what would you buy for $800-$1200 (lights)

M

Marduk

Well-known member
hey guys I didn't want to start another thread of this type and I frequently visit these forums, almost everyday. I've done a lot of reading and seen some threads that even started with the same exact title of my search but I still am a little lost. I'm looking to buy some lights which I will be using mostly for music videos, commercials and corporate videos. now it does not necessarily have to be a kit, it could be a package that you pieced together, but I wanted something to steer me in the right direction. something like a good 3 point system would be great. I have an hmc150 with sgblade rr2. something like with nice key light, a light for a soft box for fill and a back/rim light and any accessories that I would need like gels cables etc.. I know the setup but I don't know what exact light and brand I should get. budget is between $800-$1300 dont ask me how i came up with those numbers:)

Thanks in advance
Ninos
 
$800 - $1200 is barely enough to buy lights (and grip) to shoot a 1 person interview properly depending on conditions. A decent softbox (Rifa 55, Chimera) will set you back about $550. Buying a C-stand, a clamp, and a piece of foamcore to act as a reflector is about $250. Add your small 3rd light and you're at $950. And you don't have the first piece of gel, frames, shot bags, anything to light the background, etc.

For music videos, you might need to light an area 10x as large. Corporate videos and commercials aren't much different.
 
Look for used Colortran heads on eBay. Don't waste money on new fixtures or support.

Also, learn how to bounce light and how to use flags so you can then avoid having to buy costly soft boxes.

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While Chris makes an excellent point about bouncing light, there are benefits and drawbacks to that scenario. To do an effective bounce, you are going to need a stand (C-Stand), a reflector of some kind (perhaps foamcore or gatorboard), and you should have some type of clamp. Let's call it $150 for the stand, $25 for the clamp, and maybe $10 for the gatorboard. So you're at about $200 for a single bounce done properly. That is going to give some nice, soft light. But it's uncontrolled.

So as Chris mentioned, you're going to need to use flags. That is at least 1 more stand and maybe 2, with a clamp and a flag. There's no free lunch. You can buy an all in one softbox like a Rifa, you can buy a fixture and a box like a Chimera, or you can use a fixture and bounce it. Bounce and reflectors become handy if you need to save on power. For that matter, you could save yourself the stand for bouncing by using an umbrella to reflect or as a shoot-through. Achieves the same thing with less gear and expense.


Chris, I'd certainly like to see you give some particulars on what you are saying here. Can you link to one of these "Colortran heads" on Ebay that you speak of? And how would someone looking to buy lights for the first time be able to do so without buying support, or fixtures? You have me very confused by that statement.
 
I said, don't waste time buying new stuff. Light stands and fixtures are pretty simple. They either work or they don't and they're pretty easy to fix. And, I'm all for C stands, but they are relatively expensive. Instead, as an alternative, Lowel cradles with a lightweight kit stand or stand extension and a clamp could function nicely in place of a C stand with an arm.

Check it out:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=colortran&_sacat=See-All-Categories

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Ahh, gotcha.

Used fixtures can certainly be an economical way to go. However, for someone new to lighting, I don't know that I'd put them there to start. A new Lowel Omni or DP light is going to be less than $175. That's a pretty fair price. Add an umbrella for $20 and you've got a pretty nice soft source. Buy a Tota in a kit and you've got a lightweight light, stand, gel frame, umbrella, etc. for a reasonable price.

Frankly, I wouldn't dream of putting a full piece of foam core on a kit stand with an extension arm unless it was well weighted. By the time you get a kit stand, weights, and the extension arm, you're most of the way to buying an Avenger or Matthews C-Stand which is infinitely more useful and flexible. Though a lot heavier. Really depends on the needs.

I looked at that Ebay link. Those look mostly like stage lights. Large and heavy. Probably ok if you're not going anywhere, but I'd hate to have to travel and carry 3-4 of those around with stands.
 
I would get a Chimera 500w triolet kit for $540, a coollights 200w 5600k fluorescent fixture for daylight at $100, 4 cheap light stands off ebay for around $65 for a pair (highly recommend the 8.5' stands from 2dreammaker, i got some, these are excellent for their price, far better than lowel), a 650w fresnel by Arri, Altman, Mole, or Coollights (coolights being the cheapest) for around $300, find yourself a sheet of 1/2 and/or full CTB for balencing your 650w to daylight at around $20 or so, get at least 2 grip heads for around $30 each, a mafer clamp around $40, and some foamcore for reflectors/flags. That should bring you right up to 1200.

Its quality over quantity, sure you can spend 1200 and get a 4 light kit from lowel but you will be battling spill light out the wazoo. The grid with the chimera and the focusable fresnels save time by controlling spill light.
 
