lets be real... Lowels

Steve Laramie

Steve Laramie

Veteran
I already own about 4 Lowels and love them. I have actually heard people say on this site that they would laugh if a DP showed up with a Lowel kit. I have worked with Arris, Moles, and Lowels and if I had to choose between the 3 if money wasnt a problem Lowel would be the last choice, but money is a problem. I will agree that Lowel Omnis are bulb eaters and Lowel softlite rips like tissue paper but you really cant argue with the price. Should I man up and down $3000 for Arris or can I go for the same firepower at $1500 for Lowels.

Let me know guys.
 
I'm actually a big fan of their small Pro-lights and Rifa line. The Omnis and Dp lights I could do without.
 
See thats my problem... I am on the fence between buying Omnis and DPs or buying Arri fresnels. Arri is just so expensive they are killing me ha.
 
I have used Lowell kits and have gotten very nice results out of them, with a bit of tweaking. And the Rifa is one of those amazing deals that gives you tons of great light for not too much money. I'd put a Rifa in my kit any day.

Outside of that, I find Arri fresnels easier to work with. I think an Arri fresnel kit with two 650s and two 300s, plus a Rifa 1k, make an excellent lighting package. The other Arri to match with a Rifa would be a 650, two 300s, and a 150.
 
There's always Cool Lights fresnels in either tungsten or low wattage high output CDM's.
About a third to half the cost of Arris. Not quite the same build, but close enough for me.
 
A few years ago that may have been the case (and I heard that as well), but these days almost every DP I've worked with has some Lowel lights in their kit. They're small, low wattage, and easy to setup -- perfect for sticking in a corner at the last minute.

Chinese Fresnels (Cool Lights, etc) are cheaper than Lowel anyway, and probably a bit more durable (but not as durable as an Arri or Mole). I don't think durability matters if they're your own lights and are not going to rent them.
 
Lowel gear can deliver good results, of course. My biggest beef with Lowel stuff is that for some reason people think it's cheap. It's not cheap, it's actually pretty expensive, but Lowel's unique position in the market is that their gear is *tiny*. You can cram so much equipment in a case with Lowel stuff. But that tiny size does come at a price, and there's a reason you don't see Lowel stuff being used on productions with any sort of budget.

Lowel is mainly for the one-man-band videographer who has to haul all his equipment himself. You can fit a complete 3-light kit including stands and diffusion in a very small, very lightweight case.
 
I own some lowel lights and they work great, they arent cheap lights either, not everything is as overpriced as ARRI. I know, I know they arent overpriced yada yada yada but hating on Lowel's isnt cool. The fit and finish is great they do what they are supposed to do and really light is light, if you are lighting with arri's, lowel's, red heads, moles, etc you arent going to know the difference if the lighting looks good and fits the scene.

To the first post: If you spend more can you pay off them faster? What else could you do with the extra 1500?
 
Well heres the thing. I am planning on renting my lights to productions I work on. I think that would be a major plus for purchasing Arris. But still I just cant find any Arris used or anything but list price.
 
lairhair said:
Well heres the thing. I am planning on renting my lights to productions I work on. I think that would be a major plus for purchasing Arris. But still I just cant find any Arris used or anything but list price.
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Moles do best for renting out, which is why almost all the rental houses have them. A cheap but still high very quality alternative to moles are Bardwell and McAlister.

I don't like lowels because everything is openface, that and their barndoors are flimsy. I am hard on my gear and I rent out lights to productions so I need something stronger. That being said, I do own 2 totas simply because they are tiny and put out a lot of light.
 
Actually yes, if you have 3000 to spend then go for some cool lights, the bulbs will last forever you cant cook breakfast on them. Its a win with those.
 
I bought several Lowel kits because of their compactness. However, they're not as robust as other brands and I couldn't see myself wanting to put them into a rental pool of gear.

When you buy something, think hard about what business you're in. Are you planning to be a rental company or a production company. Stay focused. Do one thing well instead a slew of things badly!
 
When I started my freelance career, my kit was an assortment of Lowell's- Omni's, Pro lights and a Tota. Now, the Omni's are all gone (save for one sitting on the shelf), and I still use the Tota in my Chimera's. My Pro light still finds use in my down 'n dirty "B" light kit, but it's on it's last legs with multiple applications of epoxy for repairs.

