DLED Dedolight Reviewed

Justin Mills

Author: Justin Mills

Published 1st September 2014

by Justin Mills Issue 92 - August 2014

Ive been using Felloni LED light panels for over 18 months now, and have really enjoyed the ease of operating lights using battery power in my case, V lock batteries that I also use to power my cameras. No cable runs, easy to reposition and that much less time setting up and packing up. Although their 1ft x 1ft size means they are too small to give the wrap around effect of a softlight, some diffusion vastly improves the light quality. They can also pack a punch and last ages on a single battery. But now Im in the battery habit, what Ive been lacking is something I can use to replace my 4 AC-powered Dedo lights: battery-powered LED technology in a hard light package to use as backlights and background lights.

Enter the new range of Dedo LED heads that claim to be able to do just that. I took two on a couple of recent shoots to test them out: DLED 2.1 and the DLED 4.1. The full range that goes up in size to a 12.1 (approximately equivalent to 1.2 fresnel HMI), but these smallest two seem to be the most likely candidates to substitute for the AC DLH2 and DLH4 heads so many of us have in our light kits. With the rapidly improvements in recent LED technology, the numbering system is similar to computer software updates, so these lights replace the .0 versions, and each successive generation will increase by 0.1 with the latest hardware.

First impressions are that they are built with the hardwearing standards of the DLH4 series, and could certainly take some of the hard knocks and indignities my AC lights have been subjected to over the years. Most of the head is actually taken up with the flat-layered aluminium heat sink at the back, and they do get a little hot, although not nearly as much as conventional AC lights. Behind the face of the light is a focus control ring, changing the beam angle from 5 to 50 degrees on the 2.1, and 4 to 60 degrees on the 4.1. In the bi-colour version I was using, a colour temperature dial from 2600-6000K. One welcome feature is that the AC supply input voltage is rated 90-264, so there is no longer any problem going between 240V and 120V countries as the same supply will work in either.

V lock adaptors provide the battery powering option for the lights, which are connected via their D-tap connectors to the DC power supply. The batteries can be hung on the light stand when attached to the adaptors. The 4.1 head connectors are 4 pin XLR and the 2.1 uses a smaller screw in connector the 4.1 worked without problems, but its worth noting the XLR connection could get knocked against the yoke of the light when tilting it so care is needed when positioning it. This V-lock powered system worked very well, and would be fine for 95% of my shoots, but I could imagine ordering a D-tap extension cable to rig the head anywhere harder to access than a floor mounted stand.

The 2.1 is unusual in the range and has all necessary controls built in to the body of the bottom section of the light unit - all it requires is power, which means it can also be used as a camera mounted toplight, powering from a cameras 12V output. AC adaptors are also available for each, the 2.1 drawing 20 Watts, and the 4.1 40 Watts

So how are they to use? I had the Bicolour lights, and comparing them side-by-side with the earlier 2.0/4.0 versions, the LED light colour is hugely improved, specially at the tungsten end. Its great to be able to tweak the colour so easily, although you do lose out on output compared to a single-colour daylight or tungsten unit at flood. I ended up using the smaller 2.1 as a backlight on interviewees, and for that purpose Id be happy to have the bicolour version for ease and speed. The 4.1 was just about strong enough to give an background accent on a cream wall behind one of the interviewees in a room illuminated by a window - the daylight version would probably have been more effective.

The focus ring works both to control light angle (the 4-5 degree tight beam is virtually the same as the AC DLH4) and to increase output. In a two-camera, low-key indoor situation without the fight against daylight, but with a huge fight against light spill from soft lights as keys, I was able to solve the problem by substituting with the LED hard lights as side keys, using the focus to increase the output to acceptable levels.

Beam spread was even and constant throughout the focus range, and the multi-leaved barn doors are really versatile, enabling enough control to create light slashes or squared-edged shapes. Like the AC lights there are projectors available for ultimate accuracy and inserting gobos, and soft boxes for both fixtures. I could see a softbox being useful for conventional one-camera interview setups, with the 4.1 as diffused key, and the 2.1 as backlight either soft or hard.

The comparison with the 150W DLH4 output levels is interesting - see the table below. The data shows the 4.1 Bicolour is less powerful than either the DLH4 or the 4.1 daylight version, although its more powerful at 5500K than 3200K. The DLH4 comes out as a winner at both spot and flood, but notice that the angle of the flood on the LED is 12 degrees narrower, and thus the light beam may be more concentrated. How much does this matter for most shoots? In my experience, I rarely use my AC dedos at full power, and often end up having to compensate for the resulting colour shift with CTB gels, so in most tungsten situations I dont see the lower flood output being a problem, but the figures would certainly steer me towards the daylight version and Id use CTO to match colours shooting indoors.

I didnt have a chance to see how long by 95Wh batteries would power the lights for, but certainly for a one hour interview the charge display had only dropped about 30%. In tests the UK distributor says the 4.1 ran at full output for three and a half hours on an 130Wh battery, so the 2.1 should be double this.

In conclusion I found the Dedo fixtures absolutely lived up to the quality the brand name implies. There are other lights on the market at a range of price points and quality, but none has the unique patented design that produces the unique beam qualities we all know from the AC range. I would be happy to use them

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