Please help me expand my light kit !!!!!!!!

N

nataraja

Member
i currently have an arri kit w/

1- 1000w open face
1- 650w fresnel
1-350w fresnel
2-150w fresnel

these are the only lights i own.

i am looking to expand this kit with a budget of around $10,000

my thought so far were:

arri kit w/ 4 - 650w fresnels = $3,060
arri kit w/ 4 - 150w fresnels = $ 2,039
kino diva-lite 401 ( 2 light kit ) = $2,637
kino diva-lite 201 ( 2 light kit ) = $2,115

ok thats $9851

or...........................

go with an hmi like: Mole-Richardson Molepar 1200 Watt HMI One Light Kit @ $8,000

or.......................................

something i haven't thought of.

should i go multiple lights or 1 expensive light?

this budget is for lights only. modifiers and support are separately budgeted to round out what i already own.

i do not mind owning a $10,000 light. any thing more i would rent.

the lights would be used for all manner of production from commercial, short films, corporate, music videos ect.........

please help me decide on this purchase. looking for all opinions.

LET THE DISCUSSION BEGIN............

thanks in advance
 
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what about just going 3-4 area-48's?
i am doing intensive research now and these seem to be great options.
too many choices these days.

whatever i get i want it to last many years.
that's why i love the arri tungsten. great light quality and built like a tank.

but i definitely need a daylight solution that dose not require gels.

i will check out the jokers thanks!
 
You know your needs and client expectation better than we do. That being said... when I put together my personal light kit I started much like you with a solid Tungsten base, then expanded to fill any particular needs. This is what I have at the moment.

TUNGSTEN
Fresnel
3 Mole 412 2K Junior Fresnel
2 Mole 407 1K Baby Fresnel
1 Mole 4821 650w Tweenie II
2 LTM Pepper 420w Fresnel
1 LTM Pepper 300w Fresnel
8 Mole 2801 200w Mini Fresnel w/Snoot Set & Focal Spot
1 LTM Pepper 100w Fresnel
Softlite
1 Mole 2591 2K Zip Softlite
2 Mole 2581 1K Baby Softlite
Scoop
1 Mole 1000 Bell Lamp 1500w
Open Face
1 Mole 4081 1K Mickey-Mole
1 Mole 4051 650w Teenie-Mole
1 ColorTran Quartz King 650w
2 Mole 4031 600w Teenie Weenie
2 Mole 2921 1K Nooklite
3 Mole 2911 650w Nooklite
5 Lowel Tota 750w
2 Lowel L-Light 100w
Fay
2 Mole 4711 650w MoleCool
PAR
2 ETC Source 4 750w PAR
Ellipsoidal
1 Source Four 750w Ellipsoidal with 26º Lens 50º Lens & Patterns
2 Dedolight DLHM4 150w DP1 & Patterns
HMI
1 Joker 1.2K PAR
2 RDS 575w Fresnel
1 Kobold 400w 16x22 SB/Grid
1 Kobold 200w 16x22 SB/Grid
1 Joker 200w PAR
LED
2 1x1 LED 5600K
1 1x1 LED Bi-Color
1 500 LED 5600K
2 Z-96 LED 5600K
FLUORESCENT
​
4 6x55w Biax
4 4x55w Biax
5 2x55w Biax
6 65w Chinese Lanterns
1 Kino Flo Kamio Ring Light
1 Kino Flo BarFly 200
STROBE
1 Mega Flash DMX 800w
GENERATOR
2 Yamaha EF2000iS
30A Portable Distrio Box

​

​
 
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WOWZA !!!!!!

that a lot of lights!

hey DAVID, given my current kit if you had my budget what would you buy at this time if you were starting over?

i really need a viable daylight solution

thanks in advance
 
nataraja said:
WOWZA !!!!!!

that a lot of lights!

hey DAVID, given my current kit if you had my budget what would you buy at this time if you were starting over?

