9.4: Common Lights

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Page ID: 128697

Christopher Clemens
Laney College, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, Los Angeles City College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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Fresnel

Fresnel lights are built with a lens and a mechanism that allows the lamp to move backward and forward to focus the light (See figures 9.4.1 and 9.4.2). This enables the Fresnel to either have a flood light or a spotlight. These lights are powerful and versatile with what you can do with them. With LED Fresnels that do not get as nearly as hot as Fresnels with incandescent lamps, you can add an umbrella or softbox to soften the light. The more advanced LED Fresnels can change color temperatures and light colors.

Panel Light

Panel lights, sometimes called pan lights, are as they are named. The light is usually in a rectangular shape of various sizes (See figure 9.4.3). The most common lamps used in these lights are LEDs and fluorescents. Panel lights are used to illuminate a general area and are not likely able to be focused on a specific subject.

Source 4/Spot/Ellipsoidal

A side view of a Source 4 light. It is long and tubular in shape. — Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Source four light. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

A diagonal front view of a Source 4 light where we can see the tube where lights is emitted. — Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Source four light. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Shelley Ho via San Francisco State University)

Source 4 lights are powerful lights that can create a narrow circular beam of light due to their long body and lens (See figure 9.4.4). The barn doors for these lights are internal and on some of the lights, the lenses can be changed to make the circle of light larger or narrower. The lights are focused enough to be able to add gobos or cookies that change the shape of the light into whatever you want. The light can look like lightning or show words that can be beamed onto a wall or curtain. Source 4s are most commonly used as spotlights on specific subjects.

New Types of Lights

LED technology is quickly advancing and new lights are put on the market all the time. For example, there are foldable, flat LED lights that are put on frames to use on a light stand. When the shoot is over, you fold or roll up the light and it stores away using very little space and weighs very little. Additionally, there are cylindrical lights that look similar to light sabers that are quite powerful and easy to transport. The sizes of lighting instruments are changing, too. You can get professional-grade lights that fit in your pocket, although most professionals use these as additional lights, not their key lights. Many of these lights, like the advanced LED Fresnels, can change color temperature and the color of the light.