Im a bit mixed on the new CS-Lite+. I would have expected it to be brighter or at least as bright as the original. But it is about 1 stop less bright, which equates to my typically comfortable 1/125 shutter speed being reduced to a less comfortable 1/60.
On the flip side, I feel like I have done much less white balance / color cast / color grading work with the new light source. I just leave it where NLP puts the color with some small exposure or contrast tweaks. For reference, I am using the new light with the CS-LiteBright sheets that come standard but without the blue sheet they provide. My old CS-lite has the sheets as well so I feel like it’s a fair comparison.
Im a bit torn on the new one as I liked having a comfortably short shutter setting. But the color correction side of things do seem to speed up my process.
I wonder if anyone else is seeing a similar thing with their CS-Lite+?
I just heard about the new CS-Lite + Spectracolor Lightsource and came here specifically to see if anyone had any reports about this new light source as it seems interesting. Is this what you are using? if so, I believe you are actually supposed to be using the blue sheet for color negative conversions as specified in the manual, if you aren’t I think that might be missing out on the point of the new light source. For what its worth as well, CS states in their FAQ that the new light is completely different on the inside as compared to the original. here Is the link to the manual which gives instructions on how to use the sheets for different scanning purposes: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0339/5113/files/CineStill_CS-LITE_spectra_Instruction_4.25x5.5_WEB-2.pdf?v=1758573140
I’m not a science guy but I do like the idea behind the spectrally optimized narrowband light source, that importantly is relatively affordable and accessible to the masses and not through a DIY project, though I am also weary of marketing hyperbole.
has anyone tried this out or have come across a trustworthy review? I literally just saw that this thing existed a few moments ago.
There is a review on another (FB) forum but the OP may be planning to post something more on this forum so I don’t think it’s appropriate to link to it. It was broadly positive but some of the comments below highlighted how difficult it must be to assess the results from a light source used for colour negative conversion. There are many variables to contend with which include the colour film type that you are converting (and so the colour of the orange base), the subject matter and the original lighting, and of course the chosen colour conversion software and the settings within that software. Even established brands in this field don’t seem to provide examples to try and show how their expensive 99CRI panels improve on results from cheaper 95CRI offerings.
One of the comments from that other place seemed to be from the owners/founders of Cinestill and they stressed that it was essential to use the 2 collimating/light enhancing sheets over the provided colour balance filter as they say that these affect the colour as well as the brightness (there’s one for colour negative and one for transparency). Mind you they seem also to be referring to their use in conjunction with their free conversion software which certainly can’t be compared with a serious product like NLP.
Some have noticed that it is not as bright as the original CS-Lite which I use but I see that the instructions state that “Use any 5V USB power supply rated 1.5A (1500mA) or higher for
maximum light output.” That could be clearer but I think it means that it will be brighter with a 20W power supply than with the bare minimum 7.5W.
@Mck.13 I did try the blue sheet they provide but it didn’t change the conversions out of NLP and it ate more light. So I nixed the idea of using it. This was also true of the original CS Lite, it has a color negative setting that was blue but it had the same non-effect on my conversions as the sheet.
@Harry thats an interesting idea to try a higher wattage power supply to get a higher output. I’ll try this and report back. It’s important to note that I am using the same power supply as I used for the original. So at the same wattage it is still a stop dimmer.
This is another case where this trend of not supplying everything required to use an item, in this case a power supply, is frustrating. Just give us everything we need to power your product!
I suspect that it is dimmer but it’s worth a try. I use a 20W Ipad adapter for my original CS-Lite but surprisingly it does get quite hot, the power supply that is, not the CS-Lite.
The original CS-Lite instructions are here, they rate it at 10W in the specifications but then also say
5V/1.6A USB
Plug into any USB port! When using a USB charging device
rated 1.6A (1600mA) or higher you will get maximum light
output. Any other lower rated standard USB port will provide
sufficient power to output 1/2 of maximum brightness.
I’m not too upset about them not including a power supply but I don’t see why they don’t just specifiy one that provides maximum light output.
I was initially jumping up and down, thinking they made a commercial tri-chromatic light source, since they explain in depth how narrow-band R, G, and B remove interference, which is correct and the reason a trichromatic source is better. But…, reading more deeply my impression is that they use a white light source and use “filters” to make that narrow band R, G, and B, at least that is my impression of what they claim. In principle, one could use optical filters, but these usually pass only one wavelength, so I don’t understand how they would obtain 3 (…). In the end, since colored filters are provided, blue(cyan?) to negate the orange mask for negatives, and red to warm up the LED light to simulate a tungsten bulb for slide, my impression is that it’s just that: A white light with two filters. Since each negative stock will have its own specific orange base, it will never approach even remotely what is done with a trichromatic source: Negate the orange mask perfectly. Also, the source still seems to be wide-band, so interference is not at all negated as they seem to claim. Overall, one can achieve the same corrections by using old-style color filters in front of the taking lens to negate the orange mask to some extend, or to warm up the slides. At least, this is my current impression and unless Cinestill will provide more insight on their claim that it is indeed narrow band, my impression will remain.
