David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
As some of you may know, I have posted before about alternative, low cost lighting solutions. I wanted to add another light that I am very fond of, and that costs very little to acquire. Introducing what I have affectionately dubbed, "The Pocket 650":
The "Pocket 650" is a 650 watt open faced light that was designed for use as supplemental lighting during the 8mm and Super 8mm home movie craze in the 1960s and 1970s. This particular light is the "Cameralite" from the Acme-Lite Manufacturing Company of Chicago Il. It is one of my favorite of these types of lights and I have, I believe, at least 5 or 6 of them.
There are other lights of similar design, made by other companies, that I have also. Another brand that i like a lot is the "Mardi-Gras" light made by GE. It is very similar to the Acme "Cameralite", but has a plastic body. The "Cameralite" is an all metal body. I have other lights of this type, but I have culled many of them from my kit. My main reason for sticking to the "Cameralite" and the "Mardi-Gras" lights, and a couple of other brands of this type, is to reduce my having to shop around for different types of spare bulbs for the lights. The "Cameralite", the "Mardi-Gras" light and the others all can be lamped with DVY 650 watt bulbs and DYS 600 watt bulbs. I have spares of those and pulled the lights that take different bulbs. All totaled I have probably about 10 or 12 of the "Pocket 650" type lights as part of my light kit. The best part is that I did not pay more than $20 for any of them, bought used off of eBay. To be totally truthful, I paid around $10 for most of them. I really like these lights. No, they are not the only lights you need to buy and they are not the easiest lights to control, but having a bin full of them is very handy. Shooting low budget fictional narrative, I have found myself in situations where I have some rather large spaces to light, like night exteriors, or down long hallways and such, where having small powerful lights, like the "Pocket 650", really save the day.
One of my favorite configurations for the "Pocket 650" is to use it with an umbrella to make a soft source.
Now using an umbrella as a soft source is tough, as the light is very hard to control. What I have been doing is using pieces of black fabric, specifically cut to fit the umbrella as drapes to help to control the light (especially to cut the bottom half of the light). I have also found that it helps to use available frames, like windows and doors, to help shape the light from an umbrella. The thing is, what the "Pocket 650" and an umbrella lack in control, they almost more than make up for by being very light weight, very easy and quick to set up and very low cost. I have done some testing and I can set up a "Pocket 650" with an umbrella on a super clamp with a baby pin and hang it almost anywhere. You got a warehouse interior (or what ever) and you want a soft top light... think about mounting a "Pocket 650" umbrella combo in the rafters. And so forth and so on...
Like I said, I don't think that this is the only light you should buy, I just wanted to offer a suggestion for an additional tool in your lighting kit.
Some more pics:
One bit of advice on purchasing these types of lights. What you want to make sure of is that the light is easily mountable to modern light gear. Some of the lights made during the film home movie days come with mounting clips that were made to mount directly into a slot on top of the Super 8mm camera. This moved the integral "85" filter (Full CTO) out of the way of the gate so that the film would register for tungsten lighting. I have found that the lights with these mounts require a good bit of modification to make them mountable to modern lighting support gear. My efforts to modify lights like this have not been successful. These is why I have narrowed the "Pocket 650s" in my kit to the "Cameralite", the "Mardi-Gras"light and a few others. What you want is a light that has some type of bracket or other mounting hardware that will accept a 1/4 20 (Or 3/8"... but I have passed on this for the sake of consistency in my gear) screw or bolt. To mount the "Pocket 650" in my lighting support gear I use an inexpensive variable spigot and bolt it to the bottom of the camera mounting bracket:
I then use inexpensive umbrella stand mounting adapters to put the light on stands with tilt capabilities.
These mount adapters come with the variable spigots, but I suggest getting some more to have around.
Here is the photometric info I have come up with testing these kinds of lights.
