Lets Power Up Those Lights!

Winter has most definitely set in so let’s power up those lights! LED technology has come on leaps and bounds from only a few years ago, so there is no excuse now to tell your talent that on that particular day they were looking a little pink or green. Colour accuracy has stopped being embarrassing. Three pickups from what I have noticed over the past few months are; more power, more features included within fixtures (whether they are real world useful or not) and quite literally, flexibility. So, let’s have a brief look at what has been flying off the shelves…. The current popular kid on the block is the “Flexi” light. Not everyone has the luxury of assistants these days and we all know budgets are tight, so many just want to save weight when lugging their kit around. The solution is the Flexi light – LED’s manufactured into a thin panel that weighs next to nothing and can be used in pretty much any situation. Use them with a frame on a stand, Gaffa them to a wall, small tight space?… yep, not a problem. These can do it. Until recently it was really only 1x1’s on offer, however the 2x1 (think Kino Diva size) is now a dominating force. My favourites (so far) are the Aladdin BI-FLEX 2 and Fomex FL1200. Powered by either mains or V-lock power, Bi-Colour, super high CRI / TLCI ratings, grids and soft boxes available for the more delicate controlled approach. Plus throw these onto a 4x4 frame and that is a pretty cheap and lightweight Skylight (a better option than the other one you’re thinking off). I would urge you all to at least come and take a look, as these are some punchy and versatile lights! Okay, you’re not fussed about your lights being super lightweight and flexible, but you just want some power to make the darkest scene seem like a summers day - what do you do? You know you don’t want something so massive you need yet another larger van or even worse an 18 stone Gaffa to lift it for you. Easy! You’ve been happy using 1x1’s, so upgrade to the Litepanels Astra 6x Bi-Colour! Now, the original Astra was seriously bright, but this one, using Litepanels next generation LED’s is quoted as being 50% brighter than the original Astra and it certainly looks like it. Some of the notable features include smooth dimming from 0-100% with no colour shift, flicker free at any frame rate or shutter angle and a whole host of accessories ranging from DMX/Bluetooth modules, Grids, Soft boxes, gels and Nanoptic lenses… to name a few. When I have clients saying they are using them outside windows to replicate sunlight or gently painting the light onto their talents face for an interview, I’m asking myself if this is the light I want in my kit? Now! The third type of light. The lights that seemingly do it all…. the Swiss Army Knife of lights you could say. The brand new Litepanels Gemini along with Kino Flo Select, Celeb and Diva LED lights provide a seriously nice quality of light. They are soft sourced and overflowing full of technology…. gone of the days of sticking a bulb in a RED Head, gelling it with some CTB and then giving yourself third degree burns taking it all down. Not now that you have a FULL range of CTB, CTO and every imaginable colours in the spectrum at your disposal. The big question is… are we about to see our inner creative side go a little haywire and chuck in that Moonlight Blue or Surprise Peach gel in… just because it’s there. I feel a certain level of self-control may be needed. To put to one side the overwhelming amount of gels at your fingertips, these types of lights are very impressive – Colour accurate, solid construction, DMX/Bluetooth Modules, user defined pre-sets, the ability to daisy-chain them and the usual honeycomb and soft boxes available. If you’ve ever found yourself adding in a coloured gel effect or needing a strobe/fireplace effect to add the extra oomph to the shoot, or just simply want a “do-it-all” light then this type may be the one for you. Now, this is a brief synopsis of a few options out there but by no means the only ones. Some of you may want smaller lights, larger ones, round ones, camera top ones… they’re all out there. There is a multitude of kit available to buy now and sometimes too much choice!  So get in touch and we can run through the options based on your requirements and make that decision a little easier for you. Litepanels Astra 6x Bi-Colour Litepanels Gemini Kino Celeb 250 Aladdin BI-FLEX 2 Fomex FL1200