Month: October 2016

LED Expert Light & Motion creates two full featured bundles, the Stella Pro and the Stella Action, to make solid state lights an easier choice for a small, active crew.

Whether you started with a kit from ARRI, Dedo, Lowel or Ianiro, chances are you first learned about lighting with a small kit of lights, contained in a single case, that had everything you needed to light a scene. The likelihood is also high that your kit was Tungsten-based, as were all the aforementioned standards. Even if you have graduated to regularly working with a grip truck, there are still shoots where logistical or budget constraints warrant the use of a kit. But as lighting technology changes, our kits have to change along with it, and Light & Motion is hoping that your next one will be LED-based instead of Tungsten.
Light & Motion Stella Pro KitCredit: Light & Motion
Using custom built rolling cases from Tenba with protective foam inserts to help with organization and protection, both kits feature the new single point chip, on-board LED units. As opposed to more typical LED fixtures, which usually feature an array of lights, the Stella is a single point source of light. When working with LED units, an exceptional amount of diffusion often has to be used to smooth out the fringed shadows you can get from the multiple-point source. With a single point unit and no diffusion, you should get a single, clean shadow. Depending on the design of the rear reflector, it’s possible there will be a double shadow, but it’s still better than the dozens of overlapping shadows you get with a flat LED panel.

Stella 5000 on a droneCredit: Light & Motion

Light & Motion has also focused on durability with the designs, including a claimed waterproof rating of 328 feet and a drop rating of 3 feet. Even if you aren’t planning on using this underwater, the ability to work with the kit worry free in a rainy situation (while waterproofing your camera and cabling, of course) is a real bonus. The lights all come with internal, rechargeable lithium ion batteries that deliver a minimum of an hour of use, and sometimes up to 4 hours, depending on the intensity of the output. This combination of long battery life and small form factor make them a natural fit for aerial work, and Light & Motion also makes a drone version of the Stella 5000 available.
Stella Action kitCredit: Light & Motion

The Stella Pro kits are built around three lights, ideal for a three-light interview setup but flexible enough for a variety of situations, while the Action kits are built around a single light, and are designed to make it easy to grab-and-go a single light unit with all the necessary accessories. The kits are available in a variety of configurations depending on the power of the light unit required.

Full options and pricing are available on the Light & Motion site.
Tech Specs:

Waterproof to 328′
Dropproof to 3′
Lithium-ion recharageable batteries
1000, 2000 and 5000 lumen intensities available
.6, 1.1 and 2.5lb weight respectively
5000K light balance
120° beam spread
KUPO “click” stands

GoPro Karma vs DJI Mavic Pro: Which Drone Wins?

The global drone market (also referred to as an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV) is forecasted to eclipse $21B by 2022 representing a 20% uptick from 2016 according to market research company, Markets and Markets. While a great portion of this market is attributed to military or defense drones, the consumer drone industry is set to increase over 400% in the next five years due to technological advancements making drone flight manageable for beginners and increasing competition between top drone makers (Business Insider).

American camera maker GoPro recently unveiled its first drone, Karma, entering a burgeoning UAV industry and providing GoPro owners and enthusiasts a dedicated craft for flying their compatible GoPro cameras (sold separately from the Karma drone). Not to be outdone, leading drone manufacturer, DJI (short for Dai-Jiang Innovation), promptly broke news of its latest pocket-sized drone, the Mavic Pro, lending itself to numerous direct comparisons and discussions between the two from aficionados, aerial photographers, videographers, and content creators.

While the top speeds of both GoPro and DJI’s new drones (35 mph and 40 mph, respectively) are well within the new FAA rules “Part 107” recently released on June 21, 2016 for small unmanned aircrafts, both drones represent significant advancements in commercial drone technology particularly in portability, size, and maneuverability. As drones become increasingly popular and accessible in both price and portability, aerial footage (both drones feature live streaming capabilities) may begin to saturate photo and video media raising the bar for both content creation and audience expectations.

Beyond very notable size differences, each drone showcases a variety of new technological features. DJI’s Mavic Pro boasts the ability to be controlled and piloted through a user’s smartphone device with a number of auto-sensory features including obstacle avoidance and user follow automation. GoPro’s Karma features a removable gimbal and cloud-storage service (with GoPro’s new Plus monthly subscription) in addition to the camera brand’s suite of editing tools and apps.

To help consumers discern the salient differences between DJI’s Mavic Pro and GoPro’s Karma drone, influencer marketing company Mediakix shares the following infographic that breaks down each UAV over 20 primary categories ranging from basic specifications to camera capabilities to model pricing and availability dates.
GoPro Karma vs DJI Mavic Pro

GoPro Karma vs DJI Mavic Pro Infographic