I need a new light, can you help me?

symmetricalOCD

symmetricalOCD

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Ben
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hi everyone,

my old raleno LED panel lights failed recently so I've been looking at getting a new more professional setup, would it be worth getting something like an amaran 200 xS? I like the look of the nanlite FS-300B as well but it might be overkill? also I am a musician, can I mount one of these light onto a standard mic stand? I know there are C stands available but I want to try and use what I've already got if possible. It is primarily for photography but also some youtube videos, I just want something that does not break and will continue working for years, my budget is probably max £300-£400 but if I can get something good for less then I'd prefer closer to £200.

cheers,

Ben.
 
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Well, as you want a single light to be OK for both video and still photography, LED is your only option. But, in perfect world, I would recommend LED for video and flash for literally all types of still photography.

Your cheapest viable option is probably an LED that features a standard S-fit accessory mount, which will allow nearly any modifier to work with it. Something like this should do the job, other suppliers are available https://www.lencarta.com/gb/godox-sl100d-100w-daylight-balanced-led-video-light

Very much a compromise when taking still photos, but much better than any of the panel lights, which are incapable of modification and therefore pretty useless.
 
thanks Garry, I don't have a flash so will look at investing in one, I forgot to say that I'm looking for a bi-colour light as well but don't really need any extra features like special effects as I'll likely never use them, to start with I will get just one light and probably then get a second one, and add on any softboxes e.t.c as I go along, do you think anything above 100w is too much?
 
Lighting can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, whatever suits your own needs is right.

All that I and others can do on this forum is to try to steer you towards equipment that can be expanded in the future if you want to go in that direction, and this really means flash for still photography (LED is also perfectly usuable, especially for static subjects, but flash is much better for all sorts of reasons) and that's why I suggested, if one light has to do everything, the LED above, which has the standard S-fit accessory mount. This can be used with softboxes (and all other modifiers) and is the main reason why panel lights are pretty useless.

As for power, it depends. 100 Watts of power consumption should be fine for video, but this depends on a lot of different factors, you have to decide whether a small increase in image quality - more power will allow a lower iso setting - is worth the extra cost to you. For still photography, continuous lighting is dazzling to your victims, but although more power = more discomfort, it also allows faster shutter speeds.

As for bi-colour, if you really want this you can avoid the extra cost and simply place a gel filter over the light, to get the same result.
 
As a musician be sure to look for silent or bare minimum quiet models or it might drive you nuts. Fans can be really loud. While it doesn't necessarily affect voice track, you may find it more intrusive

Bicolor - yes totally. You may want to match other lights.

If you only use them indoors you may get away with around 100w. You want a decent camera and at least usable f2.8 lens
 
LongLensPhotography said:
As a musician be sure to look for silent or bare minimum quiet models or it might drive you nuts. Fans can be really loud. While it doesn't necessarily affect voice track, you may find it more intrusive

Bicolor - yes totally. You may want to match other lights.

If you only use them indoors you may get away with around 100w. You want a decent camera and at least usable f2.8 lens
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Fan noise is a valid point.

But these colour-adjustable lights are just an expensive solution to a problem that, for most people, doesn't even exist. These colour correction filters are dirt cheap and 100% effective https://stagedepot.co.uk/lighting/l...PFMV-ie_cQ83hnaKiqFf_mBx_71Sef8BoCuW8QAvD_BwE
 
Garry Edwards said:
But these colour-adjustable lights are just an expensive solution to a problem that, for most people, doesn't even exist. These colour correction filters are dirt cheap and 100% effective https://stagedepot.co.uk/lighting/l...PFMV-ie_cQ83hnaKiqFf_mBx_71Sef8BoCuW8QAvD_BwE
Click to expand...
yes, that is a fairly decent way of color matching. It can feel a bit tedious when you are forced to go through multiple gels trying to find a perfect match, isolating any possible gaps. and so on. Softbox makes it even harder, and unless you love hard light in your eyes, you absolutely want a softbox on (or a beauty dish - but they amplify fan noise to the extreme!)
If one already has a legacy "Daylight" LED absolutely that is the way to go, but for new purchase pretty much everything on the market is either Bi or RGB (sometimes also marked C). RGB is a lot more expensive, and arguably you can selectively buy a lower powered version with the aim of using it on background or as accent lights.

I am really struggling to find a gel in a RIGHT red in 2 kits. They are all quite magenta or orange.... There may be better kits and you might have a large chest of drawer full of them like Lindsay Adler (worth following on YT btw). It may be necessary in her position but this hardly excites me at all.
 
I've been looking again at lighting, would you say a 140 x 30cm softbox is more useful than a 110 x 45? which one should I go for? do you have a preference? I plan on mostly doing video and photography of objects, less so than human beings, with the odd filming of me talking into the camera, I'd appreciate your opinions on this.
 
The smaller one will be fine for most non-human subjects and will also take up far less space, the 140cm ones are - or should be - very deep
 
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