I picked up some cheap lighting, think this will work?

Rylan Zolinski

Rylan Zolinski

Well-known member
This is what I picked up.



You can tear it apart all you want, but there isn't a whole lot available around here and I need something that is easy to transport. This small rig is 1000W.
 
Last edited:
1,000 watts of the hardest, hottest, and harshest light imaginable.

I only say this, because many years ago that was the first light I bought thinking I could save some money. I suppose it could work for certain shots, but it's not exactly subtle. :)

Chris
 
Those lights can come in handy, although they certainly never should be your primary lights.
I used two (without the stand) to light up a wall recently, and it worked in a pinch, but I was across country, and a Walmart was very close! :)

My guess, as Chris suggested, is that you'll outgrow these types of lights within a few weeks/months.
 
There is no photo places around here locally and I am on a tight budget for basic lighting. I figured that these should work better than nothing for now.
 
Morox said:
There is no photo places around here locally and I am on a tight budget for basic lighting. I figured that these should work better than nothing for now.
Click to expand...

Understood, unfortunately you'll soon realize that the main problem with those lights is that they really are an electric 1000W heater, with an added benefit of a little uncontrollable light.
 
Definitely not for small spaces. I tried using these for a claymation spot and ended up melting half of my cast.

Two things that you can buy cheaply and locally that will help with these lights are 300w replacement bulbs, and white foamcore to bounce with.
 
These are excellent lights................for lighting up the set at night when you have wrapped and need work lights.
 
I have noticed interference with wireless mics using the Harbor Freight dimmers. However, as far as a cheap dimmer is concerned, they are a GREAT Bargain.
It is true that the light created from these units wield a wide swath of light. Hard, unattractive shadows, limited light stand usage, about as nice as high beams on a semi. About the only thing you can do to tame these monsters is to shoot them through a large diffusion panel/flag, overhead/butterfly/shower curtain liner/muslin, or bounce them into a reflector. These lights can have countless uses, but I would not use them as your main source of light.
.
 
I know these shouldn't be my main source to light, but I don't have thousands or even hundreds of dollars to throw around. I figured these would be better than nothing and I guess it's a good thing that I bought a cheap solution for lighting. I can use these for awhile and it will give me a good idea on how to use lighting effectively and in the future, I can purchase proper equipment.

I am totally knew to the filming scene. I have never owned a video camera before and never really shot with one in my life. I just bought an XL2 and some cheap lighting equipment and I must say (without bragging of course), I feel that I am leaps ahead of an average beginner to this scene. I have shot some footage and have impressed many with it and it's definitely a great motivation to get me to keep on going. Once I get some decent footage and figure out how to properly use some decent editing software, I will surely post some examples.
 
You can do decent stuff with home depot lights. Using blackwrap or making barn doors helps. I like the rounded edged ones, though. You can use lights like this for bounced light (off ceilings, etc.) and they make great fill, but that's about it. You will also want to put CTB 1/4 over them unless you like a warm look since they are very warm versus film lights.

The best cheap light kit is just a bunch of those silver cones with standard outlets. Fill them with 50/100/200 watt bulbs, or those 100w spotlights are just like inky dinks, except uncontrollable, dimmer, and $7, not $200. DV is very sensetive. You don't need a lot of light. The cones have clamps and you can put diffusion/CTB on the cone over them. No barn doors, but you can still do a lot, especially in close ups.

But I suggest a few more expensive lights, too, for sure.
 
I tested the light out and it worked as good as I hoped it would. This will work fine for now. Until I know my way around lighting, I will use cheapo lights.
 
These lights can't be diffused to be softend and can't be focussed or even directed with barndoors to be hard and directed. These lights will show up every flaw in your cast members skin. I suggest you only use these for shooting inanimate objects and not people as you will only cast dark shadows across their faces and make them look unflattering. Their color temperature can't really be changed from tungsten orange to a daylight blue without a gel that would ignite faster than diffusion material.