Direct beam:
Umbrella bounce:
Well, just a suggestion. I like these lights. You do have to be very careful with them as they get very hot, but they are very handy to have around. Low cost, powerful, light weight.
The "Pocket 650" is a 650 watt open faced light that was designed for use as supplemental lighting during the 8mm and Super 8mm home movie craze in the 1960s and 1970s. This particular light is the "Cameralite" from the Acme-Lite Manufacturing Company of Chicago Il. It is one of my favorite of these types of lights and I have, I believe, at least 5 or 6 of them.
There are other lights of similar design, made by other companies, that I have also. Another brand that i like a lot is the "Mardi-Gras" light made by GE. It is very similar to the Acme "Cameralite", but has a plastic body. The "Cameralite" is an all metal body. I have other lights of this type, but I have culled many of them from my kit. My main reason for sticking to the "Cameralite" and the "Mardi-Gras" lights, and a couple of other brands of this type, is to reduce my having to shop around for different types of spare bulbs for the lights. The "Cameralite", the "Mardi-Gras" light and the others all can be lamped with DVY 650 watt bulbs and DYS 600 watt bulbs. I have spares of those and pulled the lights that take different bulbs. All totaled I have probably about 10 or 12 of the "Pocket 650" type lights as part of my light kit. The best part is that I did not pay more than $20 for any of them, bought used off of eBay. To be totally truthful, I paid around $10 for most of them. I really like these lights. No, they are not the only lights you need to buy and they are not the easiest lights to control, but having a bin full of them is very handy. Shooting low budget fictional narrative, I have found myself in situations where I have some rather large spaces to light, like night exteriors, or down long hallways and such, where having small powerful lights, like the "Pocket 650", really save the day.
One of my favorite configurations for the "Pocket 650" is to use it with an umbrella to make a soft source.
Now using an umbrella as a soft source is tough, as the light is very hard to control. What I have been doing is using pieces of black fabric, specifically cut to fit the umbrella as drapes to help to control the light (especially to cut the bottom half of the light). I have also found that it helps to use available frames, like windows and doors, to help shape the light from an umbrella. The thing is, what the "Pocket 650" and an umbrella lack in control, they almost more than make up for by being very light weight, very easy and quick to set up and very low cost. I have done some testing and I can set up a "Pocket 650" with an umbrella on a super clamp with a baby pin and hang it almost anywhere. You got a warehouse interior (or what ever) and you want a soft top light... think about mounting a "Pocket 650" umbrella combo in the rafters. And so forth and so on...
Like I said, I don't think that this is the only light you should buy, I just wanted to offer a suggestion for an additional tool in your lighting kit.
Some more pics:
One bit of advice on purchasing these types of lights. What you want to make sure of is that the light is easily mountable to modern light gear. Some of the lights made during the film home movie days come with mounting clips that were made to mount directly into a slot on top of the Super 8mm camera. This moved the integral "85" filter (Full CTO) out of the way of the gate so that the film would register for tungsten lighting. I have found that the lights with these mounts require a good bit of modification to make them mountable to modern lighting support gear. My efforts to modify lights like this have not been successful. These is why I have narrowed the "Pocket 650s" in my kit to the "Cameralite", the "Mardi-Gras"light and a few others. What you want is a light that has some type of bracket or other mounting hardware that will accept a 1/4 20 (Or 3/8"... but I have passed on this for the sake of consistency in my gear) screw or bolt. To mount the "Pocket 650" in my lighting support gear I use an inexpensive variable spigot and bolt it to the bottom of the camera mounting bracket:
I then use inexpensive umbrella stand mounting adapters to put the light on stands with tilt capabilities.
These mount adapters come with the variable spigots, but I suggest getting some more to have around.
Here is the photometric info I have come up with testing these kinds of lights.
Direct beam:
Umbrella bounce:
Well, just a suggestion. I like these lights. You do have to be very careful with them as they get very hot, but they are very handy to have around. Low cost, powerful, light weight.
Last edited:
