FS7: FS7 Light Kit Survey!

V

Vintegreo

Well-known member
Hello Friends,

I'd love to read about what fellow FS7 users have in their arsenal of lighting gear. In order to bring it to a common place, here's the scenario. You're headed out to shoot some corporate talking heads and you don't have a grip truck, nor do you have a big crew helping you. Perhaps you're one man banding it like I usually do.

For me, I have an old school Arri kit consisting of a 650, 300 and 150, along with a couple of Rifa lights. One 1000 and one 500. Beyond that, I have a variety of modifiers, and other stuff I need to control my lights.

It would be nice to travel lighter, but among the many things I've rented including Litepanels, Fiilex (sp?), Arri Skypanels, Kino Celebs, Kino Flo, Jabs and a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting I just haven't landed on what I want instead of what I've got.

Thanks!

Tim
 
I suppose a lot of it depends if you already know the location and what you will need for it, whether you're walking in blind, how fast you need to set up, etc.
I pack a kit based on what fits in the car - in my case a Subaru Outback.
Typically carry:
2 - Diva 400
2 - Diva 200
2 - flolight 1024 LEDs
1 - Dracast Folding LED (bi-color)
2 - Dracast 500 Silver (bi-color)
2 - Arri 300
2 - Arri 150
Window Gel (N .6 and N .9)
Plus a grip kit, stands, a couple of c-stands, flexfills, makeup kit, 17" OLED monitor, SmallHD 702, and various other items based on guessing what we'll want...
And of course 1,2,or 3 cameras, depending on client and what I think we will need.
Lately the Arris tend to stay in the case except when needed as detail lights, and the Diva 200s don't get used much...

My older, larger tungsten units / chimeras / Rifas seldom make it into the car. No-one wants to deal with the hot lights and the hot rooms they create.
 
Vintegreo said:
Hello Friends,

I'd love to read about what fellow FS7 users have in their arsenal of lighting gear. In order to bring it to a common place, here's the scenario. You're headed out to shoot some corporate talking heads and you don't have a grip truck, nor do you have a big crew helping you. Perhaps you're one man banding it like I usually do.

For me, I have an old school Arri kit consisting of a 650, 300 and 150, along with a couple of Rifa lights. One 1000 and one 500. Beyond that, I have a variety of modifiers, and other stuff I need to control my lights.

It would be nice to travel lighter, but among the many things I've rented including Litepanels, Fiilex (sp?), Arri Skypanels, Kino Celebs, Kino Flo, Jabs and a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting I just haven't landed on what I want instead of what I've got.

Thanks!

Tim
Click to expand...


Talking head corps and some B roll is pretty much 80% of what I do.. as a 2man crew(myself and audio) and unfortunately in recent years one man band if its a sit down non moving about interview.. I had the old school tungsten lighting set up too.. dump it straight away man.. cables,hot,bulbs blowing, fuses blowing.. slow tear down.. some buildings wont allow it now.. or worry about the power draw in their office.. (usually nuts but they will say no to tungsten sometimes )..

Best thing I did recently.. 2 X bi color lite panels Astra.. comes in a travel kit with Pelican case/stands.. 1x large/1 x small size snap bag with snap grid from DOP choice.. V mount power adaptor (I have mains adaptor too just in case in the van).. this is all you need.. I have 2 X Arri Locaster if a bit of lighting is needed in the background.. the large snap bag gives you a big enough source for a soft key.. 1x1 by itself is too small and hard for interviews ..

The style has gone away from 8 light interview set up.s.. cheesy rim lights and eye lights..booms and 20 stands.. of course the larger sensor,s have helped to get backgrounds out of focus and windows are no longer always the enemy .. I dont think you ever need more than 2 lights on your subject.. battery operated is so nice.. you just pick the thing up and walk around..

Each to their own.. but I would recommend to ditch the massive tungsten kit.. couldn't even sell mine just gave them away.. the Celeb and sky panel are very nice lights.. but also very expensive and heavy.. not really 2man or 1man lights, unless you just use one of them as you kit.. not sure I,d trust my $4K light to the average baggage handler either.. the earlier 1x1 were too weak.. but the new Astra models bang out much more light that will go through a soft box .. relatively small box on wheels..
 
