American Cinematographer - January 2008 - 110

many of which would certainly compromise the light quality. Aside from the lenses, the fixture is extremely robust and will easily stand up to the rigors of production. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even the retention ring, which I fumbled a couple of times, won’t deform or dent when you drop it. Although the LEDz is a multibulb fixture, the multiple shadows aren’t as severe as I expected them to be. With the wide lens, they’re extremely subtle. It’s still a small source, one I would diffuse in most situations. However, I don’t see an easy way to do that. There are no barn doors, no clips, no sockets or hinges — nothing readily accessible to attach any of the existing soft boxes to the round lens — and when I checked the Web site, I saw no accessories that easily accommodate softboxes or diffusion. On the same note, there is no easy method for attaching color correction unless you’re cutting gel into a circle to fit inside the retaining ring. Additionally, the head heats up much more than I expected, and though it never got too hot for bare fingers, it would certainly melt any tape put on it. LEDz would do well to create a softbox attachment or a retention ring that will accept the softboxes already widely available. None of the lenses presents color-fringing problems, and they all change over very quickly; it took less than 30 seconds to remove the retaining ring and slip in the next lens. The fixture comes with an integrated baby-spud (5⁄8") receptacle, and the user can also purchase a camera shoe connector. The head rotates vertically on the body, tilting about 190 degrees from front to back, and locks positively in place. At 6' with the spot lens, I measured a circular beam angle (center point to 50 percent drop-off) with a 12"-diameter and a field angle (down to 75 percent drop-off) of 16". The medium lens at the same distance yielded a 28" beam angle with a 38" field angle, and, finally, the wide lens gave me a 50" beam angle and an 80" field angle. The Mini-Par has a built-in dimmer knob that dims the fixture down to an impressive 1 percent with no change in color temperature. The knob is rather odd in that it takes three full rotations to cover the entire dimming range. This allows for very fine control of the output, but there’s no way to measure or calibrate the dimming on the unit itself. In addition, on the fixture I worked with, the dimming knob was very loose and very easily bumped. It would be nice to have a tighter knob or one with positive “clicks” built in to prevent accidental changes in intensity. At first, I struggled to come up with applications for this fixture; it doesn’t have the output of, say, a 200watt Joker or the 200-watt Bron Kobold (AC Oct. ’07), so it doesn’t really compete in the small HMI category. It can certainly fit on-camera for ENG shooting or live events, or even as an Obie light, but it seems a little punchy and harsh for most of those situations without some additional diffusion. It wasn’t until I started to consider my love for Dedolights that I really saw the potential in the LEDz. With their compact size, flexibility and punch, Dedolights integrate well with my working style. Although the LEDz wouldn’t replace the Dedo, in my opinion, it would certainly work as an alternative in many situations where the Dedo shines: fitting into compact spaces and providing detail lighting. The color and texture from the Mini-Par also immediately brought to mind a nice little moonlight edge that can be easily hidden in the architecture. Once I saw the fixture this way, I started imagining a world of possibilities. I also had an opportunity to work with a prototype of LEDz’s new Brute 9. Although I’m hesitant to be too critical of a prototype, I will pass along some preliminary thoughts. Bear in mind that many things can change between the prototype stage and the production model. The fixture is designed like a pocket-sized Maxi Brute with nine separate LED lamps arranged in three Photometrics – LEDz Mini-Par Spot Lens Med Lens 1' 2200 fc 510 fc 2' 830 fc 170 fc 4' 220 fc 45 fc 6' 110 fc 23 fc 8' 64 fc 12 fc 10' 39 fc 8 fc Wide Lens 220 fc 78 fc 20 fc 8.5 fc 4.9 fc 3 fc 110 January 2008

American Cinematographer - January 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2008