LED Photography Lights v Studio Flash: Which Is REALLY Better?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ม.ค. 2021
- LED photography lighting has grown in popularity over the years, but if you ask any professional photographer what lighting system they use the answer will more than likely be studio flash.
Blog: bit.ly/LED-Photography-Lights (Squarespace: bit.ly/SquareSpace-Code-KARL )
But if continuous light is so popular, why is it not the preferred choice for pros?
In this video I outline the differences between continuous lighting and studio flash, explaining which is better and why, and do a side-by-side comparison showing important differences and how this can impact your creative freedom.
Power output, modifier options, and studio requirements are all important considerations when it comes to deciding between these two types of lighting. Once you understand each of these, you’ll see why the popular choice isn’t always the best choice.
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This is great. Just getting into photography and have been using strictly continuous light, focusing on understanding and manipulating it. Thanks for the great content and the attention to detail in your courses and videos.
You're welcome.
Thank you so much for this, Now I can finally chose between the two!
Glad I could help!
Always enlightening.Thanks for your generosity!
My pleasure!
Innovative tutorial sir. Thank you very much for sharing with us.
The best and most helpful explanation I’ve seen. Cheers Karl 🥃
Glad it was helpful! Thanks
We have been following your lectures on your TH-cam channels. We had wanted to say thank you for all the high level of professionalism, honesty and great effective communication. We are learning and following as we are preparing to start a program. In other words, Knowledge is Power, and that's what you have technically shown. Thank you ever so much for your dedication, passion and compassion to humanity.
Thank you for your kind words. You can also follow more in-depth classes on Karl Taylor Education.
I was taught how to use studio Flash so I am comfortable with that for stills. Thanks to your video, I will consider LEDs with modifiers for video. Thanks
Wonderful and extremely helpful, Karl. I'm a product and composite photographer and use strobes almost exclusively. Once you get the workflow down and the settings sort of dialed into your head, it's almost instinctive.
Glad it was helpful!
Best video out there on this topic! Thanks
Wow as a beginner i was wondering just exactly why i was enjoying my flash so much more than trying continous lighting., Thank you
Sir, you removed the doubts from my mind once and for all regarding Led's v/s Flash. Thank you very much. 🙏
Underrated and very informative video
Your advice is always concise and practical. Thank you!
Thank you.
I'm old enough to remember sitting for portraits, and doing portrait work, before strobes were generally available. Your comment that continuous light is stressful is a huge understatement. To get the lights bright enough for 1/60sec at ISO 200 the lights invariably caused squinting and tearing. Not really good if you wanted a to capture a pleasant expression.
A fine point, the sensitivity of a digital camera sensor is fixed. Changing the ISO setting has absolutely no effect on the sensitivity of the camera's sensor.
The tiny analog electrical signals from the sensor are first amplified then converted into a digital values (i.e. into numbers) using an analog to digital converter (A/D). This numerical data is used by the camera to produce a JPG image or is stored in a JPG or raw data file.
Importantly, the lower the amount of light reaching the sensor the smaller the range of numbers coming from the A/D converter, i.e. the lower the dynamic range of light captured and stored in the raw file.
At first, as you increase the ISO setting of your camera, the values from the A/D are simply multiplied to make them bigger. At some point the dynamic range of the numbers from the A/D is so small that a viable image can't be produced using this simple multiplication. The dynamic range in the numbers has decreased so much that a viable image can't be produced because the shadow details are too blocked up.
When simple multiplication can no longer produce a viable image the amount of amplification of the signals from the sensor is increased so that the analog to digital converter is working with larger signals. You now can produce a larger range of numbers and a viable image but the trade off is that you are stretching out shadow details so they aren't as clean and you have increased noise in the image.
This multiplication followed by increased amplification repeats for some cameras as you continue to increase the ISO setting.
If you want the best quality portraits with the minimum noise and enough dynamic range that you can adjust the shadows. mid-tones, and highlights (i.e. tone map the image) then you want to work with the base ISO of the camera and use strobes that are bright enough to allow this.
This video is just incredible! Thank you.
This video was so enlightening. It explains why my portrait photos with LED lights were not as sharp (slow shutter) and were grainy (high ISO). I automatically assumed the LEDs pumped out the same power as the studio lights. After this, I know why my studio lights will give me better results. Thank you.
