The new Minima from Ianiro, is a small, lightweight, bright LED light with switchable colour temperatures and full dimming control.
It weighs just 190 grams, measures 12.5.x11x4cm, and outputs at 100 lumens per Watt, equivalent to a 50W tungsten lamp. Instead of using gels, users can switch between six colour temperature settings from 2800K to 6500K.
To achieve this, it uses red, white and yellow LED lights to form a continuous spectrum with full-range frequency. Low-cost and inaccurate analogue circuitry has been replaced by a digital signal microprocessor and a 25k frequency PWM controller. This allows for the colour ratio of different LEDs to be adjusted precisely according to different colour temperatures. Minima’s Colour Rendering Index is claimed to be above 90% at any colour temperature: 2800K, 3200K, 4000K, 4800K, 5600K and 6500K. Minimum colour shift is guaranteed to be within the range of 3-step dimming.
“It does away with the need for colour gels to control image temperature,” said Nick Allen-Miles, managing director, Ianiro UK, who claimed that “the quality of the output is excellent, marrying outstanding brightness with amazing colour accuracy.”
The Minima, which is manufactured by Taiwan-based Visio Light (http://visiolight.com/pro_led.html), uses 144 individual LED light bulbs, and is claimed to produce “a pleasant, uniformly soft light that delivers natural skin tones with an excellent 3D effect.” It uses a low energy design with a run time of 1.5 hours off six AA batteries (it also takes 12-18v DC input or a D tap cable). This should allow news crews, for example, to “shoot interview after interview without reaching for spare batteries, gels or reflectors,” said Allen-Miles.
List price is €199 or £169 (with street prices below £150), and it will be on show at BVE 2011, 15-17 February, in Earls Court 2, London.