I have a budget of $800 for continues light kit

Ironman

Ironman

Active member
Hey all

I have been researching for the past week and I understand one of the things to look out for is the noise of the fan on the lights themselves.

Can you recommend me your favourite continues light and/or your favourite manufacturers for interview light kits.

Cheers
 
Well, most small kits don't have fans on the lights.

There are some decent redhead kits out of china. Depends on which company is making them. Some are great, some have crappy wiring.

There are also some cheap kits that use CFL's.

My favorites are the arri fresnals. 650watts. 2 or 3 of those and a 300 are ok for interviews. You can get bigger (1000w - 1200w).

Arri's are probably out of your budget range though.
 
Don't forget about Filmgear.
Higher build quality, better prices and unlike Arri, the barndoors are included.
They have distributors in UK and Europe. Three 650's with barns should cost you about $1000.
I own 4 Filmgear and 2 Arri's. The Arris are fine but I wouldn't part with the Filmgear.
 
Both Blue Line and Steven Studios lights are very sketchy, at best. Yes, you will save a few dollars but at what cost?
 
Ironman said:
Hey all

I have been researching for the past week and I understand one of the things to look out for is the noise of the fan on the lights themselves.

Can you recommend me your favourite continues light and/or your favourite manufacturers for interview light kits.

Cheers
Click to expand...


Well if you are looking for cheap products I recently bought a fresnel from this company, the fresnel is great there is no plastic parts, and everything is working right. the light quality is also top notch without hotspots or anything. I'm impressed by its quality. The only test that it's left is the repeated use. (and a nice detail is that the cable is 7m long and heavy gauge with a heavy duty inline switch...niceeee...) I didn't expect this quality from an offbrand light. I'm impressed (will it stand repeated use, judging from the materials I'm pretty sure it will....I'll report back in a years time).

you may try their kits just around 800-1200 ballpark...

They are now out of stock, but if you send an email to the head he may help you. At least that's what I heard from other clients.
 
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My Steven Studio bank selectable Flos are decent quality construction with no issues. I would not hesitate to buy more if I ever need them and I'm curious about the quality of their Fresnels. I would expect them to be decent also, but can't say for sure. If they are of the same quality as their flos then they would be one hell of a deal. I do have personal experience with other Chinese knock-off Fresnels that were absolute junk. Sloppy construction, improperly formed and fitted parts, defective castings, chipped glass, bubbles in the glass---total waste of time and money. As others have alluded, sometimes cheap can be expensive. It definitely pays to do the research and find the best bang for your buck.
Caveat Emptor.
 
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I own a steven studio fresnel and it has worked amazing. Ive never owned a arri but after buying the other lights i doubt i ever will. Unless you are gonna throw it down some stairs or do a touchdown celebration with it on concrete I would say the build quality is actually pretty good. I plan on buying some cowboy studio kinoflo-style lights next. Call me cheap but my theory is better to have some cheap lights that work pretty well as opposed to no lights at all.
 
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