Help needed with lighting

FilmingPhotoGuy wrote on 12/28/2008, 10:58 AM
I have built my own mobile white LED lighting box that fits onto my fig-rig. It runs on 4 AA 1.2V batteries. It gives a good white light overall but the footage seems a bit black and whitish. Mine has 13 X 9 rows of LED's.

Are these LEDs the way to go for mobile lighting? I did read a post here (I think it was from "Farss" who make them) Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Comments

LoTN wrote on 12/28/2008, 11:06 AM
I thought about this for a while so your experience is of some interest for me ;-)

I don't know if it is sound but the LED specs should have an effect on the chroma of your shooting. Did you try to use some filter ?
Coursedesign wrote on 12/28/2008, 11:44 AM
You need diffusion for the LEDs, unless you're shooting "noir."

And white LEDs are all over the map for color temperature, see what you can do with your camera's WB (if the spectrum is too uneven, you need filters).

FilmingPhotoGuy wrote on 12/28/2008, 11:50 AM
No filters. Maybe one should use a warm yellowish filter, yes/no?
Yes I do use a diffuser.
I never did think of a "white balance" setting. That should have been the first thing to check.
farss wrote on 12/28/2008, 1:25 PM
"Maybe one should use a warm yellowish filter, yes/no?"

That depends on what the other lighting's colour temperature is.
If it's daylight then you wouldn't need to gell your LEDs.
If it's tungsten you would use a gell called Colour Temperature Orange (CTO). This can be had in full, half and quarter.
The important thing is to get all your lighting to have the same colour temperature otherwise one looks blue or orange compared to the other no matter how you white balance the camera. If you're stuck with mixed CT lighting setting white balance to the hottest / bluest lights gives the best outcome. An orange cast is less objectionable than a blue cast.

Bob.