What to add to my mini light kit? $1200 budget

G

gutterball321

Well-known member
So I am going to try to start adding freelance work and think lighting is what I need to invest in most. I currently have 3 apiture 672 led panels which aren’t bad for small travel led lights that just flood a room. I don’t know if I should by a couple hard lights like the aputure ls -mini to pair with them for a hair light and accent light? Should I forget what I have and add a really bright litepanel Astro? Are there led hard lights equivalent to an arri 650 with barndoors I can shape?

I mainly film interviews and b-roll with some green screen work on the side. My freelance stuff is usually lower budget so want something quick to take down and reassemble.
 
I would place the entire budget into the best key light I can afford e.g. Astra 6x bi-color/softbox or intellytech LC-160 (with included softbox). This way you'll have a great light moving forward instead of wanting to replace a mediocre prosumer light. With a focus on interviews, I'd hold off on the hard lighting until you've rounded out your soft lighting.

It depends what your shaping needs are but IMO there is no LED Fresnel equivalent at this point. But ETC Source Four Series 2 Lustr seems like a good option with a high price tag. The Hive 200-C with leko attachment should be good but I can't confirm. Both come with significant price tags.
 
rob norton said:
I would place the entire budget into the best key light I can afford e.g. Astra 6x bi-color/softbox or intellytech LC-160 (with included softbox). This way you'll have a great light moving forward instead of wanting to replace a mediocre prosumer light. With a focus on interviews, I'd hold off on the hard lighting until you've rounded out your soft lighting.

It depends what your shaping needs are but IMO there is no LED Fresnel equivalent at this point. But ETC Source Four Series 2 Lustr seems like a good option with a high price tag. The Hive 200-C with leko attachment should be good but I can't confirm. Both come with significant price tags.
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STILL waiting on my Hive 200C's... Almost three months, now. I have two Source Four's, so I all need are the adapters and I can put the barrels on when and if I receive the lights(ordered them both with the fresnel lens attachment). Source Four's are great for cutting HARD and of course pattern projection. BUT for some reason, full size tungsten Source Four's look like they have jumped up a lot in price and B&H doesn't even appear to stock any tungsten version of them anymore.(Look at what Hive is charging for a REFURBISHED Source Four Barrel. It's more than what I used to buy entire Source Fours for). For years, these were staples and you could walk into almost any lighting company and walk out with one, if you needed it.
 
Run&Gun said:
STILL waiting on my Hive 200C's... Almost three months, now. I have two Source Four's, so I all need are the adapters and I can put the barrels on when and if I receive the lights(ordered them both with the fresnel lens attachment). Source Four's are great for cutting HARD and of course pattern projection. BUT for some reason, full size tungsten Source Four's look like they have jumped up a lot in price and B&H doesn't even appear to stock any tungsten version of them anymore.(Look at what Hive is charging for a REFURBISHED Source Four Barrel. It's more than what I used to buy entire Source Fours for). For years, these were staples and you could walk into almost any lighting company and walk out with one, if you needed it.
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Interesting. When searching on B&H, Continuous Lighting/Tungsten Lights, ETC isn't a featured brand. But Continuous Lighting/Stage & DJ Lighting shows ETC, then you can filter by tungsten.

Other than typing in the product name, I can't remember if that's how they were previously found on the site. I wonder if it's part of a larger push to phase out tungsten lights driven by B&H, probably in cooperation with ETC.

Barbizon Australia doesn't publicly list the classic source 4 anymore but still sells them. I understand this is marketing and they're running a business that pushes new technology. But there still would be many cases where a tungsten source 4 is truly the best fit so I think it's a shame people miss out simply because they're too difficult to buy, or they don't even know the product exists.
 
A high quality point/spot/Fresnel light source is super useful. I've got a Fiilex P360 EX with the diffuser dome and Fresnel insert- super small, quiet fan, and great color quality (plenty of light for close work and/or high ISO cameras (Canon, Sony etc.)). Here's the latest version: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1332084-REG/fiilex_flxp360pp_p360_pro_plus_includes.html (~400W tungsten equivalent) . Also have a bunch of Aputure panels, including LS1, LS1/2 and the smaller plastic panels. Fiilex build quality is much higher (all metal, very small and elegant design). The Aputure C300d (not variable color) is much larger, has a separate power/control module (like the LSx series), though is around 3 times brighter than the Fiilex (folks stating around 1200W tungsten eq.) and would provide more options for modifiers at the expense of quality/bulk/color control.

Higher output LED Fresnels are nice, especially lights in the same class as the Fiilex Q8 Travel, though the cost is much higher: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1401518-REG/fiilex_flxq8tl_q8_travel.html or https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/886683-REG/Zylight_26_01020_F8_LED_Fresnel_Daylight.html (on sale- only $549 over your budget ;) ).
 
rob norton said:
Interesting. When searching on B&H, Continuous Lighting/Tungsten Lights, ETC isn't a featured brand. But Continuous Lighting/Stage & DJ Lighting shows ETC, then you can filter by tungsten.

