Is this a decent light kit?

P

Polarjee

Active member
LINK TO LIGHTS

I'm looking for a light to shoot a short film with. There'll be indoor and outdoor lighting and I think it's nice how you can change out the bulbs in these to change the color temperatures. Since I'm not planning on making any money back from this film, I can't throw down more then 300$ for a light at the moment.
And by the way, is there a big difference between a umbrella and a soft box when it comes to how the picture comes out?

Thanks for your help!
 
AWESOME! Wow, what a great deal! I just ordered the 2000w 2 light set for 199$ and if those come and they're decent, I'll be ordering the 1600w Red Head 2 light kit as well.
Have you used these lights before? If so, how do you like it?
Thanks again!
 
I bought the redhead kit, and I've only had them 2 weeks and used them ONCE and both of them are already fried. I'm sending them back today. I don't know what the deal is.. I know they are cheap, but we handled them with extreme caution and still they managed to fry. We didn't do anything other than plug them in to a standard power outlet. I dunno if I am gonna try to get another set to see if I just got a bad "pair" or get my money back and get something a tad bit better quality.
 
Azmyth said:
I bought the redhead kit, and I've only had them 2 weeks and used them ONCE and both of them are already fried. I'm sending them back today. I don't know what the deal is.. I know they are cheap, but we handled them with extreme caution and still they managed to fry. We didn't do anything other than plug them in to a standard power outlet. I dunno if I am gonna try to get another set to see if I just got a bad "pair" or get my money back and get something a tad bit better quality.
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Really? Wow both? What do you mean by fried? Do you mean the bulbs blew out or the entire light itself no longer works??
 
I too am confused. I've had all sorts of video lighting over the years. These redheads are not the same as my old Ianiro redheads with fibreglass heads, but they're so simple there isn't any problem inherent with the design, except perhaps the spiral screw that moves the lampholder. The one thing that can happen with all these linear lamps is that the terminal springs can be a little loose. Not all brands of lamp are exactly the same and some are a less than secure fit. The terminals then arc slightly and get hot and burn out. this happens with the 500W floodlight types too. Checking the 'bend' of the spring gives enough pressure is critical. I've also noticed the chinese lamps often supplied with these things are not quite the right voltage rating - at least here in the UK. The ones supplied with mine were marked 220V, when my mains voltage is actually over 240! This means very short lamp life - sometimes amazingly short. Proper rated lamps from the main manufacturers last much, much longer.
 
paulears said:
Proper rated lamps from the main manufacturers last much, much longer.
Click to expand...

Yes, but everyone wants 4 lamps for $100. No one wants to spend the money necessary to even get the CHEAPEST of the decent lights. They'd apparently rather set their house or the set on fire, or replace fixtures every other week than spend a few extra dollars on a reasonable solution.

So good luck. I'm done.
 
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Well, basically here's what happened..
We were shooting, and had been using the lights for a scene. During the 4th take, one of the crew members struck the light with the switch, and it came on for a split second and then went off. We thought it had come out of the wall outlet. But it wasn't that. The fuse was good, and the bulb was fine. An electrician looked at it and said he thought it was in the switch, as the illuminate switch is on, regardless of whether the switch is in the on or off position and when in normal working order.. only comes on when in the "ON" position.

The 2nd one, we had only turned on twice.. first time it worked fine... and then we moved to a new set location and when we struck it.. it started smoking and flickering. I tried to unplug it fast, but it was too late. Upon further inspection.. there was a "fried" lady bug on the front of the silver grill.. but I am assuming that she wasn't what caused the "death" of the light. Again, the fuse and bulb were fine.. but the "switch" was lit no matter what setting it was on.

I'm sending them both back, and am debating on whether to let them replace them or get a refund. I really liked the lights, when they worked.
 
I actually just received the 2 1K CFL light kit about a week ago. It ran me about 200$+18$ for shipping and honestly, I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to have gotten these a long time ago! Yeah, it lacks a lot of quality with the build but personally, for the price, I can't complain. I mean, it comes with 10 200W CFL lights so that alone already runs probably around 50$+
I went on a full day shoot with them and since they're CFL's they hardly put out heat and I can keep them on without worrying too much about power. And according to the box, the bulbs are suppose to last thousands of hours.... awesome... The plastic they used for the stud mount is pretty cheap looking so I'm hoping that'll last me. The biggest issue I had was the stitching that holds part of the frame of the soft box ripped so I would have to stitch it back up. It's a pretty quick fix though and the light and softbox somewhat worked without it.

Overall, I'm satisfied and I doubt you can get anything better without throwing down a ton more. I'm satisfied with the look and if you go here, you can see some raw screenshots of the shoot I did. I lit it with these two lights and a tiny bit of natural light.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1909397
 
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