OT: LED vs halogen strobe lights

[dm_hawk]

i'm a lighting n00b, looking for a strobe light to control with Live for a video project. What are the advantages/disadvantages of LED vs. halogen strobe lights? I'm looking for as powerful a strobe as i can get for $200 or less.

for $150, this one is looking pretty good right now: http://www.chauvetlighting.com/led-techno-strobe.html

thanks in advance..
d

[Tone Deft]

LEDs generate less heat, are more compact and last a long time. halogens wear out and don't like to be strobed but they will probably long enough for a project. go LED, that link looks cool.

[dm_hawk]

LEDs generate less heat, are more compact and last a long time. halogens wear out and don't like to be strobed but they will probably long enough for a project. go LED, that link looks cool.

thanks, td!

are there any disadvantages to LED strobes in terms of light intensity, quality, etc?

[Tone Deft]

not really. compared to regular incandescent bulbs they generate more heat and use more current when built in groups but they're becoming more and more in vogue. they've been replacing traffic lights with LEDs for all these reasons.

I guess you might say they can look very discrete, IOW a group of them can look like a bunch of individual dots instead of one light, but a diffuser can change that.

then there's cost, each one is cheap, but you need a bunch of them to make up the lumens so the cost can go up. they're also 'coherent' light which can look funny in some situations (FWIW they're the same type of light source as a laser, coherent light, all the photons being emitted are of the exact same frequency.)

you also need more of them to make the same amount of light as other types of lights.

surely those lighting sites will have an FAQ on the pros and cons of each type of light.

[beats me]

I could be wrong as far as strobes, but LED par cans can be a lot more expensive when trying to match the light brightness of a traditional bulb.

But as has been mentioned, LED lasts a lot longer, doesn't generate heat, and is more cost effeciant on the electric bill.

I just got a couple LED pars for over the bar that smoothly transition between different colors at a speed rate you set. It fills a void in my life.

[LoopStationZebra]

LEDs are also very directional - their beam spread being much more narrow than a standard bulb of any type. 10 to 40deg spread, depending on the spec. That image could very well be photoshopped to make it seem like 'wow, a lot of light is coming off!' Probably faked. In reality, if you stand at a 45deg angle to that fixture you'll see light, but nowhere near the effect when standing in front of the unit. This is why some LED arrays come with a reflective eggcrate backing - with the individual LEDs sitting inside a spherical, reflective cell - which bounces the light around nicely. (You'll see this same kind of thing with LED flashlights). Other setups cluster 3 or 4 LEDs at angle within a larger array.

LED is the way to go. Just make sure you get a good spread going.

[Tone Deft]

mmmmmmmmm spread.


you can get wide angled LEDs.
http://elexp.com/opt_25wd.htm

but yes, that can be a problem. I don't know if it's to make up for the low lumen output (wider means less photon density means not as bright) or part of the mfg process.

[dm_hawk]

thanks for the responses.

spread....

i want to film a dancer in the strobe light, in a roughly 15' x 15' to 20' x 20' space. i say "roughly" because the space in which we're filming is much larger, so we'll need to rope off an area that's within the strobe's spread, yet roomy enough for her to dance around.

do you think it might work better to get something like this for $200: http://www.guitarcenter.com/American-DJ ... 1155537.gc

...and surround the area with 4 smaller, synced lights?

[Pitch Black]

(my wife's a dancer/video artist and I do filming with her sometimes) I think that the 4 strobe idea could open up some creative possibilities, depending on what you want. You could fire all 4 in sync from either the same or different angles, or run them out of sync from different angles - that could create some nice interchanging silhouettes.

[beats me]

(my wife's a dancer/video artist and I do filming with her sometimes) I think that the 4 strobe idea could open up some creative possibilities, depending on what you want. You could fire all 4 in sync from either the same or different angles, or run them out of sync from different angles - that could create some nice interchanging silhouettes.

Oh! That reminds me of when I saw some artist's display where he had water running out of a hose but with some clever use of different strobe settings it looked like the water was actually running up into the hose. I giggled with excitement.

[outershpongolia]

Nothing but problems with our two (now just one) lights with halogens.

They were recalled.. before we bought them.. No wonder they were only 50 a piece.

[OvertoneZero]

halogens are good for melting faces

[dm_hawk]

halogens are good for melting faces

this is good to know - we specifically did NOT want melted faces in this production.

[outershpongolia]

halogens are good for melting faces

this is good to know - we specifically did NOT want melted faces in this production.

Of course you want melted faces.. and wet panties of course

[LoopStationZebra]

and wet panties of course