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Thanks for all the info guys. yeah right now all i have is a 40x60 5 in 1 reflector and a piece of foam core that i have been practicing with. been using it to reflect, bounce or soften just available light. i know $800 - $1200 is not enough for pro lighting but i have seen a lot of people on here pull of some really nice videos with half that budget. I have about 3 music videos coming up, one in about two weeks we start shooting, and i have some quick 2-3 little commercials so i really need the lights. i wanted to focus on getting just the lights for now and slowly build on those. i like where Giallogreg is headed. I'll start looking those lights up and try to piece it from there. any other suggestions are moe then welcome

thanks again guys

Ninos
 
Marduk said:
i know $800 - $1200 is not enough for pro lighting but i have seen a lot of people on here pull of some really nice videos with half that budget.
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Ansel Adams could make museum quality prints with a pinhole camera. Doesn't mean that a newbie could.

I just did a 4-up interview for my office last week with 2 Lowel DP lights. A year ago, there is no way I would have been able to do that. As you learn, you can get nicer results with less and less gear. But sometimes you really do need more stuff.

If you REALLY need a 5k, a couple 1k's just isn't going to cut it...
 
PerroneFord said:
Frankly, I wouldn't dream of putting a full piece of foam core on a kit stand with an extension arm unless it was well weighted. By the time you get a kit stand, weights, and the extension arm, you're most of the way to buying an Avenger or Matthews C-Stand which is infinitely more useful and flexible. Though a lot heavier. Really depends on the needs.

I looked at that Ebay link. Those look mostly like stage lights. Large and heavy. Probably ok if you're not going anywhere, but I'd hate to have to travel and carry 3-4 of those around with stands.
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Umbrellas are very underrated. They are great tools and cheap too. Also, you can always just clamp a piece of bounce board to a stand. You don't always need to put it on an arm.

The Colortran stuff are made of sheetmetal and are lightweight. I have a bunch of various Colortran lights and they are very portable. Sometimes you need to just put a TVMP on them and you're ready to go. For the money, the Colortran stuff is great.

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It really all depends on how "pro" you want to look. I have a lighting setup that I got for under $1200 but I bought cheap. I use it for all of the above. Would I use it on true pro gigs, probably not, but in those circumstances your probably going to rent stuff anyway.

You also need to think about shooting shots only in ways your lights would help. So you would NOT be able to shoot a huge ware house with these kinds of setups..... doesn't mean you cant have shots in a warehouse.... just not wide shots because you don't have enough lights.

First off..... get daylight balanced lights. That will make your life so much easier. No worrying about losing 1 1/2 stops light gelling CTB on your tungsten lights. If you need hard light get one of these:

http://www.coollights.biz/clmf0150-....html?osCsid=e35d4f71c2a5712827cf1eb219cb058e

Second, always use the least amount of lighting gear for a shot. If you can get away with only using a window for light, do it.... if you need one extra light ...do that.

For everything else:

http://www.filmtools.com/lindcraft-24inch-faux-silk-chinese-lantern-l24s.html

or

http://www.filmtools.com/24whitchinla.html

http://www.hardwareworld.com/Twin-Socket-Adapter-pKZR24B.aspx (home depot has them too)

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/replacement_lamps.htm


ALZO 1512-55 85 WATT - COLOR TEMP 5500K - Set of 4

ALZO 1146-55 45 WATT Photo CFL - Set of 4

http://www.adorama.com/SAFL554.html (can't use non standard frame rates, flicker)

http://www.coollights.biz/cl5556-co....html?osCsid=12db547be78e29faea9475e00c14151f

great shop here: http://shop.ebay.com/steven.studio/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

(light stands, sand bags ect) http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=5800&N=4294550961&Ns=p_PRICE_2|0

These guys have some great deals and used c stands:
http://www.pyramid-films.com/

Gels: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=rosco+gels&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Light bulbs all kinds: http://www.elightbulbs.com/Litetronics-28460-L-362-F40-T12-VS-Straight-T12-Fluorescent-Tube

you can get $10 workshop lights at home depot to fit 48" 5600k T12 bulbs in... they flicker at non standard frame rates but if you just need a lot of lights to blast...... and get some of these to attach to the back so it will fit on a stand:

http://www.coollights.biz/clb2y1-ba....html?osCsid=e92ed66a039cb2da42edee574920e738

poster board is like $5 at walmart

Duct tape!!!!


good luck!!!!
 
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wow thank you for spending the time to write that up Jimmy. I'm definitely going to go through that list. I'm mostly doing music videos with small budgets and some commercials so for right now i don't need a huge grip truck to help me light up a warehouse, there wont be any kind of shots like those in these videos. I'm going to try to work with as much available light that i can. just need some basic lights to help me light up lets say the singer while he's playing the piano, or close up shot while he's doing vocals and stuff like that.
anyways thanks again for the write up Jimmy.

