Forums > Photography Talk > Nanlite Lumipad 25 for indoor portrait lighting?
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Photographer

Stuart_M_

Posts: 5

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Hi MM photogs.

I'm just coming back to the hobby after a long break, looking into basic/affordable lighting setups for indoor portraits. I prefer natural light wherever possible but I've previously used mid range speed lights for on-camera fill flash/catchlight or basic off-camera setups. I'm not looking for high powered, expensive or elaborate setups for glamour shoots etc at this stage and I want my gear to be portable.

I've noticed quite a few affordable options for soft LED lighting which I'm keen to explore for ease of use, simplicity of setup etc. One of them which looks good to me is the Nanlite Lumipad 25.

https://nanliteus.com/nanlite-lumipad-2 … led-panel/

Can anyone recommend this or similar soft LEDs for basic indoor portrait lighting?
Thanks in advance!

SM

May 02 23 06:38 am Link

Photographer

Mark Salo

Posts: 11727

Olney, Maryland, US

At 12x13 inches, this will not be a soft light source.

If my calculations are correct, the light is going to be 3 stops down at 2 meters, 4 stops down at 3 meters.

Yes, judging the effect of strobes is a bit difficult but once you get one or two basic setups under your belt you are good to go. For many years, I shot with speedlights in umbrellas and soft boxes. I never shoot with on-camera flash for fill. (Or on-camera flash for anything.) I used a flash meter, a digital target, and a measuring string.

If I wanted to emulate window light, I would place my Godox ML60 behind a white bed sheet.* This light is much more powerful than your LumiPad 25. At 5% my Godox ML60 is almost too bright to read by.

*How about trying the Godox behind a lace curtain for various shadow effects?

May 02 23 08:06 am Link

Photographer

Stuart_M_

Posts: 5

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Mark Salo wrote:
At 12x13 inches, this will not be a soft light source.

If my calculations are correct, the light is going to be 3 stops down at 2 meters, 4 stops down at 3 meters.

Yes, judging the effect of strobes is a bit difficult but once you get one or two basic setups under your belt you are good to go. For many years, I shot with speedlights in umbrellas and soft boxes. I never shoot with on-camera flash for fill. (Or on-camera flash for anything.) I used a flash meter, a digital target, and a measuring string.

If I wanted to emulate window light, I would place my Godox ML60 behind a white bed sheet. This light is much more powerful than your LumiPad 25. At 5% my Godox ML60 is almost too bright to read by.

Yep I'm still using a speedlight & umbrella for what little indoor photography I do. Trying to figure out if it's worth going LEDs mainly for ease of setup. But I suspect you're right, I'd need to go for the larger size LEDs in which case portability will become an issue.

May 02 23 08:20 am Link

Photographer

Studio NSFW

Posts: 767

Pacifica, California, US

Agree with all of the above.  A 12” light source would only be “soft” if no more than maybe 2 foot away.   

Degree of softness/specularity is controlled by the light sources’ apparent size in relation to the subject.   Distance from subject affects that apparent size.  That’s why the sun insists on casting harsh shadows despite being many times larger than the earth.

If I want soft light but only have specular  (small, harsh) light sources with me like on-camera strobes, I will look for a white wall or ceiling to bounce from, which will make the light softer but assuredly lose several stops in intensity.

Since it doesn’t sound like you are doing color critical stuff, a hardware store incandescent fixtures and 100w “Chicken heater” bulbs (code word for old school incandescent) and clamp on fixtures / bowl reflectors and a white ceiling and wall can produce very nice light….so long as you aren’t trying to mix with ambient sunlight. Color temperature will definitely show up if you do.

I have a couple small LED panels that get used for video….I personally don’t recommend them for much of ANYTHING….and they cost quite a bit more than the hardware store solution above.

If you ARE trying to mix with Daylight, I guess a larger LED panel balanced for daylight might do the trick, but I don’t think you’d be saving any money over a eBay Alien Bees and an umbrella. 

I do personally love me some Paul C. Buff.

