John, i just got the Aputure F10 Fresnel, a 10" Fresnel 15-45°, modifiers; they are not expensive and they do have the zoom / focus feature. They come in the standard bowens mount; and you can get barn-doors for the F10. Build quality is great; and made for 600W and more LED lights; so made for heat.
@@evgenylaptevsstudio7857 How is that? The COB is in the same place? I m happy with the functioning of mine. I have 3 F10 and use on my Godox SL300 II s. It would be interesting to see a test to compare, that would be the best approach.
@@PhotoArtBrussels the shape of the spot of light and the gradient is completely different. If you read the instructions on the Aputur website, they specifically write about this. The specifics of my work force me to be very careful with lighting :) If you try to use your fresnels with Aputur 600, you will see a different result. I did tests a few years ago, but didn't save the files
Great video... very well explained. Also, I dont know why you're smiling, but everytime you do, it's contagious! and I find myself involuntarily smiling as well LOL
The Mole Richardson looks the best by far. The CRI on a tungsten light is hard to beat and you can tell by the depth of color in the face and hair. Also has the cleanest / hardest shadows which is the point of a fresnel.
Here is one thing you can do with the Nanlite and many others that don't have the second focusing lens. If you have flash or a video light, that can use an s2 bracket, you can push the lights in further so it's at in the proper position. I tried this with the new small rig and it worked great. I used a Godox ml60. To get the fresnel to work perfectly the light was almost all the way into the bracket. The led was probably half way or more into the fresnel. The focusing the worked perfectly without the bloom issue. With it in a normal position in the bracket the bloom was there and very little focusing range. I assume this would then work with my ad300 as well as my v1. Because I can move the light further in. So same would go for an ad200 and ad100. Not that the v1 might have to be clamped in an odd spot. I honestly returned the fresnel because I unfortunately wanted to use it with my 200w bowens mount led. And then the issues are present because the light source is not properly positioned. And same would probably happen with bowens mount flashes. But I'm still in the market hoping to find one that will work. Unfortunately it seems I need one with the second focusing lens/element. However that's limits me to video lights and flashes that may fit. Some the second focusing lens is in the way. I'll probably just get the Nanlite and only use the lights that work. If anyone is wondering about the small rig, and why I would get the Nanlite over it. For around the same price, when you get the small right barn doors, the Nanlite is a larger lens. Which is all around better. You may be using it still as a "hard light" source, but it's still a softer version using a larger fresnel. But the small rig did seem nicely built. And is the newest to the market.
Haha - I've never opened my Mole Richardson like that - thanks for the tip. I like the photo with the Bowens best, but would try to get buy with my Mole Richardson.... thanks for the informative video - please send info about the light stand and mounts.
One of the nice things about the use of constant lights is that it stops down the pupil of the subjects eye and often adds more color to the iris of the subjects eye. I've experimented with adding a hotlight to my portraits just to get that effect, but using a fast shutter speed to eliminate the "color" of the hotlight from my strobe that creates the overwhelming majority of the exposure.
There is probably a happy medium where you use a light that is brighter than a modeling lamp but not bright enough to cause squinting to get the pupil right and then shoot the photo with flash.
I just did a Hurrell shoot with a girl with beautiful blue eyes. We used constant lights and the small pupil is phenomenal! I did a flash shoot with her prior so it's nice to see the difference. I need to try to introduce a light source to get the same effect with a flash. But that's a very fine balance. Lol. You have to worry about getting the pupil down, and as John said, squinting. And then still have it not affect the overall shot.
You asked, and the Bowens is way better than the other two. It is the only one with a natural light look, in terms of a nice gradation of tones from the shadows to highlights, and pleasing contrast. I think it's the closest to a sunlit portrait. Definitley worth seeking out. In fact, it is the really hard light that I've seen that looks like natural light to me.
