ice lights

[MamaMonkey]

Hello! I'm leaning towards buying some sort of ice light.  I'm wondering which one to buy?  I'm leaning towards the Polaroid Brightsaber or the Yongnuo YN360...there is also the DIY option, I guess ;P or others on amazon.  I'm wanting it for personal use, just photographing my kids.  Seems like a very portable/easy to use option...thoughts?  Thanks!!  

[Brian]

Will you be working with an assistant or will your camera be mounted on a tripod and you would trigger it remotely? What are you actually going to be photographing and where?

What I like about the YN360, it has a screw mount so you can mount it to a tripod, mono-pod, etc. What I don't like about the YN360, is you have pure LED light, there isn't a diffuser for it. That will make for some contrasty shadows. 

The Polaroid Brightsaber Pro has a built in Diffuser as well as a Tungsten Filter. What I don't like is no tripod mount and the batteries don't seem to last that long, so if you do go the Polaroid Route, actually BOTH routes, get the "complete package / buy all three" so you get the charger and extra batteries.

What I don't like for both is you can't control the light, it's all or nothing and it spills everywhere. It's also FULL POWER or nothing, it doesn't have a dimmer bulb. In addition, there isn't an option for a Barn Door Modifier, like for the actual Westcott IceLight, you'll have to rig something up yourself, which will involve Gaffers Tape at some point. LOL! 

Have you seen this video?

[Brian]

Honestly, if you were asking for my opinion, I'd say neither.

[MamaMonkey]

so it's probably not going to be as slick as I was thinking   I was more looking for something I could whip out in a jiffy when the kids are playing or even as a soft light to use when they are sleeping...so no assistant and I will be holding the camera.  I love photographs of babies/toddlers sleeping in their cribs with light filtering in through the crib rails.  

[MamaMonkey]

2 hours ago, Brian said:

Will you be working with an assistant or will your camera be mounted on a tripod and you would trigger it remotely? What are you actually going to be photographing and where?

What I like about the YN360, it has a screw mount so you can mount it to a tripod, mono-pod, etc. What I don't like about the YN360, is you have pure LED light, there isn't a diffuser for it. That will make for some contrasty shadows. 

The Polaroid Brightsaber Pro has a built in Diffuser as well as a Tungsten Filter. What I don't like is no tripod mount and the batteries don't seem to last that long, so if you do go the Polaroid Route, actually BOTH routes, get the "complete package / buy all three" so you get the charger and extra batteries.

What I don't like for both is you can't control the light, it's all or nothing and it spills everywhere. It's also FULL POWER or nothing, it doesn't have a dimmer bulb. In addition, there isn't an option for a Barn Door Modifier, like for the actual Westcott IceLight, you'll have to rig something up yourself, which will involve Gaffers Tape at some point. LOL! 

Have you seen this video?

It says here http://yongnuousa.net/products/360-light-wand that the Luminance can be controlled, so doesn't that mean it can be dimmed?

[Brian]

Didn't see that. So it can be dimmed. But it still doesn't have a diffuser and you really can't control the direction of the light. Of course, you can point the thing at something, it's just the level of control. It's like shooting with an umbrella, where you need a strip softbox with a grid on it. Or vise-versa.

Basically, it all depends on what you are shooting. If you are just looking for a light to play with, I'd say either is fine. If you are looking for softly-lit fuzzy-wuzzy sleeping baby photos, a ice light is NOT what you are after.

To answer your original question, which one out of the two? The Yongnuo 360. Just be sure to get a couple of battery packs and the AC charger, which are purchased separately.

[MamaMonkey]

12 hours ago, Brian said:

Didn't see that. So it can be dimmed. But it still doesn't have a diffuser and you really can't control the direction of the light. Of course, you can point the thing at something, it's just the level of control. It's like shooting with an umbrella, where you need a strip softbox with a grid on it. Or vise-versa.

Basically, it all depends on whanit you are shooting. If you are just looking for a light to play with, I'd say either is fine. If you are looking for softly-lit fuzzy-wuzzy sleeping baby photos, a ice light is NOT what you are after.

To answer your original question, which one out of the two? The Yongnuo 360. Just be sure to get a couple of battery packs and the AC charger, which are purchased separately.

It's just lifestyle shots in my own home that I'm after, long after the sun has gone down or long before it has come up...

Maybe I just need to buy a few regular old lamps.  Haha!!  I also have a speedlight that I could just leave mounted on a light stand.  It usually takes me a few minutes of figuring out what my power on the speedlight should be, thus I miss the shots...I have a nissin di866 professional and a canon 6d.  TTL on the flash does not work with my 6d and i hate the look of leaving the flash on my hotshoe.

thanks for your time!