38,000 Lumens vs. 32 Guide Number Strobes for Taking Stills, sample pics

I had a chance to shoot a prototype/experimental video light product. This video light produces about 38,000 lumens and had a FLASH FUNCTION! It could put it in Flash Mode and used like any strobe in Manual Mode! So you could approach a setting with the Video Light Heads "off" but then fire them just like a strobe, no pause, no waiting for them to "power up".

Equipment Used

Experimental video light with two 19,000 lumen light heads, Olympus OMD-EM-5, Lumix 8mm 3.5 fisheye lens, Nauticam housing and 4.33” port and a pair of Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes for comparison. The Sea & Sea strobes were attached alongside the video light heads with a triple clamp.. The video light had a battery pack and two power cords running to the light heads.

Shooting Parameters

• Visibility about 10ft
• Camera set for stills and settings kept same for both video light and Sea & Sea YS-D1s
• Camera White Balance set to 5500 degrees
• Video lights were set to a very warm temperature for video shooting vs. the very white light of the Sea & Sea YS-D1s

General premise was to use the video lights in their “Flash Mode” in the same manner as using a pair of strobes. Settings were to compare power of the strobes not to get perfect exposures.

The Video Lights on Full are on par with the Sea & Sea YS-D1s on a power setting of 0.7 (according to their dial) or just over ½ power.

A very non-scientific judgment would put 38,000 lumens on par with a Guide Number 20 strobe for wide angle or CFWA shooting.

Maybe a lighting system that can do it all is not too far off in the future.

S&S Strobe YS-D1 @ ½ Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400

Video Light at Full, 1/125, f6.3, ISO400

S&S Strobe YS-D1 @ Full power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400

S&S Strobe YS-D1 @ 1/2 power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400

Video Light Full Power, 1/125, f6.3, ISO 400

A couple of more...

S&S YS-D1 @ 1/2 Power, 1/125, f8.0, ISO 400

Video Light at Full, 1/125, f8.0, ISO 400

5100K WB setting for the YS-D1 is better

As mentioned was trying to offset the very red cast of the video lights. The color spectrum was requested by the buyer. Given conditions goal was just to compare "power" of the two light sources side by side. Another side note the round concrete pipes are about 6'x'6'.

That's good to know. So in theory, if we have a fast lens (or increase the aperture) and higher ISO (assume noise is acceptable), or even bring the shutter down to 1/80, the video light route could get some good picture compare to strobe with about 20 to 24 guide number.

One thing that could be not accurate is two 19,000 lumen may not be the same as one 38,000 light source, read some benchmark light measure article a while back ago.

"One thing that could be not accurate is two 19,000 lumen may not be the same as one 38,000 light source, read some benchmark light measure article a while back ago."

Moses, I agree. I am sure someone here can weigh in on how the 2x 19000 Lumen light heads work out vs. one element producing 38,000 lumens. Plus I have no idea how the mfg measured the output, I am just using their numbers. For me the interesting part was they are the first I know to make a Video Light fire like a Flash/Strobe. So you could approach a subject with out spooking it with the powerful continuos lights.

Picture of the system, of course since the video lights have their Flash Mode you can drop the strobes off the set-up

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very interesting Martin, could be on to something here

FYI I have no vested interest in this. Mike I agree the mfg maybe "on to something". I have not heard of any other company that can make their video lights fire like a strobe. As I understand things it is strictly custom order job, but I don't think the pricing was radically over what a pair of top of line +4000lumen Video lights and top of the line Strobes would cost. As mentioned for DSLR video shooters, one rig that can do video and operate in a true flash mode.

Is the reduction in backscatter due to the placement of the strobes/lights or the what?

jander, not exactly what you are asking. The above photo is how I tested the Video Lights vs. the S&S YS-D1 strobes. The triple clamp alowed me to shoot one photo with the strobes, shut them off, put the video lights in Flash Mode, shoot the photo, resulting in a real world head to head comparison. Clearly the whole point of the system is you would not need the strobes. So using a unit where the Video Light heads can act just like strobes you would apply the same still shooting principles.

If it is because it seems there is less backscatter in the Video Light shots it may be in part to the really warm color of the lights reflecting backscatter. Or their lower power.

From what I understand, getting the correct exposure is not the issue with using lights, its the ability to stop motion in fast moving subjects. This is to do with the duration of the strobe burst. Strobes allow high intensity light to be emitted with a relatively short duration, thereby achieving correct exposure in a short enough burst of light to stop motion. If the intensity of light is not strong enough, you have to use a longer duration to "burn" in the exposure, thus creating light trails on faster moving subjects. Has any tests been made to measure the duration of these lights?

Now we are getting into questions the MFG may or may not want to answer. I can say the shots I took with the video lights show no more blur than those taken with the strobes. As you can see above there were moving creatures in photos taken with the Video Lights in Flash Mode.

19000 lumen? And I thought my sola 800 was a bright little light. I can't even fathom these beasts.

I understand these images were taken with the LED's in Flash mode. Do you know what is the duration of the pulse is? Being able to control pulse duration could open some creative posibilities allowing increased power through longer "on" times, increased motion blur or increased shutter sync speeds in a manner similar to Nikon's Auto FP high speed sync.

However, one observation I would like to offer is that there is far more than one stop difference between the photo taken at 1/2 power and the photo taken at full power with the YS-D1. I don't know much about these strobes, but If photo 3 is taken at full power then I'd guestimate power output on photo 1 is more like 1/16 or 1/32. I think I see see smoke from the subject being vaporized in photo 3.

Hi,

I know this tread is a bit old, but it might help some one.

From my experience with LED lights (I build my own, DiveStar 10,000 lumen light) there is no single LED chip that will produce 19,000 lumens (Jan 2014, well I could not find it anywhere). I have found some that claim to produce 16,000 from single chip Bridgelux.

It would be interesting to find out what batteries they are using? how many mAh do the state.?

Bogdan

That huge battery pack would be a deal breaker for me.

That huge battery pack would be a deal breaker for me.

I do not know the price of the above lamps, but for me the deal breaker is price Battery pack is not so big.

I tested lamp RedStar (link is below), so it is just 14000 but it seems to be the real value, not just info taken from LED chart.

I found that it is nice for video and maybe as additional lamp for Your budy but not as the main lamps, instead of strobes.

But it looks that photography is a bit easier, especially in dark condition. With that lamps You do not need focus light, and it is easier to adjust exposition. So I will follow this topic, because maybe this is the future in photography.

http://www.light-for-me.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=97&virtuemart_category_id=37&lang=en

 

 

That's good to know. So in theory, if we have a fast lens (or increase the aperture) and higher ISO (assume noise is acceptable), or even bring the shutter down to 1/80, the video light route could get some good picture compare to strobe with about 20 to 24 guide number.

 

 

 

Well, no: at slower shutter speeds any camera movement shows up when using lights rather than strobes because the illumination now lasts for the whole exposure.

 

I was surprised, when using a light, to find out just how much I have relied on strobes to "freeze" movement. Using a light to shoot stills is a technique distinct from both video and strobe-lit still photography.

 

It's obvious that a bright light and a short shutter-speed will be effective, but at the expense of dark backgrounds. There's going to be an optimum brightness: a light can be too bright for photography!