Choosing a light source for your video recordings

Monday 31 October 2022, 20:02 by Nando Harmsen | 6,854 views | 3 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Extra light is often needed for video recordings made indoors. When you start filming, there may come a time when you need to shop for lights.

But what should you look for, and which ones should you buy? There are so many lights to choose from that the range can be blinding.

Ready for filming in the Photofacts Academy studio. A large softbox with continuous light, an LED panel is available.
In a previous article, I talked about the five things you need to know when you want to start making video recordings. Quite rightly, people pointed out in the comments that light is also very important, or even essential.

The big difference compared with photography is the need for continuous light. I have always solved this with the modelling light of my Profoto flash units, which can be used for that purpose to some extent.

Unfortunately, their light output is too low, which becomes a limitation.

A sort of film studio at home. I use the modelling light of my flash as continuous light. It works, just. A real film light would be better.
What should you look at when you start searching for lights? I have already made a purchase, perhaps the wrong one, and am considering whether I should have something else after all.

I do not want to look at which light is best right now. Instead, I want to consider a number of things to arrive at a good choice. Maybe this can help you too, if you are also looking.

Types of light and light output

Basically, there are two types of light you can choose from. There are LED panels and LED lights. Both use LEDs, but they are still two different things. A panel is just as the name suggests, a panel full of LEDs, so the light comes from a relatively large surface.

An LED panel with a diffuser. A large surface, but only when you can position the panel close by. The effective light output is lower than you might expect.
The other option is LED lights, where, as far as I know, a large number of LEDs act as a single light source, so it is a point light source.

The surface is therefore very small, and your LED light looks like... Well, like a light, onto which you can then put all kinds of light modifiers.

The LEDs of the Amaran 60 watt light. This produces more light than a panel, and you can attach all kinds of light modifiers via the Bowens mount.
In general, an LED light is more powerful than an LED panel. The amount of light it produces is sometimes measured in watts, sometimes in lumens. The higher the number, the more light. But how much light is enough?

That depends on your purpose. Can you light from close by, or does the distance need to be greater? Remember, every doubling of the distance means that the amount of light decreases by three quarters.

Does an LED panel produce 3000 lumens of light at a distance of 1 metre? At 2 metres, that will be only a quarter, 750 lumens. At 4 metres, you will have less than 200 lumens left.

Filming on location. These 5200 lumen LED panels seemed like a good solution, but they are actually already too far away here for the right light. I estimate that I have less than 1000 lumens left at this working distance.
In principle, the more light output, the better. But set yourself a limit. There is no point buying the LED panel or LED light with the highest light output available for this purpose.

Not only are these extremely expensive, if you only need to light your subject from a distance of one metre, you will get no benefit from that extra light output.

An LED panel or light can also have multiple colours of LEDs, RGB LEDs or bi-colour LEDs. Remember that if a light has 180 LEDs, an RGB version will have 60 red, 60 green and 60 blue LEDs.

You only get the maximum light output when they are all lit, producing white light. A bi-colour light with 180 LEDs will have 90 LEDs per colour.

Three photos of my bi-colour 192 LED panel. Neutral light turns on all the LEDs, while warm light and cool light use only half, 96 LEDs. This therefore also affects your light output.
So think carefully about how you will use the light. Far away? Close by? Do you need to be able to adjust the colour, or is white light enough? Are you lighting a large room, or is it usually a single person?

An LED panel or an LED light

An LED panel has many LEDs arranged in a grid. This means that the light output is spread over a large surface and is not concentrated.

Even so, the surface is often too small to create truly soft light. You need a softbox or umbrella for that, and these are usually not usable with a panel.

The LED panels I have work reasonably well for these kinds of situations, where the distance to the subject is limited.
Depending on how you use an LED panel, a strange shadow may appear behind your subject. This is especially the case when an LED panel is not covered with a diffuser. This grid pattern can be very distracting.

If you put a diffuser in front of it, allow for light loss. With my LED panel, it turns out to be as much as 2 stops, something I overlooked when buying it.

Notice the shadow pattern. This is caused by the grid of LEDs in the panel. A diffuser largely prevents this, but allow for considerable light loss.
Although an LED light is a true point light source, it is easier to use with a softbox or umbrella. It can therefore produce better quality light than an LED panel. Put a reflector on it, or even a Fresnel lens, if you want.

Do be careful with LED lights, especially with a reflector. There can sometimes be a hotspot, where the light is tightly concentrated. Keep this in mind.

One thing to consider. Does the light have a hotspot? This can produce uneven lighting, especially when your subject does not stay in the spot. In that case, a light modifier will be needed. For example, an umbrella or softbox.

An LED light offers a wide range of light modifiers, of which this Lantern softbox is an example. This makes you more flexible than with an LED panel, and it prevents possible hotspots such as the one visible in the previous photo.

