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CRLS kits—practical use


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Hi guys. I’m just wondering if anybody here has used the LightBridge CRLS kit. 
A buddy of mine purchased one recently and he is letting me hang onto it while he’s away for a bit. I don’t think he has had a chance to really mess around with it or do any tests or anything. But I said I would give it a shot. I like to experiment with lighting set ups in my house when I don’t have anything else really going on.

Anyway, I’m not experienced with these tools and the only information I’ve been able to find has pretty much just been demos, reviews, and NAB interviews and whatnot. I know any frustration is due to user error on my end. But they seem like more work than they are intended to be. Earlier today, I spent about an hour finagling and jacking around with a couple reflectors in an attempt to get some light into our kitchen area through an open window—with sunlight, as well as using an LED fresnel. Articulating and manipulating them proved to be a bit of a challenge.

I’m looking at actually lighting a “scene” and not necessarily top-down product photography or anything. 

If any of you kind folks happen to have any pics of these reflectors in practice, or any breakdowns/explanations of how to get the light where you want it, I would love to hear your input. 
thanks! 

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I have a set here about which I did write a review. In the end it's a reflector which operates, in the broadest possible sense, like any other reflector - albeit with vastly better beam quality control. I think the idea is that they're pretty accurately flat and with consistent surface finishes (which are aluminium coatings, so they're quite easy to scratch or abrade).

The advantages of it are a little oblique, but nonetheless real. The most straightforward one is that you can put a light on the floor and skip it off a reflector on a comparatively lightweight stand, give or take windage. The more complicated, but pretty valid one is that you can effectively extend the optical path length and reduce falloff without requiring huge amounts of space. Also as you may have noticed the diffused spot created by the more diffuse reflective surfaces has a really nice beam quality somewhat like a photographic beauty dish but a little more controllable.

So I think it has some upsides.

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1 hour ago, Phil Rhodes said:

I have a set here about which I did write a review. In the end it's a reflector which operates, in the broadest possible sense, like any other reflector - albeit with vastly better beam quality control. I think the idea is that they're pretty accurately flat and with consistent surface finishes (which are aluminium coatings, so they're quite easy to scratch or abrade).

The advantages of it are a little oblique, but nonetheless real. The most straightforward one is that you can put a light on the floor and skip it off a reflector on a comparatively lightweight stand, give or take windage. The more complicated, but pretty valid one is that you can effectively extend the optical path length and reduce falloff without requiring huge amounts of space. Also as you may have noticed the diffused spot created by the more diffuse reflective surfaces has a really nice beam quality somewhat like a photographic beauty dish but a little more controllable.

So I think it has some upsides.

Cool. So could a reflector be used kind of like this weird little rig I often use? (Pic attached) I pretty much rig the light onto the stand with a Cardellini and throw it into a small bounce. 

When I think of reflectors I think hard light. That’s why my first thought was to use it to push light through windows to fill a space. So can these be used in a pretty straightforward manner like this…like as a key? 
 

949C8088-A3F6-4439-8E36-7913365FB43D.jpeg

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I don't see any reason why not. Obviously the aluminium-coated reflectors will have much higher gain and directionality (which I suspect may be almost the same thing) than the white bounce in your photo, but sure. I've seen a few setups like that, with the light at the bottom of a stand, looking up, and the reflector at the top. Sometimes you need a black flag behind the reflector to catch any overspill so it doesn't become an unintended bounce off a ceiling, or something.

And of course it works with sunlight, too, which is very powerful, although you do end up moving things around as the world turns.

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3 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

I don't see any reason why not. Obviously the aluminium-coated reflectors will have much higher gain and directionality (which I suspect may be almost the same thing) than the white bounce in your photo, but sure. I've seen a few setups like that, with the light at the bottom of a stand, looking up, and the reflector at the top. Sometimes you need a black flag behind the reflector to catch any overspill so it doesn't become an unintended bounce off a ceiling, or something.

And of course it works with sunlight, too, which is very powerful, although you do end up moving things around as the world turns.

Right on. Thanks for the insight. I know this reflector thing has been around pretty much since the beginning, but the newer CRLS stuff is pretty much still a mystery to me.  Also, I think it’s kinda funny how you said to use a flag to catch some of the spill (rightfully). One of the main selling points, and the line I hear most is “no more flags” haha

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