Portable and inexpensive lighting solutions?

GHKAM

GHKAM

Well-known member
This would be primarily for music videos. Need something portable and light/with diffusion and stands. Carrying around/walking, not transported by car. $150-$200.

Battery power only is not preferable. Of all the cheap LED's, I found only one with AC plug-in option and the light will work while built-in battery is charging.
Sima Color-Smart LED Camera Light SL-200LXI:
http://www.amazon.com/Sima-Color-Sm...d=1381357458&sr=1-1&keywords=Sima+Video+Light

I would like to consider three of those Sima lights, plus a few cheap stands or cheap tripods, except they're only 36 LED'S each. Would they be too weak? Those are also stackable.
Example at YouTube:
http://youtu.be/HT4C0gVx6qM?t=45s

Any comments or ideas, thanks.
 
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An on-camera light and $150-$200 is never going to get you good results for creative videos like music videos - unless the specific aesthetic you're trying to create is the 'Cops' chasing-camera look.

Honestly, I'd suggest putting your energy into saving up at least $1000 so that you can get some lights that will actually do the job. $200 spent on lights that won't get the job done, is simply $200 that you're going to have to spend again later on something that DOES work.
 
Grug said:
An on-camera light and $150-$200 is never going to get you good results for creative videos like music videos - unless the specific aesthetic you're trying to create is the 'Cops' chasing-camera look.

Honestly, I'd suggest putting your energy into saving up at least $1000 so that you can get some lights that will actually do the job. $200 spent on lights that won't get the job done, is simply $200 that you're going to have to spend again later on something that DOES work.
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Thanks for the reply. I do understand what you mean, that it's better to buy quality now than pay again later.
Except I don't have a $1000 for lights. If I were a pro music video director, I would definitely understand that kind of investment, but I am not.

Nonetheless, I still want portable lights for music videos; low price and low weight that's acceptable enough. The quality of those $30 Neewer LED's, or similar, are fine. They are light in weight and have diffusion. The problem is they run only 70-90 minutes each battery charge. That would mean the day before charging all the camcorder batteries those lights can accept (or AA's) and also charging backups, in addition to charging all my camera batteries. Plus spending extra $ on all those batteries/backups and the extra weight of them.
Additionally, I may be in a spot one day where the batteries run out with no option to plug in a cord.

It seems redundant if there are lights that can just plug into a wall (this won't be for outside, but away from my home). Something like this is perfect and also comes with a carrying case:
http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-...&qid=1381111327&sr=1-44&keywords=lighting+kit

but it's 12 pounds and not practical for carrying around, taking public transportation, etc. Like I said, it would be in addition to the gear I already have to carry and that 12 pounds will start to get too much.

Those Sima lights seem to be the only cheap LED's that can also plug-in. I was wondering if three of those would cut it or maybe they would be too much of a spotlight effect. Amazon has lighting stands for $15 that are one pound each. I am not seeing anything lighter in weight.

Maybe I just need a lamp with daylight bulbs and some kind of separate diffusion; umbrella or diffusion material? That's basically that Cowboy Studio kit I already linked, but need lighter somehow.
 
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nebular said:
those cheap led light often make really awkward color. and the output is poor.

what do you want to light with those?

portable, cheap and high (daylight?) ouptput, this won't work.

for $ 200 you could probably get some used open face or fresnel tungsten fixtures like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ARRI-GERMAN...988?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item232d957d2c

a lot more useful for music videos.
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Too heavy; for walking/not in a car.

There are plenty of options under $200:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...keywords=lighting+kit&rh=i:aps,k:lighting+kit


I'm trying to find something light in weight that I can carry around: 3 lights, diffusion, stands. I understand quality will be sacrificed. I am looking for "good enough".
 
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I just found out that the LED lights that take the Sony camcorder batteries last for 4 hours each or more. You can use generics with the lights. The 70-90 minute estimate was for AA batteries.

So, I will seriously be considering these.
 
