Where can I find "regular" LED lights with a CRI 95>?

[axs810]

Where can I find "regular" LED lights with a CRI 95>?


I'm specifically looking for individual bulbs or light strips with a high CRI of 95 or better that are not connected to an app.

[Larry Gebhardt]

https://www.waveformlighting.com/ I've only used their LED strips and a few of the A19 filament bulbs. I've been pretty happy with both.

[axs810]

Thank you so much Larry! These are exactly what I was looking for :)

[Bruce Watson]

I'm specifically looking for individual bulbs or light strips with a high CRI of 95 or better that are not connected to an app.

You could try YujiLEDs, a Chinese / German company with very high CRIs. A lot of their stuff seems to be rated at CRI of 98 or so. There's a fair amount of activity in video circles of people using their strips to build DIY lights for specific purposes. Not cheap, not outrageously expensive either. And I've never bought anything from them, so can't vouch for them. I just know they exist. If you get on their mailing list they have reasonably good sales through the year.

https://store.yujiintl.com/collections/film-photo-lighting

[axs810]

You could try YujiLEDs, a Chinese / German company with very high CRIs. A lot of their stuff seems to be rated at CRI of 98 or so. There's a fair amount of activity in video circles of people using their strips to build DIY lights for specific purposes. Not cheap, not outrageously expensive either. And I've never bought anything from them, so can't vouch for them. I just know they exist. If you get on their mailing list they have reasonably good sales through the year.

https://store.yujiintl.com/collections/film-photo-lighting


Interesting. Thanks for sharing! I'm definitely going to bookmark it.


I wonder if these are the LED's that negative supply uses in their copy stand lights?

[Drew Wiley]

I use architectural grade screw-in LED floodlamps from Waveform. Very high quality available in several different color temps (I chose 5000K). Around $30 per bulb. To get a an even higher CRI around 98 involves much more expensive strips tied to a special regulator. Waveform has excellent tech and spectrogram info on their website.

My copystand uses a pair of adjustable color temp LED rim lights that cost around $350 apiece. Fine for routine JPEG copying & documentation. But no way they are either up to their rated temp of 5500K or above CRI 85-90. For that kind of panel you need to spend way more, over a thousand apiece. Most filmmakers in this area rent them for a shoot, rather than purchase them, due to their high cost. There is actually a store not far away specializing in movie lighting. But if I ever need even higher quality color from my copystand, I can simply substitute my old Lowell studio "hot lights", which are indeed hot and miserable to be around during long copy sessions.

But don't forget fluorescent tubes. I have German color matching tubes for both my critical light box and retouching station which are true CRI 98 and 5000K - better than any LED option, and what I also equipped our color matching stations with prior to retirement. But then you have to factor in any reflective paint in the device, as well as any diffuser plastic over it, which alter the exact characteristics. Most manufacturers don't even bother to factor that, and merely list the rated spec of the element itself, and often even that unrealistically.

[wayne77]

For high CRI (95+) LED lights, you should check Amazon. These places often have various options, including individual bulbs and light strips. You might find what you're looking for without needing an app connection.
Also, I found a lot of cheap and good quality models on leds.to (https://leds.to/). They have informative articles about different lighting products, and at the end, they attach links to the products at the best price.

[Tin Can]

Amazon

Study a lot

I was today

[Drew Wiley]

Amazon? I highly doubt it. True high CRI studio and stage LED lighting is very expensive, and often rented rather than outright purchased. Most stuff that claims over 90 CRI is more likely under 80; there is a huge BS coefficient involved in their marketing. And it also depends on the specific color temperature.

I already mentioned one legit source, Waveform, for ordinary screw-in display bulbs; but as good as those are at $30 apiece, no way they're above 90. They do offer complex overhead LED strips in lieu of fluorescent tubes which claim 98; but those run $500 a strip and need a special transformer. Basic LED bulb technology just isn't there yet.

[Motdarnoc]

Slightly off topic- I apologize. Is a high CRI important when shooting b&w?

[Tin Can]

no


Slightly off topic- I apologize. Is a high CRI important when shooting b&w?

[Jody_S]

For high CRI (95+) LED lights, you should check Amazon.

Sellers on Amazon are under extreme pressure from Amazon to cut prices, not to mention Amazon takes 40%, so you are unlikely to find quality anything there. It's a lot cheaper to just print "CRI 98" on a box than it is to actually source and sell a CRI 98 light bulb.

Source: my wife works for a Canadian importer of contractor and designer-grade lighting, including light bulbs. They do actual testing on the stuff they import from China. Well they used to, they're under pressure the same as everyone else in the race to the bottom.

[Drew Wiley]

No. High CRI is not important when shooting black and white. But you still need to be aware of any major distinctions in Kelvin color temperature because it will affect contrast filter exposure factors. And don't expect cheaper LED lamps and panels to necessarily be correctly labeled in that respect.

[phdgent]

OSRAM for LED bulbs.

ROSCO LitePad for LED panels.

All of them dimmable.

[Drew Wiley]

It's almost impossible to even make a simple screw-in LED bulb capable of a very high CRI. LED's are not black body sources, but rely on a composite of elements to merely simulate this or that effect, leaving numerous lacunae in the spectrum. So it takes a complex array of them to get reasonably accurate color performance. And you don't get something for nothing. The cheaper the panel, the higher the BS coefficient when it comes to performance marketing.

[Tin Can]

The best CFL is patented and only sold to one country

not USA