Thanks for your comments Norm.
@@VisualEducationStudio Can we talk about an update with a "LED strobe" such as a Rotolight AEOS, StellaPro Reflex ... seems like there's a lot of technical stuff that could be discussed. (Or if you already have something on it, please advise where I can buy/watch it).
Started my studio photography with Bowens mono's in the 70s. still have 2 units in the loft they may be old but so am I. Love watching your informative videos as a KTE member, Happy new year to you and the team.
Thanks John.
This video helps me clarifying something I already know. Thanks for the informative video.
Welcome.
Is very rare to see so high level of profesionality. Thank you
Wow, thank you!
Wonderful explanation, thank you!
This is really helpful. The measurement of relative power, along with how blinding the continuous LED is on maximum power was a great example and memorable. I can see how a modern continuous light like yours could be great to enhance indoor, ambient lighting, being able to match color temperature of the ambient light and set a level appropriate for what I was trying to do. If I shot studio portraits, I find all the reasons you presented for flash to be extremely compelling.
Thanks Bob, glad you found it helpful.
Everything you say sounds so sincere. Great video! Thanks a lot!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you! Great explanation. Finally I bought a decent strobe with a bunch of umbrellas and now shooting has become very rewarding. I'll keep the LEDs for filming and filling.
👍
Very good summary. I often get workshop attendees who are disappointed in the performance of their just purchased LED set. Clearly they were expecting a substitute for monolights. LEDs work great for video and small scale studio work like product photography or very intimate portraits or boudoir. At best in a darkened room. Because of the portability, LEDs are often mistaken for great outdoor kits. However, they’re totally unable to act as more than just a fill-in light at best. Next to our Profoto gear we have some Rotolights for flexibility. The great thing of the Rotolights is their flash capability, though they’re still no match for a 400W/s studio flash. Another thing to remember: LED panels give horrible catchlights. Also for that the round Rotolights despite their limitations are much better but nevertheless, no substitute for a decent monolight flash.
I use Leds for indoor portraits because i mix those lamps with ambient light or practical lights, and cause i like to shoot wide open. Things you can't do all the time with flashes. I don't know how Leds can be used in any other way, speaking of portrait photography.
Great test! Flash ftw!
Was looking for this info!
Thanks for taking the time to make this video
Glad it was helpful!
The best explanation I have heard. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Thanks for that. Your videos are nice and concise with out a lot of filler. Keep it up. I use Strobe or Speedlights most of the time but use LED'S sometimes depending on what I am doing.
Thanks Barry.
Good video as always. I use LED most of the times, due to working out in the field with both stills and video. I don't wanna travel with too much. In studio I often use more flash then LED :) You can't work the same way with LED as you do with flash for photography.
Needed this - thank you - and love your studio.
Glad it was helpful!
Great explanation, nine stops really is a huge difference. Thanks a lot! 👍
Glad it was helpful
Powerful 📝 notes to note
Great job explaining!!!
Thank you
great topic indeed, happy new year karl
Same to you! Thanks
Excellent Explanation
Very useful information. Thank you.
You are welcome
Wonderful Video. Very informative. I tend to use both together for some effects on product photography, but for portrait I prefer Strobes all the way around.
Glad it was helpful!
This is so helpful! Thank you :)
You're welcome!
I personally have one strobe light for hot shoe, and three continuous video lights.
after watching this explanation I can imagine what else I can get in studio with both setups.
thanks for great educational and entertaining content!
Glad it helped
I combine both and it depends on what I do, for example for portraits at f1.4 or 2.8 continuous light is a nice help, for products also...
Happy New Year Karl, I hope 2021 is a really good one for you. 🙏
Same to you!
Detailed and well researched (as always). I only use LEDs in combination with flash when I want to show motion blur together with an sharp image.
Karl, Happy New Year and the best wishes.
Thanks for this enlightening explanation.
Totally agree.
LED's looks like the best thing on earth until you are using it and then the second thoughts come up.
They are useful but first make up your mind what you want to archive with them.
Been there, done that hehehehe
Thanks for sharing.
Yes exactly, thanks.
Thank you for such informative videos
Thank you.
Thanks again for sharing your experience with us..
My pleasure!
