Lighting Kit Advice

mentatDUKE

mentatDUKE

Veteran
Buying new lighting kit after losing the old one (Arri Softbank - Tungsten):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/72161-REG/Arri_571984_Softbank_I_Tungsten_4.html

Im leaning toward a daylight balanced solution with a lot of lumens output due to using the Andromeda and original M2 adapter.

Discovered the ALZO lights which seem nice yet pricey:
http://www.alzovideo.com/alzo_video_hmi_location_kit_studio_i.htm

Cheaper on Adorama:
http://www.adorama.com/AZVLS1K3.html?searchinfo=alzo+studio+kit

Not sure if these are the same exact lights:
http://www.videolighting.com/hmi-video-lights.html

Any advice on what direction I should go in regarding lighting?

Thanks.
 
The Arri Softbank - Tungsten kit is one of the best light kits you can buy. The Alzo lights are very questionable in terms of quality. Alzo implies your getting an hmi light for a lot less money, but they aren't true hmi's and they don't look like they are made very well. In my opinion you need a good tungsten kit first and then augment with hmi. Look at coolights.
 
Thanks Buck. That sounds like good advice. What do you recommend I use to build my cool light kit?

Due to my light hungry system, I'll need some powerful options. Is this enough?:
One 655p, one 455p and 2 of the 255p

Also, the ARRI kit comes in a wheeled case. Any advice on how to transport the cool lights?

Thanks!
 
Do you want to go all fluorescent? If this is your first kit, keep in mind that a fresnel off of foamcore or in a softbox will give you soft light with the option of having hard light. If all your working requires softlight than by all means go for just flourescents. One thing to keep in mind is ebay. You can get some great deals there. I have and chances are it will be cheaper and you'll get more light for your money. A good kit also has mounting options beisdes stands and will usally have a few flags.

As for trasnportation, why get an older suit case with some bubble wrap or foam padding on the inside for now.
 
I would pick up one 655p and 2 455p. But like James said, you need hard light unless you plan on lighting everything flat. CL sells several CMD fresnel that's pretty power efficient and runs cooler than tungsten. The only problem is they're not hot strike, requiring several minutes of warm up if you turn them off. I would get the 150 CMD and an Arri 650 or 1k and that should make a pretty good kit.
 
Thanks James and Huy. I'm starting to think that I'll need two kits... soft fluos/cool lights and hard tungstens.

So maybe I'll repurchase the Softbank (a 1k, two 650s, and a 300), and get three cool lights (one 655p and two 455p).

I'll get gels and experiment with mixing color temps. I've seen a lot of compelling work with mixed color temps anyhow. Time to start exploring that.

I hope this doesn't prove to be too expensive.
Thanks for the feedback.
 
Another thing to consider is to skip the tungsten and fluorescents and just get all CDM 70s and/or 150s:

http://www.coollights.biz/-c-28_29.html


Because like the softbank kit they can be hard or soft with this attachment:

http://www.coollights.biz/cool-lights-clsrb0650-fresnel-softbox-p-121.html


Keep in mind, the site may be a bit flaky at the moment as we're transitioning to a new dedicated server to accommodate all the traffic which has been bogging it down. Hopefully that will be completed by the end of the weekend.

The CDM series gets you cool output, native daylight without gelling, hard light (or soft output with softbox attachment) and long bulb life. As Huy Vu mentioned they are hmi-like but cold strike in nature which means after you turn off the bulb, they won't relight again for about 5 minutes if you turn them back on. A timer / retry circuit inside the ballast enforces this so the bulb won't be damaged.
 
Thanks for the reply Richard. I was just about to send you an email. If I end up skipping tungsten wouldn't I be at a disadvantage when it comes to establishing ambient exposure level?

With the Softbank, I get a 1k and some 650s. The 1k tungsten outputs 28,000 lumens compared to the 13,000 lumens of the CDM 150 or 18.000 lumens of the 655p.

Would it really be safe for me to skip tungsten completely and still be able to have enough light? (Remember I'm using an adapter and modded DVX. Not light sensitive at all.)

Thanks!

*Any suggestions regarding transporting a Cool Lights package? With the Softbank I was able to put the case on my car's roof rack. Do you have a similar solution?
 
Its hard to imagine the 1K outputting 28000 lumens. The best lumens per watt of any tungsten bulb I know about is 20 lumens per watt, which would make it 20000 lumens so very close to a 655P. But, it is true we don't have a CDM fresnel solution (at this time) with that much output. The next one in line would be a CDM 400 (1600w or about 32000 lumens and tungsten equivalent) but its not ready for production yet.

As for carrying case, our CL-CCL2A or CL-CCL5A cases are good for transporting fresnels around although the CL-CCL2A is really only good for fresnels up to 650w size.
 
The softbank kit mentioned in the original post is excellent. Get it.

There is no way around it. If you want soft light then you don't have enough light to go daylight in this kit. And if you want daylight then you need an HMIs. (Most versatile i recommend is a Joker Bug 800... $5000/unit).
 
I have a softbank IV. Very versatile and lots of power (unless using an adaptor). I augment with a daylight Kino when needing to balance 5.6k. I would love to get into a Joker but can't justify the price right now. I've heard good things about cool lights but no experience. I find renting works pretty well for the occasional need to match daylight.


J
 
Patryk, thanks for the input. Do you own a kit or do you just rent? If own, can you descibe your kit and how you use certain items. Do you shoot daylight balanced?

Awakened, thanks. I actually was thinking of going the augmentation route also. Do you augment with only a single daylight kino or a whole set? Can you describe the daylight kino(s) you use?

Thanks.
 
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