John! Great videos by the way. Your take on 2 vs 4 barn door assemblies. Why would someone want to use a 2 door vs 4 door? Thanks! I have a few Mole Baby, Type 407 lights and have 2 and 4 barn door assemblies.
fabulous - i was aware that the great george hurrel use those old hotlights and really close - when i have used led lights models have complained eeven with very weak 60w llights - but i know that in movies especially in the 1930s they used hot lights actors got used to the lights - i like the look of it
I discovered Fresnel lenses only recently and I use an inexpensive 10X one to great effect. It allows me to focus the light and shine directly into an optical snoot, rigged together using a few bits and bobs, so that the lens sits flush against the back of the optical snoot with it's bowens ring removed to ensure next to no light spill, either with a gobo or iris attachment. The beauty of using the Fresnel lens with this is that it allows me to only use a 200Ws strobe or even just a 76Ws Speedlight with a snoot projector that otherwise requires a much more powerful light. I purposly picked this inexpensive Fresnel lenses, which is actually similar in design to the Aperture one without the barn doors, due to it's small diameter; it sits nicely alongside my optical snoot and is perfect for my hack.
does the parabolic modifier from broncolor and parabolix works the same way as a this fresnel ? the idea is also to reflect light in straight line and thats what these two modifier do and they also allow to move the light foward and backward in the modifier to adjust the beam .... maybe you could compare the light output from a fresnel to one of these modifier if you could get your hand on one of them ;)
That is a very good and reasonable question. I have a Parabolix 35D and I believe that in the spot position the beams do you go directly forward. But I think the modifier would be much larger and therefore not quite as crisp, but it’s worth testing.
@@JohnGress you are right size will play a role but maybe by moving the light far away we can achieve the same result that would be a very interesting comparison... anyway just wanna say thx for you video, time, dedication and all the tutorial i am watching from very very far ( Mauritius island ) take care and keep up the good work ;)
Thank you so much for watching. I just used the 35D on spot today from about 2m and to my recollection it was less hard than the fresnel. I almost switched over to the fresnel but the client was happy with the results.
@@JohnGress thanks for the input your video has made me more curious about the parabolic modifier and its ability to throw light like a fresnel but with a softer touch maybe i have missed something while watching video online..... i cant get my hands one of these modifier here in Mauritius but i.ll do some research and decide if its worth ordering online ;) thanks again for all take care
Thanks John. Another great Quick question. Just ordered new Godox projector. One accessory is a variable diaphragm. With this ( and changing the focal length of attached lens ), would it give similar results? Thanks friend.
Thanks! If you’re asking if an optical snoot is comparable to a Fennell then the answer is not really because an optical snoop is going to be a much harder light source given its small size.
I like the traditional hot lights, usually I use ARRI ones, 300w/s for subject lighting and 600-1200 w/s for ambient lighting, instead of gelling the strobes I gel the fresnel with a CTB. I also have a fresnel box, a knock off of the original Elincrome one, is made by Walimex, nowhere near the build quality of the Elincrome but pay for what you get, the light is focused in the same way as the traditional hot ones and it has a Bowens mount, basically is a traditional hot one without the tungsten bulb and instead the back plate has the strobe mount and moves back and forward. A fresnel light is a unique tool, it takes a bit of effort to master it, however no other modifier is so unique and versatile, definitely one of my favourite, it not my favourite.
this might be not the topic but I've never seen this white part of the eyes so white. Is is edited? and there's a circle around the eyes, (maybe a lens?)
Hi John. Great video; I love trying to create old Hollywood style portraits! Do you have any experience with Lupo Dayled lights? They're similar to the old tungsten fresnels, but they're LEDs instead. I think they're British or German lights.
I haven’t heard of them but here’s a video about how you could use them. Golden Age of Hollywood Portrait Lighting Tutorial Using 6 Hard Lights ruclips.net/video/aV2LRXkqWxI/видео.html
Thanks for the thorough and complete explanation. Every so often, I revisit Fresnel lighting. This video joins my other investigations in reminding me why I don’t use Fresnel lighting. Either expensive or hard to use and then, what do you get? If you compare results with a deep Octabox (which you introduced to me), the deep octa yields a better result. If you disagree, how about doing a video comparing the two methods?
Excellent video John. I purchased the Nanlite Forza 500 along with the FL-20G a few months ago. I am glad to see it is respectable compared to the Mole Richardson. I never thought of connecting it to a strobe though. That is a cool idea.And thanks for providing the product number for the Moles.
