Quest for the lightest light kit

[Craig Seeman]

And now for the soft mushy panels. Talk about light lights.

Aladdin Flex Lite
150 grams. Either AC or Battery powered. Dimming. Optional Soft Box. 140° angle so it seems more necessary than optional I'd think. CRI supposedly around 97
Flex Lite - Aladdin Lights

BiFlex version is $899
Bi-Flex, Flex Lite, A-Lite, Eye Lite, NAB, Cine Gear

Westcott also making a Flex Lite now.
7oz (about 200 grams). Dimming. No battery power yet though. 140° angle. CRI about 95.
Westcott Flex - LED

B&H $599
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1098579-REG/westcott_7419_flex_1_light_daylight_kit.html

[Warren Kawamoto]

If you have the time and a soldering iron, you can design your own panel that fits your needs...it can even be flexible if you want.

How to make a super bright LED light panel (for video work etc) - YouTube

[Michael Liebergot]

I just thought that I'd share and experience with one of the lights mentioned earlier.
I had a simple black limbo interview to shoot in a small boardroom today so I brought along a pair of new Fotodiox LED Flapjack 300R lights to try out and was very impressed with the outcome.

Nice soft light with plenty of output for a closely lit interview.

Since these lights don't have much throw then they also helped with light spill onto the back backdrop, which was only 2 feet behind the interviewee.

I am attaching a picture that is untouched to show the outcome of the shoot. The only issue I had was that I brought the wrong hair light which was too hot even turned down all the way.

https://www.fotodioxpro.com/fotodiox...nch-round.html

[Craig Seeman]

Michael, what was your hair light? What would you have preferred?

You bring up an important issue with such light kits and shooting in tight locations. When traveling as a single person crew you might not be able to bring light modifiers to control spill. Sometimes too much throw would be something you have to fight against if it's going to bounce off walls.

[Michael Liebergot]

Craig I meant to bring my Z96 led light, but forgot it and had to use my 312 LED light which is much brighter, even when dimmed down to the minimum 10%. If I had headroom I could have boomed the light higher, but I was already at the ceiling.

Personally speaking after using the Flapjack 300R I can easily see using these for all of my road interviews.

Main strong points are:

• Light is diffused and produces soft lightbox quality light
• I can set the lights close to my subject without being hard on the eyes
• Create nice catchlight in the eyes
• Super compact so great for travel
• Not being overpowering they're they produce little spill
• color temperature is balanced well for daylight, with no green spike.

Now if I had to light a backdrop then I would need more powerful lights for backdrop and use the Flapjack 300R for subject.

The downside is that even though they produce great soft light you very well might need a fresnel of some kind, especially for using with a cookie for the background. But you should have several lights in your kit for different uses. For interviews I can see using Flapjacks for the subject, 1 fresnel for a hard light source, and maybe 2 LED lights for backdrop lighting. If I was using a location for the background I would use available light, 2 Flapjack 300Rs, fresnel for hard source maybe for hair light, and maybe another small led for accent light in background.

[Jacques Mersereau]

Wescott flex light. Super lightweight, decent lumens and quality light. Saw them at NAB = NICE!
There is a group buy over at reduser.net = $399(?). Wescott is supposed to be coming out with larger versions.

Westcott Flex Daylight LED 7400 B&H Photo Video

[Craig Seeman]

Noting that if you use the link in my first post, the Westcott Flex Light 10"x10" complete with Westcott light stand is at $449 as an extended BlackFriday special. Jacques' link shows as $599, the normal price sans stand.