Ninos
 
OK been doing a lot of reading and i think i have narrowed it down to this. what i want to get is some fluorescent lights or maybe even the led ones from cool lights. what do you guys think would be a better choice? start building an led kit because i do like the fact that they draw a lot less power and some can also run on batteries or go ahead and mix n match lights. example, a flo for soft light as key and a small 250watt or more Fresnel for fill which i could also use with some foam core or my 5 in 1 to bounce or soften it up if need be and maybe another light which i haven't decided which exact one yet for rim/background. Am i on the right track or do i have no idea of what i'm talking about lol.. Keep in mind that i will be adding to this kit as i go along. from the links that jimmy posted i saw this ebay listing for this light. http://cgi.ebay.com/F-06B-Pro-330wa...ing?hash=item3355788571&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14l now what would the difference be with something like this compared to the cool lights equivalent which is this i think http://www.coollights.biz/cl655p-cool-lights-portable-watt-softlight-p-68.html

Thanks again
Ninos
 
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Quite a bit of difference. In general there are models meant for a studio and models meant for the road. The ebay link you gave is a metal studio model that's a bit thinner than our studio model CL-655. Some people think to use those types as a portable, carrying them around to wherever, but its not a good idea to use those metal types which are all more at home just fixed in a studio and not moving around a lot. The powder coating on the large metal surface areas, even though strong, will wear down over time.

Our portables, like the CL-655P, have large surface areas of mostly polycarbonate plastic which has shown itself to be pretty durable and won't show wear like powder coating will. Plus the Cool Lights portables are lighter too. More made for being on the road.

Otherwise, the light output may be the same. Anyway different tools for different uses.
 
Remember the china models I listed DO NOT come with any bulbs. So you have to factor in that cost too. Cool lights come with bulbs. The steven studio models seem to flicker at non standard frame rates (other than 24,30,60) as well. Not sure if the cool lights do or not, I don't own any (but I do own some cool lights accessories).

Funny because the Alzo bulbs don't flicker at all with the built in ballast.
 
man i didn't think it would be this complicated to buy 3 lights. mostly because there's so many brands and so many types. ok so with the coollights hows that work when it comes to shipping and stuff or being in stock. I've read alot of threads here with rich talking about having certain stuff not in stock yet and is hoping to get them in in october. I want to order 3 lights( dont know which three yet) tommorrow and hope they arrive buy the end of the week. is that at all possible from coolights or would i have to go with someone else like BnH

Ninos
 
The CoolLights website will tell you whether the item is in stock or not. I just ordered some lights from them Tuesday and they'll be here Monday (if I had ordered Monday I would have had them Friday). You can pay more to guarantee they arrive in less time, but we weren't needing them that fast. Can't wait for them to arrive to check the quality, build, etc... They're highly recommended on this site.
 
Marduk said:
man i didn't think it would be this complicated to buy 3 lights.

Ninos
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Buying three lights is rather easy. Buying the RIGHT three lights to do what you need to do, can be tricky. Especially, when you need the flexibility of 6 - 10 lights to do most jobs correctly.
 
Get a couple of 4 bank 2' flos for key and fill. If you can't afford them get 2 large China balls, some Y-adapters and use 4 CFLs and duvetyne as a skirt. You'll work harder to use the lanterns.

Get three 150W-300W focusable lights, such as Peppers or my favorite, Lowel Pros, for hairlights, kickers, background or harder key or fill.

Use practicals on the set.

Get some diffusion and 1/2 CTB for the incandescents.

Get 4 flags/bounce cards (2'X3' black/white foamcore with slots in the end to fit into grip heads will do,) and a roll of 12" blackwrap for snoots, etc.

Get 4 C-stands, gobo arms, grip heads and sandbags.

You can shoot almost any scene in almost any room of a house with this kit, hard or soft.

(On edit, why be a whimp?) You can shoot any scene in any room of a house...
 
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Marduk said:
man i didn't think it would be this complicated to buy 3 lights. mostly because there's so many brands and so many types. ok so with the coollights hows that work when it comes to shipping and stuff or being in stock. I've read alot of threads here with rich talking about having certain stuff not in stock yet and is hoping to get them in in october. I want to order 3 lights( dont know which three yet) tommorrow and hope they arrive buy the end of the week. is that at all possible from coolights or would i have to go with someone else like BnH

Ninos
Click to expand...

I'm sure buying anything that you don't have experience with can seem complicated. After that first time though, it gets easier as you understand the product--no matter what it is.

Just look at the bottom of our home page and you can see whether something is in stock or not. We don't have our metal studio models in stock yet but most of the portable lightweight flo versions are there with the exception of the non-dimming 2x55 portable which we just ran out of. I recommend the CL-455Ps for your use based on what you've said.

Someone mentioned something about flicker. None of our flos flicker at any frame rate / shutter speed.
 
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