360 video/photo production light apparatus

Abstract

A lighting apparatus designed for the 360 degree videography/photography/virtual reality market, comprising an annular light emitter which distributes even light in a 360 degree pattern supporting all camera viewpoints yet avoids lens flares and is invisible to the camera lenses by way of a disk shielding the camera from the annular light emitter. The slope of the annular light emitter allows light to distribute upwards, downwards and outward while masking light from the camera lenses. The apparatus is capable of supplying continuous light or may be used as a photo flash.

Claims

1. A lighting instrument and camera mount for 360 degree photography/videography comprising: a cylindrical body having a plurality of light emitters wherein the body is capable of producing light around its circumference; and a top having a camera-facing side and a body-facing side wherein said camera-facing side is configured to mount a camera; and wherein said top has a camera mount protruding from said camera-facing side at the center of said top; and wherein said body-facing side is configured to block light emitted from said light emitters so that they are not visible to the camera; and a base; wherein said top has a first diameter, the center of said body has a second diameter and said base has a third diameter.

2. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said first diameter and said third diameter are greater than said second diameter and wherein said body has a top flare and bottom flare.

3. The lighting instrument of claim 2 wherein said top flare has at least one light emitter of said plurality of light emitters configured to direct light downward and said bottom flare has at least one light emitter of said plurality of light emitters configured to direct light upward.

4. The lighting instrument of claim 2 wherein said top flare has a reflective surface configured to direct light from said plurality of light emitters downward and said bottom flare has a reflective surface configured to direct light from said plurality of light emitters upward.

5. The lighting instrument of claim 2 wherein said top flare and said bottom flare are integral to said body.

6. The lighting instrument of claim 2 wherein said top flare and said bottom flare are removeably attached to said body.

7. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said plurality of light emitters are semiconductor light elements.

8. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said base is configured for sitting said lighting instrument on a flat surface.

9. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said base is configured for mounting on a camera tripod.

10. The lighting instrument of claim 1 further comprising a translucent cover configured to diffuse emitted light.

11. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said camera mount is a telescoping pole.

12. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein said plurality of light emitters are dimmable.

13. The lighting instrument of claim 1 wherein brightness of said plurality of light emitters may be varied by way of a dimming control.

14. The lighting instrument of claim 13 wherein said dimming control is wirelessly accessed.

15. The lighting instrument of claim 1 further comprising a flash actuator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments of the described apparatus are illustrated by way of example in the figures of the accompanying drawing sheets, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a top front perspective view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment, showing the translucent cover over the light emitter(s).

(3) FIG. 2 is a top front perspective view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment, with translucent cover removed to show detail of the light emitter(s).

(4) FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment with the body cutaway for convenience in illustration;

(5) FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment;

(6) FIG. 5 is a bottom elevation view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment;

(7) FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiment;

(8) FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to preferred embodiments

(9) FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to alternate embodiment using reflectors;

(10) FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a 360 Video/Photo Production Light according to alternate embodiment using reflectors;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) In particular, one embodiment of the invention may have a 360 degree lighting unit configured to attach to a camera tripod such that the light shines outward in all directions. A 360 degree lighting unit may include multiple light emitters placed around an axis that is centered around the axis of the tripod, to form an annular light emitter.

(12) In a preferred embodiment, the light emitters flare outward from the center at top and bottom. In this embodiment, it has the effect of producing light that also shines upward from the bottom, and downward from the top to illuminate those parts of the scene without compromising the light shielding abilities of the crown.

(13) In a different embodiment, a ramped reflector may be used above and below the center body causing the light to have a gentle dispersion (falloff). The reflector may be white or a light reflecting surface.

(14) In this context, ramped means sloped away from the light emitters forming a convex angle relative to the tripod axis.

(15) For the base of the apparatus, a preferred embodiment is to house the power source such as a battery, removeable or fixed. It may also house the Power (On/Off) switch and wiring required to connect the switch and battery to the light emitters.

(16) Another embodiment could be to include an adjustable dimmer for the light emitters, which could also be housed inside the bottom reflector, and accessible from the bottom of the apparatus, or by wireless via a remote control or tablet/phone device control.

(17) Another embodiment could be to include an AC power connection for the light to be powered on household current should the user require more operation time than the battery will give.