Thank you for an informative video! While showing black products on black background, perhaps you could use some rim light to separate better, it's a bit hard to make out the objects in your hands.
By the way Im following your advice and it blows my mind how helpful it is while Im on set. The tips on the beauty dish were so on point. Since you're reading these comments, just want to thank you with all my heart.
John one thing you didn't discuss is the fresnel size. The Mole Richardson is only 6 inches. The other two are closer to 10. Even as a focused hard source the size should matter. Have you ever tested that? I'm really curious about that. I've read that a 10 inch is an important size. And is the "industry standard". I actually just watched this video for around the 3rd time to see what sizes you were using. Didn't realize the Mole was that small.
You made a good point about the size. In lighting it usually matters. This isn’t something considered for this test because it was more about what was readily available for mere mortals. Plus I’ll go out on a limb and assume the old hollywood photographers were using 1k or 650 because anything larger that close would be uncomfortably bright. The Bowen’s is 200mm (8”) and I am going to assume the 20 in fl-20g stands for 20cm. I’m not sure about a magic number but I do see that Elinchrom and Profoto made very expensive 30cm fresnels.
You should have used a blue eye model for this test. The iris gets really small using the Mole which you will see a difference in the eyes compared to using strobes.
In fact, Nunlight is a copy of the development of the Aputur company. A copy that is similar in appearance, but was made thoughtlessly. The essence of Fresnel modifiers is to create a beautiful gradient spot of light. The original fresnel from Aputur has two lenses - the first is a fresnel, the second is an aspherical lens, which is located next to the mount. Moreover, this design was created specifically for the Aputure LS 600d Pro device. To summarize, no replicas are capable of creating a beautiful light pattern.
I think it was designed for LED, but I am using it with strobes. I think you'll befine so long as you avoid using a halogen modeling lamp all the time.
Awesome, thank you! I really appreciate it. I'm using a Saken Cos-11D in a Vampire clip, attached to the bottom left side of my shirt buttons which is then recorded with a Tentacle Sync Track E recorder. I recently switched to Tentacle Sync recorders and time code packs and I love how everything syncs up and the audio is way cleaner than what I was getting from my Sennheiser G3 wireless packs.
This is the only one that is still in production. The others are things you would need to find on ebay or somewhere like that. Nanlite FL-20G nanlite.pxf.io/QOrBmo
i would say this look is really good for like a boxer or a edgier action star , where soft loft doesnt make sense! , would dare put this on a woman who doesnt want her wrinkles shown lol
Sir Your Work Is Fantastic, I am an old man in My 80's & I have learned so much watching Your Video's Thank You so very very much.
Thanks! That’s so nice of you to say. I’m always learning and I hope I’ll have the privilege to do it into my 80s!
John, i just got the Aputure F10 Fresnel, a 10" Fresnel 15-45°, modifiers; they are not expensive and they do have the zoom / focus feature.
They come in the standard bowens mount; and you can get barn-doors for the F10. Build quality is great; and made for 600W and more LED lights; so made for heat.
Nice. Its good to know there’s another option 🙏🏼🙏🏼
it will work correctly only with Aputure LS 600d Pro
@@evgenylaptevsstudio7857 How is that? The COB is in the same place? I m happy with the functioning of mine. I have 3 F10 and use on my Godox SL300 II s.
It would be interesting to see a test to compare, that would be the best approach.
@@PhotoArtBrussels the shape of the spot of light and the gradient is completely different. If you read the instructions on the Aputur website, they specifically write about this. The specifics of my work force me to be very careful with lighting :) If you try to use your fresnels with Aputur 600, you will see a different result. I did tests a few years ago, but didn't save the files
@@evgenylaptevsstudio7857 Thanks for your feedback; greatly appreciated!
Great video... very well explained.
Also, I dont know why you're smiling, but everytime you do, it's contagious! and I find myself involuntarily smiling as well LOL
Thanks! Happy to hear that! 😁😁😁
The Mole Richardson looks the best by far. The CRI on a tungsten light is hard to beat and you can tell by the depth of color in the face and hair. Also has the cleanest / hardest shadows which is the point of a fresnel.
