Lowell light for Weddings - alternatives ???

[DG Phototraining]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of acting as both 2nd shooter and assistant to a good pal of mine at the wonderful Oulton Hall

To add a bit of interest we shot a series of images with his Lowell ID continuous battery powered light, and I must report that its very easy to use to create a 'Hollywood' look virtually anywhere (inside that is, its not powerful enough for daylight outside), and its variable power adjustment proved itself worthy too - but at around £400 its a tad expensive

However, I have heard reports that it can be a bit fragile, and its battery live isn't very long too

So as more & more photographers use this form of lighting I'm guessing manufacturers have woken up and launched a range of similar and possibly cheaper alternatives ???

I've even heard of a few using LED torches from such as B&Q !!!

So if you do use lighitng like this - what, other than the Lowell, do you use and why ???

Cheers

Dave

 

[paul_g]

I use the Lowell, no issues with durability & I'm renowned for smashing up kit
I've got the older battery & haven't run out of juice yet. Pretty certain you can now get it with a Li-ion battery which gives much longer battery life

Edit: Haven't exactly answered the question have I

 

[testbloke]

We had a Lowell but sold it to fund studio. Lowel is not fragile and battery life depends on the battery. The standard 7ah battery lasts up to an hour, a 21 ah battery lasts 3 hours. It also uses standard car headlight bulbs, you can get ultrawhite bulbs that balance nicely with flash. After sunset, it was also great outdoors. There are lots of cheap led panels in use but the lowel is different due to fresnel lens. Does get a bit heavy though.

 

[kman]

I know many photographers who use the Lowel ID light i think its a useful bit of kit. Pretty versatile and you can get lighter and smaller batteries now too - Bescor do a pocket sized battery. Typically don't need tons of battery life as only use them for portrait shots though I do know one photographer who uses them to light almost everything (with an assistant following her around constantly lighting).

My preference though is the icelight. Not so versatile but the quality of light is brilliant, its daylight balanced and stays that way (lowel temperature does shift around a bit), but again its expensive, some might say too expensive for what it is but the cheaper alternatives arent as good imo.

If you're looking for alternatives to the Lowell then also look at the Dedo DLH4 - more power and you can spot focus the light a lot better.

Shot with a Lowel:

 

[unclened]

I use the following light, its a lot cheaper than most big brands and is very light, colour temp adjustable, versatile and still gives a decent amount of light. Its about £115 on Ebay from.UK sellers. I've got two and will happily clamp them together to increase output.

http://fotodioxpro.com/index.php/fo...video-light-kit-with-removable-batteries.html

 

[DG Phototraining]

Interesting comments there chaps - thanks

Dave

 

[flyingmonkeycorp]

I've been looking into stuff like this too - Yongnuo do a 300 LED jobbie that looks quite interesting and is super cheap. I also have some very bright MTB lights that I keep thinking might work quite well (in a same way as an LED torch) with an umbrella to soften them up a bit, certainly for indoor stuff.

I need to experiment.

 

[jacob12_1993]

I may be biased but how about the Manfrotto Maxima? Daylight balanced, soft light, 1.5 hr run time at full power, flash function, broadcast quality litepanels LEDs, CTO gels and diffuser included, hot shoe mountable, super light weight and half the price of the ICE light? http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/maxima-84led-panel

 

[Phil V]

I'd want something I could focus, the LED panels do nowt for me. I can create a small light easily with flash much better than an LED panel, but the Lowell has the Fresnel lens and that's something I have no alternative for.

 

[nigelbb]

The Lowel light is nicely made but bloody expensive for what is basically a car headlamp bulb powered by a motorcycle battery. There are alternatives around as they have been used by ENG cameramen for years. Look on eBay for a used PAGlight or a Sachtler Reporter.

 

[kman]

Phil have a look at the Dedo DLH4 it has much more ability to spot focus than the lowel does as well as having the barn doors.

For me though the Icelight is my preferred weapon of choice as it is versatile in the quality of light you can get.

One of my images by icelight:

you can see more from others here: http://www.theiceculture.com/gallery

 

[ryanyboy]

I do like th Lowell light. I've been using one for a long time. But personally I find the build quality to be shocking - mainly around the light stand connector. My all fell apart a long time ago!

 

[flyingmonkeycorp]

I'd normally happily use flash to be honest, but I've a wedding coming up in summer where I can't (and in the darkest area too, of course!). That's why the LED panels are quite appealing...