Travel-friendly bang for buck LED lighting kit for interviews and docs???

E

ericsf

Member
Hey folks,

I'm often a one-man-show video producer that does a lot of documentary style promotional shorts for a lot of non-profits and small businesses. I have about 5 years of professional experience. I'm looking for a lighting kit mainly for interviews that's small and light that I could carry around by myself along with my other video equipment. I'm all about guerrilla style and using potentially low/mid-range equipment skillfully to achieve the best possible results(/highest production value) possible without having to buy overpriced industry standard equipment. I'm pretty new when it comes to lighting and while I'm pretty crafty using available light, I want to step my game up in lighting interviews. For my work/clients, content and stories are king, so it doesn't need to be cinema quality, but it needs to look professional. I'm shooting on a Panasonic HMC150 but will prob get into the DSLR world sometime this year.

I'm assuming LED's are the way to go because of the portability advantages. I don't think I could feasibly lug around a couple of flo light boxes. I'm thinking about a two light kit because I feel that I can get away with a key and backlight, and a reflector for fill. Please lemme know if there are better set-ups. I don't need the top line and not looking for the cheapest pieces of crap either. Something in the middle that if used right, can have good results. Technology is changing so fast, I see this as a starter kit and maybe down the line, I'll invest in a higher quality kit.

I'm def on a budget and $1000 would be my absolute max for the entire kit but would be stoked if there was an option closer to $500.

Does anyone have any recommendations for brands and sizes of LED panels.

Anyone have experience with something like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/834067-REG/Bescor_LED_200KB_LED_200KB_2_Light_Kit.html

Should I avoid options like Meking mentioned here? http://www.budgetfilmmaker.co.uk/1/...ight-guide-complitely-new-second-edition.html

Thanks so much!
 
that bescor thing looks kinda neat. pretty limiting though at only 210 LEDs each.
you CAN do interviews with less (i had to do a week of interviews on the road with nothing but two ikan 144s) but what happens when you need MORE?

so im not sure id buy that as my primary kit.

my go-to LED interview kit these days consists of:
2 ikan id1000 for key and fill
1 ikan 120 for hairlight
1 old lowel 250 pro for hairlight in brightly lit rooms where the 120 LED wont cut it.
1 home depot inline dimmer for the lowel
a variety of utility and effect gels
a roll of blackwrap and a few c47s and a roll of gaffertape
3 avenger boom stands
 
You know I've got a Kino flo 12" car kit and 2 12" rosco litepads that get used on nearly every interview job (the kinos always, the Roscos sometimes). It all fits into a small kino briefcase and can easily all be thrown into a backpack. If you get some of those tiny bladed stands and a few clamps you have an interview kit in a backpack.
 
I dont see why LEDs are portable.. compared to Dedo lights

To me the advantage of LED is the ability to use without access to mains voltage - you dont mention that in your spec

IMO a Dedo shot through a lastolight is more portable and offers a higher quality of light at about the same price point

As for 'industry stuff being overpriced'? If it lasts three times as long but only costs twice as much its cheaper..
Personally I avoid all non industry stuff were possible

S
 
Morgan, could you link to the lights you use. Mostly, they seem out of the OPs budget of $1000 for a couple of lights.

For an economy LED light, I have a Cool Lights LED600. It has a all metal case, relatively small form factor, and the barn doors close over the LEDs, so it really is a pretty durable fixture for travel. It runs on AC or 12v from a 4pin XLR and has other battery mount options. When needed, I run this off a Bescor brick. The more expensive LEDs which can adjust for color, would be really nice, but they are out of the OPs budget.

http://www.coollights.biz/clled600-panel-p-114.html

Grant
 
morgan_moore said:
I dont see why LEDs are portable.. compared to Dedo lights

To me the advantage of LED is the ability to use without access to mains voltage - you dont mention that in your spec

IMO a Dedo shot through a lastolight is more portable and offers a higher quality of light at about the same price point

As for 'industry stuff being overpriced'? If it lasts three times as long but only costs twice as much its cheaper..
Personally I avoid all non industry stuff were possible

S
Click to expand...

Same here. I gave up on DIY and cheap crap pretty early on. It takes too long to set up properly, is difficult to control, prone to breakage, etc... "Pro" lights and grip gear return every penny you spent on them in the frustration and time they save.
 
gonzo_entertainment said:
Same here. I gave up on DIY and cheap crap pretty early on. It takes too long to set up properly, is difficult to control, prone to breakage, etc... "Pro" lights and grip gear return every penny you spent on them in the frustration and time they save.
Click to expand...

I second that. And people often forget, you don't need to always buy new... Professional grade lighting is built to last forever so you can save alot buying used... You can get used mole richardson fixtures for less than much of the new cheap stuff, and it will outlast it. I bought my 420 peppers used complete with barn doors and scrims for $75 each from a rental house, and Mole Richardson 1Ks (w/ everything) for under $200. And often you can find some that need just a little wiring repair that you can pick often pick them up for next to nothing (and professional tungstens are easy to fix).

Portability wise, I have a large case with all my lighting I use for larger gigs, but for smaller stuff, I usually pack a bag with three of the following (2x 420 peppers, arri 300w, 1k softbox) a couple dimmers and lightweight stands. I also have a couple z96 LED panels I bought from ebay that run off the standard sony batteries that I use with really lightweight stands when I need to pack really light.
 
