in case I need continuous coverage
Smooth transitions in shadows, given the limitations of the camera.
Ability to use F/5.6 on a sharp lens in places that have good lighting
Good IQ and grain with lens wide open in bad lighting.
Plays back in camera so the highlights ("overs") can be checked, and also IQ checked on a monitor.
Static scene bit rate 0f 20-24, typical of events and shows, or stages where there are a lot of fixed objects or open space
Works on a Transcend 32gb Class 10 card or better

First off, I would like to acknowledge all those who have done the real work, including Vitaliy, cbrandin, lpowell, blackout, rigs, and many more.
Basis line: my starting point was the BP patch and lpowell's amazing high reliabilty patch. The HR patch has really served me well. It file spans reasonably well, has great IQ. It does not of course have 24p (hence the reliable part). The BP patch is also great, and is 24p, but did not span reliably. Another issue is that high bitrate patches often give low rates in low light. And theatre lighting with F/5.6 would occasionally lock up at 24p.
Along came the rigs patch, which gives HIGH rates in low light and static scenes. My static scene bit rates doubled. Also, pulsing in shadow areas is minimized.I made three changes to this patch. First, I used the suggestion to raise the buffer to 84. Next, I lowered the overall bitrate in the regular section to 36 and the minimum to 22. I found that I could not see a big difference in static scene rates of 24 as opposed to the 33 I was getting in Rigs. Also, after a certain point it seemed that noise in shadow areas became slightly more visible after the bitrate exceeded 24.
So far, in three days of testing, quality is good, file spanning is good and I get a solid 24 minutes per 4 gig chunk on my card--the reasonably priced Transcend 32gb. Mileage plus.

Like all 24p patches, I suspect it will crash, so those who really need reliability should go for lpowell's high reliability patch. As with all patches, use at your own risk.
I'm sure those better versed in the subtleties of the patch can make a better one, and I welcome suggestions.

The zip file has the most conservative version of the patch. I will try to bump the bit rate up ten percent with the same stability,and also work on possibly a GOP of 8 or 6.

Cheap and powerful studio light with softbox

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:06:18 +0000

Quite interesting and cheap light ($149 only)

Features:
◦ LED quantity: 306
◦ Max output(Watt): 18 w LED (270 w incandescent equivalent)
◦ Beam angle: 60°
◦ Photo Luminance Factor: 220
◦ Color rendering index（Ra): ≥85
◦ Color temperature: 5600K
◦ LED longevity: >10000h
◦ Power input: AA Battery×10 & DC12V/2A
◦ Housing size (mm): 250×145×85
◦ Weight (g): 380

Includes:
(1) Lamphead
(1) Reflector
(1) 24" Softbox

eBay: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=ProMaster++VL306+

You can find it in many other locations, actually.

For example, 2x kit can be abtained for around $400

LED light, 3000lux Comer alternative

TwitHerb — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:59:06 +0000

I know Vitaly posted the cheaper Comer clone the other day.

I just ran across this light:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JTL-Pro-LED-Camera-Mounted-Video-DV-Camcorder-Light-/250826304184?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6669aab8#ht_5271wt_970

http://jtlcorp.com/13ll/ledlight.html

It looks similar in size and is similarly priced to the Comer, but on paper it pumps out 3000 lux.

Curious how it would work with a "softbox" like this: http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Softbox-Speedlight-Speedlite-Panasonica/dp/B003Y322RO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311537307&sr=8-1

14W LED Light

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:59:05 +0000

Price: from $96 shipped

Cheapest seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-5010-6500K-Light-Lamp-Video-Camera-DV-Camcorder-/270782574370

Larger price, better feedback:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-LED-5010-Video-light-Canon-JVC-Pentax-Olympus-/170666225076

LED light using open source hardware

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:19:50 +0000

“Floyd” is a high quality LED light source with adjustable color temperature. The goal is to make a high quality, flexible light source optimized for photographers who shoot both stills and video.
Its smarts are powered by an ARM microprocessor, the same kind of processor that runs your mobile phone. The design is open source, anyone can contribute to the design, hack it, make accessories for it, or otherwise bend it to their will.
It is a highly flexible platform device able to control attachments like remote light sensing, a light painting brush, and more.

This is a lightweight portable piece of lighting gear that is easy to work with. It is not a flimsy piece of plastic. It is made from lightweight aircraft-grade aluminium alloy and built to last.

This thing looks really strange. It seems to be actually not working and not finished yet.
And I doubt that anyone but few guys will be able to make PCB and solder all chips on it, make enclosure, get all leds.
Seems like huge time waste. But may be I am wrong here.

http://riftlabs.com/

How-to: Lighting

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:09:18 +0000

Here I'll collect links to publications about interesting lighting techniques for specific situations.

Small spaces, elevator

Anatomy of a Spot: T-Mobile, http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/aadams/story/anatomy_of_a_spot_t-mobile/