Hello Karl, I am a beginner and I do have the amazon setup lighting. I have realized that my pictures are getting better but I see that its not where I want them to be. I see that I need to understand lighting more and also invest in speedlights. I know that I will get better at this cause I love it.
I love the way you explain.. your techniques are always awesome ❤️👌👌..
Thank you so much 😀
So good to have you on youtube! Your channel is a true gem filled with actual information and a Demonstration of the topic! Thank you! 👍🏻
I am so fed up with these TH-cam-photo-marketeers-shills who constantly publish „why I Switched from A to B“ or „is this camera company / mount /dslr / photography dead?“ Videos or tell you which camera you have to buy now 🙄
On topic: just like your conclusion in the end I believe it’s good to have both lighting technologies around as the situation requires: a bunch of speedlights (Nikon sb800s) with pocket wizards for events / Studio flash lights (bowens mount) for most studio work and a set of led lights (Bowens mount) for video
Thanks
Great video. I have both in my studio. A flash with a beauty box imo is untouched when shooting portraits etc. But the LEDs are great for kids and animals, on a low setting of course. Lots of product brands wants to shoot video of their products at the same time, that’s also when I take out the LEDs. Other than that, flash is king imo. I use macro for my portraits and I need to be like f11 / f13 to get the whole face in focus and that’s like impossible with LEDs I think.
Great job Karl, this is a perfect sum up. I would also add that those who are considering lower power flashes might also suffer from ambient light pollution since they will have to adapt the ISO. A bit off topic, but what the hell...
It would be interesting to see a comparison with the rotolight LED flash models to see how the power output compares!
Very very useful and thank you mr Karl 😘🙏🏼🍻
My pleasure!
Another issue with Led's, especially with Wedding photography, the "camera phone paparazzi" as I like to call them can steal your shot. You've basically handed the scene free of charge on a plate. Not only have I set up the composition, posed the couple, tidied up the scene, I've now positioned all the Led lights ready for them too. I might as well employ my services as an art director and not a photographer. Lesson learned...I've reverted back to flash regardless.
Best reason.
That's actually a pretty good point.
You are %100 right!
facts. you could put this in your offer and charge for it... since the overall coverage of the wedding including the photos of the guests benefit of your light setup.. (but hard to sell i guess lol)
You really think that people are able to "steel" your shot? Are you serious in comparing a camera phone with a camera handled by a professional? I think you might have a complete different problem if that's true.
Yes, a lot of people nowadays are used to phone camera photos and often think those are very good. That's a problem we have these days. Everybody can do something.
However, they don't have any idea what your settings are and most of the time even don't change the automatic phone camera settings. Are you shooting at f/2.8? f/11? f/??? They don't know. They also don't know what photo you take. Furthermore, they only see a scenery you created. In that scenery you can make a lot of different photos (close-up, overviews, angles, etc.). Besides that, you're the professional there. If the people who hired you think your photos are less good than the ones made by you, something else is going on. They probably wouldn't have hired you in the first place.
Simply put, there's more to a photo than the scenery setup and lighting.
Your courses (Karl Taylor education) have not only saved me money but expanded my knowledge far beyond any TH-cam or college course. Thank you Sir.
Wow, thank you.
Clear explanation
This video has just saved me some money as I was thinking about buying some LED LIGHTS to simplify my photography “it’s a hobby”. Not my job. I use Bowens lights “might be spelt wrong” 😂.
Will stick with what iv got. Thanks 👍
Great video Karl. Nice, to the point and amazingly summarized information. Make something on HOW TO SEE LIGHT? please! Best of luck 🌷
Thanks. How to 'see light' is covered on our site.
@@VisualEducationStudio Thanks, I'll check.
Great topic! :D
Thanks!
Thanks Karl, well done mate.
Very welcome thanks
it's clear to me! for now i'm using my old compuls 165 and 65 flash. and for very fast flash times my nikon flashes.. For film it's perfect to work with LED.
fantastic to see you put this together thanks so much - Im a big fan of the old hollywood black and white portraits from the 30s 40s and I believe photographers like George Hurrel were using giant fresnel lights to give that custom dramatic look and I assume as you pointed out early on its a case of the model having to really do their best to put up with the bright lights in their face/eyes to get the shots!
