$300 lighting kit - is this good value? Needed for interviews

T

Tom Tom

Member
Hey all - I need to shoot a couple of Interviews and so need a simple, cheap 3 light system.... key light, fill and background....

My budget is small... ideally around the $300 range

I saw this on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200351083751

Is that enough power for a sit-down interview...office environment type of thing?

I heard fluorescent is good because it is cool.... don't want people melting under halogen/tungsten lights....

Worth getting? :) I would love Lite Panels but I am not a millionaire!
 
you get what you pay for. All of these cheap light kits are exactly that, cheap. I would just save a few hundred more and get low level kit from a known company.
 
I wouldn't recommend it. What is the CRI of those florescent bulbs? How long is it going to last you? What if you need to match true daylight (5600k) or incandescent lights? Besides, you really only need one soft light. You would be better suited with a few frenels and a soft box.


Jason
 
agreed with filthrich. But also that is not a "3 point light kit" and if it is its a very boring one. It is almost pointless to have 3 sources of soft light for an interview. I prefer a hard back light a hard key and a soft fill.
 
Thanks everyone... can anyone point me to a better kit? I can go to $500 at a push... There are so many options....filthrich - can you give me an example please?
 
just spend some money and get some decent lights, halogen lights really are not that hot, turn them off in between setting up and what not. If you have to use low wattage bulbs to keep heat down. You will spend more money than 300$ but you mine aswell but the 300$ to some lights that have decent quality and some resale value.
 
Austiny - can you point me to something specifically? I'm having a hard time actually finding what kind of thing people are talking about.... thanks!
 
lowel is a good brand, mole, colortran, etc. Just do a search on ebay and you can find tons of continous lighting kits for cheap. I picked up a lowel kit for 600$ and the thing is brand new.
 
The fluorescent bulbs mentioned in the original kit are no good -- they are 5000K in temperature (meaning you need to gel them to get proper daylight), start buzzing soon after you start using them (will cause issues with the sound), and the 300w equivalent is a lie (they are more like 150w tungsten).
 
Nothing that will last you for sub $500, but if you badly need someting then Britek is an economical choice. Build quality is poor but they are dirt cheap. I started out using them and they work well, get them as rostronics.com. A 650 or a 1k on softbox for fill and another 650 and 300w with barndoors for key and hairlight.
 
3 softboxes are complete overkill unless you intend on lighting everything flat. There needs to be hard and soft sources.
 
Don't ever buy "kits" when you're just starting out and have no money. Odds are you're going to end up with something that you'll never use and you won't get the experience of trying out different types of fixtures to determine what's best for your needs.
 
Flourescent is softlight only, but I prefer them over softboxes or their lower power draw and less heat. For good quality flourescent I would recommend Cool Lights. Instead of that fixture you link to, I would get this, about the same price including stands and much better build quality

http://www.coollights.biz/clsft1-softbox-5600k-with-stand-p-113.html

Cool Lights also sell tungsten fixtures, but they cost much more than Britek (as expected since the build quality is much higher).
 
Oh that looks nice... reckon I could get away with buying two of those for the lighting? One for key and the other for fill? That would then be in my budget... Do you know if the power is adjustable on these?
 
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