LED studio lights keep making leaps and bounds in technological advancement, but the price of such lights has tended to remain relatively high. However the Fiilex P360 and the P200 FlexJet are two LED studio lights touting a high CRI at all color temperatures (and the ability to smoothly tune between them), an option to run on broadcast batteries, and a light/compact form factor, each costing less than $1000. The P200 also features a lighting tool you're not likely to find in other studio lights: fiber optics.
P360 Features:
- High Intensity LED Light
- Smooth Tunable Color Temperature
- Single Point Dense Matrix LED Light Source
- High CRI at all Color Temperatures
- Lightweight, Compact, Easy for Travel
- Low Power Consumption (90W Max.)
- Advanced Vapor Cooling System
- Compatible with Broadcast Batteries
The P200 FlexJet's features are essentially the same as the P360, except that the maximum power consumption is 60W, it has 8 different color settings (3200K Tungsten, 4500K Metal Halide, 5600K Daylight, Magenta, Yellow, Aqua, Cyan, and Blue), and can mount fiber optic accessories.
Now you probably noticed that in the above video all of the lights used were pretty close to the subjects, and with good reason. A quick comparison of the photometric data of the P360 and the Arri 300W Plus Fresnel, shows the P360 giving off a little over a third to almost half the footcandles (depending on the color temperature setting) of the Arri when adjusted as a spotlight, and roughly one-third the footcandles as a flood light. The P360's ability to focus light also seems more limited than the Arri. So unless you're lighting a fairly close shot, the P360 probably isn't a good candidate to be your key light. And unfortunately, there was no photometric data on the Fiilex website for the P200 FlexJet, but regardless it looks like it's designed to be used as a fill light.
OK, so these lights aren't going to supplant most of the lights in a typical tungsten kit, but in what situations would they be useful? The P360 looks like it would be a good choice as a basic portable fill/hair light on both interior and exterior shoots, and to light subjects in confined spaces (such as car interiors), or act as a light source coming from a confined space (think something akin to the suitcase in Pulp Fiction). The P200 FlexJet -- while ostensibly a less powerful light source than the P360 -- offers even more flexibility in the aforementioned applications, with the ability to choose a wider range of colors, shape the light in multiple ways, and to channel the light to a specific location with the fiber optic attachments. The Fillex website also suggests using the fiber optic attachments for underwater lighting and light painting.
These lights aren't widely available just yet. As of this writing, the only place I can find that is offering them is Samy's Camera, and currently they're only taking pre-orders. The P360 will run you about $700 and the P200 FlexJet is going for $800 (no word yet on how much the softbox, fresnel lens, or fiber optic attachments will cost).
What do you think of Fiilex's LED lights? Would they be a useful addition to your light kit?
Link: Fiilex LED Lights
[via Cinescopophilia]