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OnSet said:
I suppose a lot of it depends if you already know the location and what you will need for it, whether you're walking in blind, how fast you need to set up, etc.
I pack a kit based on what fits in the car - in my case a Subaru Outback.
Typically carry:
2 - Diva 400
2 - Diva 200
2 - flolight 1024 LEDs
1 - Dracast Folding LED (bi-color)
2 - Dracast 500 Silver (bi-color)
2 - Arri 300
2 - Arri 150
Window Gel (N .6 and N .9)
Plus a grip kit, stands, a couple of c-stands, flexfills, makeup kit, 17" OLED monitor, SmallHD 702, and various other items based on guessing what we'll want...
And of course 1,2,or 3 cameras, depending on client and what I think we will need.
Lately the Arris tend to stay in the case except when needed as detail lights, and the Diva 200s don't get used much...

My older, larger tungsten units / chimeras / Rifas seldom make it into the car. No-one wants to deal with the hot lights and the hot rooms they create.
Click to expand...

Do you manage to get that all in one trip on one cart? That's something I'd love to know, too.
 
Donny 123 said:
Talking head corps and some B roll is pretty much 80% of what I do.. as a 2man crew(myself and audio) and unfortunately in recent years one man band if its a sit down non moving about interview.. I had the old school tungsten lighting set up too.. dump it straight away man.. cables,hot,bulbs blowing, fuses blowing.. slow tear down.. some buildings wont allow it now.. or worry about the power draw in their office.. (usually nuts but they will say no to tungsten sometimes )..

Best thing I did recently.. 2 X bi color lite panels Astra.. comes in a travel kit with Pelican case/stands.. 1x large/1 x small size snap bag with snap grid from DOP choice.. V mount power adaptor (I have mains adaptor too just in case in the van).. this is all you need.. I have 2 X Arri Locaster if a bit of lighting is needed in the background.. the large snap bag gives you a big enough source for a soft key.. 1x1 by itself is too small and hard for interviews ..

The style has gone away from 8 light interview set up.s.. cheesy rim lights and eye lights..booms and 20 stands.. of course the larger sensor,s have helped to get backgrounds out of focus and windows are no longer always the enemy .. I dont think you ever need more than 2 lights on your subject.. battery operated is so nice.. you just pick the thing up and walk around..

Each to their own.. but I would recommend to ditch the massive tungsten kit.. couldn't even sell mine just gave them away.. the Celeb and sky panel are very nice lights.. but also very expensive and heavy.. not really 2man or 1man lights, unless you just use one of them as you kit.. not sure I,d trust my $4K light to the average baggage handler either.. the earlier 1x1 were too weak.. but the new Astra models bang out much more light that will go through a soft box .. relatively small box on wheels..
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear that Litepanels has improved the output of their lights -- Back in 2014 I used their earlier model and thought it was terrible. It had to practically be kissing the subject (exaggerating) to put enough light on them and it just gave me the willies to use it.
 
Vintegreo said:
I'm glad to hear that Litepanels has improved the output of their lights -- Back in 2014 I used their earlier model and thought it was terrible. It had to practically be kissing the subject (exaggerating) to put enough light on them and it just gave me the willies to use it.
Click to expand...

Yes I have a set of the earlier ones.. now I keep them for backup.. or if its alot of flights and Im worried about the Astra,s getting trashed.. I found I can bang the older ones through a silk I bought at a material shop.. but they wont go through a "real" 4x4 or soft box..
The new Astra,s.. there are 3 new models or so.. are much stronger out put..(there is the cheapest that are the same if memory serves).. I bought the middle level ones.. bi color and 2 X the output of the originals .. these dont have a fan which I prefer.. the higher level ones are 3 X power out put with fan.. or without fan 2 x times.. they do a travel set with stands and pelican case.. on wheels and pretty manageable .. nothing like those huge Arri cases..in that one box I have the 2 lights.. 4 stands.. and 3 x brick batteries ..and the small DOP .snap box.. at a minimum thats all you need.. although the small snap bag is a bit small for a decent soft key unless a very close shot.. the large size is perfect for interviews.. Used to go through a fold out frame which needed its own stand and clamps.. but this snap on is super easy and same effect.. I dont gel windows or have all these flags anymore.. the snap grid use means you dont need flags.. lets the windows blow.. often shooting log anyway so they can power winding them if they want.. sometimes a fold out neg fill if a very white wall room.. less is more..the old style 60 mins /high end news style is very old fashioned .. the 2 hr set up.. rim lights, eye lights, back lights fill lights .. hair lights etc.. it looks very flat..and the video slash on the wall..just hitting the potted plant.. I very often just use one soft box for interviews .. funny enough last big corp I did.. I thought ok well I better put up a back light at least for these guys.. and the young dir said no he didn't like the look of it.. I thought great and we did all the interviews one light..

