{"id":42406,"date":"2017-11-06T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T17:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=42406"},"modified":"2021-01-25T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T17:07:44","slug":"review-spekular-led-lighting-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/review-spekular-led-lighting-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"review: Spekular  LED lighting kit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/241487464?byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>review: Spekular LED lighting kit<\/h1>\n<p>The most adaptable and versatile continuous lighting setup currently might well be the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular LED lights<\/a>\u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>). They come as a set of four\u00a0LED sections (11.8&#8243; x 1.57&#8243;) that can be connected in different ways &#8211; as panels or strips or geometric shapes. You decide.\u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/spiffygear.com\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular website<\/a> shows some of the options. The specifications of the Spekular LED kit only gives a dry idea of what these are capable of. \u00a0Therefore, with this video review of the Spekular, I wanted to show some of that adaptability, and how these lights might be used. Similar then to my <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/review-profoto-a1-flash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review of the Profoto A1 flash<\/a>, hopefully there is something of interest to everyone in seeing more of the photo session with the models.<\/p>\n<p>We had a first look at these lights in this previous article,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/spekular-versatile-continuous-lighting-kit\/\">Spekular \u2013 versatile continuous lighting kit<\/a>, and this video review takes it further.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/lighting\/spekular\/Spekular-LED-lighting-kit_3772.jpg\" alt=\"Spekular LED lighting kit\" width=\"900\" height=\"1125\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>A little about the video:\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2013<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 There&#8217;s a &#8220;typo&#8221; in my phrasing during the intro. Where I said,\u00a0&#8220;if you create a large hexagon or octagon, you get a larger <em>light pattern<\/em>&#8220;, I meant you create a larger <strong>light source<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2013<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 Inexplicably, I somehow had problems pronouncing &#8220;hexagon&#8221; and even &#8220;octagon&#8221; on that day.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2013<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 You will notice that I shot fairly fast during parts of the photo session. Since there wasn&#8217;t a flash burst popping every time I took the shot, I could shoot faster without it looking like a lightning storm in the studio. Continuous lighting allow you to do that.\u00a0Also, with continuous lighting you don&#8217;t have the benefit of flash freezing movement or let you avoid camera shake. So I had to shoot more frames than I normally might.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/lighting\/spekular\/Spekular-LED-lighting-kit_3845.jpg\" alt=\"Spekular LED lighting kit\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>You can purchase the Spekular kit via these affiliate links<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular LED light \u2013 core kit<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>), or directly via the\u00a0e <a href=\"https:\/\/spiffygear.com\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular expansion kit<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular star adapter<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular battery<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These lights are Daylight Balanced: 5600K,<br \/>\nBeam Angle: 120-Degrees<br \/>\nDimming 10-100%<br \/>\nThey have superb light purity with a CRI of 94+<br \/>\nA high CRI is one of the\u00a0 factors mentioned in the article on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/video-light-for-photography-video\/\">choosing a video light for Photography &amp; Video<\/a>\u00a0that we should be looking at when deciding on continuous lights.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/lighting\/spekular\/Anelisa_3773.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"1123\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Camera settings &amp; photo gear used during this photo session<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>1\/200 @ f\/4 @ 800 ISO<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-d5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikon D5<\/a>\u00a0 (<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-d5-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>B&amp;H<\/em><\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-d5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-70-200mm-f2-8-vr-ii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II<\/a>\u00a0 (<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-70-200mm-f2-8-vr-ii-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>B&amp;H<\/em><\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/nikon-70-200mm-f2-8-vr-ii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Amazon<\/em><\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>(3x) <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular core kits<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/lighting\/spekular\/Elisha_3953.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"1125\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>You can purchase the Spekular kit via these affiliate links<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular LED light \u2013 core kit<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>),\u00a0or directly via the\u00a0e <a href=\"https:\/\/spiffygear.com\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular expansion kit<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular star adapter<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-star-adapter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular battery<\/a> \u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>The video should give you an idea of the flexibility of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spekular LED light<\/a>\u00a0(<em><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-bh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/em>), as a system.\u00a0As mentioned in the video, you can connect up to 8 of these sections together in various ways. The most obvious would be as a panel of 8&#215;1 sections, or a longer panel of 4&#215;2 sections. Then there are the geometric patterns. With the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-expansion-kit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expansion kit<\/a> \u00a0(<em>affiliate<\/em>) you can even separate them. With that kind of flexibility, and with the capability of using them on location with a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/recommends\/spekular-battery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">battery<\/a>\u00a0(<em>affiliate<\/em>), and with the high CRI, these lights are definitely worth checking out if you are in the market for a continuous lighting kit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/NeilvanNiekerk\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/banners\/youtube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"120\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Related articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/spekular-versatile-continuous-lighting-kit\/\">Spekular \u2013 versatile continuous lighting kit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/video-light-for-photography-video\/\">Buying a video light for Photography &amp; Video<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/portraits-continuous-lighting-westcott-spiderlites\/\">Portraits with continuous lighting \u2013 Westcott Spiderlites<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/continuous-studio-lighting-westcott-spiderlite\/\">Continuous lighting \u2013 Westcott Spiderlite TD6<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/lighting-for-a-small-commercial-video-shoot\/\">Lighting for a small commercial video shoot<\/a><\/li>\n<li>More articles on <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/category\/continuous-lighting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">using continuous lighting<\/a><\/li>\n<li>For more videos, follow me on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/neilvn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vimeo<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/NeilvanNiekerk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>review: Spekular LED lighting kit The most adaptable and versatile continuous lighting setup currently might well be the\u00a0Spekular LED lights\u00a0(B&amp;H \/ Amazon). They come as a set of four\u00a0LED sections (11.8&#8243; x 1.57&#8243;) that can be connected in different ways &#8211; as panels or strips or geometric shapes. You decide.\u00a0The Spekular website shows some of&nbsp;<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/review-spekular-led-lighting-kit\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more inside&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[480,13,833,43,630],"tags":[614,234],"yst_prominent_words":[1116,1115,1021,3770,7834,7836,2358,2351,7832,7833,7839,7835,7843,7831,7837,7824,7823,7838,7617,3072],"class_list":{"0":"post-42406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-continuous-lighting","8":"category-equipment-review","9":"category-equipment-reviews-lighting-gear","10":"category-video-clip","11":"category-video-tutorial","12":"tag-continuous-lights-for-portraits","13":"tag-studio-continuous-lighting","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42406"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50112,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42406\/revisions\/50112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42406"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=42406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}