Hi John, you will really like the work of Harcourt Studios in Paris then, they specialise in that movie look. And yes they use lots of small fresnels but they are not to bad for glare on the model as they are smaller physical size lights.
@@VisualEducationStudio awesome thanks!
Another very informative and well explained video, thanks Karl. One of the advantages of the Profoto B10 studio lights is that the modelling lights are LEDs which have adjustable colour temperature, so they are another interesting innovation in mixing flash and LED.
Thanks for the info!
Hi Andy and Karl - wondering if you can suggest any other options other than the B10 that has this ability to modify the colour temp on the modelling light. I am setting up a small home studio and I'm researching best lighting gear to buy. The bulk of my work will be stills, portraits, child photography and maternity but I also dabble in video for work and social. I would like to have versatility to be able to do all of the above but the pricepoint of the B10 is too much at this point. Any suggestions?
amazing content tks
And that was using a parabolic. Using a softbox... 😂. I have been watching your tutorials for some time now on your educational platform and it has transformed my photography immensely. I'll stick with flash for photography, thank you. I haven't tried to use both continuous and flash yet but something I might try in the future. Thank you for the video. It should help a lot of people with their choice.
Thank you very much and thanks for joining our platform!
Great video. While I already knew most of what you explained, I did not realize how much of a difference there is in the full output of the LED lights at this time. I was thinking about purchasing one of the LED lights and test it out, but based on your video I thing I will wait a few years to see if they come out with much more powerful LED lights, but then the cost will probably be too high to be competitive with flash.
Yes at the moment there are some very bright ones from 'Aperture' such as their 600d but more aimed at video.
Both all the way with lots of different modifiers. Qty2 Godox SL200ii (stuck at 5600K) but I just use cco or ccb gels. Qty3 Falcon Eye F2 for rim, background lights, Qty1 Godox V1-S, Qty 4 AD200Pro. This has taken care of my lighting so far. The continuous leds are good to have for special effects for video. Ambulance, cops, firetruck, candle flicker, lightning, etc.
I've known this for years but explained well.
Cheers.
Thanks for the video.
You are welcome
LEDs are useful in shooting small products like perfume bottles, very close up shots like wristwatch in hand. Also technology is giving more and more powerful LEDs in smaller sizes with great features. Recently I have added two godox ML60 Bi in my collection of flash units. These are very useful for creating unique effects. You are absolutely right that every professional photographer should have at least one LED light. Thank you very much for your great explanation.
As always useful, Karl. Thanks a million for the video. I have done some shots with LED lights, didn't like them due to increased ISO. I prefer studio flash even when shooting outside.
And next week I have to get my hands on my New year's present (battery studio flash) Later this year I'm planning to get 2 more flashes to make greater photos.
Best regards from Mother Russia
Thanks for your feedback Nikolai.
You are the best when it comes to breaking down technical jargon to human language. I would love to hear your opinion on hybrid LED lights like Godox FV200 if you had a chance to check it out. Is the flash power on these good enough ?
Great work boss
Thanks
Thanks you Karl i love your videos
Glad you like them!
Hello Master Karl - As I am sure you have noticed - I have joined your programme. Very well explained.
If you are reading this - I would tell you - you are listening to a legend... Probably one of the best that I know when it comes to using a camera with light.
What can I say - Happy New Year to us all..... :-)
Thank you
A bit of a boring response😃😃😃
So far the most comprehensive description of the true situation regarding flash and constant light sources in studio photography.
Manufacturers have been trying for a while to make their constant light appealing to customers with all kinds of videos and attractively priced offers.
Carl has created the best video on the subject that I have come across so far, and I like to thank him for that.
He 'illuminates' all the parameters that affect studio photography.
A small addition perhaps?
If a combination of motion blur (eg. Dancer) and freezing is required, pure Constant has no chance, but it may be a supplement (to the modeling lights). But the number of tripods and light shapers will increase significantly.
Thank you.
I found this informative, so thank you. Unless I become a TH-cam creator, I will stick to speed lights and modifiers. I am watching for innovations in both flash and LED lights. Godox did a teaser for an AD100 and that has me wondering just what that might offer. Always some innovation to keep us awake during lockdown. Please stay well.
Thanks Edward.
