cheap lighting

C

cagu

Member
can anybody tell me where i can find cheap lightning online to buy, or brands that make light equipment. i want to start a chroma key project and i think i'll need a kit with 3 lights.
 
Her you go.

Try Britek. I've used this 3 x 650W kit on a ton of greenscreen work for 3 years without fail. COmes with barndoors, 2 softboxes &b stands - upgrade to their pro-quality stands if you can. Also 240v/120v which is very handy if you travel.

Put the 2 softboxes on the greenscreen - nice even coverage. 3rd light on the subject. I would add another light - 250W as a hair/shoulder backlight with a 1/4 or 1/2 Magenta gel to help eliminate green fringing on the subject.

http://www.briteklight.com/

Britek #HL2025K HALO SPOT-GY650 1950W OUTFIT KIT INCLUDING:

(3)#HL2025SP HALO SPOT-GY650 VIDEO LIGHT
(3)#V130024 DYR 120V 600W
(1)#HA2008BA 4-LEAF BARNDOOR
(2)#HA3428SO-l SOFTBOX 24"x 24" H-160d
(3)#LT4064 307+COMPACT STAND
(1)#HA3182CA CARRY CASE
(1)#PA3179CA STAND CARRY BAG(S)

$529.00 complete - hard to beat.

Phil Brown
 
I would HIGHLY recommend doing a search on this forum for 'BRITEK' before you spend a bunch of money with them. People have had varying experiences, and it's probably best to know what you're getting into.

Its also worth noting that they moved their offices about 6 months ago or so and havn't bothered updating their site with the new address. Kind of annoying when you're trying to return something to them and UPS ships it back to you.
:thumbsup:
 
As I said, 3 years, tons of work on diverse corporate gigs across Australia, China Japan and now New York and not a problem so far - maybe its the 650W model I use. These are a very simple construction and easy to pull apart if required. They use a small fuse as an extra level of electrical protection which I didn't know until I blew one.

In 3 years I have only blown the one fuse but ask for some extrras - can't hurt. I called them when I blew the first one - they sent me 10 for free.

I researched Britek as suggested by Luis just before this response - most seem to be happy. Various issues but no common design or quality fault that I could determine.

The casings are an interesting type of hard plastic that doesn't get too hot and has cooled enough to pack 10 mins after lights out which has been great.

The Kit stands are lousy so upgrade as I said, and order some fuses - say 4 for each lamp.

And Luis, I agree, the address thing must be really annoying.

Phil Brown
 
I use them with no problems. One of my softboxes arrved with a stain. I called and they overnighted me a new one. Nowhere near as durable as an arri or mole, and their 'focusable' lights don't really focus that well. But they are tough to beat for the money if you don't have a lot to spend.
 
One of my kits is a Britek kit - they're cheap. It's that simple, but they do the job when you need them to. I wouldn't suggest that they remain your only kit but they may be able to do 90% or even 100% of what you need now - I have a 3 light kit (600 watts each) and it was around $450 with softboxes (for 2 lights), barndoors (for 2 lights) and stands.

I like this kit because it travels very light and I can fly really easily with it in a pinch, even carry on the light bag.

cheno
 
The biggest problem with Briteks (lately) is inconsistency.

I have a few I bought years ago, I've had no problems with those and they've been rock solid.
The ones I got recently - riddled with problems...on some of the lights, others are rock solid.
I won't go into all the details but let me just say that one literally caught fire within 30 seconds of being turned on.
Not just smoke...fire.

Long story short - it took months to get it ironed out, and until I figured out which lights I could count on and which I couldn't I actually had to take backup lights to shoots with me. I always have backup bulbs...but backup lights?

Like I said - it's a mixed bag.... and there is a reason they are so cheap.
They have some major quality control issues going on.
As long as you get decent built lights you'll be fine - but everynow and again some really bad ones slip through.
And there is no way of knowing until you get it.
Just know what you're getting into - that's all I'm saying.
 
Another option...is to get those cheap 12 inch reflector lights and put in 3200K photoflood bulbs and gel them. You can use cinefoil and flags to shape your light. Just make sure you get the heavy duty reflectors that can handle up to 150w or more. There are other upper end reflectors you can buy that can handle up to 500w with ceramic sockets. It served me well enough until I got my arri 600s. But I still use some of these reflectors for fill and throw lights since they use so little amps.
 
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