Lighting Kit Question...

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OlWiseRedEye

Active member
Ok folks, i am getting ready to buy a new lighting kit for use in an upcoming job. I want the kit to be versatile enough to use for indoors and outdor lighting. I do quite a bit of green screen work as well so I'd like it to be adequate for that as well. I like the lowel kits and obviously they are quite liked, but the multi-light kits get up there in price quickly. I am also debating on whether to do traditional tungsens or try the flourescents. Does anyone have or know anything about the kits in his site?

http://www.pclightingsystems.com/index.html

Any other thoughts or ideas?

-RedEye
 
What's your lighting budget? What's the nature of the job? What's the crew and schedule? It all starts there.

I have an ENG Lowell based kit that I put together for small jobs. It's a 1000 DP, a 500 omni and 250 pro. Speed rings and Photoflex softboxes for the 1000 and 500. It's all packed in a Kata rolling case. All work ok. The big problem is that Lowell's blow bulbs like toilet paper. And it adds up. If I were to do it again, I'd replace the DP with an Ianaro Red head, the 500 and medium box with a lowell RIFA kit (different bulb set up), and still keep the prolight (it's punch is worh the delicate bulb).

Concerning PC lighting, I'd would get the specs/make on the flo bulbs and find out if the flos are full spectrum daylight and not some sort of cool white with a green spike. It's a drag they don't offer any tungsten flos.

I see alot of budget flo offerings on this site and none offer the one thing anyone who's come to love Kinos needs: the ablity to detatch the bulbs and connections from the casing and mount them anywhere with just tape (ie. in cars, under bar tops, etc.). There's a practical reason why the Kino ballast is separate from the head. Versatility.

Last, I'd add a couple China Balls and C-Stands with an array of bulbs to your kit. It's by far the best glam for the buck out there. 50 bucks for 20" lantern, five photofloods (250, 500, 250 BBA's, 500 BBA's, 100 watt household), ceramic socket, extension and dimmer.

Did a film with Vanessa Williams last summer and when she saw the China ball come out, she felt secure with the "glamour slap". In fact, the light quality of the China balls looked so much better and richer on flesh that our flos were relegated to background. I truly believe you can't beat tungsten on faces.

For outdoors, you need HMI's to compete with mother nature or channel Archimedes and make good use of mirrors, reflector boards and bounce board ala John Ford western.

Tim Naylor - DP
www.timnaylor.com
 
I was told by a guy at Abel Cine that the lamps in the Lowel kits only last between 2-3 hours... is that correct? the average between $30 and $40. There is no way I'm paying $40 a bulb for 3 hours if that is the case. Of course lowel said that they last upwards of 100 hours which sounds correct for that price. Anyone know for sure?
 
MannHands said:
get arri lights or the lowell rifa. cheap lights SUCK!!! not worth it AT ALL!!!
Click to expand...

What are "cheap lights" and what about them "suck?"

From the post below you which explains what works and what doesn't I learned alot, including the usefulness of $50.00 China balls.

Help us by explaining if you can rather than dismissing with words like "sucks."
 
OlWiseRedEye said:
I was told by a guy at Abel Cine that the lamps in the Lowel kits only last between 2-3 hours... is that correct?
Click to expand...

Only if you know the stand over. Tungsten lamps typically have a lifespan on the order of 200-400 hours.
 
"Cheap" lights aren't all bad. I bought a Britek kit a good 6 months ago and it does the job. I got 3 x 600w lights, stands, and two softboxes for around $400. They're not real sturdy, but they never leave my office where I do talking-head and interview shoots. I've only blown one bulb and that was due to moving it while it was on ... which I've learned not to do anymore :-)

If I was doing location stuff though or otherwise had to travel with the lights, I'd definitely get something more sturdy. But for my application they're just fine.
 
Ok, I apologize. Naylor put me in my place, but all I meant was I have learned a good lesson from buying cheap gear and having it give me headaches.

I think every situation is different and what works for a small interview in an office won't necessarily work for a night exterior on a feature, obviously, and vise versa. But when it comes to those situations, personally I am much more comfortable setting up an Arri or a Mole light, or even a Kino (though I think they're criminally overused simply because of their convenience) than trying to battle some cheap knockoff product that imitates industry standards.

That said, I have used china balls and photofloods for years when I couldn't afford good lights, and I LOVE building fixtures, I think every fimmaker should try that if only for the experience. Chicken coops, covered wagons, whatever... making your own lights is awesome. And I can pretty much guarantee it is ultimately more productive than buying some knockoff light.

Sorry I didn't mean to be vague and sensational.
 
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