The heat problem becomes a sound problem

Although no light is being used that produces heat, LEDs can still become very hot. The more powerful LED lights and panels have active cooling for good reason. This removes the heat.

Pay attention to the sound of your LED light. Keep an eye and ear on the sound level and frequency. You do not want to hear this in your film.
That cooling can sometimes cause disturbing noise. This is not so important for photography, but it can be very distracting for film and video. If you are also recording sound, the fan in your light or lights may become audible.

Some LED lights have very quiet cooling, but there are also lights that produce a very distracting noise which is particularly difficult to filter out of your audio.

If you choose an LED light or LED panel, you should definitely pay close attention to this. Cheaper LED lights and panels in particular can suffer badly from this.

Portable or not?

You can buy continuous light for a reasonable price. If you do not want LED, you even have the option of ordinary lights. This can mean that you are no longer portable.

A set of six lights, not LEDs, in a huge softbox. This produces beautifully soft light. But it is anything but portable.
These kinds of solutions are good as a permanent studio setup. If being portable is important, you should certainly take this into account. Also consider the option of using batteries.

Power, wired or wireless?

Of course, you need power to turn the light on. This can come from the mains, via the plug. The consequence is that you always need a power socket nearby, or a long extension cable.

Most LED panels offer the option of using batteries. Sometimes one, sometimes two. These are often universal NP-F batteries.
There are also many lights that run on batteries. LEDs are often efficient enough with energy to make this possible. Universal NP-F batteries are often used, but not always. A type of battery that you can use for several purposes can be ideal.

You find universal NP-F batteries almost everywhere. If you want to work wirelessly, make sure your light can use them.
The option of using batteries makes you more flexible because you are no longer dependent on a power socket.

If your light works both from the mains and with batteries, that is even better. Check whether the battery option is included with your light, or whether you have to buy it separately as an accessory.

The choice

All well and good, but what should you choose? I recently bought two cheap LED panels with 5200 lumens, 192 LEDs and the option to adjust the colour temperature of the light, bi-colour LED panels. This seemed like a good option, but I am changing my mind about that.

What is the problem? The light output, because in some situations it has already proved to be too low. As long as I can place the panels close by, it is not a problem, but further away they do not provide the amount or quality of light I had hoped for.

Especially because I have to use a diffuser to make the light even. I lose 2 stops of light this way.

The Amaran has a V-mount onto which a separate adapter for NP-F batteries can be fitted.
Of course, I can only speak from my own perspective, but I think a set of LED lights would have been a better choice. Amaran is a brand that is becoming increasingly popular, but Bresser, Godox and Smallrig are other names you could look at.

A Came TV 55 watt LED spotlight, a bright beam of light with a specific purpose. An expensive LED light with a limited range of uses. Think carefully about which one is right for you before you buy.
How much light should they produce? The Amaran in the photo is a 60 watt LED light. Personally, I might go for a 100 watt or even 200 watt model, although the 200 watt Amaran appears to have a very distracting fan.

The idea is that I make the right choice in one go, rather than realising later that I should have...

As you can see, it is already too late for that. I have my LED panels. They have already served me well, but I could have made a better-informed choice. But who knows, an LED panel like this may be suitable for you. Hopefully, this story can make the choice a little easier for you.

Let me know what you think in a comment. What would you choose, or what have you chosen, and why? Do you have advice on a particular LED panel or LED light? Share it in the comments as well.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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3 comments

Wilfried Deberh wrote on Tuesday 1 November 2022 at 13:04 | reply
I also find the possibility of controlling the lamp's power from the camera a very important point. Maybe not so much for video recordings as seen in the images. The setup time is long and once adjusted, there is little use in changing the settings. Not so with photography, where you want to take different photos with a different look in a short amount of time. If you have to anticipate changing lighting conditions during video and you don't want to maneuver back and forth between the wires, tripods and set, then wireless control is also an advantage. The knowledge of channels and groups from flash photography is useful then. A Chinese brand is therefore creating unnecessary confusion of terms nowadays.
Translated from Dutch.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 1 November 2022 at 14:25 | reply
@Wilfried,
most LED panels and lights nowadays have an app so you can control the light via Bluetooth. This way, as a videographer, you can remain standing by your camera and keep an eye on the lighting while adjusting the lighting level.
Translated from Dutch.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Monday 7 November 2022 at 11:19 | reply
I have at least become wiser from the story. I am absolutely not a videographer. I find filming with a camera a crime. I am purely a photographer. As a photographer, you can also benefit from LED panels and LED lights.
I am missing one thing in the story, however. That is energy consumption. Since energy costs have risen enormously. It seems worthwhile to me to look at that too. The lamps and panels use more energy than just to produce light. The fans also consume electricity.
Translated from Dutch.

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