Led light panels

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Adamcski

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I've used them for video, that's what they're designed for and they're fine for that.

But they're a terrible choice for still photography, mainly because they can't be fitted with modifiers, get an S-fit continuous light instead if you really want to use LED for still photography - which in my experience is a bad choice anyway because flash is so much better.

As for recommendations, a Chinese friend who is in the trade and knows a lot about them says that, apart from small variations, e.g. some have colour adjustment, achieved by switching off some LEDs and so reducing power, they pretty much all use identical electronics and LEDs, and nearly all of the claims made about the advantages of different makes are all just marketing nonsense, so there's no point in spending more than you need to.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I've used them for video, that's what they're designed for and they're fine for that.

But they're a terrible choice for still photography, mainly because they can't be fitted with modifiers, get an S-fit continuous light instead if you really want to use LED for still photography - which in my experience is a bad choice anyway because flash is so much better.

As for recommendations, a Chinese friend who is in the trade and knows a lot about them says that, apart from small variations, e.g. some have colour adjustment, achieved by switching off some LEDs and so reducing power, they pretty much all use identical electronics and LEDs, and nearly all of the claims made about the advantages of different makes are all just marketing nonsense, so there's no point in spending more than you need to.
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Thanks Garry.

I have two pixa pro 200 lights that I purchased off the forum a while ago.

These ones https://www.essentialphoto.co.uk/products/pixapro-lumi-200-400ws-twin-kit-trigger-receiver

I use these for flash when taking images of my dog. But they are big and when the soft boxes are on, there isn't much room in the house.

They have a continuous lighting mode but the fans in them are quite loud, so figured some cheap LED panels with a diffuser on them might be a good alternative for video stuff.

Something like this

I just like to play around with things and learn. I don't even have a YouTube channel but I'm learning about video now slowly.
 
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Adamcski said:
Thanks Garry.

I have two pixa pro 200 lights that I purchased off the forum a while ago.

These ones https://www.essentialphoto.co.uk/products/pixapro-lumi-200-400ws-twin-kit-trigger-receiver

I use these for flash when taking images of my dog. But they are big and when the soft boxes are on, there isn't much room in the house.

They have a continuous lighting mode but the fans in them are quite loud, so figured some cheap LED panels with a diffuser on them might be a good alternative for video stuff.
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Re-branded Godox, perfectly OK.
I really suffer from lack of space, but manage, although I never see the need to use more than 1 softbox at a time, decent softbox do take up a lot of space. See the various lighting challenges in the lighting forum, also my various tutorials.
Adamcski said:
Something like this

I just like to play around with things and learn. I don't even have a YouTube channel but I'm learning about video now slowly.
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They're just a strange variation of a proper softbox, never tried one but they seem to be far too shallow to be any use at distributing the light evenly, and the actual lights aren't included, so not even cheap. Personally I wouldn't bother, but Temu seem to have something very similar at a much better price https://www.temu.com/uk/foldable--light-reflector-with-focus-plate-portable-non-electric-photography-flash-diffuser-cone-cover-for-studio-outdoor-shooting-durable-lightweight-design-with-carry-case-g-601101451852582.html?_oak_mp_inf=EKb2i7St1ogBGiAxMWJkNzVmMjdjOTA0ZDM1YTM5NDY5N2I4MGQ3N2I2MyC52PKzyTM=&top_gallery_url=https://img.kwcdn.com/product/fancy/1d0fa1b6-5982-4b4d-8a74-d193c3c0a09b.jpg&spec_gallery_id=601101451852582&refer_page_sn=10009&freesia_scene=2&_oak_freesia_scene=2&_oak_rec_ext_1=NzEz&_oak_gallery_order=1215960327,649613251,1688377746,1798488059,1108525443&search_key=photography softbox for led video light&refer_page_el_sn=200049&ab_scene=1&enable_vqr=0&_x_vst_scene=adg&_x_ads_channel=google&_x_ads_sub_channel=search&_x_ads_account=3954917911&_x_ads_set=20030620447&_x_ads_id=145204446941&_x_ads_creative_id=656070467913&_x_ns_source=g&_x_ns_gclid=CjwKCAiA2PrMBhA4EiwAwpHyC4hOM2h6-Z9fv8-gIuoSNCIfpwgARN7E8KoxDf80XPUwtGM96HINwBoCjTsQAvD_BwE&_x_ns_placement=&_x_ns_match_type=e&_x_ns_ad_position=&_x_ns_product_id=&_x_ns_target=&_x_ns_devicemodel=&_x_ns_wbraid=CkAKCAiAtfXMBhArEjAAwbQqvnd0FYcEomIbigz_4k3BBud-fmbRVmhs90GN0P6rbhpZydVBJeHil7GK_XcaAmpO&_x_ns_gbraid=0AAAAAo4mICHrRlbxAxHW1wH1B6P07zRsY&_x_ns_keyword=temu&_x_ns_targetid=kwd-4583699489&_x_sessn_id=v959sxlizm&refer_page_name=search_result&refer_page_id=10009_1772051280294_1bbsib8sm5

As for learning about video, I'm very much a beginner myself, but one thing that doesn't concern me is fan noise, which I can get rid of very easily in my Premier Pro editing software
 
I bought two 2'x4' edge lit LED panels with dimming capability... something like this (but not). I then made a bracket with a baby pin wall plate and a fairly thick bar of aluminum screwed and glued across the back. They're supposed to be "high power" for an LED panel, but not compared to flash. And they're supposed to be very high CRI, but probably aren't; they're good enough for work that isn't color critical.

