DELO72
Well-Known Member
Well, so long as I am tricked.
LED instruments are good for many things.
They make adequate light for many situations and are cheap.
Cheapness, simplicity, and reduced heat are their primary benefits.
Quality of light (thus far) is not amongst their best traits. Oh sure, they will dial around their peaky spectrums and make bountiful color options available.
But a instrument that can make a flat, full spectrum white at 3250K is not there yet (at least at a price point that is reasonable, I'm looking at you Arri).
The peaky spectrum in "white" LEDs (warm or cool) is instantly noticable when applied to flesh-tones.
And, yup like TuckerD said, you can fool us by using more than one instrument or picking one with extra emitters, etc..
Now my workaround trick has me looking at a $60 8" Fresnel because the quality of the light is so frikkin good and it is simple.
Not nearly as simple as standing at the GrandMA and whizzing the whiz wheel to get something "good enough".
I'll give you three examples of incandescent fixtures in use all the time today because there is not a good single LED equal.
1. 9-light Fay (or 12-light Fay)
2. 10K Fresnel for motion picture work.
3. Follow spot with a 250' throw giving 300fc+ @5600k
Debate me, or prove to me that Panera Bread is not just overpriced hospital food...
AMEN. -- What he said! LEDs are colorful and getting better daily-- but they give no where near the light QUALITY that Tungsten Halogen does. If you want realism, you still can't beat TH sources. They offer other benefits (energy, maintenance, etc.), but you are sacrificing quality in exchange for other features (color mixing) and those benefits. They don't do everything. It's really just another tool in the box, not a replacement for Tungsten-- but an alternate source to Tungsten. Just like a Plane isn't a car. They will both get you to St. Louis-- but one of them gets you there faster, and one let's you stop at your favorite roadside diner. ;-)