I'm reposting this because somehow the post title got wiped out.
Repost
I do photography and no-budget short film making. I'm always looking for the cheapest lights I can find. I bought a package of GE Bright Stik to try out. I'm looking for lights that take up the least volume of space. The thin cylinders of the Bright Stik are a good candidate. In general photography I know that diffusing a light often cuts the light that reaches the subject by about half. So I carefully cut off the diffusor cap (if that's the right term) off one of the Bright Stik bulbs. Using my light meter I was surprised that the light reaching the subject was nearly 4x as bright. Given that without the diffusor cap the pattern is 180-degree spread. So putting the bulb in a reflector boosted the the light to the subject by about another 30%. Wow. So from a 60w equivalent bulb I got about 300w worth of light.
However, is this a bad thing to do? I can imagine that the diffusor cap maybe protects the LEDs from the air. Maybe the inside of the cap was filled with nitrogen or something to keep oxygen away from the LED or at least dust. So might doing this cause the LEDs to burn out. Does anyone know?
Also might the diffusor cap do more than just diffuse the light? Might it have a "phosphor" chemical that adjusts the spectrum?
I thought I should ask before buying and modifying an 8-pack or suggesting this to other filmmakers. I see that there are 100w equivalent Bright Stiks. If the same works for those as it did for the 60w, it would result in a 500w equivalent light source for just under 20w of power consumed. I could get 2kw of relatively cool lighting (often needed in film) for just 100w of power. That's a important consideration when trying to light a horror movie scene in an old house with questionable wiring.
Thanks.
Repost
I do photography and no-budget short film making. I'm always looking for the cheapest lights I can find. I bought a package of GE Bright Stik to try out. I'm looking for lights that take up the least volume of space. The thin cylinders of the Bright Stik are a good candidate. In general photography I know that diffusing a light often cuts the light that reaches the subject by about half. So I carefully cut off the diffusor cap (if that's the right term) off one of the Bright Stik bulbs. Using my light meter I was surprised that the light reaching the subject was nearly 4x as bright. Given that without the diffusor cap the pattern is 180-degree spread. So putting the bulb in a reflector boosted the the light to the subject by about another 30%. Wow. So from a 60w equivalent bulb I got about 300w worth of light.
However, is this a bad thing to do? I can imagine that the diffusor cap maybe protects the LEDs from the air. Maybe the inside of the cap was filled with nitrogen or something to keep oxygen away from the LED or at least dust. So might doing this cause the LEDs to burn out. Does anyone know?
Also might the diffusor cap do more than just diffuse the light? Might it have a "phosphor" chemical that adjusts the spectrum?
I thought I should ask before buying and modifying an 8-pack or suggesting this to other filmmakers. I see that there are 100w equivalent Bright Stiks. If the same works for those as it did for the 60w, it would result in a 500w equivalent light source for just under 20w of power consumed. I could get 2kw of relatively cool lighting (often needed in film) for just 100w of power. That's a important consideration when trying to light a horror movie scene in an old house with questionable wiring.
Thanks.