For decades the name ETC has been synonymous with world-class lighting instruments, lighting control systems and stage rigging systems. Anyone involved in theatrical or tour lighting systems has very likely had their hands on an ETC Source Four ellipsoidal at one point or another.
In 2016, a dedicated team of research engineers and developers was setup at ETC to explore emerging lighting technologies. One of the ultimate goals of that group was to design a light created from the ground up for television and filmmaking.
The fos/4 panels have the potential to be groundbreaking...
In January of 2020, ETC announced the launch of their new fos/4 panels, featuring an entirely new approach to LED lighting that could dramatically improve color rendition and the most accurate skin tones possible.
But what is ETC doing under the hood with the fos/4 panels and what it could mean for church filmmaking?
“Deep Red”
ETC says the controls on the new fos/4 series are more intuitive than those found on most film lighting instruments on the market today.
One of the main issues the ETC team of researchers identified as an area of concern with lighting for video was the loss of what they describe as long-wavelength, or “deep” reds as the industry has moved away from tungsten and toward LED technology.
Accordingly, we’re told the new fos/4 panels have been designed to directly address the loss of these red tones through the incorporation of a unique mix of LED colors to produce the final white light. The new approach is one which ETC believes will help producers and filmmakers better capture more accurate skin tones, sunsets and firelight. We look forward to finding out when we conduct our hands-on review later this Spring.
Two Flavors
The new ETC fos/4 lights are initially available two different models and three panel sizes. The largest panel is a massive 24”x24” square, with the medium panel following on at 16”x24” and the smallest at 8”x24”.
It’s hard to overstate our anticipation for what could be a massive step forward in film lighting with the ETC fos/4 panels.
The Daylight HDR panel model is designed to produce a white light that’s tunable to match specific settings, from color temperatures ranging from 1900-10450K. It also includes the ability to add or subtract green tint as needed. ETC reports that this Daylight HDR specializes in the daylight (5600K) to cooler temperatures and is the brighter of the fos/4 panels.
The Lustr X8, on the other hand, is designed to produce the full range of colors with a higher degree of saturation and a warmer white color emphasis. This color representation is achieved via a patent-pending combination of green, lime, blue, indigo, cyan, amber, red and deep red LEDs. It also produces special effects like police siren, television, beacon and camera flash.
With the fos/4 panels, ETC is also promising the ability to balance color accuracy and representation with higher brightness. ETC claims up to 62,000 usable lumens on the largest Daylight HDR panel.
These new lighting instruments all feature a new user interface that allows operators to select or tune color temperatures quickly. Dedicated dials control individual red, green, blue color channels, as well as light intensity settings for faster operation. ETC says these are more intuitive controls than most film lighting instruments on the market today. Again, we’ll find out in the coming weeks when we get to try them in person. The fos/4 panels also include wireless DMX and NFC (near field communication) protocol for working with mobile devices using the ETC Set Light app.
First impressions
Make no mistake about it, the fos/4 panels have the potential to be groundbreaking in the world of LED lighting for filmmaking. That’s because no matter how good your camera or your lenses are, sensors can only capture the light waves hitting the sensor.
In spite of the inconvenience, expense and even the danger of using tungsten production lights, many filmmakers have still been slow to make the jump to more efficient technology because they feel the quality of skin tones LED lights produce is seriously inferior. If an LED instrument could finally rival tungsten for skin tone representation, that would be a monster new product.
While we don’t yet have pricing information on the new fos/4 panels, we’d expect cutting edge tech to arrive with a cutting-edge cost. Having said that, if these lights truly do deliver on their initial promises, church film teams may now have access to lighting instruments that could demonstrably improve nearly everything they create.
Conclusion
As we mentioned early, this is simply a first impressions article – we haven’t had the chance to actually evaluate these lights for ourselves. Our hope is to be able to bring you a full hands-on review in the near future. With that in mind, it’s hard to overstate our anticipation for what could be a massive step forward in film lighting with the ETC fos/4 panels.
Visit studio.etcconnect.com to learn more about the ETC fos/4.
ALEX SCHWINDT is a filmmaker and writer with over two decades of ministry experience. He’s also the creative director of Alex Schwindt Media, a boutique agency specializing in commercial, documentary and concept film and video.
