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Comparisons LED & Flash?
I was wondering if there are people on the list who can compare the results between traditional flash (ie Alien Bees) and the increasing number of LED offerings. The constant LEDs look simple for metering. Are there enough modifiers? Any issues and comparisons out there? 4kw Feb 13 17 11:37 pm Link You can't even compare them. Having LED lights is like trying to light a football stadium with domestic lighting, Feb 14 17 02:02 am Link Photography by Riddell wrote: They both are tools. It is up to the carpenter which hammer he should use to do the job in the most efficient manner. Feb 14 17 07:28 am Link Connor Photography wrote: The difference between "strobe" and "electronic flash" ? Aren't they the same thing ? A strobe is an electronic flash but an electronic flash is not necessarily a strobe. Feb 14 17 08:29 am Link 4kw Photography wrote: The issue with LEDs is that they are not powerful enough. Yes, there are modifiers but they take away more power from the light. Feb 14 17 10:15 am Link Vector One Photography wrote: I (we) often refer to monolight as strobe that powered by wall outlet or power block. Electron flash is the portable flash powered by small batteries. I do not want to hang up by the proper terminology here nor have no intention to go into deep discussion. Feb 14 17 10:19 am Link Vector One Photography wrote: Connor Photography wrote: common use notwithstanding; he is right - the technical use of strobe is a cyclic, self-repeating flash (as in stroboscopic flash; shortened to "strobe") Feb 14 17 10:25 am Link I've been disenchanted with the LED lights for just not being powerful enough. They appear bright, but not really against a flash or strobe. I bought some expensive LumeCubes to put on a drone thinking they would light up the sky at night, or at least add some fill light to someone or something. Their claim is a blinding 1,500 lumens at full power. Well full power gave me about f/11 at three inches at ISO 100 and 1/125 second. Not so good. Outdoors you have to crank up the ISO on the drone which gives me noise, and then a lot of post work to get the blacks black, eliminate noise, as well as the awful purple Kelvin temp of the things (Need a Lee 801 filter to correct to daylight.). If I had some model at f/16 in the desert, the thing would be 3" away for a 1:2 ratio fill and not a safe plan at all with a drone. I have to stay close, <12-15 feet to get anything decent with LED and the drone at night and high ISO.  I've watched the TV news remotes and they use large LED panels quite close to the reporter for fill and they can get away with it in slow scanning video and high ISO against some 36 MP still image. Some look really bad when they switch from studio to field for Kelvin too. So back to strobes for me... Feb 14 17 10:35 am Link Thanks Grmack! Advertisements (for LEDs) are not keen to give you any real information. Feb 15 17 01:20 am Link 4kw Photography wrote: The thing is LED panels are absolutely great for video, and very portable, which is why you'll see them used. Feb 15 17 03:05 am Link GRMACK wrote: there isn't anything particularly false about the claim. photographers may not know their lumens/lux/footcandle to exposure calculation. or course, they use the measurement that produces the largest number knowing that you may not know what it means could be deceptive. but, if you work on a movie crew, the DPs and grips deal with lumens and footcandles more often. Feb 15 17 08:28 am Link I have the 1 x 1 Dracast LED and several different strobes like Einsteins, etc. My personal preference is as follows. For portraiture I prefer all natural light when possible but will add a strobe for fill now and then. For my desk lamp I prefer the large Dracast LED. It's the best thousand dollar desk lamp I've ever had. Seriously though, the LED can be used for fill in low light at f/1.4 or f/1.2 which I often shoot at anyway. But it is more bulk and weight to pack around to a location and in bright sunlight it's not going to help much if any. You may want to consider some of the new battery powered strobes which use LEDs for modeling lamps. Feb 19 17 07:43 am Link LEDs are tough for photography. It's taken me 3 years to achieve the photo linked in the below linked comment: https://www.modelmayhem.com/forums/post … st19701239 I'm able to light a decent sized area from 6' - 8' away, but it's not easy by any means. I started out with the type of setup GRMACK shows above. I realized that wasn't going to be good enough for what I want to shoot, and spent the last few years designing and modifying what I have now. Feb 26 17 09:34 pm Link 4kw Photography wrote: I'm too busy comparing apples and oranges Feb 26 17 09:59 pm Link I've got the calumet/bowen travelite 375 flash units and 3 ring style LED lights. I use the LED lights in smaller spaces where raw power is not so needed. I've been very happy with them. But, of course, if you get them into a full sized studio setting - they are not going to have the horsepower. Smaller rooms - home settings - they have been great - light and cool running - easy transport. I can shoot in places where the travelites with an umbrella can't even fit. The big flash units come out for the bigger spaces. But as other people have said - different tools - different applications Feb 26 17 10:49 pm Link So, yes....if you are photographing a crowd of 50 people in the mid day sun in the Mojave desert, you are going to want to opt for a flash instead of LED.  Feb 27 17 06:32 pm Link Most of the people who do photography here are not going to tell you anything new. You could read and understand The Medium is the Message or the book Being Digital and get a better understanding of how the world of photography has changed in the past ten years. LED's, I have four locations in my building that have strings of LED bulbs hanging from ZIP lines and Levington sockets. Suspended from 1/2 inch EMT and plugged into a power tap. I also have Hensels, Norman, Dyno-Lite flash units to fit out five studios. I took to playing with LEDs because I wanted new options., new ways to see. I shoot a Sony A7 camera because I can pop images using hand held camera not bothering to look at a screen or through the view finder, old R and M Leica lenses and zone focus with non-zoom lenses. Like the old street photography. It is a way o go back to having a type of control that I use to have with lights that show me what I am seeing, like the days older than I am with a thinking that is modern. Many will think this nuts but it works for me. I am chuckling that photo friends tell me that they are doing weddings with high end phone cameras. The world of photography is changing and evolving and it is going the way of the two books have said it will. Do what ever makes images that moves you, look around and see what is going on, just wake up because it is almost 2020. Have fun, I am. Feb 28 17 11:06 pm Link |
