Mostly 100% flash, but leaning hard in the LED direction, especially for the RGB options. While the vibrance can be reduced, the ease of use can allow me to gel a scene when effort or time is lacking. Plus, LED lights for nighttime outdoor/street photography allows me to speed up my workflow and dial in the what I need to balance the ambient of the scene quickly, even if just using the modeling light in a modern strobe. Great content, thank you. Looking forward to the Colored Lighting Handbook.
Thank you so much! I forgot to mention that idea of using constant lights during nighttime or twilight. I actually ran into a situation where my scrubs were too powerful at twilight and I did just use them on my lamp. So thank you so much for mentioning that and I’ll have that handbook for you in a few months!
Great information as usual. When I got back into photography I was scared to death about flash (maybe kind of still), and used continuous lighting. Then I went crazy and started buying strobes and now I'm back to CL. I think one thing is for sure, there's a right place for each and knowing how to use them in their own particular situation is what you need to know.
The examples are interesting in this. Something I like about a portable continue light is shooting outdoors at night. It just seems way easier to hold or place a single continuous light, adjust the brightness to get just what I'm looking for without any fuss, and it keeps all the vibe of a nightime photo. For example, if people are walking by in the background, I want them to have motion blur so they don't clutter the shot, but still give a nice environmental portrait look that I would usually want to get outdoors. As you said, the right tool for the job.
Very nice run through of lighting options. I shot some the other day at a friend’s studio with both flash and constant LED (he has a Nanlite panel as well as some other LED tubes - not sure of the branding). There’s a place for all of it - especially as prices continue to fall.
Hey John, Thank you for this comparison. I think both lighting ways are incredible with pro's and cons in RL. A lot of clients these days want video and photo deliverables from their project. The key part in any case is to fit the shoot in 1 day for both the deliverables as sufficient as possible. Im really keen on flash but use both setups in relation to different scenes and switching between them will put more pressure on the schedule. In this case Continues lighting will "Overpower" :p this situation. building 2 setups either continues and flash or switching between both of them will not be efficient in time and money. What are your thoughts about this?
Thanks for your thoughts, Shane! When clients need both photo and video deliverables in one day, continuous lighting can indeed save time and streamline the workflow, allowing for a seamless transition between the two mediums.
Hi John! The LED images have more contrast because the LED acts like a spotlight, so the light is more directional and doesn't diffuse as much throughout the entire softbox. On the other hand, flashes spread light all around, creating a more diffused effect. You can see this in the background; LED light=darker background. Hope this helps. Bye! :)
Thanks for the video. I'm on the fence. I like flash, but there are times where I want to see what I get right away so constant light is great. I say learn both and use them to your advantage. Like your selfies on catching the football...lol
ha! thanks. I hope people get a lot of laughs out of those! One option is going to be more versatile but the other one might be the right fit for you and the shoot you're doing!
You can also move the light closer or further away and choose a larger modifier. There are too many variables not mentioned in this video to jump to any conclusions.
I use both. I recently had to copy some paintings going to a national museum. I had a tight timeline, the paintings could not be moved, and one painting was 5 feet wide. I had to get exact meter readings on six points of the painting. It was sooo much easier with my video lights. For some photojournalist editorial, I bring a small bi-color light just to use as fill and a reflector. But for anything more controlled portraits, stones rule, especially outside.
I might be worried about CRI / SSI / TLCI of some LEDs when doing that type of scientific work. But if I was still working as a PJ a small pavo tube or similar could have been a game changer!
One advantage I see with using LED, and this is specific to things like food photography - but you can use one lighting setup for both the photography and video. I do this now for a quick serve restaurant I work with. I was bringing in two strobes and then two led's, one setup for photo the other for video. it was a lot of equipment. using on the two led's saves a lot of space and time for setup.
I appreciate my Rotolight LED flashes combining advantages of both worlds, RGB light color control and having double light output in flash mode. And Rotolight is compatible with Elinchrom Pro trigger, even controlling Rotolight LED flash and Elinchrom flashes on the same set with the same trigger.
I’ve mostly used flash unless I was using both for shutter drag but I am getting more interested in constant light. Have you encountered issues with the model having eye strain from the bright constant lights? I’ve had people say their eyes were sensitive. Great video!
Thank you so much! I should have touched on mixing for creative effect too.. oh well I forgot about the video I made about that last year. I haven't had any subjects complain but I know from my own experience that I had a very scrunched up angry looking face when I used to sit in front of a window with a 720 watt led on full blast 3' octa pointed at me for RU-vid. But over time it became easier and easier so I am not sure how we would expect people to be ok with that much light on them. When I sit here in my office I only use a 150-watt light at 4%.
Love this, thanks John! One "con" of continuous lights I've found doing volume headshots at conferences, and 'step and repeat' photos at galas and other events, is that any passersby can "bogart" your lighting. Meaning, all the time, money, and thought you put into your light is available for anyone to use to enhance their own shots. Obviously, not a concern in a closed set or studio, but in public it's something to think about!
Very true, but at the same time, when teaching or hosting live shooting at conferences or events, this problem becomes a blessing reducing the need for triggers for various brands of cameras and strobes and the one person who always seems to find that ttl button and causes havoc on the set. LOL
@@jackhowdeshell2529 true, another scenario to consider! But, while it does make getting images easier in a teaching situation, they won't be learning off-camera flash, which is obviously a topic lots of photogs want to master!
Thanks, John. Very interesting stuff. I learned a lot about the pros and cons of continuous and flash light. However, it would have helped me even more had you mentioned the root cause for all of that. You probably assume that everybody knows but I don't (and possibly many others don't either). Am I correct in assuming that LEDs simply do not reach the same power output as flash which then causes the various effects you so diligently described?
You're welcome! LEDs generally don't reach the same power output as flash units, and that’s at the core of the differences I described. To elaborate a bit more: Flash units deliver a powerful burst of light in a very short duration, which can effectively "freeze" motion and overpower ambient light, giving you more control in various lighting conditions. On the other hand, continuous LED lights, while they have come a long way in terms of brightness and color accuracy, typically don't match the sheer potential brightness of a flash. This lower intensity means that continuous lights often require higher ISOs, slower shutter speeds, or wider apertures to achieve the same exposure as flash, which can lead to some of the challenges and limitations I mentioned in the video.
In 2: 32, full power of 300 w nalite iso 1600 same exp as 32w flash iso 200 mean if they same iso 1600 the flash gona x8 powerfull than nalite so flash power 4w same power as continue light 300 w ?
I think you're asking is the flash a lot stronger than the LED? The answer is yes. They are typically a lot stronger! Flashes are measured In watt seconds and LEDs are measure in watts. If the 500ws flash was at 32WS, that is 1/16 power and we were shooting at 200 ISO. If we turned it down to 1/128th power or 4ws it would be roughly the same brightness as the 300watt LED.
Always a treat to see new videos from you pop up! For work with gels it's so hard to beat RGB lights in terms of flexibility, speed, and play. You don't have to waste time trying to make some weird plastic sock thing out of a gel sheet to cover a bare bulb every time you want to switch a color out anymore. You can even clone existing light using the app - it's all just feels like magic and I love it.
