[Konvas] lighting pars vs. fresnels (off topic)

[t byrne]

Yeah--there's really no substitute for a lamp that approximates a point 
source.  I doubt that LEDs will ever get there, so maybe they'll only be 
useful for softs.  How tightly CAN you pack them???

I found some footcandle specs on the B+H site, and they were not 
impressive.  An LED instrument putting out 50 fc at 3 meters is pretty 
lame.  Useful in tight circumstances, but nothing like as good as a 
honking big tungsten or HMI Fresnel if you need coverage.  Or 
intensity.  Imagine trying to simulate sunlight--single-source lighting 
just not an option.

FauxFilm at aol.com wrote:

> >>Still, LEDs are the future....anybody tried shooting with them?
>  
>  
> Most of the LED instruments I've seen that said they are LED PARs or 
> whatever, aren't really PARs in the true sense... in that there is not 
> a PAR reflector that directs the light.  Most of them are called PARs 
> because they are simply housed in a PAR-shaped can.  Maybe there are 
> some true PAR LED instruments, but all of the ones that I have see are 
> not.  The actual LED elements themselves are directional (usually 
> around 30 degrees if I recall), so there is no reflector needed, PAR 
> or otherwise.
>  
> LEDs are probably the wave of the future, but not there yet... at 
> least not in this application.  They exist (and are pretty useful) in 
> banks, used as daylight-balanced softlight sources... but they do not 
> yet deliver the lumens or punch to replace conventional hardlights in 
> a lot of applications.  One fairly affordable one that I've seen, for 
> example, is an instrument that's a little over a foot square, a bank 
> with 1000 LEDs.  It's said to deliver the equivalent of about 900w 
> tungsten, if I recall correctly (and it's about $900).  To get an 
> instrument with the equivalent output of, say, a 1200w HMI... well 
> that would take more like five or six thousand LEDs, and still 
> wouldn't have the same kind of throw or punch.
>  
> I haven't gotten around to trying them yet, but I do know one guy who 
> has started using LED banks in place of Kinos for softlight use.... 
> and claims they work very well... good color balance, no flicker, etc. 
> (although he says they are a bit harder than a Kino and a LOT harder 
> than a tungsten instrument in a softbox).  And one of the big 
> advantages is that most of them are 12v.... you can run them off a 
> battery belt or Anton Bauer brick, etc. for literally hours.... 
> something you can definitely NOT do with any equivalent Kino or HMI.
>  
> T2
>  
> _______________________________________________
> Todd Terry
> Creative Director
> Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
> http://fantasticplastic.com
>  
>  
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