May 02 23 08:35 am Link

Photographer

Studio NSFW

Posts: 767

Pacifica, California, US

So there I was, flat on my back at 5000 feet, and zero oil pressure.   The right engine sputtered and quit, then….

May 02 23 08:35 am Link

Photographer

G Reese

Posts: 914

Marion, Indiana, US

Studio NSFW wrote:
So there I was, flat on my back at 5000 feet, and zero oil pressure.   The right engine sputtered and quit, then….

OMG, what did you do!

May 02 23 08:44 am Link

Photographer

Mark Salo

Posts: 11727

Olney, Maryland, US

Stuart_M_ wrote:
ease of setup

Speedlight at 1/4 power, f/5.6, ISO 400, light seven or so feet from subject, camera in manual mode of course. Hard to get easier than that. With flash, shutter speed is not critical. Depending on lights and camera, I generally shot at 1/200 second.

May 02 23 09:06 am Link

Photographer

Stuart_M_

Posts: 5

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

G Reese wrote:

OMG, what did you do!

Ha, no off-topic pilot talk in here please big_smile

May 02 23 10:02 am Link

Photographer

LightDreams

Posts: 4452

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Studio NSFW wrote:
So there I was, flat on my back at 5000 feet, and zero oil pressure.   The right engine sputtered and quit, then….

G Reese wrote:
OMG, what did you do!

...prepared to make a final farewell video for my family and friends.

Had some trouble getting the right angle for the mainlight vs the fill light in the limited space available in the plane.  Then worked like mad to find a dark blue gel for the background light to fill that empty dark space in the rear of the plane behind me.

Then all of a sudden...

May 02 23 04:10 pm Link

Photographer

LightDreams

Posts: 4452

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Stuart_M_ wrote:
Yep I'm still using a speedlight & umbrella for what little indoor photography I do. Trying to figure out if it's worth going LEDs mainly for ease of setup. But I suspect you're right, I'd need to go for the larger size LEDs in which case portability will become an issue.

It may not be something you're interested in, but keep in mind that some small LEDs are COB light LEDS with Bowens mounts.  Like the (currently YouTube hyped) Colbor CL60.  I haven't used it but it's cheap ($125), small, 65Watt daylight LED and can take any of the Bowens mount softboxes.

There are other similar offerings that, unlike the Colbor, also have support for an umbrella mounting rod.

[EDIT] On second thought, you might find that combining a 65 Watt LED with a double diffusion layered softbox may require you to crank your ISO up too high...?  You may need either more power or a diffusion method that doesn't eat as much light. [/EDIT]

Another, COMPLETELY different, approach is something like the Godox MS300V.  A $129 studio strobe (300 WS basic studio strobe, Bowens mount, wall power only, no TTL or HSS. but works with any of the Godox remote transmitters which are $59 to $89).  Although I'd ignore the modeling lamp part as it's only 10 Watt (not likely to be very useful in a softbox).  But then again you're used to not having a modeling lamp with your speedlight.  It's bigger than a speedlight and indoor use only, but much more powerful, yet still quite light and surprisingly inexpensive for its capabilities.

Anyway, just some other possible alternative approaches, just in case you see an idea that jumps out at you...

It's amazing just how many inexpensive possibilities there are these days, that are still quite capable.  So many different approaches to choose from!

May 02 23 04:25 pm Link

Photographer

Mark Salo

Posts: 11727

Olney, Maryland, US

Studio NSFW wrote:
So there I was, flat on my back at 5000 feet, and zero oil pressure.   The right engine sputtered and quit, then….

G Reese wrote:
OMG, what did you do!

LightDreams wrote:
...prepared to make a final farewell video for my family and friends.

Had some trouble getting the right angle for the mainlight vs the fill light in the limited space available in the plane.  Then worked like mad to find a dark blue gel for the background light to fill that empty dark space in the rear of the plane behind me.

Then all of a sudden...

Were you rescued by the plane behind you?

May 02 23 04:39 pm Link

Photographer

Stuart_M_

Posts: 5

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

LightDreams wrote:
Anyway, just some other possible alternative approaches, just in case you see an idea that jumps out at you...

Great tips here, thank you!

May 02 23 07:18 pm Link

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