arent even the newest chinese ones now +85 CRI? ...I think the cheap ebay ones are getting better and better that's for sure.

How about the new fotodiox LEDs with adjustable temp? I read they are more than 80CRI and they are pretty inexpensive and very nice; I think the #1 fave for LED lights right now. Almost delved into the Z96's and read the newer Fotodiox 321as are even better, brighter, comes with batteries, adj temp/brightness and are super nice.

I think I will go for them, unless someone has better suggestions and can advise me not to ...3x brighter than the Z96, cheap as it comes with batteries already (Z96 alone costs $60-70 with no battery and you still have to buy them at least $20 with charger..so roughly 100 bux for a 1/3 of the power of the 321as).

Check out the fotodiox 1000.. I think their stuff is much more up to date and more modern feauture than that one, the other generics or the ebay/HK ones.

All the fotodiox LED have a model that has adjustable color temp AND ability to even use a high-mah camcorder battery on the rear mount for portability ;)

just search "fotodiox LED" and amazon has a bunch...as I do more research it seems they make the best inexpensive lights, and HK/ebay just copies them, yet for the same price.

I really dig and attracted to the 312 for portability, not too big and not too small. The 500 I can prolly see myself using for portable light too. The 1000 though, I think that one might be too big and heavy for location shooting/portability and would strictly be studio only tho

edit...I read the 312as is CRI 82 and 130w tung equiv (someone else said he guesses it is a little in b/n his 100w & 250w light, somewhere around 170w). 312as sounds perfect for the on the go, on location, portable or dim-sunset-shaddows-outdoor light..not too big and not too small and fits in a backpack. SOunds awesome for a measly $160 on amazon ;)

Is 82 CRI good enough? I read that all the Fotodiox LEDs are 82 CRI.

The Future:

Not exactly LED... but if the typical/current LED's CRI isn't high enough... these even newer lighting technology offer even higher quality than the already available, modern and futuristic LED's (though, of course more expensive than LED's. Hopefully in time and in the future, all these digital-lights will become much cheaper)....

Plasma lights w/ 94 CRI ~ Hive Lights
Hive Lighting | Plasma Lights


Phosphor lights w/ 95-97 CRI ~ PRG TruColor Lights
PRG TruColor Introducing FOTON | PRG TruColor
PRG TruColor Foton Luminaire LED - DC Video Light FTN-901.0010

Wowzers! 94-97 CRI digital lights! That sounds super good; almost too good to be true for digital. Too bad these aren't nearly as compact/portable as today's current LED's, and look to be strictly in-studio, big, heavy, bulky and wall powered units.... maybe in a few years they'll be compact tho ;)

I bet China/HK/Ebay could copy/clone/bite this technology, produce them and offer it to the masses for cheap on ebay (this will surely p*ss off the originators; like how Litepanels got mad and filed a lawsuit)...

....I am sure the masses of photo/video-graphers wouldn't mind one bit though ;)

Hi,
v interesting...
How would the set up be like? attached to the camera, hand held??
Tks!

Thanks for the recommendations 0dBm. I've done more research and those lights you mentioned use the highest quality and best LED technology, the SMD LEDs (the flat ones with the yellow circle in each square). I guess the Cineroid is prolly the best LED light to date, with it's SMD led's. I wonder if they are going to make larger versions? If they did, those will surely be super bright and light-years better than all the ebay/chinese/fotodiox/litepanels LED's that use the older, weaker, cr@ppier round t3 style LEDs.

That Cree flashlight link looks like a nice one too. Is it SMD too? Looks like it.

Btw...are lumens equivalent to tungsten watts?? Just seeing how it's 343 lumens compare to the Fotodiox 144 and 312 LEDs (which are around 80 and 150 tungsten watt equivalents). I am guessing those 343Lm flashlights are brighter than the Fotodiox/Ebay/Chinese LED's correct??

just off the top of my head, 343 lumens is about as bright as a 25-30 watt household incandescent bulb.

Fred

The Fotodiox/Bi-Color/Ebay LED specs state:

144a/as: 2354lux
209a/as: 3950lux
312a/as: 6580lux
508a/as: 8500lux

Is "household incandescent bulb watts" the same as "tungsten watts power equivalent"?

Is "lux" the same as "lum/lumens"?

So what would be brighter? These fotodiox/chinese/ebay LED panels? ..or that linked Cree 343lum headlamp flashlight?

All sorts of tungsten lamps will be close to the same brightness at the same power level.

I don't remember how lux and lumen relate. I would say that device as bright as a 25w lamp is going to be a lot less bright than a panel that's equivalent to a 400w lamp.

Fred

Ups just delivered me the 144as today :)

My first LED.... it sure is nice and bright.. I love it :)

Also got a sheet of 1/8 minus-green gel (magenta) to totally get rid of that green-spike/hue, that is seen in post. Seems to work perfect and it looks to be a perfect white now! :)

It's so nice, I am thinking of getting another..most likely the bigger 312as; then use the 144as that I have now for rim/hairlight or fill, while using the bigger 312as for key. 508as looks nice too, but it is more than twice as much as the 312as; so might as well & can get an extra 312as if I ever needed it, for a total of 2, at same as the price of 1 508as right? ..which I prolly would do anyways... so I am sure my next light will be the 312as, and not the 508as.

The 312as is a measly $150.. and the 144as is about $70, and 208as is about $110. Great prices for such nice lights. Pick your poison X)