If your budget is tight, then I would look at these LED lights that are compact and quite bright: Z96 LED Light Panel : $76

You can get generic Sony NP-F550 rechargeable batteries for about $10 each that will power this light for 1+ hours. ( You can also get bigger batteries that will last up to 4 hours )

The color temp is a little on the blue side for 5600 K daylight balance, so you will want to add about 1/4 - 1/2 CTO to bring this to a more pleasing color temp.
 
so, seriously, what's your purpose with those led's for music videos?
in daylight scenes they will be far too weak to have any effect other than in close ups. just get some (big) reflectors, when you don't have money & crew.
and in low light/night scenes they will probably be too small.

why not involve some more people to carry stuff, or get a magliner, or get a car, and rent stuff instead of buying cheapo amazon led lights.
 
TheDingo said:
If your budget is tight, then I would look at these LED lights that are compact and quite bright: Z96 LED Light Panel : $76

You can get generic Sony NP-F550 rechargeable batteries for about $10 each that will power this light for 1+ hours. ( You can also get bigger batteries that will last up to 4 hours )

The color temp is a little on the blue side for 5600 K daylight balance, so you will want to add about 1/4 - 1/2 CTO to bring this to a more pleasing color temp.
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Thanks, those lights look good! Is there any reason they're twice as much as the other brands? I do see that they can run on the plug/outlet, an extra $12 for it. Thats what's really important to me. Run on the plug and a couple of batteries in situations without an outlet.

Would two of those cut it or must there always be 3-point lighting to fill in the shadows? Or maybe one on the talent, one as a fill?


nebular said:
so, seriously, what's your purpose with those led's for music videos?
in daylight scenes they will be far too weak to have any effect other than in close ups. just get some (big) reflectors, when you don't have money & crew.
and in low light/night scenes they will probably be too small.

why not involve some more people to carry stuff, or get a magliner, or get a car, and rent stuff instead of buying cheapo amazon led lights.
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Car is not possible, do not want to rent, will not ask people to carry stuff for me.

This is not business, but primarily an artistic endeavor. I have shot videos for bands before/for YouTube. I had used cheap reflector lamps with dimmers and seemed to work, but want to step it up a bit.

I understand it's good to strive for high quality but, to be honest, you will rarely see comments on music videos, (or other content), complaining about the quality. If they do, it's people that have an interest in making videos/frequent these camera forums.

This video has 86,000,000+ views. Look at the quality of the first minute, pretty bad. Cheap camera look, exposure changes, tons of moire:


Sure, it's Kanye West, but none of the comments @ YouTube are talking about that poor quality in the beginning because they just don't care.

If I knew I was getting paid a lot to make music videos, sure I would hunt down some high quality lights and find a way to get them to the shoot. But I'm not and, in the end, most people really don't care.

There are many other music videos and other content with very high views, plus poor quality. Perhaps sad in a way, but is the reality today.
 
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GHKAM said:
Is there any reason they're twice as much as the other brands?
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Yes, they are better made and brighter. There is lots of junk in the low-cost LED camera light market, so you have to be careful what you buy.

GHKAM said:
Would two of those cut it or must there always be 3-point lighting to fill in the shadows? Or maybe one on the talent, one as a fill?
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Depends on what you are trying to do with them. At night or indoors they can be quite handy within 6 feet of your subject. In the day they could fill shadows if you have them close enough, but you might be better off with a large white/silver reflector disc.

The main reason for going this compact LED route is for portability, otherwise I would go with AC powered tungsten lights which are far more powerful. ( if you were lucky you could buy a good pair of used Lowel AC tungsten lights with your $200 budget )
 
TheDingo said:
Yes, they are better made and brighter. There is lots of junk in the low-cost LED camera light market, so you have to be careful what you buy.



Depends on what you are trying to do with them. At night or indoors they can be quite handy within 6 feet of your subject. In the day they could fill shadows if you have them close enough, but you might be better off with a large white/silver reflector disc.

The main reason for going this compact LED route is for portability, otherwise I would go with AC powered tungsten lights which are far more powerful. ( if you were lucky you could buy a good pair of used Lowel AC tungsten lights with your $200 budget )
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Thanks. Those Lowel lights look good, but still a bit bulky for my situation.

I think, at this point, I may consider a couple of those Z96 LED's, 2 power adapters, 2 generic Sony batteries/charger if can't charge through the light (probably can), 2 stands and maybe a cheaper LED that runs on 3 AAA's to fill in the shadows with a small stand low to the ground. It would go over $200, but seeing from the other comments this is still very much on the low end.
 
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