Lighting question

twerp

twerp

Active member
I've recently been researching different light kits. Most of the reviews and user responses I've read have suggested investing into an Arri kit. I am going to be using the kit to shoot various short narratives, etc. The kit that has caught my eye is:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/72161-REG/Arri_571984_Softbank_I_Tungsten_Light.html

This particular kit comes with two 300's, a 650, and a 1k. I'm new to the whole world of lighting for indoor shots, but alas I own an HVX and need light :D

My question is, how often do you use 150's for indoor scenes? Since this kit does not include a 150 i am thinking of just buying 1 separately, but I don't really want to buy one if I don't need one! Any suggestions or advice would be wonderful! What's your guys favorite watt light :)
 
In a fully lit scene, the 150's give you lots of control for stuff like rim lighting and to highlight objects.

The value is control via the spot/flood and barn doors.

Try out the 300's for that first. I use Home Depot lights, too.
 
I went thru the same search last year and took the pro's advice and built my own kit. I have an Arri 650, Lowell Pro, Omni, & Tota; assorted stands (get them in lots of heights - including a floor stand; I find I often need a short height stand and ones below table level). Add barn doors for each, extra bulbs (including different wattages - convert an Arri 650 to a 300 easily); scrims, and filters for daylight/tungsten conversion, colors, and frost. Add C47's, at least a C-stand or two, extension cords, strips, bags to hold it all, a cheap fogger, China balls, LEATHER GLOVES, Lowell door and clamp on light holders; plus a couple of soft boxes ( I got the Photoflex brand medium and large - I know, should have bought the name brand, but they work and customers can't tell the difference, at least here in the backwoods of Va). Plus you will need softbox holders for the lights. Oh, and the little Lowell umbrella that can go on any of their lights is a great soft light source without eating up too much wattage like a softbox.

For my kit, I've found I need to add a 1K since I've added the Letus Extreme to my camera (HVX). Will probably go with Arri's; their contruction is really great. Lowell's are fine if you take care of them. They don't have quite the robust construction of the ARRI but I've been pleased and was able to get more light for the money I had to spend.

One last thing, spend a few bucks and get Bill Holshevnikoff's "The Power of Lightng for Film and Video" series and Barry Green's HVX book/DVD's if you don't have it already. Knowledge and practice are worth more than all the fancy equipment you can buy. With that said, nothing makes me feel more professional than when I pull the Arri out and fire it up!

Good luck!
 
I've also been looking at getting some lights sometime in the near future, but I don't have an extra $2,500 sitting around for 3 lights. I know the ARRI name is nice, but I'm more concerned with getting something that's going to work for me at the right price. I'm not ready to buy yet, but when I do, I'm going to go with CoolLights' fresnels. They are an awesome price and from everything I've heard, work like a charm. They don't come with stands, scrims, softboxes or a hard case, but you can get the same 3 lights for just over $800.00, and I'm guessing you can find pretty nice stands and scrims for the $1700.00 you'll be saving. He also has the 150w you were asking about. I don't work for CoolLights, he's just been really helpful in answering my questions along the way and I have no reservations about investing in his lights when I'm ready to buy, just thought I'd pass along the info.

(and the lights are black, and look cooler)

-DES
 
youre not just getting 3 lights.... Youre getting 4 lights, barndors, FULL scrim set, stands, properly rated stingers, top notch stands, chimera and speed ring, spare lamps..... and a tough as nails case with wheels that carts all of it without breaking anything.

Try getting all that seperately, you will spend well over that amount. its not lights. its a FULL grip package.
 
I regret not going with the Arri's now. I went with a Lowel DV core kit to get by, and I could jsut kick myself now for not spending the extra coinage (about +800.00) for the Arri's.
good luck
Mike
 
I get what you're saying, and I had no idea it came with all of that stuff. I was curious, and so I did some quick checking (no bargain hunting, just searched on B&H), and I priced everything individually (with CoolLights lights) and it came out $200 cheaper. Also, the scrim sets I priced come with half scrims in both single and double, and not just the full as with the ARRI set. I also factored in a filter frame for the 1000K, and the ARRI set doesn't appear to come with one. I'm not sure if shipping everything individually would drastically affect the price or not, but buying everything individually in this manner would allow more of a custom approach if the set isn't exactly what you want. The case is a big cost all by it self, I found another ARRI case that would work for how I would be using the lights (probably not keeping all stands, lights, barndoors, etc. together) for about half of the $470 price of the heavy duty one that comes with the set. Ultimately it's different strokes for different folkes, but the pseudo-research was fun and interesting, and I'm glad I know that the full sets come with as much as they do, that'll be good to know for the future :)

-DES
 
Thank you for all the advice and responses! How long do the bulbs usually last? Should I buy a few extras for each light??
 
valladao65 said:
I regret not going with the Arri's now. I went with a Lowel DV core kit to get by, and I could jsut kick myself now for not spending the extra coinage (about +800.00) for the Arri's.
good luck
Mike
Click to expand...
Like I say (which I stole from someone...): "Always buy the best. That way you only cry once, instead of every time you go to use it."
 
I actually own that Arri Light Kit with (1) 300, (2) 650s, and (1) 1k. It works great!!
I've worked with Lowell kits before but they can't compare with the professionalism of Arri.

It's a smart choice to buy an extra bulb for each light as you never really know when they are going to go out.

Also, you can easily buy practical lights that can output 150 watts. Just go to a local lighting store. These are great to own too and help round out your lighting kit.

Cheers!
 
Keep in mind... great lighting happens thru a Chimera soft box. Open face lights such as Lowell Omni and Tota are the best source lights for a Chimera diffuser.

Arri 650's, 300's and 150's are fresnel lights which produce a focused beam best used for back lights, highlights and spots.

A well balanced light kit will contain both Arri's and Lowell's. I couldn't imagine depending on either light alone - you need both.
 
snp said:
Keep in mind... great lighting happens thru a Chimera soft box. Open face lights such as Lowell Omni and Tota are the best source lights for a Chimera diffuser.

Arri 650's, 300's and 150's are fresnel lights which produce a focused beam best used for back lights, highlights and spots.

A well balanced light kit will contain both Arri's and Lowell's. I couldn't imagine depending on either light alone - you need both.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree! Use a tota for your Chimera, and fresnels for everything else. As for the small units, they are so useful for interiors. I'm a big fan of LTM pepper 100's with 200w lamps inside.
 
When I've worked with the Arri kit (1-1k, 2-650's, 1-350), I've used a soft box with the 1k and went from there. I miss it immensely...
 
hotchkiss said:
Absolutely agree! Use a tota for your Chimera, and fresnels for everything else. As for the small units, they are so useful for interiors. I'm a big fan of LTM pepper 100's with 200w lamps inside.
Click to expand...

Same here... I have one new Arri 100 plus two 15 year old Pepper 100's with snouts and barn doors that LTM just rebuilt for me. I constantly use the small spots (in addition to 300 / 650) to highlight specific areas or to slash a background wall.
 
I too just bought that same Arri kit and use my lowel lights as..... Actually I just use my new Arri lights, although I love the lowel rifa lights, and I still bring those on shoots, they are easy to set up and they look good.
 
anybody have opinions on dimable florescents? i am in a situation where heat is a major concern and have been considering going that route...
 
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