Kinoflo Divalite 400

V

vertigoanton

Active member
Are there any videographers out there still using Divas regularly on jobs? Or has everyone transitioned to LED panels already?

Seems like used units can be had for pretty cheap these days. I'm wondering if it'll be worth picking up one or two since I can't afford the Celeb line.
 
A dvxuser member was selling one a while back for about $800 that had extra tungsten/daylight bulbs and it included the case. Units will occasionally crop up on craigslist and the cheapest I saw was about $700 for one. B&H lists them for at least $1200 new.

Josh Bass said:
How cheap are you seeing them? I'd eventually like to have something that simply wasn't hot like tungsten.
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Oh ok, so still not super cheap. Keeping in mind (unless it's already included for the price) you generally want a full set of backup bulbs both daylight and tungsten, plus flozier, plus case. Maybe something else I was forgetting.
 
Divas were in-demand in the not-too-distant past, but their time has passed. If I'm inside and not using a full-spectrum source(tungsten), then I'd rather use high quality LED's, now. I'm debating whether to sell my Diva's and Barfly's or just put them in storage for one of those "oh $h!t"/just in-case situations...(I'm part pack-rat, too). Also trying to decide if I want to replace them with Celebs(the celebs still seem to out spec the new LED Diva's) or add more Astra's. Two full power, bi-color Astra's and one Celeb are about the same price. We lit a live, small set show a few weeks ago and two Astra's out punched two 400 Diva's by a wide margin at the same distance. It's time for Flo's to go the way of tape.
 
Thanks for the insight. Man, Celebs are so nice! No need to swap bulbs or candy stripe. No color shift when dimming. I just wish I could afford them - I just started my own videography service a few months ago and I've been trying to make smart choices about what gear to invest in. I decided against shelling out for a newer camera (FS5 or C100 mkII), and picked up a used c100 mkI w/ DAF upgrade) I'm glad I did because I think it's still a great camera. So by that logic, it would seem to make sense that picking up some used Divas would be a good strategy. But then I think about how convenient the LEDs are - bi-color, battery-powered, smaller, lighter, etc. - and I can't decide what to do anymore.

Run&Gun said:
Divas were in-demand in the not-too-distant past, but their time has passed. If I'm inside and not using a full-spectrum source(tungsten), then I'd rather use high quality LED's, now. I'm debating whether to sell my Diva's and Barfly's or just put them in storage for one of those "oh $h!t"/just in-case situations...(I'm part pack-rat, too). Also trying to decide if I want to replace them with Celebs(the celebs still seem to out spec the new LED Diva's) or add more Astra's. Two full power, bi-color Astra's and one Celeb are about the same price. We lit a live, small set show a few weeks ago and two Astra's out punched two 400 Diva's by a wide margin at the same distance. It's time for Flo's to go the way of tape.
Click to expand...
 
No, I guess they're not super cheap. A lot of the used kits I'm seeing do include all those things, sometimes even some aluminum stands.

Josh Bass said:
Oh ok, so still not super cheap. Keeping in mind (unless it's already included for the price) you generally want a full set of backup bulbs both daylight and tungsten, plus flozier, plus case. Maybe something else I was forgetting.
Click to expand...
 
That's not a bad deal then. If you're seeing $800/light with bulbs, etc. included, I priced out a single new one a year or two ago at $1500 or $1800 (can't remember now) with all that stuff, so that's almost 50% off new. I can't lie, I would like something more like an LED JUST in case I wanted to move the lights around quickly without using AC, and of course the adjustable color temps are nice, but I think right now for any LED or whatever the HS2 is (seems popular here) that's any good you're paying a fortune, otherwise you're using tiny or questionable quality lights. Big (ish) soft source that puts out nice color and a fair amount of light and is known to be reliable? Kinos/Divas are still very nice. Especially for $800. apiece.
 
They still seem to be in-demand from producers who aren't up-to-date with the latest technology. That's slowly changing, of course. Producers are often a good year or two or three behind the tech of the time than the people who actually use the gear, who have to explain the new gear to producers before the producers eventually accept the new gear.
 
For the OP. . .there are in my opinion basically two kinds of clients: the end clients themselves who often know squat about production, and agencies/production companies/other freelancers who do know about production and gear. Production companies/agencies etc. are the ones that would be making demands as to what gear they want you to bring. Me? I would be very happy to have a pair (or maybe even 3) divas and suspect I'd be using them for years regardless of what the LED/plasma/etc. tech is doing. Lighting isn't really like cameras in this regard. . .even when it's "obsolete" or "outdated" it really isn't. . .unless you/the client can SEE a quality difference between something lit with X and something lit with Y it shouldn't matter. Even tungsten looks great (arguably more than the other kinds of sources). . .issue there is power draw and heat, maybe size (softboxes and such to make it soft) and some environmental concerns.
 
vertigoanton said:
A dvxuser member was selling one a while back for about $800 that had extra tungsten/daylight bulbs and it included the case. Units will occasionally crop up on craigslist and the cheapest I saw was about $700 for one. B&H lists them for at least $1200 new.
Click to expand...
That was me :-).
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...-Lite-401-with-Travel-Case-kit&highlight=diva

After my initial buyer jerked me around for a week and our deal fell through, I decided to keep them for backup(safety). If anyone is really interested (serious), I might still sell it for $800. But I'm not going under that. :-)
Of course buyer pays shipping
Taj
 
Oh man! I was wondering what happened after we lost contact after a few PMs. Makes sense to keep it as a backup, though. I'll let you know if I'm interested moving forward. :)

TajJackson said:
That was me :-).
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...-Lite-401-with-Travel-Case-kit&highlight=diva

After my initial buyer jerked me around for a week and our deal fell through, I decided to keep them for backup(safety). If anyone is really interested (serious), I might still sell it for $800. But I'm not going under that. :-)
Of course buyer pays shipping
Taj
Click to expand...
 
Producers should not dictate G&E choices.

On a few occasions I've told other crews how to light a set, & what lamps to use, but only when they were filming pickups that needed to match existing footage.
 
Josh Bass said:
Maybe they SHOULDN'T, but you trying telling a client that and see if you still get the gig.
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Briefly looked at you website & it appears you mostly work in EFP, & ENG. Those are not worlds in which I've worked, & if I understand correctly Broadcast Producers, in addition to their other responsibilities, are typically Directing the projects too. If a Producer is responsible for directing then I understand how they might get more gear specific.

The productions I'm hired on have their departments structured like a film's, & the various Producers never delve into the minutia of lighting, & leave creative decisions to the Director, & DP.
 
Oh yeah, of course. We should have defined "producer" more clearly, I suppose. Yeah "producers" on the type of work I do tend to be more in charge of the overall projects as well.
 
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