(18) A preferred embodiment would be the inclusion of multiple posts (legs) extending down below the base past the protrusion of the battery, switch etc. in order to allow the apparatus to stand on its own on the ground, table or other horizontal flat surface. These posts may be needed due to the battery, switch and other electrical connections protruding from the bottom of the base.

(19) Another embodiment could include a power source for the camera itself by way of a standard micro USB connector, or other power connector as known in the art. This could possibly utilize power from the light battery, or be a pass thru to a standard power connector such as a USB connector at bottom of base to allow an external camera power source to be connected underneath the base, where it will be out of view of the camera lenses.

(20) The main light body can be constructed with plastic. The light source itself can be 12 VDC LED lights on a strip that may cover the entire surface of the center cylinder as well as the top and bottom flares. Covering the LED strips will be a light diffusion, translucent material.

(21) The crown facing the top of the apparatus will ideally be matte black.

(22) The base of the apparatus may be of plastic housing the power switch, tripod mount thread, and battery mount.

(23) Protruding top center may be a short telescoping pole with a standard tripod mount at the top. This facilitates the mounting of the camera. Alternatively any other camera mounting devices known in the art may be used provided they are centered at the top of the crown.

(24) FIG. 1, 2, 4, 8 show the crown 1. This will ideally be matte black since it will be the only part of the apparatus seen by the camera, and should be as non-obtrusive as possible.

(25) FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 shows the camera mount 2 according to a preferred embodiment. This ideally comprises of a 2-or-3 section telescoping tube with a standard male tripod thread 3 at the top. This allows the camera distance to the apparatus to be adjusted as per the user's preference. A greater distance between the apparatus and the camera will minimize the amount of the apparatus black disk that is visible to the camera.

(26) FIG. 1, 2, 6 shows a typical 360 camera 4 mounted on the apparatus, for illustrative purposes and shown in phantom.

(27) FIG. 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 shows the main body 5 of the apparatus. This houses the light emitters. In the preferred embodiment, they consist of strips of 12v DC LED's wrapped horizontally around a central cylinder, or vertically up and down the cylinder or in any other way such that substantially the entire surface of the cylinder is covered with LED lights.

(28) FIG. 1, 7 shows the flared body 6, 7 of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus. The flared body slopes the light emitters 8 down from the top, and up from the bottom, allowing for them to provide additional light in those directions without compromising the light shielding abilities of the crown. The flared body is shown as a top flare 6, a middle section 5 and a bottom flare 7 but could be manufactured as a single piece along with the main body.

(29) FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 shows a translucent cover 9 that is positioned in front of the light emitters 8. The translucent cover surrounds the annular light emitter. The purpose of this is two fold. First, it diffuses the light emanating from the apparatus to make it less harsh for persons with a direct view of the light emitters. Second, the diffusion will serve to eliminate the reflection and cast of the individual LED lights in reflective surfaces of the scene, like windows, eyeglasses, elements of the camera lens, etc. which would otherwise be undesirable.

(30) FIG. 1, 2, 3, 7 shows a preferred embodiment for the base 10.

(31) FIG. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 is a preferred embodiment showing extensions 11 molded into the lower base to provide clearance for the protrusions of the battery, power switch and other components attached to the bottom of the base (i.e. legs). This would permit the apparatus to stand on its own on any flat surface to be used without attaching to a camera tripod.

(32) FIG. 3, 5, 7, 9 shows the preferred embodiment with a power (On/Off) switch 12 to control power feeding from the battery to the light emitters 8.

(33) FIG. 3, 5, 7, 9 shows a preferred embodiment with a power connector 13 to provide DC from a separate AC-DC converter if desired from the user.

(34) FIG. 3, 5, 7, 9 shows a preferred embodiment with a female tripod thread 14 at the bottom center of the apparatus. This is where it can be mounted to a standard camera tripod.

(35) FIG. 7, 9 is an embodiment showing a small rechargeable DC battery 15 used as the preferred power source for the light emitters 8.

(36) FIG. 7, 9 is an embodiment showing a controller circuit box 16, mounted internally, which controls the light emitters 8 for brightness, color temperature, etc. either via smartphone or a separate remote control device.

(37) FIG. 8, 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the apparatus, using reflectors 17 to direct light from the emitter(s) downward and upward without compromising the light shielding abilities of the crown.