Eye to Eye: Lighting and lighting control

Author: Dennis Lennie

Published 1st December 2009


In 1985 I visited the Paris HQ of France Regions 3 with Arthur Garratt, a freelance science broadcaster who worked mainly for BBC World Service. FR3 was one of the first European television networks to make full use of high-efficiency ENG and EFP. We learnt a lot and were able to offer one recommendation in return. Watching a news presentation by two female anchors, AG remarked "They've both got beards!". He was referring to the forward downlighting which cast each presenter's neck into shadow. Our FR3 guide was suitably impressed, commenting that fill-in lights would be added.
Upon which introductory note, please enjoy the following update of new video lighting and lighting-control kit. There is a lot of ground to cover in a tight space:
ADB Lighting Technologies' Domino is a compact automated lighting control desk for studio and theatre control rooms. Features include a large number of physical submasters to execute playback, chasers and memories. The Domino XT version has a moving light interface allowing single-touch control of effects, fans, palettes, presets and filters. Domino's introduction follows the recent release of the new Mikado manual/memory control desk.

Anton/Bauer recently announced two new LED lights. TheEledZ is an integral 4.5 W LED light for use with small handheld cameras. Designed to operate with the ElipZ battery produces soft bright light at 5,600 K colour temperature and weighs 110 g. The EledZ includes a dimmer which allows for light output adjustments from 0-100%. With an ElipZ 10 K battery, run-time for powering the light and a camera is about five hours. Light output is 560 lux at 60 cm. The ULHM-LED is a 9 W LED head module designed to deliver 1,100 lux at 60 cm while consuming a third of the power of a tungsten light. A filter is included with both lights allowing users to change the colour temperature to 3,200 K.
ARRI Lighting has introduced four new HMI Fresnel daylights: the D5, the D12, the D25, and the D40 rated at 575 W, 1.2 kW, 2.5 kW and 4 kW respectively. These have lower weight than their predecessors without sacrificing robustness and high light output. Features include an improved disc brake locking mechanism for heavy, front-loaded accessories like chimeras and colour scrollers; a sliding stirrup for adjusting centre of gravity to balance the lamphead; a cross cooling system allowing the lamphead to be focused downward to 90° without overheating, barndoors and IP23 weather resistance for use even in driving rain.
Dedolight's Mini DLOB is a miniature fully dimmable 8 W LED which can be focused in a 4 to 56 degree 1:1.66 aspect-ratio beam which can be increased to 70 degrees using a flip-up diffuser. A flip-down daylight to tungest filter is also included. The support arm can be positioned above and forward of the camera. An adapter is available Sony and Panasonic mini-DV batteries.
Gekko's kedo gives lighting directors and camera crews the freedom to obtain focusable high-strength light in millions of colours from a single source. Eliminating the need for passive colour filters, its uses Gekko's kleer-colour light engine: a single array high-power light-emitting diode which can be tuned under software control to a wide range of different colour temperatures. A focusable spotlight equivalent in output to a 1 kW Fresnel, kedo is designed to deliver precise colour rendering across a wide range of operating temperatures and illumination levels. As well as primary and intermediate colours, kedo can accurately emulate a high quality tungsten reference source. It can be switched quickly and easily to produce 2,900 K, 3,200 K, 4,300 K, 5,600 K and 6,500 K as well as a wide range of colour gels.
Litepanels' 1x1 Bi-colour LED luminaire provides the ability to use the same 1x1 fixture to illuminate with daylight (5,600 K) or tungsten (3,200 K) light, or at any colour temperature in-between. The Bi-colour uses two independently controllable arrays of LEDs, one made up of daylight LEDs andone with tungsten LEDs. By crossfading between the two sets of LEDs, the Litepanels Bi-colour can output a colour temperature light anywhere between daylight and tungsten. Litepanels is currently developing a new line of submersible lighting housings, the SeaSun, in collaboration with underwater motion picture specialist Hydroflex.
Lowel-Light's Trio is a 3 x 55 W lightweight fluorescent fixture with daylight or tungsten colour. The lamps are individually switchable and come with ballast auto-sets for 120-240 V. Other features include quick release dual purpose barn door/intensifiers for trimming beam angle plus an easy to install egg crate to trim light spill. The Trio uses a rear-mounted quick release locking plate and tilt-bracket which mounts the fixture to a stand or boom and allows tilting and rotating while keeping the centre of gravity balanced. The Trio is available separately or in single-fixture and three-fixture kits.

Matthews Studio Equipment's Colournett fabrics, available in gold or silver, create shifts in the colour temperature as light passes. A single gold Colournett will lower the Kelvin temperature of the source by 400 degrees and a double will lower the Kelvin by 600 degrees. A single silver colournett will raise the Kelvin temperature of the source by 200 degrees and a double will raise the Kelvin by 350 degrees. A single fabric will lose 0.4 stop and a double 0.8 stop. When used as an overhead Colournett will warm up (gold) or cool down (silver) the area covered.
PAG has introduced an 11 W dimmable LED daylight plug-in for its Paglight lampholder. The LED unit uses an integral bullseye focusing lens plus the head's parabolic reflector to deliver a 700 lux spot at 2 metres. The head also accommodates halogen or HMI bulbs and can be adjusted from 23 degree spot to 62 degrees forward angle. A conversion filter is included to match halogen light.
Photon Beard recently announced a new lightweight tungsten Fresnel range of luminaires incorporating an anti-surge resistor to limit startup current and therefore help to extend lamp life. The company has also added to its range a 'silent' IgbT trailing-edge dimmer. The single channel 1 kW inline dimmer is intended for ENG use. Smaller studios requiring a few tungsten Fresnel heads are offered a four-channel IgbT dimmer.
The Rotolight RL48, distributed by Appleworld, is a 48-element LED 5,600K ringlight with a 38 mm central hole designed to fit onto a shotgun microphone. Outer diameter 1380 mm. Operating for up to three hours on three internally-fitting AA cells, it is claimed to match a 50 W the hot-light and is supplied with six Lee filters (205, 223, 285, 298, 209 and 216).
Toshiba has added to its range of studio lights a compact fluorescent spotlight with dual 45 W folded tube lamps and an aluminium reflector, available in four colour temperatures: 3,000K, 3,500K, 4,200 K and 4,500 K. Options include a filter holder, barndoor and local/remote dimming capability.

A green light for future
Power-saving legislation is currently promoting a transition from hot-filament bulbs to fluorescent lights which in turn are being discouraged because of concerns about mercury vapour inside the tube being released into the air during recycling. Which suggests a very bright future for LEDs in the studio, in the home, in motor vehicles, in hand-held video projectors, and maybe ultimately in the high street.

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