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Thread: Building a Light Panel

  1. #1

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    Building a Light Panel

    Hi,
    I'm going to build one or two of these light panels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLia59KfkSw

    In shopping for LED's I've seen prices go from under $15 (ebay) for a roll (5 meters/300 LEDs) to $155 (baersupply.com). I've tried to compare apples with apples, that is 3 watts per foot tape vs. 3 watt...from different manufacturers but not every site lists the same specs. Some can be cut every 1" others at 2" or 3". As I mentioned all are for 5 meter rolls.

    How can I decide which are quality and which are junk? Is price alone the determining factor?
    What color temperature for B&W film? If it matters. I do plan to use these for video as well so I'm thinking 5000k.

    A few years ago I bought a roll from Baer Supply, where I buy hardware for kitchen cabinets I make. After installing the tape under the cabinets I was very impressed with the result. That roll of tape was $85 which was charged to the job, but since I need at least 3 rolls, cost is a factor.

    My head is spinning, any advice...

  2. #2

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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    In the interest of sharing what I've learned I'll pass this along.

    I bought Flexfire's Industrial Series light tape 4200K. It's a company that publishes specs including picking from the same bin for color consistency. After reading reviews about some of the cheaper options out there I decided I'm not going through the expense and work to have some failures of LED's. Fortunately I bought everything during their cyber week sale which essentially gave me the drivers for free.

    The requirement for these ultra bright LED's is the use of a heat sink. I found one, 5.5" x 11.8" that will hold one roll 9'10" of lights. I'll make two of these to fit on the two light stands I already have. I expect to have enough light to bring my exposure times down to 1/15 or faster with my aperture and film choice.

  3. #3
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Great, let's see more, when you have more!

    I bought 2-900 Led 5000K Video lights maybe 5 years ago, $500 each. Still work fine.

    I also bought a bi-color 600 Led panel which is 50/50 2800K and 5600K. I really dislike that one, as I never use 2800K then only get light from the 300 5000K bulbs.

    I recently bought 18 48" LED 6500K shop lights. These weigh nothing. I am using 12, one failed, I have 5 spares left. Failure was flickering on and off, not temperature related. There are made of ribbon LED inside a diffuser.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    You can see them on my Paint an Elwood thread. http://www.largeformatphotography.in...=1#post1418076

  4. #4

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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by chris_4622 View Post
    In the interest of sharing what I've learned I'll pass this along.

    I bought Flexfire's Industrial Series light tape 4200K. It's a company that publishes specs including picking from the same bin for color consistency. After reading reviews about some of the cheaper options out there I decided I'm not going through the expense and work to have some failures of LED's. Fortunately I bought everything during their cyber week sale which essentially gave me the drivers for free.

    The requirement for these ultra bright LED's is the use of a heat sink. I found one, 5.5" x 11.8" that will hold one roll 9'10" of lights. I'll make two of these to fit on the two light stands I already have. I expect to have enough light to bring my exposure times down to 1/15 or faster with my aperture and film choice.
    What is the CRI of these LEDs? Do you need to use a special paint or reflective surface or special acrylic to get the CRI into the photo range of 90 or higher? For best color the CRI of the system should be 95 or above.

  5. #5

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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Moe View Post
    Great, let's see more, when you have more!

    I bought 2-900 Led 5000K Video lights maybe 5 years ago, $500 each. Still work fine.

    I also bought a bi-color 600 Led panel which is 50/50 2800K and 5600K. I really dislike that one, as I never use 2800K then only get light from the 300 5000K bulbs.

    I recently bought 18 48" LED 6500K shop lights. These weigh nothing. I am using 12, one failed, I have 5 spares left. Failure was flickering on and off, not temperature related. There are made of ribbon LED inside a diffuser.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    You can see them on my Paint an Elwood thread. http://www.largeformatphotography.in...=1#post1418076
    Was the failure immediate (or almost immediate) or after some period of usage?

  6. #6
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  7. #7
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by HMG View Post
    Was the failure immediate (or almost immediate) or after some period of usage?
    Failed after 3 weeks of 4 hours a day usage. Just started flashing on and off.

    I hope they work, they use 20 watts per and the light is pleasant for me.

  8. #8

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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Salomon View Post
    What is the CRI of these LEDs? Do you need to use a special paint or reflective surface or special acrylic to get the CRI into the photo range of 90 or higher? For best color the CRI of the system should be 95 or above.
    I bought the 42K. I'm not concerned about the CRI for B&W film and for video there are options for managing color.

    The CRI reminds me of Wine Spectator's ranking numbers, the mind thinks the higher the number the better. But what if you just don't like that wine...I know color is not wine but what I'm saying is there are other things to consider than just a high CRI.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 5.22.37 AM.jpg  

  9. #9

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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by chris_4622 View Post
    I bought the 42K. I'm not concerned about the CRI for B&W film and for video there are options for managing color.

    The CRI reminds me of Wine Spectator's ranking numbers, the mind thinks the higher the number the better. But what if you just don't like that wine...I know color is not wine but what I'm saying is there are other things to consider than just a high CRI.

    It sounds like you may a victim of some bad info. CRI is not a measurement of color, its a measurement of how faithfully the full spectrum of color can be represented. It matters for black and white.

    If a specific frequency is underrepresented by your light, anybobjects in your frame that have a color correpsonding with the frequency will appear unnaturally dark in the final picture.

  10. #10
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Building a Light Panel

    Quote Originally Posted by AFSmithphoto View Post
    It sounds like you may a victim of some bad info. CRI is not a measurement of color, its a measurement of how faithfully the full spectrum of color can be represented. It matters for black and white.

    If a specific frequency is underrepresented by your light, anybobjects in your frame that have a color correpsonding with the frequency will appear unnaturally dark in the final picture.
    Unfortunately, CRI isn't all that good of a light quality measure. See: http://leapfroglighting.com/attentio...nger-relevant/
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

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