DynaPhos Lighting Kit

M

mmiller884

Active member
I am looking for a cheap lighting kit, and i have found one made by DynaPhos. Does any one have any expierience with the brand or are there any other brands which you'd reccomend for a lighting kit that runs under 400?
 
I was skeptical of their stuff but bought a 3 light kit on ebay (from Amvona.com) for around 400$. I figured at that price I'll try it. I got three softboxes small, med large...12 bulbs, eggcrates, casters and case. The kit is very big and little tricky for taking on the road - about as heavy as and Arri kit. The lights are great! They are exactly the same as the photoflex starlites....exactly! (Photoflex sued them in 2005!) It seems like these kits are made by the same factory as Photoflex, but they put a different brand. For the price, if you are looking for soft lighting I don;t think these lights can be beat. For using on the road, I took their stands out of the kit and replaced them with smaller Arri and Matthews stands. Also, I took the casters out of the case and made room to some hard lights...1 redhead, 2 peppers and a pro light. If you don;t mind a big case and are willing to shop around for some hard lights this kit is exceptional.
 
Yea, he actually had a set of those lights on ebay this morning for around 100 dollars with an hour to go. Honestly i dont know a lot about lighting, but i am looking for something which i can use outdoors during the day when there are shadows. I was shooting yesterday and the subject i was shooting can shadows on his face. I think i need something which i can point as if it can barn doors. Would these work?
 
You're going to need a ridiculous amount of light to make a difference at all in the sun.

I recommend getting a couple reflectors on stands.
 
I agree with bballplaya, outdoor shoots are best with reflectors...dont bother with lights unless you have a hell of a budget.
 
haha yea i was trying to use work lights out doors.. lol i think it probably would have taken 300 (500 watt) work lights to see a difference. Like i said before i do not have much expierience with lighting and where to purchase, so where would you recommend getting reflectors? Thanks for all the info guys!
 
I'm an Amvona fan and find their stuff very good for the money. I have four softboxes and lights, stands, grip, etc. However, I also own some Photoflex Starlites. I'd rate the Amvona build quality 80% of the Starlites and the designs are different.

The integral universal speedring is an Amvona plus. The softboxes are also just as functional but, again, not quite as well made as Photoflex,

The light stands are light, too long when collapsed, but tall and very strong. I place a 48" X 36" softbank on one with 1K globe, drop a 15 lb dirtbag on it and raise it to the ceiling. Very solid.

You get the best deals by being a patient bidder.
 
My experience with amvona was nothing but negative......they had terrible customer service, messed up on my order twice with little effort to redeem themselves, and when I finally got the light (1k w/softbox) it was defective. If your going cheap go for lowel products they are much much better. I tried to cut alot of corners when just starting out in lighting and it really was just an expensive lesson to not chince....your much better saving your money for true pro lights. Altmans prolines, arri, mole, LTM, desisti are great lights as will last years, amvona will last maybe 2 or 3 three years under active conditions IMHO. Hope that helps
 
Just received the two softbox kit from them, got it for 130$ :P can't beat it, it's huuuge the case is as big as my bed because it doesn't fit under there :) The only problem I have is no instructions on building them but after I was done the results are stunning. I love it.
 
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