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LitePanels IR and Mini 50(Video Systems)When you ask award-winning professional filmmakers and video creators what separates the great presentation from the merely OK, one of the most popular answers is proper and creative production lighting. Like many elements of video production, lighting is best if it's not noticed. Sometimes you need a small, bright on-camera light, but most of these weigh a ton, burn loads of power, and will scorch your hand should you accidentally touch them. Last year the folks at LitePanels introduced a brighter idea: lightweight LED-powered on-camera lights. It's an idea that quickly found favor in the industry. Recently the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded the LitePanels Mini system a 2005 Emmy Engineering Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development. This year, with the introduction of the new infrared IR light, LitePanels has figured out how to illuminate a scene via LED without shining visible light. Introduced at this year's NAB convention, the IR garnered a Video Systems Pick Hit award. The IR allows shooters to illuminate dark scenes with infrared light that's visible only to infrared-capable camcorders. For this review I tested a LitePanels Two-Lite Package with the new infrared Mini IR light (model LPIR-05k) and a standard LitePanels Mini 50-degree flood light (model LPCK-50). (LitePanels allows you to custom-configure a two-light package any way you need it.) The two-light package comes in a convenient hard-shell case. LitePanels LED lights offer many innovations. Each unit weighs less than 10oz. and fits in the palm of your hand. They're built into solid cast-aluminum shells. The panels consist of many, many rows of tiny LED (light-emitting diode) lights. The shooter adjusts them with a variable brightness control that amazingly produces no color shift during dimming. The lights output 60 foot-candles at 2ft. to 3ft. and provide a soft white, flicker-free light that's balanced for 5600K daylight. The heat-free LEDs are rated at 100,000 hours. The front is clear solid Plexiglas that provides lots of protection. Provided as part of LitePanels kits is a variety of heavy-plastic colored filters that attach via Velcro. Designed to deliver even brightness, the lights can use a variety of power sources. The kit includes a standard snap-on rechargeable battery (NiMH), which, when fully charged via the included AC power adapter, lasts one to two hours depending on how bright the light is set. With lengthy cords that allow you to use the units indoors with AC power, the kit also includes adapters for various power formats throughout the world and adapters for using the LitePanels with a car battery. Handy indeed. The company claims the lights are three times as power-efficient as conventional tungsten lights. As we went to press with this review, LitePanels announced a new DV Battery Adapter Plate that allows you to use standard DV camera batteries to power the light. The adapter attaches to the LitePanels Mini or IR and provides another option for portable power. Mini IR Seeing and videotaping in the dark with the IR offers lots of advantages, many of which I'd never realized before. The infrared light spectrum is invisible to the human eye but, when teamed with an infrared-capable camera and a light source, IR can illuminate a scene. The heat-free IR light can be adjusted from 100 percent to zero percent while shedding no visible light. LitePanels infrared lights are ideal for working with extreme low-light levels. Unfortunately, IR-capable cameras are necessary, and they're few and far between. With a Sony camera that had a Super NightShot feature, I used the Mini IR for shooting nature video and for special effects shots for a music video. It was quite easy to use. If you want to set the illumination lower, just twist the knob and it dims. As a small, powerful, and totally self-contained light, the IR can be placed in unusual places in a scene to achieve some nice effects that one could not achieve with a traditional light source. This opened up tons of innovative lighting possibilities for me. As you can imagine, the IR lights are especially effective where you want to capture footage of a subject without them realizing it. For example, for the HBO documentary series Family Bonds, cinematographer Peter Rieveschl uses the IR when he wants to keep a minimal presence and not interfere with those stealth moments of action in a low-light scene. The IR lights are also very effective for interior auto shots. I shot a woman driving a car at night, and the LitePanels was perfect for illuminating the scene. I taped it to the dash and fit a dashboard cover over it, and the light illuminated the scene without blinding the actor. But before we got to capture good light video with no visible light source, there were a few hoops we needed to jump through. In order to test the no-light capabilities of the Mini IR, I borrowed the Sony TRV-820 Digital 8 camcorder. Its Super NightShot feature drops the camera's IR filter, allowing it to see near-infrared light. (This is not like seeing a heat or UV image.) The IR light itself is invisible. Most cameras can't see a thing with the LitePanels IR, but with the TRV-820's NightShot feature engaged I could see a surprisingly well-lit, grainy grayscale image. To make sure I got illumination only from the LitePanels IR, I found and covered the two IR illuminator LEDs hidden behind dark plastic at the front of the Sony camera. You can boost the sensitivity of the Super NightShot feature, but you'll drop your frame rate down to about 15fps. But despite my inability to find and use a true IR camera, the results with the Sony TRV-820 and the LitePanels IR light were fun and effective. Using the IR Mini stimulated me to think about new creative and business projects I could use it on. Mini 50 Shooting with Sony VX1000 and VX2000 DV cameras, I also used the relatively new LitePanels Mini 50, a 50-degree flood, and got great results. The light attached via a hot shoe adapter and a metal plate. Mounting the light directly on the camera is more solid, but in my opinion to make it really work you need to buy the optional 4.2in. or 8.3in. Swivel Arm (known as an Israeli arm), which allows you to position the light more effectively. LitePanels offers lots of options and accessories for all its lights. I could control the intensity of the light on the fly with the small knob on the side as I moved through different shooting situations. All LitePanels are balanced at 5600K daylight. Need a warmer color? Just take one of the filters included in the kit and attach it to the front of the light. It was effective to use some of these colored gels to cast a deep blue or a rich red accent light onto a scene. For example, I cast a captivating red glow on my actor in one scene. I had him in the ruins of a building and I put the light behind him, just outside a small window. Very effective. A few improvements would make the LitePanels LED lights even better. First, there was really nothing in the way of documentation. Some sort of user's manual would have helped when I was initially unable to get the lights to work. I thought the lights would operate with the rechargeable batteries attached, but a small cable needed to be connected between the two. It took me a while to figure that out. For the IR LitePanels, it would be nice if some sort of power indicator were included. Small barn doors for the front of the lights would have helped to focus the illumination. Also, I would have liked a small indicator light (that wouldn't interfere with the IR light spectrum) to show whether the IR was on without looking through the IR-capable camera lens. The company offers a one-year manufacturer and workmanship warranty and lifetime phone/web support. Being able to shoot in dark conditions with the LitePanels IR, as well as on the run with the standard Mini 50 spot, really opens new creative possibilities. While these lights do not replace a full lighting kit, they go a long way toward helping make your videos look better. The highly portable Mini 50's bright output is almost a no-brainer for any serious shooter, even with its somewhat high price. Meanwhile, infrared video with the LitePanels IR light is not only a great special effect; it also has exciting possibilities for applications like law enforcement and nature video, as well as ENG work. LitePanels lights are rock-solid, innovative tools that all serious professional video shooters and budget filmmakers should consider for their bag of lighting tricks. Contributing writer Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a writer, musician, and video creator in Hawaii. He also writes for Broadcast Engineering and is the editor of BE's Audio Technology Update e-newsletter. BOTTOM LINE Company: LitePanels North Hollywood, Calif.; (973) 317-5000 Website:www.litepanels.com Product: LitePanels Mini IR light and Mini 50 flood light Assets: Small size, solid design, wireless, balanced 5600K daylight Caveats: Infrared-capable camera is required for IR light; extension arm is optional. Demographic: Any shooter needing portable daylight.Price: $700 for IR panel only; $1,295 for One-Lite IR kit; $2,295 for Two-Lite kit with Mini 50 and IR lights. feedback To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorial staff at [email protected]. |