$1,200 Lighting Kit

B

bentramer81

Well-known member
I'm getting very close to buying a lighting system/kit. I have budgeted $1,200 and will most likely be getting two dimmable lights, w/case. But before I make my purchase I'd like to see some recomendations from other members on what they would suggest for shooting indie short films, mainly indoors. Can you please list exact links of the kits recommended? THANKS IN ADVANCE! :thumbsup:
 
Nice name, Ben Tramer!

If you're doing indie shorts indoors you could probably get away with mostly available light; depending which camera you use.

Others will recommend you buy a Lowel kit or some ****. I say buy something that will last you your whole career. Quality not quantity, i always say. I'd recommend a Dedo 150w single light kit like here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/390728-REG/Dedolight_SM24_1E_SM241E_Tungsten_1_Spotlight.html plus a couple stands.

or a chimera kit (or 2) here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/257304-REG/Chimera_8000_Video_Pro_Plus_1.html with a few extra stands and a reflector.
 
That tungsten kit probably wont even last you a month of continuous use and the LED kit is way over priced for the quality of light it puts out. You'll constantly be messing with color temperature and dealing with horrible green spikes daily. I would wait a few years before I bought any kind of LED fixture. I mean, damn, a single crappy LED fixture from them costs MORE than the Chimera kit I linked you. The Chimera will put out a softer, more flattering light. You can use other Chimeras like Pancake lanterns which are insanely useful. It includes a grid, stand, and case for it all. If you need daylight color temperature get the 200w fluoresent bulb from coollights.biz

If you brought either of these lights (from image west) on a real film set you'd be laughed off set.
 
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I think you saw my other thread here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=179106

It really depends on a lot of factors what you "need" like are you doing black and white or color? 35mm adaptor or not. Big rooms/small rooms ect. Style of movie?

I've found that after working on numerous short films and music videos if your shooting color you spend most of your time trying to diffuse the light..... so having lights with high outputs (to punch through diffusion and color corection gels) is important. Having some fluorescent lights is good because they are diffused without extra items. Its generally better to have daylight balanced lights and gel to 3200k if you need to (CTO cuts less light).

China balls are awesome.

Don't forget to budget gels and extras/accessories....thats what really gets you. The little things. Having practicals is important especially at 5600k.

Being able to control the light aka barndoors/ focusable lights, is a must have.

Here are some links:
http://imagewest.tv/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=102

http://www.coollights.biz/softlight....html?osCsid=62e50e923b3a46ba2a03b009d5546e4f

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/steven-studio-china__W0QQ_armrsZ1

http://alzovideo.com/selection_fluorescent_video_lights.htm

http://www.expendablesrecycler.com/

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photon-management/235735-budget-fluorescent-fixtures.html
 
lairhair said:
You really have bad taste in lights... Why would you want 3 soft overpriced non brand sources?
Click to expand...

Any factory direct "only" sellers are not considered name brand sources (Name brand would be Arri, Dedolight, etc.) The above mention would fall into a similar category as Cool Lights, and you said yourself Cool Lights was a good recommendation. The difference would come down to the reputation of the seller, which Richard appears to have a great track record. My email above was to see if they have a good track record too.
 
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True. Its just that in my opinion. 1200 is more then enough for some quality Arris or twice the firepower worth of coollights. I dont know what you can do with 3 LED soft lights. It seems almost pointless. I would avoid "kits" all together as they are usually to random.
 
Alzo and ImageWest are the IKEA of lighting equipment. Stick with arri, mole, or at least coollights if you MUST have a ton of cheap lights.
 
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