If you don't know much about lighting, shopping around for LEDs might seem like an exercise in futility, because you don't really know what to look for (or look out for). But Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter shares 10 tips in the video below on what to look for in an LED lighting unit, from price to brightness and everything in between.


So, here are the things Pike says you should consider before purchasing an LED:

  • Your budget
  • How do you plan on using your LEDs?
  • Output/luminance (the number of LED bulbs/chips/diodes doesn't necessarily determine the light's output)
  • CRI (the higher the better)
  • Color temperature
  • Power options (Does it only run on batteries or can it be plugged in?)
  • Beam angle
  • Multi-chip or single-chip?
  • Edge color distortion
  • Extra features (LCD screens, battery life indicators, bi-color, dimmers, etc.)

Now that you know what to look for, Pike shares a bunch of LED lights that you might want to consider. We covered his sub-$50 options in a previous post, but he talks about 10 $50-$100 options in the video below.

Source: DSLR Video Shooter