I guess you can’t beat the og.
Here is one thing you can do with the Nanlite and many others that don't have the second focusing lens.
If you have flash or a video light, that can use an s2 bracket, you can push the lights in further so it's at in the proper position. I tried this with the new small rig and it worked great. I used a Godox ml60. To get the fresnel to work perfectly the light was almost all the way into the bracket. The led was probably half way or more into the fresnel. The focusing the worked perfectly without the bloom issue. With it in a normal position in the bracket the bloom was there and very little focusing range. I assume this would then work with my ad300 as well as my v1. Because I can move the light further in. So same would go for an ad200 and ad100. Not that the v1 might have to be clamped in an odd spot.
I honestly returned the fresnel because I unfortunately wanted to use it with my 200w bowens mount led. And then the issues are present because the light source is not properly positioned. And same would probably happen with bowens mount flashes. But I'm still in the market hoping to find one that will work. Unfortunately it seems I need one with the second focusing lens/element. However that's limits me to video lights and flashes that may fit. Some the second focusing lens is in the way.
I'll probably just get the Nanlite and only use the lights that work.
If anyone is wondering about the small rig, and why I would get the Nanlite over it. For around the same price, when you get the small right barn doors, the Nanlite is a larger lens. Which is all around better. You may be using it still as a "hard light" source, but it's still a softer version using a larger fresnel. But the small rig did seem nicely built. And is the newest to the market.
@fostervf16 Have you both tried them ?
I'm on the market on buying either of them, and can't decide.
Got a view of the Nanlights and I love them. Thanks for making me aware of them.
Of course! I hope you enjoy them!
I have the FL20G and I can't attach it to the profoto-bowen adapter for some reasons
Haha - I've never opened my Mole Richardson like that - thanks for the tip. I like the photo with the Bowens best, but would try to get buy with my Mole Richardson.... thanks for the informative video - please send info about the light stand and mounts.
Thank you! It me cool to think you’ll find a new use for that light 😁
I agree with Bob Sykes, the Bowens is the best light modifier. It provided the best natural look for my liking.
That's great to hear. Thanks for your in put too!
One of the nice things about the use of constant lights is that it stops down the pupil of the subjects eye and often adds more color to the iris of the subjects eye. I've experimented with adding a hotlight to my portraits just to get that effect, but using a fast shutter speed to eliminate the "color" of the hotlight from my strobe that creates the overwhelming
majority of the exposure.
There is probably a happy medium where you use a light that is brighter than a modeling lamp but not bright enough to cause squinting to get the pupil right and then shoot the photo with flash.
I just did a Hurrell shoot with a girl with beautiful blue eyes. We used constant lights and the small pupil is phenomenal! I did a flash shoot with her prior so it's nice to see the difference.
I need to try to introduce a light source to get the same effect with a flash. But that's a very fine balance. Lol. You have to worry about getting the pupil down, and as John said, squinting. And then still have it not affect the overall shot.
You asked, and the Bowens is way better than the other two. It is the only one with a natural light look, in terms of a nice gradation of tones from the shadows to highlights, and pleasing contrast. I think it's the closest to a sunlit portrait. Definitley worth seeking out. In fact, it is the really hard light that I've seen that looks like natural light to me.
Ok good! I guess that was money well spent! Thanks Bob.
John! Great videos by the way. Your take on 2 vs 4 barn door assemblies. Why would someone want to use a 2 door vs 4 door? Thanks! I have a few Mole Baby, Type 407 lights and have 2 and 4 barn door assemblies.
Oh well that’s a good question. I’m about to make some content about barn doors soon.
@@JohnGress I will be anxiously waiting for your next video. Thank you!
fabulous - i was aware that the great george hurrel use those old hotlights and really close - when i have used led lights models have complained eeven with very weak 60w llights - but i know that in movies especially in the 1930s they used hot lights actors got used to the lights - i like the look of it
I think it’s different too when all the light you’re in is bright.