i really need a viable daylight solution

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Do you just need to be daylight balanced or are you actually needing to light outside in daylight? You have lots of options if you just need to shoot daylight balanced and mix with daylight inside, but fully lighting outside I suggest(still) HMI's. I know that there is a lot of LED use, now, but I still feel that on the smaller scale(you're not a network that can afford to have/rent lots of huge LED fixtures that are required to do the job) HMI's are still the way to go. I've demo'd some LED HMI "equivalent" fixtures and haven't been overly impressed, yet. The manufacturers are being generous, to say the least, when it comes to equating their LED fixtures to HMI's. When you check the actual photometrics, most of the time the LED's are about a "size" off. In other words, if they say the LED is equivalent to an 800 watt HMI, it's closer to 400+ watts. The LED fixtures that are really capable of providing a lot of punch outside are MUCH (physically)larger than their equivalent HMI counterparts. LED's will get there, but right now, if power efficiency isn't paramount to performance, go HMI.
 
nataraja said:
given my current kit if you had my budget what would you buy at this time if you were starting over?

i really need a viable daylight solution

thanks in advance
Click to expand...


Hard to say without being there.

I do find that owing lights is only part of the equation. Having the proper support, along with various light modifiers goes a long way in being able to shape light into your vision. So I am also invested into things like Stingers and dimmers, C-stands, Junior stands, Combo stands, Low boy stands, Beefy baby stands, Preemie baby stands. As well as modifiers like a dot & finger set, 12x18 set, 18x24 set, 24x36 set, 4'x4' set, 6'x6' w/rags, 8'x8' w/rags, 12'x12' w/rags.

As far as a viable daylight solution goes.... It's hard to say without knowing more. For example.. available power, transportation.

That being said, If I were shopping to fill out your current light kit and I were not in a huge hurry, being the frugal kind of guy I am, I would keep an eye open on places like ebay for deals on used gear. Buying quality used gear is a great way to make your $$$ go further.

I like a lot of the newer plasma & hive type lighting, but I have yet to invest in them as they are still rather expensive. I will likely revisit this scenario when technology pushes a little forward and prices drop.

In the mean time, I'm of the opinion that used HMI lights offer great bang for buck.

I would look for something along these lines....

1.2K HMI PAR w/lenses, doors, scrims, feeder cables, & electronic ballast

You could power this off a single circuit without needing generator power, and the electronic ballast will be easier to transport.

Adding something like a used Kino Flo 4 bank or Diva 400 would give you a nice soft light with the ability to change the tubes to 3200k when needed.

Again, not knowing more it is hard to give advice as to which direction to take.

In my case I do a lot of interior with daylight, and have found smaller HMIs to be a good fit at many of my locations. For example I use 1 400w HMI w/softbox and 2 200w HMI w/softbox many times for office interviews. As Matt mentioned above, the K5600 Joker lights are a nice for owner ops.

If you needed to go in the other direction with something that could be put to more use outdoors, and you had the available power like a portable generator, something like a used 2.5k / 4k HMI PAR with electronic ballast would likely be more useful.

As it is, I had been keeping an eye open for a used Joker 1600w & 800w HMIs which are still rather expansive, but put that on hold to save for a new camera.


Now that I have looked back from your original post....

nataraja said:
i do not mind owning a $10,000 light. any thing more i would rent.
Click to expand...

I had to chuckle to myself. I don't mind owning a $10,000 light either, I just don't want to pay $10,000 for it. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

I guess that's why I like used so well.
 
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Couple of things you want to clarify here.
1. What are you shooting? Narrative, doc, long form shorts, location, studio, low budget medium hi etc
2. What's your style? What look do you prefer?
3. What kind of crew do you have? Is this a truck with a best boy and a subrental to production or a one man band?

My personal preference is to simplify and to use one or two pieces of very high quality gear. See this interview on crafttruck on Blue Valentine and the single light.... http://www.crafttruck.com/through-the-lens/through-the-lens-s01e01-andrij-parekh-full-episode/

Owning a m18 is a great idea as that light will be useful for a long time and can be subrented. In my work having a dimmable 2k tungsten Fresnel and daylight sources that can run without a generator are key to actually lighting a film. At the same time you will absolutely need to rent additional grip and diff and solids and bounce etc but that's the back end of the story.

Joseph Finn and eBay are your freinds here.... I've seen a 1.2 hmi go for three grand... I just lit a feature with 4 enliten 575 hid pars that sell for 350 a pop. The thing to avoid is spending money on crap that is not useful and won't get you work or rent out.
 
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