lighting gear deal

For the DJ Aura, no dimmer and no easy battery solution is limiting to me. I don't like the idea of transporting fluorescents either. They can be fragile and the cost of replacing bulbs can add up.

I love the Aputure Amaram lights. They come in Wide, Spot, BiColor versions. The remote control allows control of the lights individually or collectively. They can use Sony type batteries. Aputure is coming out with Diffuser, Grid, Softbox for them as well.
I'm probably going to get the 672s as soon as they come out with the softbox.
They've hinted that barn doors are in the works as well.
For me, having lighting controls and modifiers are important.
 
Note that the Aputure kit does not include stands. You'll need to add them separately if you don't already have some.

I have two of the Amaran lights, and they're excellent for the price.

I share cseeman's reluctance about transporting fluorescent lights. And the color and build quality of the Digital Juice kit are unknown quantities -- to be honest, I wouldn't expect much at that price.
 
I Had the dj auras. The light quality was amazing for the price....unfortunately the internal ballasts went bad after about a year. In fact I am getting my replacements for them tomorrow. I ordered 3 dracast led1000 plus bi color and 2 apurture light storm 1/2's.
 
If you want biax flos… I've owned several duals and quads for years. Never broken a bulb. Never replaced a bulb. Never lost a ballast. Finding a case for a single quad can be a problem, I just use a wheeled case that's big enough for two quads or a quad and 3 or 4 duals.

I have a couple of those cheap plastic models (exactly like the B&H link) with goosenecks. The goosenecks are absolute crap though. They're very light and can be hung from a ceiling panel or taped into places, I'll give them that. OK for green screens but they sort of go where they want and they loosen from the fixture constantly.

If you go with biax, you really need at least one quad though, unless you want to shoot all your interviews at 1600 and 1.8 - poke around, cowboy studio, amazon, ebay - there are lots of models out there. And you'll need to diffuse them (more light loss). Same goes for most LEDs though.

Included stands are often crap, too… but they can hold cards and stuff if they're lame. The lamps in cheaper biax may need some oddball gelling - mine need CTB and minus green - they're kind of yellow but correct just fine.

LEDs are getting more popular these days, but flos kick out a lot of light. LEDs can use batteries (but in many cases, fairly pricey batteries). Read up on the LEDs people like here and compare the prices and light output. They've come a long way in CRI, but if you're shopping for a $300 kit, you may get more bang for your buck with the cheap flos vs. cheap LEDs.
 
Greg Smith said:
Note that the Aputure kit does not include stands. You'll need to add them separately if you don't already have some.

I have two of the Amaran lights, and they're excellent for the price.

I share cseeman's reluctance about transporting fluorescent lights. And the color and build quality of the Digital Juice kit are unknown quantities -- to be honest, I wouldn't expect much at that price.
Click to expand...

Greg, I just picked up the Aputure 672 kit. No, they don't come with stands (at least from B & H)... I found this guy on Ebay that has Impact 8ft light stands for 1/2 off (I have no affiliation with him) but I got them quickly and they were new in plastic (two to a package): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Impact-8-Li...721700?hash=item4af42629e4:g:gG4AAOSw2s1UwSvr
 
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