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the
alpha (channel) project
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The LED Ring
The ring contains 36 LED's enclosed within
a molded polyurethane encasement. It
comes with 18 feet of lead
wire to allow ample freedom of movement,
especially when doing hand-held chroma
key work. The plug-end is the Switchcraft
mini XLR mate with the locking mechanism.
This entire system was designed to be
ultra-durable and very reliable under
heavy use.
Green or Blue... which should I choose?
If you are shooting DV, green tends to carry a little more information and will probably be best for most applications, though blue is still very effective, especially if your subject is wearing something green!. I have read that, as a general rule, the blue chroma channel in DV footage can be inherently grainy and noisy, especially in low-light situations. However, tons and tons of video is shot every day using a blue screen, so it is certainly a viable color, depending on your format, amount of light, etc.
Mounting:
The rear of the LED ring has standard
72mm lens threads and will screw directly
onto lenses with the same. If yours is
smaller or slightly larger than 72mm,
a generic filter step-ring can be had
for just a couple of bucks via ebay or
the local camera shop (HERE is just one of the many sources). Since
many or most of the videographers that
this system might appeal to are using
"pro" or "prosumer"
gear (commonly with 72mm threads, such
as Canon XL/XH series, Panasonic DVX,
Sony Z1U/FX1, etc.), and with step rings
being so cheap, I opted to go with that,
versus a screw-mount setup. If your threads
are considerably larger, or if you have
none at all, there are other, custom mounting
options… email me if that is the
case.
If your threads are smaller, you will need a “STEP-UP” ring (EXAMPLE), with male threads at whatever lens thread size your camera has, and female 72mm threads to accommodate the ring.
If your threads are slightly larger (up to +/- 82mm non-wide angle), the approach is the same, but you will need a “STEP-DOWN” ring (EXAMPLE), with male threads at whatever lens thread size your camera has, and female 72mm threads on the front, for the ring. As mentioned above, both are cheap, and are available either online or often at the local camera or telescope shop.
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