Wow. This was sure enlightening. I assumed a 150W LED continuous for example would be comparable to a 200W flash. Guess when it comes to LED continuous versus flash tube, watts translate differently regarding actual lumen output. I am up to 5 studio strobes and am aiming for more… Love my modeling lights, love my color accuracy mode, love everything about them. I've invested good money in learning to use them. But apart from straining a subject's eyes, I figured continuous would be about the same outputs in many cases! So this really was valuable to learn from for me!
Great thank you.
Thank you!
Welcome
I often have shoots with photographers and filmmakers on set. Last time we shoot through a window to get the window shadows inside the room ... end of the stroy was the filmmaker used a aputure 1200D with the longest hyper reflector and the photographer used a godox ad200 with the fresnel and it was considerably sharper and brighter than the 1200D
I use LEDs in my product and still portait studio with a darkened studio which i actually don't mind since our studio is small the Photo LEDs throw enough light around the studio so that we can all work and see what we need to see. I do as most others which is to use studio strobes when looking for fast shutter speeds and stop action work. Having both options is the best solution for photographers under current sensor and other hardware photography technology, but that may change in the future
Sir you are the king of photography ❤️... I have seen many tutorials but you are far better than all of them... Please keep on posting sir it will help us alot... Love from India ❤️
Thank you so much 😀
I have always said that LED lights are only good for stills or product photograph. And should never be used for portrait work. Karl it has been a pleasure to here that you have the same opinion that I have been saying for a few year's now. It must be so uncomfortable for model otany person to have to strain n their eyes in a photo session
Thanks for your comments
Flash ' Strobe is my favorite, while LEDs can be useful in some cases. As the narrator suggests, best to have some of each in your bag. JT
Both. For the speed, colors and ease of use continues lights.
Thanks for your comment
Great video. Also a lot of cheap and budget LEDs have spectrum issues. R9 red on CRI scale can be very low and that's pretty bad for skin tones. Usually manufactures show summary CRI without detailing values for each color.
Yes these LEDs have a CRI of 98 which of course is very good.
I have problems to combine interesting ambient light and shadows with flash. I've always used flash everywhere and only recently enjoyed the benefits of the newest range of LED with Bowens mounts and modifiers. LED nowadays also come with adjustement of the Kelvin numbers. This overally evens out any situation.
You are awesome!! Thank you brother! I need to invest in a good affordable system. Any recommendations?
i always have to decerase brightness to watch your videos lmao
Thanks a lot!
You're welcome!
Karl… So… Sorry…. Another great professional video 😳😳😄 Just thought to say an additional benefit with strobe is a single long exposure with multiple strobe flashes with an action figure movement. Looks fantastic with martial arts with a single shots with frozen action movements caught by the strobe flashes to show the flow from a to b… A lot easier with strobe…
Karl Taylor never disappoints!
I've been using flash for more than a month now and I'm really impressed with what kind of things you can get with it, the only downside I have now is that I'm using a Canon 250D, which only has 4 pins in the hotshoe, what means that I can only shoot above 1/250th, so working outside with flash is kinda not working out since the background / ambient light gets too dark, hopefully when I get the 90D in about 4 months I'll be able to use it :)
Thank you for the video!
You can use ND filters to overcome that problem, see the classes on my site.
@@VisualEducationStudio Will certainly look at it, thank you :)
Horses for courses, I have invested in continuous lighting as I do mostly video, but for off camera stills work, flash is better, especially for outside work to fill or exposing for the background.
I think it's beneficial for me to use both because I came from sunlight to Flash now I'm shooting video and photography.
For some people it just takes a little bit more time to understand and learn how to use Flash But once they are familiar they will not go back
Yes.
I have been strictly a flash shooter but with the new LEDs and doing more video work I have added LED lighting to my still and video work.
that's what I struggle with I'm into photography & video so it's hard to choose between the 2 but leaning to led
Maybe I'm wrong, or not understanding things, but I think LEDs would be nice for weddings for say, those late-night bride-and-groom shots that people love, or for shooting the reception (to help keep the ambiance of the room intact).
I see the benefit of having both types of lights in an arsenal.
LED are mainly for video .. unless you really like shooting wide open and doing shallow depth of field.. flash duration speed causes the freeze action
nice video.
Continuos light really needs to be focused to be effective at any distance as a key light. For example, using a fresnel such as Aputure 2x.