Review : Godox LITEMONS LA150D Continuous LED Light
/
GODOX LITEMONS LA150D with included hard reflector
Use Case Assessment
I have a project upcoming for a client where I will need to overpower window light and room light for a client training video. I will be shooting two iterations of a live class that will run for about six hours, although the total amount of recorded content will be considerably less as in class conversation will not be recorded. Due to room constraints, I will not be able to put LED panels close enough to the class leader to be effective given the LUX rating of the panels that I already own, and the client is loathe to have the class overrun by a massive lighting rig.
So I started to look for an LED based lighting system that had a very high LUX rating. LUX measures the effective brightness of the light on a subject at a distance, unlike the common Lumens measurement which is not distance specific. We all know of the inverse square law, so if LUX is measured with the light to subject distance being one meter, if the distance is doubled to two meters, the brightness of the light on subject will be one quarter of the brightness at 1meter.
I also did not want to spend a fortune, nor did I want to compromise the amount of light on the subject by using LEDs with two different coloured LEDs. Most people do not understand that in full daylight mode or full tungstem mode, only half the total LEDs are in use and this is rarely if ever documented. I therefore searched for daylight only LEDs.
Godox LITEMONS LA150D
I elected to try this light because the price was right at about $280 CAD with a rating of about 85,000 LUX at 1 meter. I also have a lot of successful experience with other Godox products so I was willing to take a chance.
The light comes with the stand mount built in. It accepts any Bowens style S mount light shaper and includes a general use deep bowl reflector. This provides a direct fairly focused light and is the tool used to determine the LUX measurement. There is also an umbrella mount, that I determined would be useful when teaching students umbrella technique. A bonus, but not a deciding factor. There is a protective frosted plastic cover in the box as well as a rubber strap to tie down the power adapter and a locking steel safety cable to attach the light to a secure location.
LA150D REar panel - note the heavy duty power connector
The rear panel has a large display and easy to find an use controls, suitable for use by folks with larger fingers. Too many products have the controls jammed too close together.
from the front with the provided hard reflector. Note the nice tight led array
Upon receipt, I set the light up. It has bluetooth controlability with a proprietary app. Getting that set up was not completely simple and while the app does allow for remote control of output level, it is primarily for choosing one of several built in special effects. While others may like such effects, I have no use for them and so spent no time on them.
I then took my Sekonic meter from the bag and set it to the LUX measurement mode. I used a tape measure to find a location more or less one meter from the front of the LED array and with the factory bowl reflector mounted. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the marketing number used for the LUX value was very close to what I found in my poorly controlled test environment.
Light Quality
Like any light with a hard reflector, the light was direct and produced hard shadows. No flickering was detected in the test clips that I made. Flicker is a common issue with cheaper LED lights. No issues there but the harsh shadows would not work.
The godox Qr-p70. small enough for tighter spaces, large enough to be soft
Given the space constraints of the project, I mounted a Godox P70 Parabolic light shaper. I have larger light shapers for my Profoto flashes and have S rings to mount to this light if necessary, but the open diameters would be too large. Using only the outer diffuser I was very happy with the three aspects of light. I had good directional control, a good level of softness and accoring to my colour meter, proper daylight balance. I should note that the P70 also comes with an inner diffuser and a grid included in the price. It is a very nice light shaper at a very attractive price point.
Ease of Use
The stand mount is very stable and even with the para mounted a standard light stand does the job, so no need for me to cart a C Stand to the shoot. The tiltability is very useful and as my project does not require me to get the light up and over, a boom is not needed. If you do decide to boom the light, you must put a counterweight on the boom and ensure that the boom is in the same plane as one of the stand legs, which you should do anyway.
I also tried a Lastolite (now Manfrotto) Joe McNally 4 in 1 umbrella as I have a class coming up where I will teach umbrella use. The umbrella shaft fits in the hole but I had to remove the tension leaf spring in order to get the shaft mounted. Annoying but not a show stopper and the leaf spring would work if you had a narrower shaft non-pro grade umbrella. In this use case, once mounted, I determined that the light will be ideal for the umbrella class.
The light comes with an external power supply that has a decent length cable from the adapter to the light. The connection at the light is a locking connection and their is a rubber strap included so you can strap the power supply unit to the stand. The AC power cable from the adapter is very heavy duty and surprisingly long, meaning that I can likely get by in a standard shooting space without carting an extension cord reel.
Conclusions
There don’t have to be a ton of criteria for an LED light. Most of what we find in warehouse stores are small, under-powered, overly effect laden things of questionable value. The panels that I use for one and two up close in video and for macro work are only 550 LUX, so the falloff is rapid and dim. This light is nice and bright, has a big LCD display and handles like a studio strobe. If you need an LED light with a lot of power, I highly recommend this unit.
