What is LED Video Light

Definition of LED video light

LED video light is a camera light supplement device with LED light-emitting diode as the luminous body. It is divided into high-power LED video light and low-power LED video light.

Application of LED video light

LED lighting has high efficiency, low voltage, small size, long life, fast response, strong shock resistance, energy saving and environmental protection. Low-power LED lights have been used for a long time. For example, the power indicator lights of various electrical equipment are all LED lights. Since the characteristics of LED lights are similar to diodes, they are usually called “light emitting diodes”.

In recent years, LED production technology has been greatly improved and developed, and high-power LEDs that can be used for lighting have been widely used. Because high-power LEDs are subject to certain restrictions in terms of production costs, the price of high-power white LEDs is still high, so they are mainly used in lighting in some special fields, such as video lights, photography lights and other special equipment.

Basic characteristics of LED video light

Power and luminous intensity

There are many types of LEDs used for lighting, with power ranging from 1/20W to several W or even tens of W, and operating current ranging from tens of milliamps to thousands of milliamps.

Its power is proportional to the luminous intensity. The higher the power of the LED, the higher the luminous intensity. For example, 20 LED lights of 0.05W are equivalent to 1 LED light of 1W. Three 1W LED lights are equivalent to one 3W LED light. Of course, there are differences in the intensity of LED lights of the same power. Products of different manufacturers have even greater differences in light intensity. 1W LED lights are about 70-100LM. Most manufacturers only specify the power of the LED lamp, not the light intensity. The light intensity of a good LED3W is higher than that of a general LED5W. Of course, its price is relatively higher. For example, the BL-HD80 camera light has only one 5W LED light, and its power is equivalent to 80 low-power LED lights.

Color temperature adjustment

The color temperature of LED lights is roughly divided into three types: warm white, neutral white and bright white.

The color temperature of warm white LED is between 2600K and 3700K, which is a warm color light source, which is equivalent to the color temperature of a quartz lamp.

The color temperature of neutral white LED is between 3700K and 5000K, which is lower than the standard color temperature of sunlight, and looks softer and more comfortable.

The color temperature of bright white LED is between 5000K and 10000K, which is a cool light source, and it feels very bright. But too high color temperature is not suitable for photography.

So generally choose products with a color temperature below 6500K.

The color temperature of the LED used in a good video light is selected through a special test, and the color temperature is within 5500K±300K.

There are two ways to change the color temperature, one is to adjust the color temperature through the color temperature adjustment filter, SPL300 is this way to change the color temperature; the other is to adjust the color temperature by lamp beads with different color temperatures. For example, SPL600 uses lamp beads with different color temperatures to adjust the color temperature. The advantage of changing the color temperature with the combination of LED lights with different color temperatures is that it is more convenient to operate and can be adjusted arbitrarily within a certain range; the disadvantage is that the light rate cannot be used only half, resulting in loss of light intensity.

Quantity and intensity

Many people care about the number of LEDs. They think that the more LEDs the better, so dozens or even hundreds of LED video lights have emerged.

The purpose of why a lot of LEDs is obvious is to want more power and higher brightness. Since everyone does not understand the nature of LEDs, they can only know it from the quantity. The more LED lights of the same power, the higher the brightness, so the more LEDs, the better.

High-power LEDs have high brightness, but high-power LEDs generate high heat and must have a heat sink, which adds extra volume and weight. Therefore, generally only 1-5 LEDs can be used. The SPL300 video light is 20 LEDs with 15W power.

Irradiation angle

The video light has an effective illumination angle, which is approximately between 60 degrees and 90 degrees. If the illumination angle is too small, black edges will appear when shooting. If the irradiation angle is too large, the light efficiency will decrease. Therefore, manufacturers will choose LEDs according to this standard and require LEDs to meet the requirements of the illumination angle. For example, the selected LED lamp has an illumination angle of 60 degrees. If the lamp distance is 2 meters, then this LED will form an illumination range of 2.3 meters in diameter at 2 meters. Of course, it would be better if the irradiation angle can be adjusted. For example, the illumination angle of the LED video light can be adjusted within a certain range through an additional device.

The smaller the irradiation angle, the higher the light intensity.

Among them, SPL1200 is a video light that can adjust the illumination angle between 60 degrees and 100 degrees. When using a wide-angle lens, adjust the illumination angle to a large angle, and when using a telephoto lens, adjust the illumination angle to a small angle.

The difference in light effect

All lighting has the phenomenon that the light intensity at the center is higher than that at the edges, and the LED video light is no exception.

As mentioned above, the illumination range of a 60-degree single LED at a distance of 2 meters is about a circle with a diameter of 2.3 meters. And the light intensity at the center point must be higher than the edge.

If the video light is composed of multiple LEDs, is the light softer and more uniform? Let’s analyze it. Each LED lamp projects an illumination range of 2.3 meters in diameter at 2 meters, and the illumination of multiple LED lights will overlap (of course, they must overlap together, otherwise the effective range will be exceeded). Since multiple LED lights are not in the same position, the illumination range will not completely overlap. If the distance between the leftmost and rightmost LED of a video light with multiple LEDs is 100mm, then the non-overlapping distance of the illumination range generated at 2 meters is also 100mm.

In this way, the maximum non-overlapping position of the illumination range of 2.3 meters produced by multiple LED lights is only 0.1 meters, so its light efficiency is basically the same as that of a single LED. The illumination center points of multiple LED lights overlap, and the The light edge overlaps with the edge to form an almost completely overlapping light range of multiple lights. The result is the same as a single LED light, and there is no more uniform light. The BL-1300P has as many as 1296 LEDs. This kind of light cannot be used as a headlight, and it is more suitable as a video light.

Lifespan

LED lights have a long life and strong shock resistance. The lifespan is generally more than 50,000 hours. But the life span of LED lights is conditional, and the most important thing is the heat dissipation of LED. The main reason why high-power LED lights are difficult to produce is that the heat dissipation conditions are relatively harsh.

Even so, even if it loses 20,000 hours of service life, it is still negligible for camera fill light.

Stability

The good circuit design of LED video light is also an important factor to ensure its quality. LED lights have voltage requirements, and voltage fluctuations will also cause changes in light intensity and color temperature, which is not only detrimental to the application, but also seriously affects its quality and life. If the voltage exceeds 20% of the rated value, it will cause damage to the LED light. Therefore, there must be a high-intensity voltage stabilizing circuit in the video light. A good video light has a large voltage stabilization range. Even if the power supply voltage varies greatly between 6V and 24V, the video light still maintains the original light intensity and color temperature. For example, BL-V3000 and BL-5500K video light can be used in the voltage range of DC6V～DC24V.

Main accessories

In addition to the body of the LED video light, there are many accessories such as a diffuser, a battery compartment, a battery, a charger, a C-shaped bracket, a ring bracket, a handle, and a one-turn two-bracket.