Turning up with 4 cart loads of lights used to be a thing to justify the day rate.. or show you were a real macho DP.. but then you had 3 /4 person crews and the 2 hours to set up.. those days are gone.. and TBH personally I never liked that 5 light interview thing.. with a well placed 45 degree soft light.. there is no way you need a fill.. hair lights .rim lights.eye lights...cheesy.. be gone.. the US was /is stuck in an 80,s time warp.. :).. to say nothing of actually having to haul that stuff around.. LED,battery power, large soft box .. 2 lights and a well picked background.. its looks so much better
 
I also do a lot of 1-man-band talking head type shoots.

Main Lighting kit that I bring with me - I drive a Dodge Journey (I used to cram all of it into a Civic)
Kino Diva 400
Kino BarFly 200 X2
Aputure 672s X2

4 X 30" C Stand w/ 3 Grip Heads & 2 Grip Arms in a Tenba rolling Grip bag
25' roll of Half Silent Grid Cloth
1/8, 1/4, 1/2, Full in CTO, CTS, CTB, PlusGreen, MinusGreen


Definitely considering something with more punch to replace the Diva with... Not sure what to go with yet though!
 
Donny 123 said:
... some buildings wont allow it now.. or worry about the power draw in their office.. (usually nuts but they will say no to tungsten sometimes )...
Click to expand...

Here in the US? I've never run into anything like that. "Yeah, we know you're here to shoot an interview with the CEO, but you can't plug in any lights. Yeah, we know lighting makes him look better, but we can't spend the extra 37 cents in electricity."
 
I've got 2 Lupo super panels 2 Lupo 200 fresnels. 2 DLH4s

On a solo job most likel I'd use 1 panel with some diff in the front.

And a 4.4 poly - I use that for exts

On a bigger job I could use it all and want more.

More? I'm split between finding some small panels like 8.6in that are even more portable and would be easy to hide in a car or a couple more panels just for more power or fill options.

I shot something the other day with all four lights as the main setup but just wanted a floater for some cu fill
 
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I've also got four led torches - little diffuse tubes not spotty lights - excellent for throwing a little character into a bg or behind a momitor.
 
I also find it funny the people that act like tungsten is 'the plague'. When I can completely control the space and it really matters, it's tungsten. There isn't an LED, flo or HMI made that I've personally seen that renders skin tones as well.
 
I used a redhead the other day - I still have six - as the fith light.

Instantly cooked my fingers - amazing how quick they seem like dinosaurs

But yep I still think they have a magical quality on skin.

Actually it's not magic - most of those graphs done with the spectrometer thing show the led as very lacking in deep red

Deep red smooths skin imperfections
 
Run&Gun said:
Here in the US? I've never run into anything like that. "Yeah, we know you're here to shoot an interview with the CEO, but you can't plug in any lights. Yeah, we know lighting makes him look better, but we can't spend the extra 37 cents in electricity."
Click to expand...

Ive had it in CA.. "green buildings' wont allow tungsten .. and Ive had it shooting at call centers where they have said all equipment including lights must be battery powered.. a few labs have said this too.. but anyway I wouldn't want a hot tungsten light anywhere near a CEO.. TBH I think its a bit of a liability showing up with a tungsten kit these days.. I think i would get a look from most directors and even experienced PR people.. even having cables seems to raise some eye brows ..

Im not saying that Tungsten is the devil..(just saw your post).. but the heat they knock out is not ideal for interviews ,the time they take to cool down to wrap.. and having to have the spare bulbs /gels etc.. I think really these days.. high level bi color LEDS are just a far better option.. for the small crew corp shoots the OP describes .. rather than say a big commercial or feature film..
 
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Donny 123 said:
Ive had it in CA.. "green buildings' wont allow tungsten .. and Ive had it shooting at call centers where they have said all equipment including lights must be battery powered.. a few labs have said this too.. but anyway I wouldn't want a hot tungsten light anywhere near a CEO.. TBH I think its a bit of a liability showing up with a tungsten kit these days.. I think i would get a look from most directors and even experienced PR people.. even having cables seems to raise some eye brows ..
Click to expand...