I'm also sure these will also spill alot of light towards your lens and therefore lead to less contrast in all your footage. You are going to need a $1200 Mattebox and french flags to compensate for the light spill from a $50 lighting solution.
 
You're going to find the limitations on your own... so I'll spare you the criticism. In an effort to keep the costs as low as possible let me give you a few tips.

 Disclaimer: Using lights like this in a manner other then intended may be dangerous and you may cause a fire or be killed... End of Disclaimer.

Plan on bouncing these lights off a white surface... maybe a wall or ceiling...

Get some white coroplast or foamcore... coroplast is the corrugated plastic available from a plastics wholesaler or a sign shop. You'll pay about $20 sheet for it from a sign shop or $8 sheet from a wholesaler if you make a $150 min purchase... so probably gonna' be the $20 option.

I hope you have some other stands or another way to secure these things and the coroplast or foamcore... one of these white boards is going to be your bounce board... keep it far enough away to let heat ventilate... at least a couple feet.

Once you have your bounce board rigged at about a 45 to your talent you can aim the lights BACK at it, so that the back of the lights are facing the talent. Control the excess spill with black foamcore or black coroplast... or even a black sheet so long as you have these materials NO WHERE NEAR the lights.

Another option is to shoot through a white sheet or white nylon (all flammable... so again... be prepared to meet certain death unless you can have half a brain about this.) Putting anything in front of a light like this means DISTANCE... like SEVERAL feet for a fabric!

Finally... something that is ugly as hell but works great... is you can pick up a roll of roof flashing and a can of HIGH TEMP flat black spray paint... roof flashing can be cut EASILY with a $10 snips... Home Depot has some nice long snips that work just like scissors. You can mount some small bolts or machine screws into your lights from the inside out... and leave the excess machine screw sticking out after you have it locked in place with a nut... two per side should do... these posts are going to support your barndoors and other light controls... now since you have a whole roll of roof flashing go ahead and experiment... cut out some barn doors and paint 'em with the high temp... you can also make disposable cookies this same way.

Basically what we're doing here is giving you a long lasting "black wrap"... which is flat black foil that is used for this type of light control on set all the time. Black wrap is simply high temp painted foil... so we're taking that a step further and giving you something you can save and re-use.

Well that should get you started... everybody's going to say that this is a half-assed way to do things... and it is... but the main point about lighting is CONTROL... lighting without control is nothing. Since you're looking for a cheap (and hopefully temporary) way to get some lighting on set... this should push you in the right direction.

I've been in some situations where I needed a lot more lights then I could afford... and for me renting is a pain since my local rental house is so far away... so in addition to the many other lighting tools I use I made some home-built jobbies that have been working amazingly well.

What you're doing isn't the best approach... but as long as you address the issues of control you might be alright with it.
 
Hi Morox:

I agree with all of the posters here, these lights are pretty bad for video unless you are going for that Guantanamo Bay prison torture aesthetic.

You would have been much better served buying some China balls and bulb socket sets from Ikea or Pier One.

Low budget does not have to equal bad quality of light.

Best of luck,

Dan
 
Whew...ahhhhh..
Before you turn them on, see how much light you already have on the scene you are shooting. Work with "practicals" the lights that already exist . I have rarely been anywhere with my cameras where there was no light or lighting. If the work lights are 1k they cut that in half and put in 500watt tubes/bulbs or less if possible. MattinSl is right, you can light a barb-b-q with those suckers.
I have seen simple barn door mods for these work light made with sheet metal, wire and pop rivets. Look on the web for that and try to put some doors on them so you can control the the light when you do have to use them. And look at other sources of in expensive lights as Dan suggested, China Balls and ceramic sockets, Flourescent worklights and color balance tubes for them.
Find a local theatre group and see what they have for lighting and if you can cut a barter deal with them for a couple of their instruments. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top