Lite panel bicolor or Kino flo

J

jonas18z

Member
I only have budget for one light for now. I mostly shoot interviews on location with 5d mark II. I have tryed two light that i like litepanel 1x1 bicolor and kino flo 4ft 4 bank.

Litepanel is small and light but I like the light from kino flo more.


Can someone help me, what should I buy?
 
one light? i think thats kinda silly.

its good on one hand that you want to invest in the good stuff. cheers to that!
but on the other hand, what are you going to do for fill, hairlight or background? YES, you CAN shoot a decent looking interview with a key and bounce card. but what happens when you need to punch up the background or separate the subject from the background? you'll be out of luck.

i love kinflos, use the divas and 4banks all the time. but if you only have enough bread to get ONE higher end light. thats just kind of misguided in my book.

here are my suggestions to someone in your situation:

1. if you have limited budget, dont buy bi-color lights. because at each end of the range youre only getting half of the power you would with a single color. buy a daylight LED and a range of CTO gels. you get WAY more light for your money. gels are cheap compared to a 100% more powerful light

2. if you have limited budget, dont buy high end brands. its good to "buy well" but not if it leaves you unprepared. yeah, you'll look cool to your peers with your name brand light. but you'll look like a fool to your clients when you dont have sufficient gear to light the situation.

3. if you live in a market with a decent rental house - RENT and roll the cost into your invoice. i didnt own any lights for the first 7-8 years of my career. and still i only own budget lights (ikan LEDs and lowel prolights) to cover situations where a clients budget cant afford higer end rentals (which is more often than id like or care to admit)

4. if you must buy. buy to suit your current budget and needs. not those of your future. have a look at the stuff from "cool lights" they are a sponsor here and a lot of people seem to dig them. they are a reasonable alternative to kinos and at nearly half the price.
http://www.coollights.biz/cl455pmd-cool-lights-portable-dimming-watt-softlight-p-70.html

or even a pair of single color chinese LEDs from ebay. i wouldnt usually suggest that. but ive been doing a lot of reading on the subject and it seems some of them are reasonably reliable these days... have a look at this link:
http://www.budgetfilmmaker.co.uk/1/...ight-guide-complitely-new-second-edition.html
 
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I think you are best to stick with top brands my self - know your limits and be able to do them perfectly

With one light your limit will be a bit of fill !

Build the quality over time and never buy twice IMO

The only 'top brand' lights I own a Dedo - and they are also the only lights I own that actually do what they are supposed to do

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As for which light? Ive used both on jobs but dont own either

The Litepanel packs up better and I think runs off a battery - both great for the mobile shooter

The Flo is IMO a better light source .. but is bigger and more awkward to setup/move/transport

Id also say dont bother with a BiColor unless you are dripping with cash

S
 
Thanks for all tips.

I mostly use one light the other light is the sun or the office lighting :)

And if I want more the one light, I will rent it.
 
The Kino is a lot brighter and has a nice look to the quality of light it puts out, but they are a bit of a pain to transport. ( they are big and the lamps are fragile )

Right now I'm looking at getting a 1x1 LED light for quick "run'n'gun" interviews, where I will be working as a one-man-crew.

The Lite Panel 1x1 are nice, but it doesn't put out a lot of light and is kind of pricey for what it is.

I am thinking of getting a FloLight 1x1 LED unit, mainly because it's half the price of the Lite Panel, and it puts out 3 times more light. They are getting popular enough that Chimera now make a soft-box for the FloLight 1x1.

Flolight MicroBeam 1024 High Powered Video Light (5600K) : $799

Chimera LED Lightbank for Flolight 1x1' : $250
 
I post this often, but if your funds are limited, look at 2 and 4 bank Biax flos. I have several of the chinese deals (there's a model with a metal case that gets re-branded a lot) and they've been real workhorses. Under $300 for a quad biax is a lot of daylight for the money. Just skip anything with a gooseneck.

I own some really nice, name brand lights... but the chinese biax stuff ends up on every shoot. Right now I'm at about 4 duals and 2 quads, and that's a ton of light. The only problem I've had are the thumbscrews on the yoke wearing out (the rubber pad just spins on the shaft) but I have a sack of 1/4-20 and 3/8 knobs and t-handles, so no biggie.
 
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