Photo Answers

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- Andrew James

Andrew James

Andrew is a highly experienced writer and photographer – if you have a problem, he is here to help.

LED or flashgun?

Q Instead of buying a flashgun, could I get away with a cheaper LED light? George Poole

A A lot depends on what you are intending to illuminate. LED lighting has improved a lot in recent years; for simple ‘what you see is what you get’ lighting in a range of shooting situations, an LED can be all you need. LED is a lot more efficient than old-fashioned incandescent lighting, which is why it’s become so popular in domestic and workspace buildings. This popularity has spilled over into photography – and, more specifically, videography – which means there are lots of LED lights for photography and filming on the market.

While they’re useful, though, LEDs do not produce the amount of light that a flashgun can. If you compare a typical flashgun with a similarly sized LED unit, you’ll discover that the quick one-off burst of light emitted by a flashgun, even at its lowest power, will outgun an LED every time. LEDs can offer excellent continuous illumination, but they can’t compete with a flash’s instant power.