Designing a lighting kit for £2000

C

cushtilla

New member
Our company has decided to invest in lighting and I've been given the task of purchasing.

It will mainly be to light small acoustic musical performances of 2-3 people max, filmed in a dimly lit basement radio studio space.

We'll be using DSLRs/Sony a7s, but also at times it will be needed out and about. For example, next week we'll be shooting 6 talking head interviews in 2 locations, over a day.

I am interested in LEDs due to the advantages they have regarding heat and transport, and I'd initially hoped that with our budget, we'd have enough to get a kit of decent quality that could cover our requirements.

I'd looked at the Litepanel kits, both their 1x1 or Sola kits.

http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/litepanels_sola-eng-flight-kit
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/litepanels_903-6102

But having researched further, it seems having an element of bi-colour LED might be idea, although an entirely bi-colour kit is beyond our budget.

So, I'm looking to perhaps build a lighting setup myself, which includes a bi-colour panel, with additional lights, in order to give us a more versatility than either of the above mentioned kits could provide.

Perhaps it could be built around a Litepanels Astra?
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/litepanels_903-7113_astra_1x1_led

As I'm not experienced in this area, I'm hoping you guys might be able help me out with what additional lights we could get, to complete our rig! For under £2000!

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Build quality on those LitePanels Astras is comical. You can feel the plastic under your fingers just waiting to break. LPs used to come in metal cases but a few years ago they switched to plastic... Probably for economical reason and to save the weight for handholding but the durability got the hit too. I'm certain the color science is there and the LEDs themselves will produce beautiful light BUT you might look into more durable options.

Dracast LED1000 Pro:
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/dracast_dr1000dfn

Dedolight Felloni Tecpro:
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/tecpro_tp-loni-bi50ho

If you do end up going for plastiky, Manfrotto MLS1x1F Spectra:
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/manfrotto_mls1x1f

Each of the above should work very well and will last long time. Their daylight representation should be very good and their tungsten (through gels etc) should be OK (all LEDs are only OK in thungsten mode). I personally use LP 1x1 (old in metal housing) but i tend not to key with those units (though i have in a pinch).
 
I find it unlikely you'll get enough light output for a studio space, even a relatively small one, with the lights you're looking at. At least by themselves. You'd need much more powerful (and expensive) LEDs, I think you'd be better off going tungsten. Or perhaps a mix of tungsten and LED.
 
sonofaresiii said:
I find it unlikely you'll get enough light output for a studio space, even a relatively small one, with the lights you're looking at. At least by themselves. You'd need much more powerful (and expensive) LEDs, I think you'd be better off going tungsten. Or perhaps a mix of tungsten and LED.
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff! Thanks guys.

It is a pretty small space we film in... To get an idea, here's a previous session we shot...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQW7hm2l44&list=PL6E40601C68CB8761

For this one we used a tungsten kit.

So LED is considerably weaker?
:lipsrseal
 
well... compared to what? An LED is likely going to be weaker than its equivalently priced tungsten counterpart. Obviously some LEDs are stronger than some tungsten lights, but in general all else being equal an LED will usually be weaker than tungsten.

Maybe you can get away with it, but I doubt it. I wouldn't try for LEDs in a studio setting-- again, even a small one-- unless I had a big budget to work with. Unless there were other limitations preventing me from using tungsten, like power issues.
 
If you have acces to power tungsten is hard to beat on a budget.

Dedos are costly

Unless you want a horrid shadow like the one in the video you need to start with a soft source - a redhead through a scrim (4X4 matthews, or maybe a 36inch lastolight)

Id look at 3 redhead kit first then grip for the diffusion.. then and maybe a couple of dedos to kick/fill

S
 
Dedo kits are some of the most expensive tungsten kits out there, and the three-head kit you linked won't do you too much with three 150W fixtures. Don't get me wrong: they are fantastic lights, but not very practical on a budget.

Take a look at the Arri Softbank III Plus or IV Plus kits. Lots of flexibility in there, and almost everything you need to plug and play. I'd add a Rosco 12"x12" diffusion gel pack ($30 US) and a bag of C47s ($1.50 for 50 in the laundry section of your local megamart) just to be able to soften the other heads as needed.
 
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