Looking for a first artificial light for portraits

[Tin Can]

Why color is not always correct under LED lighting. http://www.provideocoalition.com/why...ork_with_leds/

[Bob Salomon]

Sorry, I did not understand that
Does it mean if I put a gel on that outdoor floodlight I am going to get a stable color temperature?

No, it will still have spikes but all of the light's output will be colored by the gel.

[drew.saunders]

If you're shooting 90% B&W, you don't need to worry about color. Modern LEDs are getting much better at accurate color. Anyway, for cheap, look at things like this (may be different brands in EU, and, of course different voltages and plugs):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...th_Socket.html

I don't know if Impact makes one for EU, but someone likely does, probably in China, and probably pretty cheaply. The nice thing about that unit is that it fits normal lighting stands (unlike hardware store clamp lights or flood lights), and it's pretty well made. You can get that unit plain, or with a few sizes of reflectors in kits.

Then you put in it something like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...udio_lamp.html

It's an LED bulb that draws 50W and produces light similar to a 350W tungsten, without putting out all that heat! It even has a fan to cool the electronics. LED bulbs don't bake your subjects, but the electronics in them can get warm.

Modern CFL and LED lights present all sorts of options for lots of light without cooking your poor subjects.

[Bob Salomon]

If you're shooting 90% B&W, you don't need to worry about color. Modern LEDs are getting much better at accurate color. Anyway, for cheap, look at things like this (may be different brands in EU, and, of course different voltages and plugs):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...th_Socket.html

I don't know if Impact makes one for EU, but someone likely does, probably in China, and probably pretty cheaply. The nice thing about that unit is that it fits normal lighting stands (unlike hardware store clamp lights or flood lights), and it's pretty well made. You can get that unit plain, or with a few sizes of reflectors in kits.

Then you put in it something like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...udio_lamp.html

It's an LED bulb that draws 50W and produces light similar to a 350W tungsten, without putting out all that heat! It even has a fan to cool the electronics. LED bulbs don't bake your subjects, but the electronics in them can get warm.

Modern CFL and LED lights present all sorts of options for lots of light without cooking your poor subjects.

Drew, this is simply a lamp. To use it in the EU just use a plug adapter or go to a hardware store in the EU and buy a plug and switch it for the one that is on the light.

And, this is probably a Chinese or Vietnam or Hong Kong made item. It is a house brand so you shouldn't have a problem finding it under other names.

[Drew Wiley]

I think the most bang for the buck is still a basic starter kit of Lowell Tota and Omni lights, good ole "hot" lights along with gel holders. What you see is what you get.

[maxotics]

Sorry, I did not understand that
Does it mean if I put a gel on that outdoor floodlight I am going to get a stable color temperature?

Nothing can really replace a good even color light source like strobes, which are cool, or quartz, which is warm. Gels don't really increase light, but DECREASE/subtract some of the alternating color. So a red gel on a strobe isn't really creating more red, it's soaking up/reducing the blues to balance. Same if you use blue on quartz. They are kludges. When you have spikes, your gel may reduce the spike, but then overcompensates on the wavelengths to either side.

I have Fiilex 360s and if I turn them all the way cool I can't get the same warmth out of faces that I can when they're warm; and I can't get good cold colors out of them when they're turned red. Theoretically, i should be able to balance the colors (to match) in Photoshop, say. I can't. If I want to use the lights alone, setting them warm for me is better on people. In general, changing colors on artificial lights is more to match existing daylight or indoors. Again, a kludge.

If you shoot with strobes, for example, and then shoot with some LED lights, you will start to see what I'm talking about.

Of course, it all depends on what kind of photography you're trying to do. It may make no difference. Indeed, the lights you get may be perfect! Again, my two cents is if photography is all you're doing get strobes or get quartz. LEDs are nice for video, and for convenience. I haven't heard of any photographer making them his/her first choice.

[Drew Wiley]

Hot lights are easy to correctly balance to color film because you have a full-spectrum bulb. You can use either gels over the lights themselves (properly spaced)
or conversion filters over the camera lens. The only potential problem is that they are hot. Nice way to quickly warm up a room on a winter day.

[Bob Salomon]

Hot lights are easy to correctly balance to color film because you have a full-spectrum bulb. You can use either gels over the lights themselves (properly spaced)
or conversion filters over the camera lens. The only potential problem is that they are hot. Nice way to quickly warm up a room on a winter day.

And heat up a room, which may require AC to get the room comfortable again, and, if you have 15 amp circuits, may blow fuses due to their current draw. Also, with any drop in line voltage, say from a refrigerator compressor or an AC or maybe someone just has too many lights on, both output and color temperature will also drop, unless you are on a stabilized outlet.
Those problems don't exist with flash or LED.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, these problems don't exist with flash unless they do exist. A bad blown capacitor in a flash box will mess up a lot more things than a simple bulb will, including any solid state gear or computers on the same circuits, or even on adjacent lines. And if the wiring in your studio is so bad to begin with that you can't plug in a few serious lamps without a voltage drop, how do you expect to expect to deserve fire insurance to begin with. Better call an electrician for a new service panel or move some place less medieval, or simply substitute lower wattage bulbs along with faster film. LED is not an accurate color source. Might be someday, but sure isn't yet. And how do you know what you're actually getting with flash? That's what modeling lamps are for, provided the ratio is truly the same. That's what people traditionally used Polaroid proofs along with color temp and flashmeters for - cause they weren't so sure! Some clients might not like hot lights, but some hate the blinding burst of flash even less. I can't stand flash going off, even pointed the opposite direction from my eyes. If the bulb pops on
a hot light, it pretty darn obvious. Put in another bulb. If something goes wrong inside a flash controller, you might not even know it until it's too late. Sure, you
can spend an arm and a leg for some fancy Broncolor setup. You might even need that kind of thing. But some of the greatest portrait and movie photographers
of all time preferred good ole low tech options.

[Peter De Smidt]

Arri and other feature film lighting purveyors produce a wide range of LED light sources. If they're good enough for feature films, then they're probably ok for still photography, especially BW. Will cheaper versions be as good? Probably not. Will they be good enough? Look for user reviews. Flash is not exactly the same as daylight, and neither is most daylight, as that varies tremendously according to time of day, altitude, weather conditions..... So often we get stuck splitting hairs, when the original posters wants to know what a good light to start out would be.