Other than typing in the product name, I can't remember if that's how they were previously found on the site. I wonder if it's part of a larger push to phase out tungsten lights driven by B&H, probably in cooperation with ETC.

Barbizon Australia doesn't publicly list the classic source 4 anymore but still sells them. I understand this is marketing and they're running a business that pushes new technology. But there still would be many cases where a tungsten source 4 is truly the best fit so I think it's a shame people miss out simply because they're too difficult to buy, or they don't even know the product exists.
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That's pretty much what I was thinking, but they don't appear to stock any brand of ellipsoidal light(LED or tungsten) except Chauvet LED's.

I still think tungsten(and natural daylight) renders better skin tones than anything else, but even I'm almost all LED, now. Never thought it would happen. Heck, I'm actually having a hard time remembering the last time I shot tungsten...
 
Coming from someone with around 70 lighting instruments..... I would rent on an as needed basis, until the time your freelance business is strong enough to invest in the equipment needed to support your client base.
 
rob norton said:
I would place the entire budget into the best key light I can afford e.g. Astra 6x bi-color/softbox or intellytech LC-160 (with included softbox). This way you'll have a great light moving forward instead of wanting to replace a mediocre prosumer light.
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Thanks good advice and probably smart to have a nice light instead of temporary small lights. The intellytech looks really cool but is it even close to as bright as the astra?
 
Unfortunately, lighting instruments aren't the "forever" purchases that they once were(of course I'm referring to LED's). But with that being said, I still don't treat my lighting gear purchases as disposable with a short shelf-life. I still buy quality gear with the expectation that it's going to perform well and with the intentions of using it for many years to come.
 
are those lighting units you mentioned big and bright enough? I never know if that's what people are doing these days, just getting a small LED light source that is somewhat bright, then trying to bounce it off of something larger, or getting a big enough softbox? Do you find that the small size of these LEDs are hurting the quality of the light on the subject, or is it just something that has to be lived with?
 
gutterball321 said:
Thanks good advice and probably smart to have a nice light instead of temporary small lights. The intellytech looks really cool but is it even close to as bright as the astra?
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Probably not but still bright enough for many situations inc. interview set ups. I haven't used the Astra, they're not very popular here but it should be more powerful and simple while the Intellytech is more versatile yet takes longer to set up.
 
I have been building an LED kit for sometime to give a daylight option. I've managed to get some pretty good deals on panels but I've really wanted at least one larger output single source for a large soft box and or to compete daylight when needed. Seems like to get something equivalent to a 1000w tungsten you will need around 200w in a single spectrum. Thus far, the lights that seem to powerful enough, say 200w+ are so huge and heavy that they need a dedicated case. No way one will one fit in either of my rolling kits. You need even bigger watts in a bi-color, maybe 300. Mostly I've been looking at Dracast as I have their panels. And the Dracast 2000 fresnel doesn't have a fan unlike many others; no doubt the smaller units use fans since they have less size for heat sinking.. But the size and weight makes this model a real burden. I have seen it on sale for around $1000, so the price is within reason and the Dracast panels have been OK to good. It may become necessary for this size commitment to get the power I want, but dang, part of the motivation for LCD is smaller-lighter-less power. In this output range and style, smaller-lighter they aren't. I'm still toying with the Visionsmith re-lamp for Arris. Buying a new 1000w Arri and relamping it isn't too much more than other similar fixtures and would be a better quality fixture. Although I have heard that the 1k conversion ends up similar to a 650. It does seem that all of the LED light manufacturers are pretty optimistic on their ratings, so if they say 1k equivalent, round down by a third.

If anyone has a decent quality alternative with similar features, I'm all ears. But it seems all the lower priced options have too many warts for my taste and the really nice stuff is out of my cost network, so I keep looking.

Grant
 
jcs said:
A high quality point/spot/Fresnel light source is super useful. I've got a Fiilex P360 EX with the diffuser dome and Fresnel insert- super small, quiet fan, and great color quality (plenty of light for close work and/or high ISO cameras (Canon, Sony etc.)). Here's the latest version: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1332084-REG/fiilex_flxp360pp_p360_pro_plus_includes.html (~400W tungsten equivalent) . Also have a bunch of Aputure panels, including LS1, LS1/2 and the smaller plastic panels. Fiilex build quality is much higher (all metal, very small and elegant design). The Aputure C300d (not variable color) is much larger, has a separate power/control module (like the LSx series), though is around 3 times brighter than the Fiilex (folks stating around 1200W tungsten eq.) and would provide more options for modifiers at the expense of quality/bulk/color control.

Higher output LED Fresnels are nice, especially lights in the same class as the Fiilex Q8 Travel, though the cost is much higher: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1401518-REG/fiilex_flxq8tl_q8_travel.html or https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/886683-REG/Zylight_26_01020_F8_LED_Fresnel_Daylight.html (on sale- only $549 over your budget ;) ).
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Hi jcs,
Actually considering picking up the P360 while it's on sale but wondering whether the convenience that comes with DMX is worth the price difference between the P360 Plus vs the P360, or should I at least try to find a used P360EX instead?
 
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