Vet interesting video as always and my preference would be for the Bowens. I don’t think you answered the video title question though!
It's good to know that it was moeny well spent! Thanks!
I discovered Fresnel lenses only recently and I use an inexpensive 10X one to great effect. It allows me to focus the light and shine directly into an optical snoot, rigged together using a few bits and bobs, so that the lens sits flush against the back of the optical snoot with it's bowens ring removed to ensure next to no light spill, either with a gobo or iris attachment. The beauty of using the Fresnel lens with this is that it allows me to only use a 200Ws strobe or even just a 76Ws Speedlight with a snoot projector that otherwise requires a much more powerful light.
I purposly picked this inexpensive Fresnel lenses, which is actually similar in design to the Aperture one without the barn doors, due to it's small diameter; it sits nicely alongside my optical snoot and is perfect for my hack.
That’s good to know and something I may have to try because optical snoots eat light!
Super helpful video. Thanks for making this!
No problem! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Great info, as always.
Thanks Miley!
does the parabolic modifier from broncolor and parabolix works the same way as a this fresnel ? the idea is also to reflect light in straight line and thats what these two modifier do and they also allow to move the light foward and backward in the modifier to adjust the beam .... maybe you could compare the light output from a fresnel to one of these modifier if you could get your hand on one of them ;)
That is a very good and reasonable question. I have a Parabolix 35D and I believe that in the spot position the beams do you go directly forward. But I think the modifier would be much larger and therefore not quite as crisp, but it’s worth testing.
@@JohnGress you are right size will play a role but maybe by moving the light far away we can achieve the same result that would be a very interesting comparison... anyway just wanna say thx for you video, time, dedication and all the tutorial i am watching from very very far ( Mauritius island ) take care and keep up the good work ;)
Thank you so much for watching. I just used the 35D on spot today from about 2m and to my recollection it was less hard than the fresnel. I almost switched over to the fresnel but the client was happy with the results.
@@JohnGress thanks for the input your video has made me more curious about the parabolic modifier and its ability to throw light like a fresnel but with a softer touch maybe i have missed something while watching video online..... i cant get my hands one of these modifier here in Mauritius but i.ll do some research and decide if its worth ordering online ;) thanks again for all take care
Thanks John. Another great Quick question. Just ordered new Godox projector. One accessory is a variable diaphragm. With this ( and changing the focal length of attached lens ), would it give similar results? Thanks friend.
Thanks! If you’re asking if an optical snoot is comparable to a Fennell then the answer is not really because an optical snoop is going to be a much harder light source given its small size.
I like the traditional hot lights, usually I use ARRI ones, 300w/s for subject lighting and 600-1200 w/s for ambient lighting, instead of gelling the strobes I gel the fresnel with a CTB. I also have a fresnel box, a knock off of the original Elincrome one, is made by Walimex, nowhere near the build quality of the Elincrome but pay for what you get, the light is focused in the same way as the traditional hot ones and it has a Bowens mount, basically is a traditional hot one without the tungsten bulb and instead the back plate has the strobe mount and moves back and forward.
A fresnel light is a unique tool, it takes a bit of effort to master it, however no other modifier is so unique and versatile, definitely one of my favourite, it not my favourite.
Thanks Nilo! Good to know.
this might be not the topic but I've never seen this white part of the eyes so white. Is is edited? and there's a circle around the eyes, (maybe a lens?)
Hi John. Great video; I love trying to create old Hollywood style portraits! Do you have any experience with Lupo Dayled lights? They're similar to the old tungsten fresnels, but they're LEDs instead. I think they're British or German lights.
I haven’t heard of them but here’s a video about how you could use them. Golden Age of Hollywood Portrait Lighting Tutorial Using 6 Hard Lights
ruclips.net/video/aV2LRXkqWxI/видео.html
Thanks for the thorough and complete explanation. Every so often, I revisit Fresnel lighting. This video joins my other investigations in reminding me why I don’t use Fresnel lighting. Either expensive or hard to use and then, what do you get? If you compare results with a deep Octabox (which you introduced to me), the deep octa yields a better result. If you disagree, how about doing a video comparing the two methods?