I almost put a comment about "It MUST be in California", but decided against it. Turns out my thinking was correct.

I find the comment about showing up with tungsten lights a liability absolutely laughable. Should they be the only tools you have now, no, and I have plenty of LED's, and sometimes they are the right tool for the job, but they're not the be-all, end-all.

I guess there's a big difference between different production fields. I lightly dabble in corporate. The bulk of my work is for network and broadcast and when the room is controlled and the shoot really matters, I don't see LED's being shone on talent.
 
Run&Gun said:
I almost put a comment about "It MUST be in California", but decided against it. Turns out my thinking was correct.

I find the comment about showing up with tungsten lights a liability absolutely laughable. Should they be the only tools you have now, no, and I have plenty of LED's, and sometimes they are the right tool for the job, but they're not the be-all, end-all.

I guess there's a big difference between different production fields. I lightly dabble in corporate. The bulk of my work is for network and broadcast and when the room is controlled and the shoot really matters, I don't see LED's being shone on talent.
Click to expand...

Yes maybe different fields.. I don't mean to be saying tungsten is bad.. and i used them for a good 15 years too.. but really I dont know any other camera people doing the same work as me.. doc and corps .. using tungsten anymore.. try selling your tungsten lights.. even pretty new Arri,s .. a mate ,recently tried to sell a full Arri travel kit.. one of those big grey box ones..650,s and 300.. all the stands, s scrim sets etc that had cost a fortune about 3 years ago.. he couldn't give them away..
Ive used LED,s to lit many CEO,s and celebs of various standing.. without complaint..where the shoot really mattered .. and really the lack of heat, and cable snakes.. even in an Air con room is a big plus.. I wouldn't say the quality of light is better than tungsten .. but Astra,s.. Celebs and Sky panels ..are easily as good.. and you no need to mucking around with gels.. or even AC cables for that matter..
TBH in my field it would be seen as having out dated kit to turn up with a tungsten kit.. its very rare these days.. basically ever since the Diva 400 came out.. I really dont know anyone carrying tungsten these days .. except maybe some Dedo,s ..
Just my personal advise to the OP,s question.. having been in exactly the same position..doing what sounds like the same sort of work..LED,s are just as good now, far easier to work with, quicker set up and wrap.. but they cost alot more for the good ones..

Actually the big bosses of the fortune 500 type companies, even the high end corps, you get about 10 mins with them.. sometimes without that much set up time.. they come in sit down.. knock out their text.. and then they are gone with ten panicking, iphone clutching eunuchs scrambling in their wake..then your told the room is being used in 5 minutes..
 
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Run&Gun said:
I guess there's a big difference between different production fields. I lightly dabble in corporate. The bulk of my work is for network and broadcast and when the room is controlled and the shoot really matters, I don't see LED's being shone on talent.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I often find I get more scrutiny of my lighting work on non-broadcast productions than I do for broadcast.

I always preferred the look of tungsten over LED or fluorescent, but the technology has come on a long way and the pros of tungsten no longer outweigh the cons. In fact, I can't remember the last time I used a tungsten key.

For a budget friendly solution I'd recommend the OP checks out the Apurture LS1c.
 
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Its obvious that tungsten has good reds..

http://imgur.com/SB8opNy

Id use it for 'beauty' and with loads of time

But I would agree in 'todays' market most clients expect fast setup and break without blowing their sockets or melting their pot-plants (or CEO)

To deviate from expectations is not helpful if you want another booking

S
 
small travels:

2 x Felloni 1x1" daylight (needs light magenta gel)
1 x Aputure Light Storm LS-1C (which I picked instead of a 3rd Felloni)
2 x Boltzen 55w Fresnel Focusable LED
1 x Icelight

BackUp
2 x 4 bank 6ft KinoFlo daylight (needs light yellow gel)
3 x 575 ARRI HMI
 
Donny 123 said:
where they have said all equipment including lights must be battery powered..
Click to expand...

Down here I'm finding that it's Public Liability that's pushing everyone to battery operated gear; no power cables for people to trip over and IF they allow power cables then they need to be electrical tested to reduce/eliminate the possibility of fire/electrocution due to faulty equipment.
 
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