I chose edge lit as it is much more even than a COB panel, and it doesn't need diffusion (which costs power and eats space). The flicker rate seems to be high enough that I don't get banding, but the power also requires slower SS's which helps that (or higher ISO's.) The biggest negative is that they are HEAVY and hard to position; like risky heavy. But try to buy a half decent LED panel that size that is purpose made... they're not cheap and they are all COB. I made mine quite a few years ago when panels were even more expensive.

I also have a couple LED PAR type bulbs something like this (but not) in a bulb/umbrella holder, which I use as a hard light or through diffusion panels/domes/bounced... they're also supposed to be high CRI, but probably aren't. These lights are good for what I use them for, which is low production-value work (generic product shots, videos, etc) and they have the advantage of WYSIWYG. But they are not a replacement for flash if you really want/need the highest quality results; plus flash is cheaper (and safer?) for purpose made kit.
 
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in my 19 X 26' photo/video studio I have 8 of the GVM 480 LS panels arranged in a wide leg U around an area with a an 8' banquet table and two chairs behind it when it has been set up for video. These LED panels are all hung as close to the 8' ceiling as possible, so I can leave them there while using the studio for portraits and still shots below. These 8 panels on full output make the lighting look much like a TV Newsroom with little to no shadows. The output from these 8 LED panels barely does a good job for video, and I've considered adding two more LED panels to extend the side legs a bit further back, if I should decide to make more videos. It was initially bought and set up to make videomercials of health food products for one of my daughter-in-laws. I guess she has decided not to do any more, so the lights are just waiting for the next need. There has been plenty of room below them for 33" soft boxes on light stands for portrait shoots as well as my product and still life shoots, so I haven't needed to take them down. No room to store them either. I have power strips on the ceiling running from each side of the 10' backdrops, running about 10' apart all the way to the back wall of the studio. Each has a power outlet every 6" along them, so "Mains" power is within 5' of anywhere that I place or hang a light, and for most of my lighting needs there are a very minimum of power cords and light stands on my studio floor to trip over.

If you want a TV Newsroom type of evenly lit video, you are going to need this many, or more, LED Panels to do the job well. Now, consider the problems of putting 8 light stands about 2' apart and surrounding your subjects with the light needed. This was a significant reason why I put the ceiling lighting grid and the power up there on the ceiling instead of on light stands. I have wireless control of all of these lights with on, off control from each of my camera stands, and each wireless control can turn on and off up to five different groups of lights. There are power control modules available from Amazon that come in groups of five with two wireless transmitters. These modules can be re-programmed easily to work with any button pair on the transmitters. SoI have five different groups of lights controlled wirelessly from one or two transmitters. All of my ceiling mounted LED panels are turned on and off with one button pair. Another pair turns on and off my studio strobes, Another button pair controls my LED "Black Lights" also hung from the ceiling lighting grid, and I have two 500 watt focusing spot lights hanging from the ceiling grid with separate on and off buttons for each. No need to climb the step ladder to turn them on and off. I have a different wireless control to let me turn on and off my pre-existing ceiling light that I use as my work light. When I began building my photo studio there was only one light at the door entrance to turn it on and off. This wireless control addition gives me 5 different places where I can turn on and off this work light. One switch is on each camera stand, one is on the wheeled tool box where I keep my lenses and basic tools and where I frequently set the camera down if holding it in my hands, when I wish to make changes in the shoot, and one is in the original switch location at the door entrance. I now can turn this ceiling work light if it will interfere with a shot, and then turn it back on without the need to move around in the dark studio to do it. This is a significant safety feature.

Charley
 
I haven't got round to doing anything about this since my post. Had a leak in the roof which has (hopefully) been fixed, so have some decorating to do prior to sorting this out now.

I have been practicing video and just using the natural light from a skylight in the loft extension.
 
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I hate them, other than for low-end YT video and talking heads TV interviews.

The history here is that, about 15 years or so ago, small Chinese factories started making them, partly becasue there is a very low entry barrier, i.e. anyone can make the case in any factory and buy in the LED components - which were nearly always the very cheap ones designed for other uses such as security lighting, with terrible CRI but misdescribed as having a high CRI - and then it got worse when flash manufacturers found that they couldn't compete with the Godox monopoly, so pretty much everyone started making them.

