There’s been more and more chatter lately about LEP (Light Emitting Plasma) fixtures for film and video production, and it’s easy to see why. They boast ten times the power efficiency of tungsten lamps (or twice that of HMIs), which means they run cool. They produce broad-spectrum, daylight balanced light and they’re potentially affordable, although economies of scale have not yet kicked in. Perhaps most importantly, they produce a hard, single-point light—a niche poorly served by fluorescent and LED sources.

So… what’s the catch?

As with any new technology, LEPs have an assortment of idiosyncrasies that should be understood before one makes the leap.  Veteran gaffer Guy Holt takes an in-depth look at LEP technology and the very limited number of products that make use of it on cinematography.com.  Holt does a good job at sifting the hard data from the marketing hype.

The bottom line?  LEP lighting looks like a winner to me.  The advantages far outweigh the the quirks—in fact, LEPs seem to be much less quirky than fluorescents and LEDs.  The main problem now is the lack of products on the market, but I’m predicting that will not be the case for long.