Video filming at night - need illumination

[Peterpetrole]

I need to use an iphone for slowmotion video at night, I have two cheap 1200 lumen mains powered LED worklights but nowhere near bright enough and the flicker is obvious on the video.

I ideally need more like 6-10,000 lumens flicker free and preferably in a warmer colour temperature to reduce insect attraction (2600 degrees).

Outdoor incandescent options seem to be non existent. AI suggests battery DC powered LEDs to avoid flicker but that gets pricey for something I'm not convinced will work.

I'm after a flood light for an area of about 4m square.

[StevieBee]

Peterpetrole said:

I need to use an iphone for slowmotion video at night, I have two cheap 1200 lumen mains powered LED worklights but nowhere near bright enough and the flicker is obvious on the video.

I ideally need more like 6-10,000 lumens flicker free and preferably in a warmer colour temperature to reduce insect attraction (2600 degrees).

Outdoor incandescent options seem to be non existent. AI suggests battery DC powered LEDs to avoid flicker but that gets pricey for something I'm not convinced will work.

I'm after a flood light for an area of about 4m square.

That's actually quite a tricky brief to solve without a biggish spend but much depends upon what it is you're filming and how slow you're going.

Avoid incandescent lighting.

If you're shooting at half speed then you definitely need an LED continuous output light but you may still notice some flickering or banding on all but the most expensive models. And you need a truly pitch black scene - even a distant street lamp or a light on in the house will cause noticeable flickering.

You do need a lot of light - much more than a 'proper' camera - because the iPhone doesn't handle low-light as well due to its small sensor size. It looks ok because it artificially enhances the image but slo-mo will find the weak spots. ISO increases the camera's light sensitivity - the higher the ISO, the darker the scene you can shoot. The trade off is grain and this is where the iPhone falls down: You can't change the ISO setting on a phone (at least you couldn't, latest ones may have changed) and the highest native ISO is 2,000. Compare that to my Sony FX6 cinema camera which goes to 12,800 (actually it can go to 409,000!! but I can't envisage ever the need go that high) with next to no graining!

As rule of thumb, you need around 5,000 - 10,000 lumens per square meter for outdoor filming but there's so many caveats to this that it's best to say - use the most you can!

In an ideal world, two of these should get the job done: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FH6R6P1L/?_encoding=...

But you'd also need to two soft boxes and stands and that's a big chunk of money but hiring or second hand may find similar cheaper.

Knowing what it is you're filming will help hone in on what you need.

[Peterpetrole]

StevieBee said:

That's actually quite a tricky brief to solve without a biggish spend but much depends upon what it is you're filming and how slow you're going.

Avoid incandescent lighting.

If you're shooting at half speed then you definitely need an LED continuous output light but you may still notice some flickering or banding on all but the most expensive models. And you need a truly pitch black scene - even a distant street lamp or a light on in the house will cause noticeable flickering.

You do need a lot of light - much more than a 'proper' camera - because the iPhone doesn't handle low-light as well due to its small sensor size. It looks ok because it artificially enhances the image but slo-mo will find the weak spots. ISO increases the camera's light sensitivity - the higher the ISO, the darker the scene you can shoot. The trade off is grain and this is where the iPhone falls down: You can't change the ISO setting on a phone (at least you couldn't, latest ones may have changed) and the highest native ISO is 2,000. Compare that to my Sony FX6 cinema camera which goes to 12,800 (actually it can go to 409,000!! but I can't envisage ever the need go that high) with next to no graining!

As rule of thumb, you need around 5,000 - 10,000 lumens per square meter for outdoor filming but there's so many caveats to this that it's best to say - use the most you can!

In an ideal world, two of these should get the job done: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FH6R6P1L/?_encoding=...

But you'd also need to two soft boxes and stands and that's a big chunk of money but hiring or second hand may find similar cheaper.

Knowing what it is you're filming will help hone in on what you need.

Many thanks that's very helpful, as you say very spendy new. I will keep an eye out for secondhand, it's just for sports video of a person in slo mo.