![]() ![]() At the end of the day, you need to have enough light intensity at a given distance to be able to use your equipment at desired settings.īefore we get to solving our problem, let’s recap what we need to accomplish: We need a standard system to measure lumens that takes into account beam angle and distance that can then be applied to relative systems of measurement (i.e. This is crucial when measuring light for film or photography. So, when we’re measuring light, we need to factor in how far the light has to travel, and what the angle of the beam is as it’s leaving the light source.Īn example of a wide angle light: Dracast LED1000 Pro SeriesĪn example of an adjustable beam angle light: Dracast Fresnel 2000Īs if the problem with the light itself wasn’t enough – we also need to factor in the equipment we’re using to capture. As light spreads out over greater distances, it will appear less bright since fewer lumens are hitting any given point. Other light sources aren’t as sophisticated, and the further the light has to travel, the more it spreads out. Lasers can travel over great distances without losing any intensity at all. That’s because of two factors working together: distance and beam angle.Ī perfectly focused light source is a laser. ![]() If you point that same flashlight at your eyes from 300 meters away it will look pretty dim. ![]() If you turn on a flash light and point it at your eyes from a distance of one foot, the light itensity will be painful. The more you squint, the less light hits your eye. But just think of stops like squinting your eyes when looking at a light. If you’re unfamiliar, stops is a relative term that is used in conjunction with other camera settings like ISO (lumen sensitivity). To complicate matters further, people in the photo industry will refer to brightness using words like “stops”. There’s a bit of conversion to do to answer that question. So you can see the problem when someone is asking for information on an LED fixture, and their point of reference is a 2000 watt halogen fixture. It takes far less wattage to make and HMI with equal lumen output to a halogen. For example, it takes far less wattage to make an LED with equal lumen output to an HMI. ![]() None of these units of measure are remotely the same. Here are some common terms for measuring lighting: Even different people in the same industries use different jargon with each other! Most of those people have a difficult time translating each others terminology into their own. What we’ve ended up with is a bunch of people speaking different “languages” trying to measure different things with different rulers! Today, I want to try to simplify all of that, and provide a method for you to compare lighting fixtures in a way that works.ĭifferent industries use different jargon. In addition, there are several different systems of measurement in use today. The fact is, measuring the brightness of a light is actually a pretty complicated task simply because there are several variables to factor in. And yet, a common descriptive term that manufacturers still use for lighting equipment is “high output”. “Very”, “Sorta”, or “not really” don’t work very well when it comes to lux, f-stops, and lumens. “How bright is it?” This question sounds pretty simple until you actually try to answer it. ![]()
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