Some time in the past, I reviewed a few attachments by Apexel for telephone cameras. They requested me to assessment their night time imaginative and prescient scope however I informed them no person would imagine my assessment of a product like that! I inquired if I might write a assessment of a few LED gentle kits they usually agreed. Full disclosure: A free assessment unit of the lens was supplied for the aim of this assessment. Although I didn’t pay for the assessment pattern, the hyperlinks you see on this article should not affiliate hyperlinks. Apexel APL-FL19 USB LED Video Light Kit The product’s official identify has “video” in it, however my essential curiosity was to make use of them as easy-to-handle lights for tabletop pictures. I obtained two kits. One contained a single gentle with a chargeable battery, and Dennis wrote a separate assessment for that. The second equipment with two lights wanted to be plugged right into a USB energy supply. Although a wall plug would have labored, I bought a few energy banks for portability. They can fast-charge my telephones as nicely. Highly Suitable for Photography The maker, Apexel, affords it primarily for video creation and portrait fill lights, however I imagine they’re much greater than that for a lot of photographers. As you will notice, I like them for tabletop or product pictures, and Dennis will present a section on their out of doors use for nature and flower pictures. Flexible, Easy Adjustments With Remotes The lights might be independently adjusted with their inline buttons or with a unified distant that may management them individually. Quite handy. The degree of sunshine on every might be stepped up or down, and by urgent one other button, the sunshine cycles by way of completely different coloration modes from 3200 Ok to 5600 Ok in three steps. Apexel calls them Warm Light, Warm White, and White Light. The gentle degree might be adjusted from 20% to 100% output in 5 steps. Wall Power or Power Banks If you determine to make use of energy banks as I did, I recommend inserting them in small baggage and hanging them from the decrease knob of the sunshine stand. That will enhance stability by including weight to the bottom and make adjustments within the gentle stand place extra handy. You can see the lights within the field and after they have been assembled with the facility banks hooked up beneath. You can study extra in regards to the Apexel APL-FL19 USB LED Video Light Kit on their web site.
Apexel APL-FL19 USB LED Video Light Kit Color Accuracy The Apexel USB LED Video Light Kit has a number of modes with completely different gentle tints. Additionally, they arrive with slide-in coloration gels should you like robust coloration results. For my preliminary testing, I used to be extra within the gentle’s capacity to render daylight-balanced illumination. To take a look at that, I set it to sunlight mode by eyeballing since there isn’t a indication on the again of the sunshine what it’s set at. It just isn’t arduous to see when the sunshine is the whitest. Then, I put the digital camera to “Daylight White Balance” and took an image of an Xrite ColorChecker. The outcome appeared fairly good, and I set the digital camera to Auto White Balance and took one other body. Although there was a distinction between the 2, it will have been arduous to evaluate if I didn’t know the settings. My visible commentary and checking the evenness of the third sq. from the left on the underside row signifies an nearly good white stability. The digital camera set on Daylight White Balance yielded barely hotter outcomes. See for your self. Camera set to auto white stability
Camera set to sunlight coloration Quality of Light The Apexel lights have a smooth diffuser built-in and render nice smooth gentle on topics. I didn’t use some other gentle modifier in entrance of the lights. The shadows are mild and smooth. The objects additionally present clean lighting on them. I used extremely reflective objects to push the lights a bit of, they usually rose to the event. Yes, I tamed the highlights a bit of in Lightroom to render the pen nib to indicate its writing, however general, the changes are minimal. I used to be having issues with my Canon R7 equipment once I took the primary set of pictures. I picked the sharpest pictures and gently tweaked the sharpness to make them presentable. I had extra on this group however eradicated some after including the second set with my newly changed R7. Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pen Classic Ebony Waterman Lady Agathe Claret mini fountain pen Ihagee folding digital camera
A New Collection The small tabletop setup displaying how I positioned the lights Since I resolved my Canon digital camera points by getting a brand new R7 equipment alternative for my and Jan’s outdated ones, I believed I’d shoot just a few new ones utilizing the brand new gear. I used Dennis’s suggestion of placing the facility banks in small baggage and hanging them on the sunshine stands. Luckily, he has additionally supplied two baggage for that goal too! I used the drop-down desk for its outdated wooden floor and took a fast snap of the setup with my telephone to indicate the lights and digital camera in motion. The outcomes with the brand new digital camera are remarkably completely different from the primary bunch above and present the qualities of the lights even higher as nicely. Here they’re. Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pen Classic Ebony Namiki Sterling Silver Geisha fountain pen Montblanc 644 G fountain pen and pencil set from Fifties
Waterman Patrician Moss Agate, 1929 Color Gel Inserts for Effects The included purple, inexperienced, and blue gels might be inserted into the grooves in entrance of the sunshine panels for various results. I did a short experiment with purple and inexperienced gels on a few pens. It might or will not be your, or my cup of tea, however listed here are the outcomes of utilizing a different mixture of lights with coloured gels. They are there if you would like them. Namiki Sterling Silver Geisha fountain pen Graf Von Faber-Castell fountain pen
Conclusion Although Apexel markets it for video purposes, they’re extremely appropriate for tabletop pictures. I’ve not tried portraits with the two-light equipment. But they might be a bit on the small aspect until used close to the themes. At its present value of $39.98, this two-light equipment is a extremely reasonably priced and succesful addition to your lighting setup. The gentle panels sit on three-level expandable gentle stands, and the ball head is simple to make use of. You can simply mount them in your extra elaborate gentle stands utilizing the 2 feminine screw sockets on two edges of the lights. Each gentle panel gives ample smooth gentle on the topic yielding mild shadows. The ball heads enable the positioning of the lights at appropriate angles. Although I took a pattern or two pictures with the coloured gels to indicate their impact, these into experimenting with coloration could have enjoyable with them. Adjusting the colour and depth could be very easy with the inline or distant controls. I’d welcome an indicator of the colour setting and the depth of the sunshine on the again of the panels. About the writer: A. Cemal Ekin is a photographer primarily based in Warwick, Rhode Island who has been capturing for roughly 60 years. The opinions expressed on this article are solely these of the writer. Ekin retired as a professor of selling emeritus from Providence College in 2012 after 36 years of service there. Visit his web site right here. This article was additionally printed right here.
https://petapixel.com/2023/08/13/apexel-two-light-kit-fit-for-tabletop-photography/
Apexel APL-FL19 Two-Light Kit: Fit For Tabletop Photography
