Always wanted a spotlight...

Paul Walker02

New member
So I've always wanted a reasonably priced spotlight. Something portable I could shine on people in various situations. I don't 'need' it but I'd like it so don't want something to break the bank.

Does anyone have a suggestion on a spotlight for video? A nice LED which could shine a nice cone on someone.
 
A couple of Canons and are just figuring out what we want to buy next. So at the moment, C300ii, there's a C500 in there somewhere and a 5D something or other and my camera op uses an FX3.

Haven't figured out if I'm going for a used C70 or maybe a used C500ii. Possibly a C80 but unlikely.

Or I might go insane and buy a Kineflex. I've been looking hard at a used Mavo LF 6K and I like it but I'd probably have to be drunk to buy it.

Corporate & Commercial. So 95% of the work is interviews, conferences etc... 5% crazy adverts although strictly in the B2B area. Pushing to do more around social and crazier stuff which I might do.
 
What do you have in your kit regarding lights. Do you not have any COBs? What sort of light output do you think you need and what do you mean by a spotlight; a COB with a tight reflector or something else?
 
What elements make one see a 'spotlight'?

Assuming like the cone is the thing you like

Dark background, smoke/haze.

Given those elements are in place I think you do not need a large fixture if it is closer than maybe 4m (like set back on the tall end of a typical light stand)

A torch will work! See every horror ever.

Next up..

I have done it with a dedo DLH4 which is still being used although im mainly in the COB club now.

Also an arri 350 pops on the market for $25 sometimes (dimming it may be more of an ask)

in cob world I see smallrig have a 30w light. (this may not control with sidus app.,. so it might be better to get an amarn fixture)

Beyond that you will see aperture spotilight fixtures all over the internet

S
 
Get yourself a Leko. They are plentiful and cheap. A narrow lens will give you something close to a spotlight. Outside of that, the shutters make it an incredibly useful instrument as you can "box in" the beam without needing flags. Great for bounces, putting slashes on a wall. If you gotta go LED, there are projector accessories available from various manufacturers.
 
I'm lucky enough to have a very large stock of video lights and theatrical/events lights. Lekos and other elipsoids/UK profiles and follow spots tend to be very harsh - flattening and can easily wash out lighter skin. If the idea is to put a circle around people, ordinary ellipsoids do not have an iris, so ordinary ones have fixed beam widths. There are zoom versions with two lenses and these offer a zoom range, but in both types there is also a focus requirement. In the fixed lense versions, you get a sharp circle only at one point. With the zoom, you move two lenses to create the right beamwidth and the hard/soft focus.

Halogen ones can be had for very little money now. Here, I'd consider £50 to be too much! Lamps for them are not that cheap and not that easy to get too. ETC Source 4 and Source 4 Zooms still have a few lamps available. LED versions are expensive. Early ones had terrible colour fringing on the beam edges, but the latest ones are much better. White or RGBW are available.

One thing to remember about lighting with this kind of kit is that we look at video lighting traditionally as key and fill. Key being hard light and fill be soft. The entertainment and theatre industry consider the video hard light Fresnel, a soft light, and the 'cone' type talked about here (ellipsoid/Profile) as hard. Nose and chin shadows are really sharp and deep. In theatre, 45 degrees from centre is common. so one on both sides fills in the shadows the other side creates. To the camera, this looks quite odd. The sharp bright circle also messes up any form of auto iris as the intense circle means dark everywhere else, or perfect everywhere else and blow out whites. It also means that some adjustment of brightness is also needed. Dimmers for tungsten but easier on the LEDs.

If you look on ebay, you can pick up old theatre stuff quite cheaply - in my studio, it's all Fresnel LED and flat panels. I do have some source 4's in there but rarely used.

If you want to see what the RGBWs can do - this video might help.

 
Leko standing in for follow spot, lashed to tripod head...! Always meant to have a yoke machined that had a flat bottom to mount a touch-and-go plate onto, never got around to it.
 

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