I love them, though I wish I didn't buy the daylight balanced once since I'm constantly taping CTO to them. But they work great, put out a surprisingly large volume of light and are so simple to tape onto a wall, in a car etc. I've had them for about three years and have given them a fair deal of abuse and they keep on ticking and have not had a color shift.

The only downside to me is that they are not dimmable, but it's not a deal breaker. A couple weeks ago I worked as a gaffer for a 3D doc on ESA astronaut Alex Gerst being trained (airs in Germany and France in July) and once I broke out the litepads the DP and producer were very impressed with them...and we ended up using them regularly. They were a huge help in tight quarters where we were shooting in a mock up of the space station and needed to set up quickly, draw very little power, and be able to mount them in nooks and crannies.

I saw that someone was selling a huge kit of the litepads here for a very good price. If I had the extra cash I would have picked them up. In a perfect world I'd have a suitcase filled with these in different sizes. Money very well spent.
 
I love those rosco pads - but dont think they hit the 'bang for the buck' criteria - pretty costly

I am sure that lumens/mass/$/size tungsten is still ahead (running off the mains)

The thing I like about dedos is the excellent daylight filters rather than mudging with gel on set

s
 
morgan_moore said:
I love those rosco pads - but dont think they hit the 'bang for the buck' criteria - pretty costly

I am sure that lumens/mass/$/size tungsten is still ahead (running off the mains)

The thing I like about dedos is the excellent daylight filters rather than mudging with gel on set

s
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Of course Tungsten beats them in pound for pound power. But if you need something extremely compact for doc work they are a great tool in your kit.
 
Hey thanks everyone for your suggestions! This helps A LOT. Yeah I'm fully aware that in most cases you get what you pay for and I didn't mean to come off like expensive gear isn't worth the price but sometimes you can get something that's not as good as the high priced stuff but will get the job done and much less expensive. It's like how Monster will charge $60+ for an HDMI cable when you can get one that'll be fine for $5. I'm just getting to know the lighting world so I was seeing if there's any way to weed through premium brand name mark-ups.

Lots of ways to go here. As far as LED's what's the smallest you think I could go for that'd work for a location key light for an interview? I never do group interviews and I'm mostly shooting in small rooms where the key might be 6ft away or less from the interviewee.

I'm still leaning towards LEDs, mainly because of the lack of heat and low power. I'm often running and gunning and quick striking and not having to think about power too much would be helpful. That said, if the best way are tungstens, so be it.

Does anyone have experience with any of these LEDs like Meking? From the price, they're prob crap, but don't know...

http://www.budgetfilmmaker.co.uk/1/p...d-edition.html
 
Sorry if you want more LED info - I cant comment only having used LitePanels - which are nice

To me an interview needs a soft key source - I would say say a 'soft' source even right out of the frame on a single person needs to be at least 12X24 inches

To me any fixture which is 12X24 would not be 'travel friendly'

Which is why I would think that a small fixture (eg a Dedo) plus a brolly or lastolite is the answer for 'travel friendly' and 'bang for the buck'

I use exactly that combo when im such a situation and use a much bigger flouro fixture when time/travel constraints allow

A tungsten and a gel of course mean you can match daylight or tungsten - or go 'open face' when you need to exchange power for quality in terms of light..

S
 
Look at the new Dedo LED lights (the price, yeah, I know) - you can bolt all the Dedo light formers , from soft boxes to snouts to them.

On a side note: Dedo Weigert - the founder, is not the biggest fan of LED lights. He explained to me, that if you want halfway decent quality light out of LEDs,
you have to scarify lumen output per watt. Like kino flos get 80 lumen per watt, the tungsten Dedo lights get 40 lumen per watt and the LED only 30 lumen per watt.
They sell LED though, cause the marked demands them, but he said, personally he prefers tungsten over any LED, because of the light quality.

Frank
 
Led at 30 lumens per watt ?
What year was that ?
How about these at well over 70 lumen per watt, the cooler ones go well over 100 lumens per watt : http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/C...d Modules/XLamp/Data and Binning/XLampXML.pdf
Or these new ones that will hit the market with over 90 CRI and output well over 2000 lumens or 85 lumens per watt : http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules/products/xlamp/arrays-directional/xlamp-mtg2
Not to mention Nichia, Luminus, Phatlight, just to name a few that are brewing something up.
Leds are here to stay and getting better by the day.
 
personally he prefers tungsten over any LED, because of the light quality.
Click to expand...
yeah, i would agree with that. but when you need to move quickly, and lightly and dont want to melt your subject. the shortcomings of LED dont offset the benefits...
 
@Norman Dedo said, that he considers anything below 95 CRI as not enough.

Don´t know, the old guy is pretty wise and picky when it comes to light,
cause that´s what he did his whole life as a DP, lights inventor and manufacturer.
I talked with him about an 2 hours and learned a ton from him.
They did a lot of research for their LED lights, and tried a lot of brands.
But when they did spectral analysis and other tests, they are still not satisfied with the light quality, no matter what the CRI is.

I think (out on a limb mode on) it´s something I also see (even in flo lights), that there is something in
"natural" light - sunlight, fire, tungsten - that is missing in "unnatural" light, like LED and florescent.
I can´t put my finger on it, but it´s there and it´s more than just CRI and spectrum.

Frank
 
I have three LED312 and they are a bargain. Not the purest lightsource but often they look good enough. The most cost effective is fluorescent spiral bulbs, you can get them for as low as $20 a piece. I got a pair of 135W bulbs from the latest generation and they are free of green spiking as far as I've seen.
 
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