And as the components are cheap and photographers are usually willing to pay far too much for gear, the profits are high.

And, of course, they all claimed that they were perfect for still photography too, to increase their market, but that's just nonsense.
 
Well, I have re-joined the living. I wasn't convinced that I was going to for a while, but I'm back. I had my pacemaker replaced on Monday and I was back home on Tuesday, but it was a pretty rough surgery and I'm still in considerable pain. A Technicolor movie has nothing on the shades of color showing on my right side from the under the skin bleeding that occurred, but in time I won't be as spectacularly colored as I am now. Still in considerable pain, but I'm doing better that way too. I'll spare you all from viewing the photos that have been taken.

So, on to my first reply to the posts on this forum since my new pacemaker has been installed -

Other than the LED panels not being very bright, the 8 that I have, the GVM 480 LS provide great even light with the wide leg U pattern that I have them placed in on my studio ceiling. They are above three sides of the banquet table that we have used in these videos, and angled down at about 40 degrees. There are two LED Panels on each of the sides, and four across the base of the wide U pattern. Each is spaced 2-3 feet apart and angled to point roughly at the banquet table. They are attached to a ceiling lighting support grid, a DIY project of 1 X 1 X 1/4" steel angles that are about 10' long and spaced 4-5 feet apart running parallel with my backdrop system. These are about 4" below my studio 8' ceiling. If I want to hang a light or something else that's between two of these angles, I have 5' long pieces of this same angle material that I can bridge between any two of the 10' long angles to allow hanging a light or other anywhere within the shooting area of my studio. For these LED panels, the 10' long angle with the 4 LED panels is the 4th 10' long angle when counting back from the backdrop end of the studio. This is roughly above where the camera is located. For the side legs of the U pattern I have added two 5' long angles to each side (I don't have loose 10' angles, and they would be hard to position, so just use two of the 5' angles on each side of the shooting area). At present, two LED panels are placed on these along each side of my shooting area, and also angled down at about 40 degrees.

I installed surface mounted power strips on the studio ceiling, running from the backdrops to near each end of the last of the 10' long angles, so Mains power receptacles are available every 6" along each of these, and power is available within 5' of anywhere that I choose to hang a light. Since most lighting on light stands is placed along both sides of the shooting area, this power strip arrangement provides power for any light on a light stand below as well. So no power cables, and a minimum of tripod light stands are ever on my studio floor, making the studio a much safer place for me and my subjects. A common electrician piece of hardware called an "Electricians Beam Clamp" provides the attachment point for lights and even in pairs are used to attach the crossing point of a 5' long steel angle to the 10' long angles. These beam clamps are a kind-of C-clamp, with a large bolt included that closes the opening to clamp it to a steel beam. The other two sides of this beam clamp are drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 threads or 3/8-16 threads, and common threads used in photography attachment hardware. To attach one steel angle to another, I use two of these beam clamps with a 1/4-20 X 1/2" round head bolt to connect the two clamps together. Then one of the clamps can secure to the 10' long angle and the other beam clamp of the pair can secure the 5' long angle to it. I always place the 5' long steel angles above the 10' long angles, so if any clamp should fail, the 5' long steel angle cannot fall to the floor. It will fall against the 10' steel angle instead. Since I don't trust the spigot attachment of light to the hanging point, I also have small chain loops that keep lights from falling should this spigot connection fail. This grid attachment point is another beam clamp with a photography spigot attached to one of the 1/4-20 threaded holes in it.


So all of the lights hung from the ceiling for video, which makes moving the camera around the studio floor safer and easier. The lighting arrangement lets me light about 1/2 of my 19 X 26' studio at the backdrop end, so the area being staged is about 10 X 12' with the backdrop along the 10' side and the camera working space along the other 10' side. The videos that have been made so far consist of an 8' banquet table, two chairs and health food products on the table, with 1-2 adults sitting or standing around this table to demonstrate and talk about the products being displayed. The longest video took most of 3 days to shoot and it is only 14 minutes long. With the LED panel lights positioned this way on the ceiling, I was able to create a relatively shadow free and evenly lit area around this table that looks much like the TV News room environment that you see when watching one of the big channel News reports on your TV. I tried several arrangements of the light panels and added some, before I managed to get this stage space lit to our satisfaction, and if we make any more of these videos, Shadows in this kind of video are not what is needed. They can improve portraits, but not infomercial videos. I'll be adding two more of these GVM 480 LS panels to extend the lighted area back toward the backdrops a bit further, if we end up making any more of the videos. Near the backdrops is a bit lower in light level than desired with the present setup. It has been adequate for the videos that we made, but I haven't been fully satisfied with it, and I'm always looking to make my shoots better. These videos are on "indefinite hold" right now, and I'm beginning to doubt that any more will be made, and this is why I haven't bought the two additional LED panels yet.

Charley
 
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