Case for lighting gear

T

ThatOneJonGuy

Active member
Hey, just wondering what kind of cases you guys use for your lighting gear. Now that my light kit has grown to seven fixtures + stands + accessories loading and unloading it piece by piece from the back of my car is getting a bit time consuming. I'm looking at investing in a case or cases and any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

-Jon
 
SAVE your $$$ no professionals use lighting cases (with exception of dedo, bug light etc) nor do any rental houses (Panavision, Hollywood Rentals) they all store heads as is and will provide Taco carts or large black bins used for banded cable/ stingers to toss heads in.

Get some large plastic/rubbermade storage bins and a collapsable hand truck w/ straps instead..... Pelican cases get stolen from sets frequently
 
jonestown said:
SAVE your $$$ no professionals use lighting cases (with exception of dedo, bug light etc) nor do any rental houses (Panavision, Hollywood Rentals) they all store heads as is and will provide Taco carts or large black bins used for banded cable/ stingers to toss heads in.

Get some large plastic/rubbermade storage bins and a collapsable hand truck w/ straps instead..... Pelican cases get stolen from sets frequently
Click to expand...

What kind of pros are you working around.... ? Last time I checked, many rental facilities do have light kits inside cases, as for individual items, no most do not, but consider this: rental houses usually provide custom packages, so its not always possible for them to use cases, thus the carts, bins, etc, which are usually being loaded into trucks.

On the flip side, most pro's (individuals who own gear) don't want to look cheap toting around home made solutions. I hate how the untrained eye see's this, but hey, image means everything, especially if you shoot for clients that don't know squat about this business. Also, how do you expect to travel by air with gear stored in a rubber-maid case? I would never risk that. Tons of pros buy light cases for a good reason.

Get some pro quality cases!:thumbup:
 
Cardmaverick, thanks for the heads up on the mole cases! I don't know why I never thought to check mole since most of lights are mole! doh! They look very nice.

Puredrifting, I love that article by Walter Graff and it's unbelievable how much he has stuffed in that bag! However, I haven't had much luck trying to find the maze 4, kata discontinued that model and I don't really know how their other models compare.

Jim, thanks for the guitar center link! I've been looking for something like that to carry my stands in. Question: Have you ever fit a c-stand in one of those bags? Just wondering if they would be big enough for that.

Jonestown, I have thought about just getting some cheap storage cases like that, but would like to try and get something a little, well, for lack of better word, professional looking for some of the above mentioned reasons.

Thanks for all your help guys!

-Jon
 
they sell some nice rubbermaid style cases (hard plastic) with a handle and wheels. Spray paint your companies logo on there or get a decal to make it look professional. A brand new plastic box will look clean for a while until it gets beat up... just as a "professional" lighting case would. save your money, typically clients will not know what mole richardson, arri, or lowel even is... and if they do, then they must understand they produce light for the sake of getting a good image. If you produce great images and a good product, then who cares what your stuff looks like in the end. But if you can't do that, not even the prettiest light kit in the whole world can get you another shoot with that same client. I work for a rental company, and our cases are typically custom made and get beat to hell and typically look like crap. even our arri and lowel light kit cases look like they were in hurricane katrina (the actual lowel and arri cases that come with the lights). you could try and find the long narrow cases that frames for projection screens go in... they are made of sturdy plastic and have wheels typically. Master your tools or your tools will become your master! mwuahaha.

but hey, thats just my .02 cents, everyone has their own ideas and thoughts... i'm not saying i'm right or wrong, just my opinion, take it how you wan't.


either way, good luck!
 
I'm a fan of the rubbermaid route myself, and have checked lights on plenty of planes in 'em. When you buy, check the clasps though, they've gone downhill in recent years. Actually my fave cheap cases are the "actionpacker" line. I've glued dense foam in them, made plywood trays, etc. For my next case, I'm going to check the plastic footlockers at the surplus store; they seem pretty buff to me.

These kind of cases seem (to me) better than the soft-sided cases from lighting suppliers, and the only (again, to me) sensible route up from these are ATA flight cases (which is a cottage industry, by the way -- lots of guys selling 'em on ebay for specific audio gear, but they welcome custom sizes and their pricing is really competitive).

Funny, often my fresnels & softlights just go local in plastic dairy crates; my strobe gear's always cased as I feel it's way more delicate. No problems with padded rubbermaids here, and my clients don't seem to care - they're more interested in whatever image capture stuff I have (IE, always get a big grip for your digital SLR) -- MC
 
i put each of my frenels in a soft igloo style cooler, just take out the hard plastic inner tupe, (use it for stingers and such) and the large 800 moles and 1k bardwells fet like a dream, then I have two smaller igloo style cases I put my small 500w fresnels in, along with two mole floods.

Jason
 
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