Okay, so currently in my film project, I am my own production crew... and I'm workin' with the bare minimum in funds. So I bought some LED strips, and am making my own film light. I currently have a strip of 600 cool white LED lights, which will be alright for lighting a face. I was going to use a strip of 300 to use as a filler light. Then I saw super bright LED's that I could order. As long as my light sources are diffused would it be wiser to use the Super Bright LEDS as the key light, and cool white as a filler? or should I stick with the 600, and 300 led ideas...
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Question about LED lighting
- Thread starter Armyshot
- Start date
It depends on the look you're trying to achieve... there's really no one size fits all solution. Keep in mind that the colors will be off between the super bright and the cool white, so you'll want to take that into account when setting up your lighting... perhaps needing to buy a gel kit to help with the color differences (or just using the color to strike some mood / hint at practical lights else where in the setting).
I've done the very same build <CLICK>. I'm working on a simple DIY write up. So far, I like them (I built 3 panels), and have about 20 hours of run time on them with absolutely no problems. The dimmers are worth it. Each panel ran me about $41.50.
The quality of the light is so-so, and not as bright as I want. But as portable units, I am very pleased. The next one I build will be twice a big.
You should take care in choosing the color of the LEDs. As I recall, the 'warm white' is warmer than tungsten (and makes the least light of the LED strips). 'Natural' is a little warmer than daylight, but pretty close. 'Cool White' is very blue. I used the 'natural' color.
Also, you can gel the LEDs warmer, but you can't really gel them cooler.
It's an easy build, and if you have a deep cycle battery you can run these for literally days on a single charge.
I also built up a set of battery connectors that have an integrated volt/amp meter, so I can see the current draw and condition of the battery as I shoot.
In regards to the "super bright" LEDs, could you post a link to both versions you are referring to? I have an answer for you but I need some more information.
Thomas
The quality of the light is so-so, and not as bright as I want. But as portable units, I am very pleased. The next one I build will be twice a big.
You should take care in choosing the color of the LEDs. As I recall, the 'warm white' is warmer than tungsten (and makes the least light of the LED strips). 'Natural' is a little warmer than daylight, but pretty close. 'Cool White' is very blue. I used the 'natural' color.
Also, you can gel the LEDs warmer, but you can't really gel them cooler.
It's an easy build, and if you have a deep cycle battery you can run these for literally days on a single charge.
I also built up a set of battery connectors that have an integrated volt/amp meter, so I can see the current draw and condition of the battery as I shoot.
In regards to the "super bright" LEDs, could you post a link to both versions you are referring to? I have an answer for you but I need some more information.
Thomas
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