# High Wattage RED LED lights with stand



## Black Dagger (Aug 5, 2014)

Hey guys!

I work in an insect behavior lab and we use a lot of high speed videography in our experiments. For the lighting we need red lights to film because the insect eyes are not sensitive in the red-far red region. Right now we use a 1000 W incandescent lamp with red filters (absorptive). But these filters generate a lot of heat (IR radiation) in the forward region and that is not good for the insects. So for a long time we have been thinking of switching to cooler lighting options and LED lights would be one of the options.

I am basically looking for high wattage red led lamps (in the range of 50-100W). I need really high lumens because I film at 4000 frames per second with <70 us exposure time. A lot of light! Smaller the lamp better for me. Also along with lamps I'm planning to buy tripod stand for better maneuverability. 

The problem is, most of the led lamps in the market are white in color and using a red filter on a white led lamps gives absymally low intensity values.

Please let know if you have high wattage bright red LED lamps along with tripods in your mind. I would be really grateful.


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## TEEJ (Aug 5, 2014)

Black Dagger said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> I work in an insect behavior lab and we use a lot of high speed videography in our experiments. For the lighting we need red lights to film because the insect eyes are not sensitive in the red-far red region. Right now we use a 1000 W incandescent lamp with red filters (absorptive). But these filters generate a lot of heat (IR radiation) in the forward region and that is not good for the insects. So for a long time we have been thinking of switching to cooler lighting options and LED lights would be one of the options.
> 
> ...



For LED, the wattage specs are typically not that useful. (Not in the way they are for incans)

It would be easier to calculate lux at a distance, etc.

You need a lot of light for a high speed application, but the specs for lights in lumens are based upon the full spectrum, so, lumens for JUST RED is not a practical number typically.

There are LED that emit red light (No filter needed), and those would probably be your best bet. 

Is there a spot size at a particular range or ranges that you need? Do you know the lux you'd need to make it all work at those ranges? There are ways to focus the light so as to concentrate it where needed for example.


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## Black Dagger (Aug 7, 2014)

TEEJ said:


> For LED, the wattage specs are typically not that useful. (Not in the way they are for incans)
> 
> It would be easier to calculate lux at a distance, etc.
> 
> ...



The lumens I need depends a lot on distance. So if the light is a feet or two away I'll need very high lux values, say more than 40 k lux. Right now I am doing that because I am using bulky 1000 W incandescent lights with red filter. The light source generates heat in the forward direction and I cannot afford to keep it close to the flies.

But say if I have Red LED spotlights with a stand or something. Red LEDs are comparatively cooler and I can place them very near to my filming area and also (with the help of tripods) give them the desirable angle and in that case I'm guessing 10k lux values would be great!








Something like that would be a great buy. Only it should be red LEDs.


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## LEDPunisher (Aug 26, 2014)

You can't get a reliable lux value from just red, as the lumen is weighted around 550-555nm green. 

Typically, red LEDs per watt put out way more photons than green or blue. Noon sunlight is 2,000 umol so as long as you could match up to about half that level, you should be fine for pure-red videography.


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## SemiMan (Aug 29, 2014)

Are you using monochromatic cameras for high speed photography? If so, odds are they are quite efficient in deep red. Even color may still be good in deep red but monochrome would give you several times improvement in efficiency.

For best efficiency you may need to go custom. Lumileds makes deep red, 650nm with very high radiometric efficiency and your camera is likely very efficient at this wavelength as well. 

Nice thing is they are in the rebel package so easy to find parts for building.


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