LED or flash

[JemHayward]

I have a studio space at home and originally used some Elinchrom 500w studio lights, but found that even on minimum they were really too bright, giving me f8 at 200 ISO which is the base ISO for my cameras.

So, I decided to get rid of the big lights and bought a new speedlight (Godox mini), an umbrella / softbox, and combined with my ancient Miranda flash I have basically what I need, but I like to work quickly, and find the refresh rate can be challenging, especially when working at full power, and there is a slight delay with my radio trigger that I use with my older flash, and so occasionally get a dark edge to some images.

I also have an early LED light, which I find useful, and a LED ring light that I occasionally use. I was wondering if the latest generation of LED lights, such as the Lume Cube and others makes a full LED setup a viable alternative to speedlights now? Has anyone gone down the LED route?

 

[Cesare]

I'm wondering about your initial problem, having too much light. F8 at base ISO sounds perfect to me, right in the sweet spot of the lens, so you can get great results without fancy lenses, and with loads of DOF when you need it. I'd have thought a 2 or 3 stop ND filter would haven't bee the way to go?

Anyhow, I think you might be on to something with modern LEDs, as they are very good. I played about with some LEDs with the idea of building a replacement light source for an enlarger, and they are very bright and very stable (and easily controllable) and the low heat output is really amazing. With the general interest in video shooting i'd have thought there were some great portable LED solutions out there now which will give you lots of creative possibilities.

 

[JemHayward]

There were other issues with the big lights - my 'studio' space isn't very big so f8 meant that there was no option for a softened background, and the huge softbox got obstructed by the vaulted ceiling. I did try ND filters, but when one of the lights caught fire during a shoot, I decided they would have to go.

 

[Bananahead]

Have a look at Rotolight

 

[topoxforddoc]

I have a set of Elinchrom Quadra Hybrids with Li-ion battery pack and a pair of CAME TV 700 bi-color edge LED panels.

The chinese made CAME TV panels are super - no need to use/set up a soft box and easy to see how the light falls - battery or mains driven (I had to buy some batteries from Amazon as customs get concerned about shipping Li-ion batteries by air). I put them on a pair of Matthews C-stands, so that I can have them out on a boom arm, if I want.

https://www.digibroadcast.com/light...t-bi-color-led-edge-light-2-pieces-set-p24119

Here's a portrait of my friend Jonathan Hope, the Assistant Organist at Gloucester Cathedral - lit using a single CAME TV panel to balance out the daylight coming through a large bay window.

PS I have a small Rotolight Neo 2 in my Billingham, which goes everywhere. But the CAME TV panels are much better (albeit without high speed flash, which isn't an issue with a Leica)