1st lighting kit, help me decide (Lowel or Britek?)

J

JohnnyRoy

Well-known member
I’ve been doing lots of research (maybe too much) and have read many of the posts here and you guys almost have me sold on a Rostronics Britek light kit. But I just gotta ask this questions before I spend my hard earned cash.

I have never worked with lighting before and I plan on doing a number of shoots of someone talking at a computer desk. Perhaps occasionally standing in front of a muslin background demonstrating a small device but the point is, there is only one talent in a controlled studio environment. It’s for instructional videos. My lighting budget is ~$500. ;-)

See if my logic makes sense: I think the Britek 1400w kit looks like it’s best for me because it has two lights that are 600/300 switchable with a softbox & umbrella and a 200w focusable for a backlight. I figure I’ll use the 600w softbox as a key and the 300w umbrella as a fill, and the 200w as a back light. Should I get a second softbox and forget the umbrella? (some here have suggested this) I also know I should upgrade to the better 8’ stands from reading the posts from those of you who have bought this kit. So I’m all set to buy and then...

I looked at what I can get in Lowel lights for $500. The closest is the Portrait 3 which is a 3 light kit for $585 that has a 750w Tota-Light, 500w Omni-Light, & 250w Pro-Light. I’m trying to figure out how I would use this for 3 point lighting? Would I use the tota as a key, the omni w/umbrella as a fill, and of course the pro as a backlight? It just seems like an odd collection of lights to me and I’m not sure how I would use them in this situation. The 750w tota-light without any diffusion seems like its overkill for my application. If the Britek 600w is too bright at least I can switch it down to 300w)

So which would be better for shooting single talent in my small home studio? Everyone seems to like softboxes but for Lowel you need to spend $1000 to get a kit with a Rifa in it. That makes me think the Britek is a better combination of lights for my budget. But for the same price I could have Lowel lights? (i.e., better quality, better stands) You see the problem?

So which kit would you buy with your $500?

Lowel Portrait 3 Tungsten Light Kit
Britek 1400 Watt Dual Power 3 light Kit.

~jr
 
Hi Johnny Roy,
I would not buy any of these kits.
there are lots of nice little tricks you could use to shoot your talent without having to spend
plenty of hard earned cash.

First check out the link below,Walter Graf put together great information on how to use fluorecent lights for about 30 bucks. He also offers great lighting setup plan.
Specially if you never worked with light this might offer great help.

http://www.film-and-video.com/broadcastvideoexamples-30bucks.html
http://www.bluesky-web.com/instruction.html
Thank you Walter for this great page.

When you wrote Screen I instantly had to think on a nice little gadget.
There are small fluorecent flashlights. We used them sometimes in front of a screen when the output of the screen was to low to show up on the persons face. Put some CTB on the light and your set.

This is not exactly the flashlight I meant but you get the idea.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/...&cp=1254879.1254962.1259144&parentPage=family

these light kits are fun to play around.. but honestly if you go to a rental place and ask for 3 or 4 lights with stands and a little gripp you should get a really good deal..
What you get are solid lights on solid Stands. You could spent the rest on Fluorecents and other stuff.. and probably still save money.
Mostly they are really up for supporting you, because they hope you will come back one day for shooting a feature with a light crew.. spending the bucks..
Another possibility is to check your local Public Television Station (Public Access). They often have some light kits.
if your lucky you could even use their studio, if they have one : )

So, good luck with your decision making and lots of fun with whatever solution
you come up with.
 
Yea, I saw Walter’s site and it is just outstanding. I’ve been reading it and learning. Now its time for me to start doing. In fact, his article “Beyond three-point lighting” was an eye opener for me. The way he used two open face 600w and a 200w fresnel made me think that the Britek kit was exactly what I needed. (i.e., is has exactly the same type of lights in the same wattages). I would just need a reflector or some giant foam-core as a fill.

While I appreciate that you can build these yourself, and I’m sure a professional can light a room for next to nothing, I don’t feel that confident. It’s great for a Pro to say, just go buy lights at the local hardware shop, but unless you give me a make and model number, I haven’t a clue what I’m looking for. I’d rather have a small kit that’s made correctly (i.e., color temp corrected bulbs, barn doors for control, etc.) than to get bad results because I used the wrong fixture or lamps from the hardware store.

~jr
 
Self-built light kits are highly overrated.. The Briteks are cheap enough and packaged like "real" professional lights that it's not worth it in my book to mess around with the self-built lights. I have the 3-light kit Briteks and they've served me well so far. I would recommend them.
 
I'd go for the Britek Johnny if only for the softbox.
Nice difused wrap-around light for your subject in this project.
Think that's what you'll need.
 
Actualy besides the fluorencents I would not recomend buying lights at the hardwear store.
Specially not these Cheap yellow construction Floods..
One interesting thing to ad to your kit might be Chinese Lanterns in different sizes. They come in very handy for nice soft light.
 
OK, you guys convinced me. (actually you just needed to push me over the edge ;-))

I just got off the phone with Tom at Rostronics and he said they were all out of the cheaper 7.5’ stands and so he would have to give me the better 8’ heavy duty stands for the same price!!! WOW, talk about a deal. He even accepted the DVXuser discount code, which saved me $27 more. So between the free heavy duty stand upgrade ($28 difference) and the discount of $27, I saved $55 on the deal (so I ordered an extra softbox so now I’ll have two). :-D

I am one happy camper. I can’t wait to get them. Rostronics ROCKS!

Thanks to the community here for all your help in this and all the previous lighting posts that I read as well (learned a lot). What an incredible resource you guys are. Thanks,

~jr
 
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