They are light and compact, but as noted, not really that inexpensive. IMO, Tota's are great for bag light use and bouncing off a ceiling for a quick soft room light. Omni's are bulb eaters, the barn doors are funky, fall off too easily, and just don't work as well as a fresnel. I won't be using them again, I advise against them. Also, my Omni's were notorious for losing screws and little bits. I resolved this by periodically checking the bottom of my light case for these screws, and applying Loc-Tite to all of my Omni lights external screws. I'm not a fan of Omni's.

When my remaining Pro-light finally succumbs to years of use and abuse, then it will be sent to the farm. I have a fleet of Pepper 100's that I now use for applications that the Pro-light was purchased for. I prefer to standardize my bulb and accessory purchases, therefore the Pro-light is the lone man out. Although I don't plan on using the Pro-light after this one is retired, this is one of Lowell's better lights, especially for ENG use. Very light weight, compact, nice focusing mechanism and it can use 125 or 250 watt lamps. The major drawback for me is not being able to throw a regular scrim in front of it. Although I've moved on from Lowell (save the Tota) this light has been a good one.

While some of the Lowell's are solid performers, if you are renting your gear out- and especially for cinema style or commercial productions, then Lowell's would not be a good way to go. Arri's, Moles or Altmans would be a better bet. I have two Altman 650's, and I love them. I plan on getting a 300w unit in the near future.

I suspect that you'll regret going with a Lowell package in relatively short order, if you go that route.
 
So do you think that Altman would be an option? And let me clarify myself. I do not intend to rent to random productions I intend to rent to productions that I am personally working on.
 
I have 22 lights and 5 of them are Lowels. They are great for certain situations. They are relatively inexpensive and light. I like the little Pro Lights, I have two of them, very handy for bouncing into a Flexfill or as a hair light. But they are built pretty flimsy and they break easier and more often than Arris or Moles.

I will second the opinion expressed here about the Arri knock-offs. The ones Cool Lights sells are a very good value and are considerably less than real Arris. I own 3 Moles and 6 Arri lights and I love them. On a professional film or television set, you are not going to see Lowels, you will see mostly Moles and Arris but it all depends on what level of production you are involved in and who your clients are.

In my experience, if you are not experienced at lighting, open faced lights are harder to control than fresnels. If you know what you are doing, open faced lights are actually pretty cool but for newbies, most of the badly lit footage I have seen is with cheap open faced lights that were not used correctly.

Dan
 
lairhair said:
So do you think that Altman would be an option? And let me clarify myself. I do not intend to rent to random productions I intend to rent to productions that I am personally working on.
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Yeah, IMO Altman's are definitely an option. They are a bit heavier than Arri's, but that is mostly likely due to the super burly power cord that they come with. Other than that, I prefer them to Arri's. Altman's are also cheaper than Arri's , although not by a huge margin. My only complaint is that I just wish Altman made a 150 as well.

Per your clarification , renting the Lowell's (in your context) may be a tough sell to a production. Good or bad, there's a credibility gap with Lowell's. My personal opinion would be to stay away from Lowell's for your intended purpose. The only exception would be the Tota for use in situations where it works best.

If Moles, Arri's and Altmans are out of your budget , might the Cool Light fresnels be the ticket?
 
Wow cool light fernels were undiscovered by me. I think I am in love with the prices but will they really hold up to the standards for what I want to do? I am really hesitant on fluorescents but I will trust DVXuser.
 
i like the quality of light i get out of my Lowels on a dimmer if you drop them down a bit they have a very pretty warm light. plus i got 6 omnies, and a tota for only 100 bucks so hahah you cant beat that!
 
Our fresnels (hard lights) fall into two categories: traditional tungsten and metal halide: CDM /HMI. The metal halide cdm 70 and 150 fresnels allow native daylight and are cold restart which is the main difference over them and an HMI. CDM or HMI for that matter isn't really a fluorescent technology but it does have the same energy efficient usage that fluorescent does. Just hard light output with great throw which can be diffused with a frame or softbox if needed.

The tungsten fresnels are just about like any other tungsten fresnels and have a "hot light" output an about the same energy usage as any other tungsten hot light.

Fluorescents are just soft lights with limited throw so have another use entirely, like a softbox. Can never be hard so traditionally used where you'd use a softbox.

So, in the "cool lights" category, we have both fluorescent and CDM and they're very popular.
 
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