So I'm looking for a good but affordable LED Spot capable of delivering a nice harsh rim light, would need to be able to attach barn doors as well. Needs to be 5200-5500 k (No tungsten).

I'm hoping to find something new in the $300 range if possible (Definitely can't afford Arri's)

Can any body point me in the right direction? Thanks much!

PS: Most of the stuff I've found online has been DJ equipment without stand capabilities

Danny Winn...I personally own a LitePanels 3" SOLA ENG Fresnel LED. It comes with Barn Doors and a small filter pack. I like the quality of light it puts out, however, it's cost is outside of your budget.

You also might be able to find one used?

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

J.

Would daylight balanced fluorescents ( like the Calumet Quattros or Bowens Tri-Lites ) be any good ?

I think they run at £150 ish , excluding stands , and are cool running .

Danny Winn...I personally own a LitePanels 3" SOLA ENG Fresnel LED. It comes with Barn Doors and a small filter pack. I like the quality of light it puts out, however, it's cost is outside of your budget.

You also might be able to find one used?

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

J.

Yeah, those are a little out of my budget James, I did find this one (Below) for just $299.00 but cant really find any videos or reviews on it. Are you familiar with it at all? It says it has a built in diffuser so I'm not real happy about that because I'm looking for a harsh rim. LINK: LED 100WA-56 Daylight Dimmable Studio Light - Free Shipping to USA (http://www.led-video-lights.com/led-100w-daylight-studio-light-free-shipping-to-usa_p854.html)

Danny Winn...I personally own a LitePanels 3" SOLA ENG Fresnel LED. It comes with Barn Doors and a small filter pack. I like the quality of light it puts out, however, it's cost is outside of your budget.

You also might be able to find one used?

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

J.

Would daylight balanced fluorescents ( like the Calumet Quattros or Bowens Tri-Lites ) be any good ?

I think they run at £150 ish , excluding stands , and are cool running .

Probably not Derek, those all look to be Flo lights which are really soft, I need a harsh LED or fresnal type. Not sure about this one for $299. http://www.led-video-lights.com/led-100w-daylight-studio-light-free-shipping-to-usa_p854.htmlto USA

Sadly your budget isn't realistic for anything other than a small on camera light. The one in your link looks a bit 'over specified' - and they even refer to it as a 1000W a couple of times. The physical size of it seems very small for a 100W LED light source, so I really don't know. The Chinese Arris are starting to be available with a 100W LED cluster and you get the barn doors and Fresnel lens - but they're still $500-600. If you want controlled lighting - you are going to have to bump the budget.

So I'm looking for a good but affordable LED Spot capable of delivering a nice harsh rim light, would need to be able to attach barn doors as well.


Well, that's going to be a bit of a problem since traditional barn doors don't really work with LED arrays.

At best you'll get a bit of spill control, but nothing even close to what you'd get using a barn door on a traditional open face or fresnel unit.

Remember, each LED is it's OWN spotlight. Each LED has it's OWN beam spread. So when you shut a barn door on an LED array, all you're doing is masking rows of the LEDs. And the led on the far right with a 40 degree spread will happily shoot light at an angle right past the barn door on the left.

And if you try to close the barn doors too much, you'll get venetian blind type light stripes on your subject.

LEDs get a 10 for light per watt efficiency - and maybe a 3 for light control.

As you've noticed, the units that put LEDs inside a system that re-directs the light through a lens to get the control characteristics of a $200 small fresnel - typically cost 5 times what a simple tungsten fresnel would set you back.

Just how it works.

Litepanels has some really great LED Fresnels and I own several, but they aren't cheap. As I have told hundreds of people at my workshops, if you don't have the budget to do LED right, just stick with tungsten.

PS: Most of the stuff I've found online has been DJ equipment without stand capabilities

The DJ stuff will cycle and drive you mad. Colour will "roll through" and give you terrible colour cast.

This light may be underpowered for your needs, and it comes with caveats...

Comer CM-LBPS1800 On-Camera LED Light (Sony Battery) | L.A. Color Pros (http://lacolorpros.com/product/?CM1800-Comer-CM-LBPS1800-On-Camera-LED-Light-%28Sony-Battery%29)

But...

