There are good LED lighting solutions, and then there are inexpensive LED lighting solutions. Very rarely do the two categories cross over.
That's exactly what our friends at Blind Spot Gear, makers of the versatile Scorpion Light fixtures, are trying to accomplish with their newly announced Tile Light. Using a new technology that they're calling "Single Surface Emitting Technology," Blind Spot has engineered the Tile Light to not only put out a good deal of light for a fixture of this size, but it's also relatively soft and avoids the weird dotted multiple-shadow look that you get with other un-diffused LEDs.
The Tile Light is currently funding on Kickstarter, and the campaign is nearly halfway funded after its first day. Here's the video:
Video is no longer available: www.kickstarter.com/projects/blindspotgear/the-tile-light-pocket-sized-premium-film-lighting
And here are the features that are built into the Tile Light:
And here are the tech specs:
The Tile Light currently only comes in a daylight balanced model, although Blind Spot is hinting that a tungsten version may be in the works as well. For the time being, the Tile Light is incredibly easy to gel, as it doesn't require any additional accessories. All you have to do is cut your gel to size and stick it on the front of the light. And almost like magic, the gel stays put until you pull it off. I assume it's similar to how screen protectors work on phones and tablets and such.
Billy from Blind Spot also had the chance to sit down with Dan Chung from News Shooter (whose redesigned website looks fantastic), and Dan had plenty of great things to say about the Tile Light upon playing around with it for the first time. In this video, you get to see the Tile Light powered by a Sony NP battery, as well as how easy it is to gel.
Check out their interview below:
Video is no longer available: vimeo.com/144816416
The best part about these lights is that they're genuinely affordable, at least compared to lights with similar specs and color accuracy. A single Tile Light starts at about $240 for a basic package that includes an AC power supply. Then there are several different tiers of accessories that you can purchase as well, ranging from that $240 price on the low end, all the way up to $360 for the entire Tile Light kit.
Here are the various levels of Tile Light accessories:
Billy and the Blind Spot team have put together a few additional tutorials that you can watch over on the Kickstarter page, each one showing different uses for the Tile Light. Here's one of them, which shows off how easy it is to bring and use these lights in remote locations.
If you're interested in learning more about the Tile Light, be sure to head over to the Kickstarter page.
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Your Comment
21 Comments
It seems to me that a 24W fixture would a lot more useful with a tungsten balance.
November 6, 2015 at 2:16PM
They literally do not know the definition of the word literally.
Do you think they can deliver this project under 12 parsecs?
November 6, 2015 at 3:19PM
I didn't understand this comment...then I went back and watched the Kickstarter video. Haha!
November 6, 2015 at 5:59PM
Looks awesome.
November 6, 2015 at 3:22PM
Overpriced.........
November 7, 2015 at 2:35AM, Edited November 7, 2:35AM
Hey,
in germany it is difficult to get affordable hq lighting - i backed up the project.
I would love to hear your suggestions. I am looking allways for a good and cheap hq lightingset.
Thanks - up front - for your suggestions.
November 7, 2015 at 5:11AM
bro your at the source for arri forget the cheap stuff
November 7, 2015 at 2:27PM
:D would love to forget the cheap stuff and get a truck full of arri. Just asked my bankaccount and it said: Not even once in a livetime.
November 7, 2015 at 4:55PM
"bro your at the source for arri forget the cheap stuff"
That makes no grammatical sense.
November 16, 2015 at 2:57AM
And what LED-light with a color accuracy at 90+ would you suggest that doesn't cost at least twice the price of the Tile Light? Would really like to know because I don't know of any.
November 7, 2015 at 11:31AM
http://www.aputure.com/LED-videolighting/Amaran-h198-h198c
CRI 95+ approx $55-60 on Ebay
November 13, 2015 at 4:04PM
CRI has been discredited. The modern standard rating is the TLCI: https://www.cinema5d.com/led-light-accuracy-tlci
Nice to see that these guys cite it in the graphs above. The eBay one you linked to doesn't even mention it.
November 16, 2015 at 3:00AM, Edited November 16, 3:02AM
http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER%C2%AE-Dimmable-Digital-Camcorder-Panasonic/...
Turn it on and adjust in camera light balance.
November 7, 2015 at 1:37PM, Edited November 7, 1:37PM
Thanks. Thats i think close to the Yongnuo I use right now. I think that CRI is a critical aspect about these lights - i think about adding some scorpion lights for a three-point-lighting-set.
November 7, 2015 at 5:01PM
Is the list really literally endless? ENDLESS?
November 8, 2015 at 11:54PM, Edited November 8, 11:54PM
Oy, look at meh. I have an accent so my product must be worth et!
November 10, 2015 at 8:20AM, Edited November 10, 8:20AM
I Backed for three of the tile lights, looks awesome from some good lads,
I am working at a kickstarter startup and am glad to support another cool project, I am interested in doing the ring light and area light with the three lights i got instead of the 6 in the video. I do tons of shooting but these will be my first foray into owning lighting and im pretty pumped!
thanks crew
November 11, 2015 at 7:47PM, Edited November 11, 7:47PM
Be careful about ring lights. Personally I think ring lights make bizarre alienesque eye lights - I don't like them. Daisy-chained, these things will possibly make even more distracting eye lights - a bunch of rectangles in a circle? Hmm. The dimmer is limited as well - it looks like it only goes in increments of 20%, not ideal. Though I wish them the best of luck, and their offering has a super-compact size and its future is promising, I'm not convinced that at one color temperature and with its limitations it's a great buy now. I'm still pretty darned impressed with what the super-cheap LED lights can do and how long their batteries (and you can choose from many types) last. I have not used those as my only light source so I haven't experienced the corrugated shadows the filmmaker was talking about but mine has a nice thick diffuser you just slide in and I'm pretty sure that would eliminate that effect. Additionally the amount of light goes from moderate to blinding so I'm not concerned about lack of light either.
November 16, 2015 at 6:57PM
I own the TorchLed Bolt + Charger kit cost me about $360 shipped to Australia nice light, high CRI, I recently bought the Yongnuo YN900 dual colour, with dimmer, high CRI 95+ and about twice as powerful as the TorchLed and cheaper, wireless remote, barn doors. I'd buy another over this offering best deal is from Alibaba in china.
November 13, 2015 at 1:08PM, Edited November 13, 1:08PM
You need the TLCI, not CRI. CRI is not current or valid for video.
November 16, 2015 at 3:03AM
I'm skeptical about dimming and flicker. I don't see any information on refresh rates. I've never seen a cheap LED that didn't flicker, especially when dimmed.
November 14, 2015 at 11:02AM, Edited November 14, 11:02AM