No problem! Some days you you want Mexican food and some days you want sushi. It’s just a different way to light things and mix things up.
What about using a fresnel in conjunction with the octabox by placing it directly in front of the octabox?
Excellent video John. I purchased the Nanlite Forza 500 along with the FL-20G a few months ago. I am glad to see it is respectable compared to the Mole Richardson. I never thought of connecting it to a strobe though. That is a cool idea.And thanks for providing the product number for the Moles.
Sure thing. Enjoy! Thank you so much Maurice! I just used a cheap adapter to convert it to Elinchrom.
Thank you for an informative video! While showing black products on black background, perhaps you could use some rim light to separate better, it's a bit hard to make out the objects in your hands.
Rest assured when I made my last series of videos with me handling the R5II I wore a lighter shirt.
By the way Im following your advice and it blows my mind how helpful it is while Im on set. The tips on the beauty dish were so on point. Since you're reading these comments, just want to thank you with all my heart.
Awww thank you so much! I am making these videos to help people skip over a lot of the trials and tribulations I had to go through.
So helpful! Thank you!
That’s great to hear! Thank you!
John one thing you didn't discuss is the fresnel size. The Mole Richardson is only 6 inches. The other two are closer to 10. Even as a focused hard source the size should matter. Have you ever tested that?
I'm really curious about that. I've read that a 10 inch is an important size. And is the "industry standard".
I actually just watched this video for around the 3rd time to see what sizes you were using. Didn't realize the Mole was that small.
You made a good point about the size. In lighting it usually matters. This isn’t something considered for this test because it was more about what was readily available for mere mortals. Plus I’ll go out on a limb and assume the old hollywood photographers were using 1k or 650 because anything larger that close would be uncomfortably bright. The Bowen’s is 200mm (8”) and I am going to assume the 20 in fl-20g stands for 20cm. I’m not sure about a magic number but I do see that Elinchrom and Profoto made very expensive 30cm fresnels.
Any fresnel that can work with godox AD600?
The Nanlight one comes with a Bowen’s mount.
You should have used a blue eye model for this test. The iris gets really small using the Mole which you will see a difference in the eyes compared to using strobes.
Great stuff 👌🏻
Thanks!
Tinfoil works wonders with plant pots if your handy with a light fitting or two .
Broncolor Flooter is worth mentioning
In fact, Nunlight is a copy of the development of the Aputur company. A copy that is similar in appearance, but was made thoughtlessly. The essence of Fresnel modifiers is to create a beautiful gradient spot of light. The original fresnel from Aputur has two lenses - the first is a fresnel, the second is an aspherical lens, which is located next to the mount. Moreover, this design was created specifically for the Aputure LS 600d Pro device. To summarize, no replicas are capable of creating a beautiful light pattern.
is Nanlite FL-20G (and others) only meant for use with led lights or can one use it with strobes such as ad600 pro? thanks, these vids help a lot
I think it was designed for LED, but I am using it with strobes. I think you'll befine so long as you avoid using a halogen modeling lamp all the time.
Really nice video. The Audio is great, the lighting is inspiring and the content is very useful.
Awesome, thank you! I really appreciate it. I'm using a Saken Cos-11D in a Vampire clip, attached to the bottom left side of my shirt buttons which is then recorded with a Tentacle Sync Track E recorder. I recently switched to Tentacle Sync recorders and time code packs and I love how everything syncs up and the audio is way cleaner than what I was getting from my Sennheiser G3 wireless packs.
@@JohnGress tks for the tip.
Defo Bowens is best
❤❤❤
🙏🏼😊🙏🏼
John can you add links next time (yes I'm lazy AF) 😂
Gladly. But aren’t they in the description?
For the modifiers mentioned? I don't see it
This is the only one that is still in production. The others are things you would need to find on ebay or somewhere like that. Nanlite FL-20G nanlite.pxf.io/QOrBmo
i would say this look is really good for like a boxer or a edgier action star , where soft loft doesnt make sense! , would dare put this on a woman who doesnt want her wrinkles shown lol
I think it would be good for a young femake beauty model too.
Bowens…
FTW