what lights to buy?

[RichW]

what lights to buy?
posted 10/04/2006 12:34 PM EDT reply I'm looking to buy my first lights on a budget of about $2,500 or so. I shoot dramatic videos and occasional interviews. I realize the trend is toward smaller lights for video, however I am concerned that once you put diffusion on, it really cuts the light. An 80A gel, for example, will lower the light by two stops, dropping a 500 watt to 125 watts ! So you have to move the lights very close...
1) So should I buy 1Ks? However these may be overkill in many or most situations, and there are heat and amp issues. What to do?
2) I like the control you get with fresnels. Wondering what the difference is between the Arri Fresnel 650 lights and the Arrilite 650 Focusing Flood lights, and which is best?
3) can you comment on what one professional has said on line, which is, "even if you want to shoot a no-budget film, you will need at least 8,000 to 10,000 watts" ?
thanks.

[filmat11]

ARRI SOFT BANK IV KIT.....5 lights 1-1k open face light. This comes with a speed ring to mount an included softbox.
1-650 fresnel
1-300 fresnel
2-150 fresnels.. all lights come with scrims and barndoors. Excellent kit, several people on this site own them and swear by them. Best investment for the long haul... I believe the price is around $ 2700 bucks, plus shipping. Gotta run off to a shoot, several others will chime in here on your other questions.. Good Luck..

[6society]

ARRI SOFT BANK IV KIT.....5 lights 1-1k open face light. This comes with a speed ring to mount an included softbox.
1-650 fresnel
1-300 fresnel
2-150 fresnels.. all lights come with scrims and barndoors. Excellent kit, several people on this site own them and swear by them. Best investment for the long haul... I believe the price is around $ 2700 bucks, plus shipping. Gotta run off to a shoot, several others will chime in here on your other questions.. Good Luck..

I second that response all the way. I shoot for television news. Ten years in the biz, I have seen all the major brands come and go, and nothing holds up like ARRI. The light housings are indestructable. The barn doors are also very durable. And the quality of the final product will show, believe me.
In news, we beat the living crap out of our gear, you will probably take very good care of them, they will last you forever.

[cardmaverick]

I'm my opinion, keep saving and get the Mole Richard 5 fixture pro kit. I own this kit and I love it to death! Just like Arri (I own fixtures from both companies), they are really built to last. No flimsy crap. Also, brighter IS better, you can always scrim down, AND, for some reason no one ever mentions this, you can also put in lower wattage globes....so when you buy a set of 2ks (as I did, never have regretted it either...), yes, you do have 4,000 watts, but if your circuits are 15 amp, just put in a 1k globe. Problem solved! Think about it....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

As for that comment about needing around 10k watts. Well, they have a point. It all depends on what your doing. If your trying to do large (wide) shots, then yes, this can very easily be true. If your doing close ups, 10K would be overkill. Typically lights those big are used for fill/ambient light purposes, or as very large keys that are supposed to represent lights sources such as the sun. Hope that helps.

[puredrifting]

Hi Rich:

I would not disagree with Chris or filmat11 about their choice of kits. Either the Arris or the Moles are great lights, I own and use both daily. What I might suggest would be to evaluate exactly what you think you need to shoot. Kits, to me, are somewhat useless in that you will buy one (I own three) and will never use certain items contained in the kit.

You will haul that weight and gear around for years but may never use certain items. I am becoming a believer in assembling your own kit for your own needs. Problem is that this takes time, knowledge and experience. If this is your first time buying lighting, you probably lack all three elements, which makes it tough. If you are concerned about having the highest output from all of your instruments, most kits don't contain anything larger than a 1k open face. I might suggest hunting down some used lights, something like a Mighty Mole. I have one. It's a 2k open faced tungsten light, puts out a whole lot of light, will melt extension cords if you use small ones and will also trip the fusebox on most household 15 amp circuits. But, most industrial places, newer business buildings, etc. have 20 amp circuits that will work and as Chris noted, you can also obtain 1k and 1.5k globes for this light, so in one fixture you have a 2k, 1.5k and 1k light. Very versatile. Another great light is the Barger Bag light. Unfortunately, it is expensive but it is a very versatile key source. It uses six 650 watt bulbs spread out over two outlets so it gives you the equivalent output of a huge light like 3-4k but you can use it without a generator on common household circuits.

As is noted above, you will also need lightstands, softboxes, stingers, sandbags, flags, duvetyne, cinefoil, grip clips, C-47s, Mafer clamps, C-clamps, scissor clamps, scrims, silks, fingers, booms, gels, diffusion, etc. so factor these into your budget. I would also obtain some small lights as well, just beware that they are almost as expensive as large instruments so price.

All the best,

Dan

[khmuse]

I would suggest that you rent lighting and grip equipment for a few "jobs" to get a sense of what will work for the types of projects that you shoot. Most people can't justify owning specialized lighting instruments that they only use on rare occasion (bigger HMIs, Softbank, etc).

Certainly, Mole and Arri are great brands, you'll never go wrong with either, but there are a lot of others worth considering as well such as, Kino, Dedo and some Lowel products are a few examples. There are also things that are much less expensive to add to "your kit" including a decent range of practical sources (PH-211, PH-212, ECA & ECTs). You will likely want to add a few "China balls" (paper lanterns) as these are great in a lot of situations.

With your limited budget, you might want to look at buying used. If you stick with brands like Arri, Mole, & Kino used should be just fine.

Rent for now and then determine what you want to own on a long term basis (based upon working with different sources on different projects), then purchase them on an opportunistic basis when you find a great deal.

In the end, you may find that you can't cover all the projects that you will work on with a limited lighting "kit" this is why there are so many renal houses out there, use them when you need them.