include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/> Airboxlights.com and Conviction Films on Lighting for Film and Video: Airbox Inflatable softboxes on: Noteworthy lights from NAB 2013

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Airbox Inflatable softboxes on: Noteworthy lights from NAB 2013

There were acres and acres of LED lights at NAB.  Actually, I don't think there were any tungsten lights.  Not one.  But: here's what is worth paying attention to.

#1.  Cineroid.  Never hear of them. They make really really good, really bright LED lights. They're composed of funny little square flat LEDs. The color is excellent.  They boast of 95 CRI on their 3200k lights! It does look like it. I would buy these in a second.
They have a model that's about 6x8".  Takes a v-mount or anton bauer.  Awkwardly large battery for a small light, but I guess it pulls a lot of juice and needs a big battery.  That's a bummer ergonomically, but this light is really good.
This is one of them, wearing an Airbox Macro.  LED Panel lights don't look so nice on people without a frame or a softbox. They make a little one and a big one.  Just my luck, the big one fits inside the Airbox Macro and the little one works in the Airbox Mini.

#2. Aadyn Tech
An LED Spacelight/9-light fay.  It works as both, either on a stand or hung, equivalent output to 6k of tungsten.  Good color.  And... pulls less than 7 amps!!
Aadyn tech LED spacelight

This is what the light was plugged into.

#3. Remote phosphor stuff. Again, like last year.  Only this year there were three of them that I saw, not just one.  Cineo bought themselves back from PRG because PRG wisely decide to stick to what they're good at, being a gigantic theatrical gear rental house.  Why mess with what works?  Oh, because you have zillions of dollars.
There were three remote phosphor units I saw- Brother& brother, Cineo, and Zacuto. I really like the color on "tungsten" remote phosphor units.  It's more appropriate to think of them as a replacement for tungsten rather than as another LED unit.  Remote phosphor units don't have your basic LED advantages, being lightweight and battery-op and super low power draw. They're chunky and heavy and require a remote ballast and are expensive. But they've got great color and a great quality of light.  They're actually soft.  The reason they can have so much better color (according the the Brother&Brother rep) is because when you get the phosphors away from the heat source, i.e. out of the little LED capsule, you can use chemical formulations that have better color, but would break down quickly inside a regular LED capsule.
Zacuto's was nice looking.  Relatively small.
Zacuto:

Cineo:

#4: Frezzi!  You know Frezzi?  The newscaster on-camera lights?  Horrible little Mr-16s on top of a news guy's camera?  They've made some impressively powerful single-chip LEDs.  HyLight is the name. These are HMI replacements, not LED replacements. Seriously powerful.  I don't know what the color's like, but it seemed ok.  Daylight balanced.  Two different units, one about 6x8" and one about 10x12". They sell them in nice little kits.  In a pelican case with two units, two stands, all the stuff you need.  The smaller of the two fits great with an Airbox Macro, for when you don't want an evil laser beam melting your face.  I was really impressed by how bright they were though. Here's the smaller of the two wearing a Macro. NB- I haven't tested a Macro on one for a long time period, and I do have concerns that these will be too hot for a PVC softbox.  We'll find out.  We're in discussions about cooperating.
Airbox Macro Inflatable softbox for LED panel lights on a Frezzi HyLite

#5.  F&V light.  They're a great combination of affordable and powerful. (3 1x1s for 1000$!!!) If they send me some samples I can speak with more confidence about what the color is like. I like that their lights can be powered by more than one different kind of battery, either an external recharchable sony battery or else with internal AAs.  that's clever.  And they dock together, so you can take several units and dock them together into a bank of lights that's brighter. I discovered also that one of their small units fits the Airbox Mini.  The Mini is not dead just because the old Litepanel MiniPlus is increasingly a dinosaur in the LED lighting realm. 
Airbox Mini Inflatable softbox on an F&V light LED panel


LEDs need softening. Except when you're outdoors in the daytime. Airbox inflatable softboxes. Yes, I am pushing the products I manufacture, but I'll never tell you that a crappy light is good.  Even if they pay me. 

#6. Hexolux- a hexagonal-housed LED fixture that can be docked edge-to-edge with other units, letting create your own little Maxibrute-like thing that's very bright.  Bulbtronics came out with a light basically like this last year, but I never heard anything else about it after I saw it at DV Expo.

Hexolux-




As soon as i can make it happen, I'll bring out Airbox models to fit the half x 1 size format of LED and the 1x1. Stay tuned. Every time I shoot, I use my 1x1s.  And every time I  use my 1x1s, I wish that I had a softbox for them.

yours
post NAB 2013
Tom Guiney






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