Hi all!
I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with some continuous lighting options that they’d like to share?
I’ve been asked by a friend what might be useful for doing double-duty as a portrait light as well as video light for interviews or other PR related things.
I’m thinking of a modifier like a Photek softlighter or some other large key diffuser with possibly a snoot or a small grid as a kicker for basic portrait lighting, but I’m personally used to strobes vs. continuous lighting.
That should work. Others here would know the best reflective surface for portrait work.
As to continuous lighting in the past for shooting wristwatches I used two 3500K 60 degree LED floodlights and A4 tracing paper diffusers and occasionally the mini-flashlight (see bottom left) for fill.
No real suggestions here. But old school incandescent lights are hot and dangerous while some LED light sources or even fluorescent light sources can cause flicker with video. So pick LED light sources carefully.
I like to bounce light off reflective surfaces which can include umbrellas and white walls. Diffusers or soft boxes can make nice light sources that imitate window light if used well.
Many if not most LED lights these days have high-frequency DC regulators which gets round that flicker problem but, agreed, still beware.
Ah, to clarify, I’m not really a stranger to portrait lighting when using strobes. I actually own and regularly use a photek softlighter myself.
I am seeing some nice options from Neewer that might work ok (COB LED with temp control). I’ll keep digging. 
Thanks!
I suspect many cheap online seller’s options might still flicker, but I am aware that good LED sources are available. I am not sure if full spectral coverage is a major problem, but you would hope if the light is designed for video work it will be fine in all aspects.
If I understand correctly you are looking for a device that can do two things:
a) create a soft / diffused portrait light and
b) a concentrated beam of light
as a continuous light source. Correct?
While a) is rather easy to do using any continuous light source into a reflective umbrella (most efficient and space conserving solution, much better than a softbox from my point of view) as you described, variant b) is more difficult to achieve. Professionals use Fresnel lenses but they are big, cumbersome and not very practical for carry-around. You can use a fine, deep grid on a softbox to control spill but that will not get you a focussed beam.
A solution which is not 2 in 1 but a small additional light would be something like the
SMALLRIG-RF10C-RGB-LED
It can be focussed and changed in intensity and color. However, the output of a 10W light is probably not enough for a lot of applications but might work as a kicker for indoor stuff depending on the power of your main light.
The problem is an interesting one and I think pretty interesting for many videographers. The main problem in my experience however are the stands …
Hi Ted,
Is this a spectrum you have plotted? The x-axis is Distance labeled “inches.” Just curious. Maybe displacement of a slit in a spectrometer??
Yes. the top part is the image from my camera aimed at my home-made spectrometer.
ImageJ does that for line plots. It can also do that in image pixels but can not do it for wavelength which is why I added the spectrum aligned on top.
Yes, a slit at one end and a diffraction grating at the other. The raw image thereof developed by DCraw linear mode.
Very cool, indeed! Much more than I would have done at home.
Many years ago I did some spectroscopy as part of my research project. Ah, the good old days… 
Thanks!
The right peak is about 564 nm, the left peak is about 464 nm.
Now I get it! Thanks. Might be an InGaN LED plus phosphor.
