On Camera Led Light?

Can I get away with using an on camera LED light in some shots (both static and travelling) ?

I've never used one as I always assumed they were mostly made for photography and/or documentary style shooting.

But what about a feature? Anyone has experience using them??

Thanks guys.

An on camera light will only throw (usable) light a maximum of 10ft, and even then, in a very narrow beam. Might work for something specific, but otherwise, I don't think they're much use on camera besides what they were intended for. (ENG)

For the most part, they make a subject look very lit, and it's hard to make it seem like a natural light source. That reduces its effectiveness on narrative work.

Thanks.

Now, if I could only buy ONE light to shoot this entire horror short, what would you guys suggest?

Flashlight....or, 1000w worklight from home depot or something like that. Those throw a LOT of light. If you're creative in how you use them, shape them, flag them, filter them...you could accomplish a lot.

Just be careful, they get quite hot!

Thanks Sean. Already got one of those and I'll add to it to make it functional.

Depends on the horror film; but if you can, given the base ASA of the cameras is around 800, you can get away with using lamps in your scene (practical lighting). Such as the bare bulb on a cord hanging in a basement, or the soft glow of a dashboard (punch this up with a little blue LED Flashlight bouncing off of a white piece of paper, for example). ect ect.

As for on camera LEDs, the dimmable ones are ok if you throw them through heavy diffusion to knock them way down and use them as an eye-light. basically i just use them when i want a catch light in the eyes right above or below the lens so they throw little if any shadow, and reflect in the eyes.

Depends on the horror film; but if you can, given the base ASA of the cameras is around 800, you can get away with using lamps in your scene (practical lighting). Such as the bare bulb on a cord hanging in a basement, or the soft glow of a dashboard (punch this up with a little blue LED Flashlight bouncing off of a white piece of paper, for example). ect ect.

As for on camera LEDs, the dimmable ones are ok if you throw them through heavy diffusion to knock them way down and use them as an eye-light. basically i just use them when i want a catch light in the eyes right above or below the lens so they throw little if any shadow, and reflect in the eyes.

Adrian, thanks for posting.

I tried using practical lighting but I'm not entirely satisfied with it. I just went to home depot and bought a bunch of lights and dimmers and stuff and ordered a couple LEDS from BH and I don't wanna hear about it anymore lol.

See, the problem I was having with practical lighting is not enough contrast, which is also what I was trying to achieve to some extent. I was trying to stray away from the conventional high-contrast/shadowy horror film lighting by giving the image a very plain, ''practical'' everyday look. That resulted in my talent's face being underexposed in some shots with more backlight than anything, and also a loss of focus on the talent's face.

I love the idea of practical lighting. STanley Kubrick used it alot, and I think most people will agree he's the boss.

But I ain't no Kubrick.

The problem isn't the lights you're using; but where you're putting them and how you're parking exposure. For example let's say we have talent with a lamp behind them, and when we film it, we get an under-exposed face. We could, sometimes, expose for the face and now our background is too hot. Instead we need to work on the lighting ratio and the way to do that would be to bring in another light. for me, I'd start working with a bounce to see if I can scoop light from behind back into their face-- hopefully get a nice eye-light as well. Quick and effective.
If that didn't work, then I'd start bringing in a china-ball or something like that. Often, I'll have china balls painted 1/2 or 3/4 black to somewhat control the light. throw that on a hand-suqeezer because I don't mind if my light goes a bit warm-- that's just me, and tweak it in.

I hardly ever use over-head lights in scenes, though, unless motivated. And in those cased I'd rather replace it with a batten strip, if I have it, or something like a Zip-- though that's most certainly a film light (a lot of people use kinos, but I'm not a kino fan personally).

I am using two Comer CM-LBPS1800 LED lights occasionally.


Very bright for a camera LED light, powered by cheap SONY NP-F type batteries (~ 140 min / battery).
It comes with 4500 Kelvin and an orange diffuser for 3200 Kelvin.
With the selectable condense lens it can focus the beam for even more illumination.
Color rendition is good.

Seldom I use the lights directly on camera, most of the time I put them onto light stands, which makes them very versatile.

In the US there is this dealer having them:
http://lacolorpros.com/product/?CM1800- ... ny-Battery)

Here an example where I used just one LED on a talking head:


(click for larger image)

There is also the Litepanels Brick LED Light, which is color balance selectable and is compact.
Cheers