If you look at the photo you'll see the bottom barn door isn't a barn door at all... its a lens with individual magnifiers for each LED. It's meant to alternate between a narrow beam and a wide beam.

The lens is spring loaded, meaning it pops all the way up into place when you swing it up.

I've found that with some fiddling and some luck, you can adjust the beam and get a nice simulated spotlight by holding the lens a fraction of an inch further away from the light than the default spring-loaded position. This can be accomplished with a stiff piece of foam or another lightweight material that's not slippery and doesn't compress very much.

It's sold as a camera-mount light, but you can turn just about any such light into a stand-mount light with something like this:

Amazon.com: Fotodiox Flash-Umb-Bkt-Ultra-Nis Ultra Heavy Duty Flash Umbrella Bracket with Swivel/Tilt Head, Mountable to Light Stand and Tripod - Fits Nissin Flash Di866, Di622, Di466 and PZ400: Camera & Photo (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ODL9LM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005ODL9LM&linkCode=as2&tag=c0211-20)

That bracket also allows for the use of umbrella-mount accessories.

The top swing-down lens is a diffuser which converts to tungsten-like. They sell a replacement for it which is a non-colored diffuser.

The only real "barn doors" are on the left and right side of this, and are of limited utility for the reasons others have mentioned about LED array fixtures previously.

You can run it on a Sony-compatible camera battery.

Thanks for all the responses everybody! It is clear that I need to up my budget for what I really need, I will save my money and try to get one of the Litepanel fresnels. I will really appreciate it when I finally get it. Thanks all!

Danny Winn...I think you've made the wise decision. I've always found, when I buy 'cheap', I always buy twice.

Best regards,

J.

Thanks for all the responses everybody! It is clear that I need to up my budget for what I really need, I will save my money and try to get one of the Litepanel fresnels. I will really appreciate it when I finally get it. Thanks all!

Danny, I'd suggest you look into the Mole Richardson LED fresnels as well, they seem to offer a significantly lower cost per lumen ratio than the Litepanels.

It's not clear what your needs are. Are you looking for particular photometric performance? Beam angle?

Why not a budget LED like the Yongnuo YN600 daylight version or something? Similar performance to a 1x1 litepanel but for your budget you could get two of them.

It's not clear what your needs are. Are you looking for particular photometric performance? Beam angle?

Why not a budget LED like the Yongnuo YN600 daylight version or something? Similar performance to a 1x1 litepanel but for your budget you could get two of them.

Hey Noah, as I said in my original post, I need a spot cabable of a nice harsh rim light, everyone has told me that the LED panels would probably not give the harsh light edge I would need at the distance I normally shoot in (Wide commercial shoots). I currently use a set of flo light soft boxes but I've always wanted a stronger backlight,

Thanks for responding;)

Danny, I'd suggest you look into the Mole Richardson LED fresnels as well, they seem to offer a significantly lower cost per lumen ratio than the Litepanels.

Thanks Mark, I've actually just discovered the Fotodiox Pro DY-200 Daylight Fresnel LED (Link below), at just 1199.00 it looks like the best fit for me and my current budget. Thanks much!

LINK: Search results for: 'dy-200' (http://www.fotodioxpro.com/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=dy-200)

Look at that ballast you have to drag around with that Fotodiox light and the extra cables. The entire kit, just for one light, weighs over 20 lbs.

Why not spend an extra $300 and get a proven, high quality, easy to use, Litepanels Sola 4? No ballast required, runs for a couple of hours on a camera battery, and it weighs just 3.6 pounds. I have one and it gets used on every shoot. It's my favorite light.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=867967&Q=&is=REG&A=details

Look at that ballast you have to drag around with that Fotodiox light and the extra cables. The entire kit weighs over 20 lbs.

Why not spend an extra $300 and get a proven, high quality, easy to use, Litepanels Sola 4? No ballast required, runs for a couple of hours on a camera battery, and it weighs just 3.6 pounds. I have one and it gets used on every shoot. It's my favorite light.

Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Light (120-240VAC) 906-4002 B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=867967&Q=&is=REG&A=details)

Oh wow, I don't know how I missed this one. Yes Doug this is a really good deal. I think I only went to Lite Panel website were they seem to be a little more expensive. Thanks so much!!!!

Danny Winn...I also have a SOLA 4 and think it's an excellent light. Being a true Fresnel, it can be cut with barn doors allowing you to sculpt the light. Remember, the 'street price' is different than the LitePanels 'full retail'. Shop around and see what the actual price might be from a reputable retailer.

IHTH.

Regards,

J.

Danny Winn...I also have a SOLA 4 and think it's an excellent light. Being a true Fresnel, it can be cut with barn doors allowing you to sculpt the light. Remember, the 'street price' is different than the LitePanels 'full retail'. Shop around and see what the actual price might be from a reputable retailer.

IHTH.

Regards,

J.

We'll do! Thanks much James!

I'm the Comer 1800 LED light reseller so I hope I don't sound too bias. The characteristic of LED light is the light fall off quickly. Which means it won't project far. Comer is unique in a way that the lower filter called condenser lens that can increase the intensity and form a stage style spotlight.

You can take a look at a sample here. There is a trick is to leave open the condense lens about half an inch, it will create a narrow beam shoot far away.

Condenser Lens Trick on Comer CM-LBPS1800 LED Light - YouTube

I'm also dvinfo sponsor, if enaybody interested in this light, I can offer a discount to DVINFO member,

Comer CM-LBPS1800 On-Camera LED Light (Sony Battery) | L.A. Color Pros (http://www.lacolorpros.com/product/?CM1800-Comer-CM-LBPS1800-On-Camera-LED-Light-(Sony-Battery))

That's pretty impressive looking to me.

This one performs like a fresnel or PAR, only $308. Can do barndoors, light is hard.
ALZO 3000 High Intensity LED Video Light is a dimmable hard and soft light, ideal for video production (http://www.alzovideo.com/alzo-3000-high-intensity-led.htm)

If it's not a Fresnel, then it can't perform like a Fresnel. I find it interesting that the Alzo video does not even show any footage of the light actually performing. That speaks volumes.

I highly recommend that anyone thinking of buying LED lights read the article about LED Fresnel technology in the February issue of Film & Video Times. Jon Fauer's Film and Digital Times (http://www.fdtimes.com/)

Unlike cameras that come and go, lights are investment that should pay you back for 10 years or more. Why cut corners just to save a few dollars? Buy decent gear and your work will be better, you'll enjoy your work more, clients who care what gear you have will be impressed, and the extra cost in the long run does not amount to much. My 2 cents.

As someone who FINALLY after 15 years in the business went out and bought 2 KinoFlo Diva fluoros, I can say Doug is absolutely correct.

The only caveat I would put forward personally is that LEDs are still an emerging commodity for pro video and it is EASY to "spend too much" as an early adopter.

BUT... if you are making money as a working pro and new lights either:
- improve the quality of your work
- reduce set up time
- reduce heat on set/location
- allow you to work with DC power and not just AC to allow you to be more mobile
- pay for themselves by lowering consumables costs over the life expectancy of the instrument

then I say disregard the price and jump in!

Cost is only one part of the evaluation.

VALUE is what you should be looking at.

It's why I bought my Divas. I've NEVER been this efficient lighting interviews and medium sized spaces for scenarios prior to owning them.

And I AM looking at a fresnel LED for back/hairlight on location as well so I'm reading this with great interest.

As well, lights seem to have taken on this strange "emotional buying" spectre.

I "knew" I needed LED lights when I bought my Dracast LED panels.

Well... they HAVE come in handy BUT for the core of my business (talking heads) they were EXACTLY the wrong choice for me in every way EXCEPT that they are lightweight, portable and battery powerable.

I knew I had outgrown tungsten due to power consumption issues and heat (most of my work is on location and I have blown a couple more circuit breakers in 15 years than I'm proud to admit... not by using more than 15 amps but because of poorly labeled/laid out electrical wiring) so I bought LEDs because they are sexy.

Rule 1: don't buy gear because it's SEXY - buy gear because it works the way you do or allows you to work in ways previously difficulty or impossible for you.