Lighting Kit for Dslrs?

A good lighting kit for a dslr will be a good lighting kit for any future camera you upgrade to .

I'd look on eBay and b&h's used section for a decent used arri fresher kit.
 
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advice on what lights to get depends entirely on what you want to do with them.

a lot of folks ask for advice on "3 light kits" but those are generally used for interviews and small sets. where power vs size and temperature are important.
but if youre shooting features, your "kit" will often need to be bigger and will depend on the creative vibe of the project. so thats a harder one to nail down.

tell us more about what you shoot. and dont just say music videos. because thats like a chef saying he cooks "food"
 
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If I had a budget for $1000 maximum which would be the best buy? This would be used for music videos and anything else you can think of'. Obviously if I had $10,000 then I would not be asking this question...... I need a starters light kit of about $1000 and need to know what realistic expectations I am able to do with it.


Thanks


What are the thoughts on these kind of light compared to a lowell dp3?

http://www.coollights.biz/cool-lights-tungsten-fresnel-1950w-p-139.html
 
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Obviously if I had $10,000 then I would not be asking this question......
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why would that be obvious? just because you had $10,000 to spend, doesnt mean you know what lights to buy...

but thats another debate.

the problem is that "music videos and anything else you can think of" encompasses a WIDE variety of needs. heck, even different kinds of music videos require widely different kinds of light.
and whats great for one. may be largely useless for another.
for general hip hop music videos. that DP3 kit might be a good start. but for shooting an interview in a small office, its going to get unbearably hot VERY quickly.

the good thing about a kit like the dp3 is you can scrim it or flag it or in some cases simply dim it. but youre still dealing with the heat.
you could get something smaller, like a kit of 3 lowel pro lights. the neat thing with them is that theyre focusable, which comes in kind of handy sometimes.
they are still pretty hot. but nowhere hear a 500 or 1k fresnel

you may not even care about heat. but if you do, you could go florescent. with a kit of these:
http://www.flolight.com/fl-220.html
for about the same price as a new dp3 kit.
problem with florescents is you wont get that big punch youd get with the tungsten fresnels.

another thing you need to think about, ESPECIALLY with music videos is effect light. in which case a source4 is a good thing to have (and not ridiculously expensive). its an elipsoidal focusable light, great for patterns, but SUPER hot. but they come in different sizes and different power levels.

here is something interesting for those on a budget:
http://www.lincostore.com/product/Britek-FK5800B-1675.html
i keep a set nearly identical to those around for budget clients where we need a lot of light, without heat issues and who cant afford additional costs for renting kinoflo stuff
its about $900. i spent an additional $250 or so on better diffusers (the ones they come with SUCK!) and CTO gells. so youre looking at about 5000w of bank switchable soft light for about $1200 new

the point im trying to make here is that no one kit is going to satisfy "...and anything else you can think of."

so you need to figure out what kind of work you do most (not what you WANT to do. but what actually brings in the most bacon for you) and buy a kit for that. and rent for all your other needs.
 
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Thanks on the tips . Also if I had 10,000 I would buy an and all correct lighting I need since I know about lighting.

I would easily get my set of tungsten lights, kino flo lights and even some led. The rest of the money I have left over would just be buying some HMI lights....


Now regarding the heat I completely understand, for a Music video in an open space it might not be that bad, but for an interview it could be a living hell, which led lights or similar would be better. Regardless thank you for sharing your helpful post with me!!
 
I would easily get my set of tungsten lights, kino flo lights and even some led. The rest of the money I have left over
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you buy a set of tungstens, kinos and LEDs, there would be NO money left ; )


there is also a lot of wisdom to not BUYING any lights at all. you could just rent what you need on an as needed basis. and roll the rental costs into your shooting budget.
that way youre not shouldering the depreciation, maintenance (AND STORAGE) headaches.

yeah, its comforting to know you have your lights on hand when the need arises. but its also comforting to keep $1000 in the bank
 
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