Are these lights any good...
 

...for multi purpose key and fill lights for film-making?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=004

Seen these on eBay last night, I'm in need of a light kit don't really want to pay too much for them for the amount of film making that I do, but I feel that investing in at least two lights would be a good idea, instead of making do with DIY work lights or my little 20w Sony video light.

What I'd use these for would be to light a moderate sized room, to accompany daylight bulbs installed in the ceiling lights, these lights would really be used on actors.

Would they suffice, would I need bigger stands, are they any good :)

Thanks

Russ

Looks like its probably okay and the price is not too bad considering it's the UK ;-). Don't know for sure on the stands but why not just try it and see what you may need later. 85w bulbs = around 340w effective output so if that's enough for your applications you should be good.

Hey Russ, would you mind posting a little review of the lights when you get them? - or any other 'budget' lights you find. I find it's much harder to find things like that in the UK.

Cheers

Simon

When I get them, I'll let you know. Just brought a SpiderBrace so be another week or so maybe til I get the lights. (I'm naff with priorities!!)

They are considerably overestimating the equivalent power of their bulbs; Richard's figure sounds much more reasonable to me. This begs the question: is 350W of soft light going to be enough?

Yeah and I was being very kind. With many of these CFL's since the ballast power factor is lower (ballast is just too small in the base of the lamp to have more complex circuitry) the multiplier is 3 of tungsten equivalent instead of the average 4 so it could very well even be closer to 250w equivalent. Two of them being around 500w equivalent. Let us know what you find.

Now I'm really confused!
 

Basically I want to use them as a first set of lighting for film making. Really can't afford anything professional, just need to get some lights so I can play. These lights better than no lights on zero or very low budget film making?

Check out my film A Question of Taste to illustrate what I mean.

http://dutchfilms.russthedutch.net/qot-title.html

Russ

Ready, Fire, Aim...
 

Hi Russ,

I strongly suggest you invest your training before buying anything. And since you're on a very limited budget, try John Cooksey's "Digital Lighting Magic":

http://www.elitevideo.com/index.asp?...PROD&ProdID=60

Eventually, you'll be ready to upgrade when the $$$ start rolling in but this will give you the theory, practice, and best gear for the buck.

Have fun, Michael

I have that Digital Lighting Magic DVD and while I would categorize it as excellent for interview lighting situations its not so heavy on "film" or narrative style and dramatic lighting which seems to be what you want to do.

What I would say about this light in question is that this could be a good starting point for soft light but it will only be soft light and can never be hard. So those times you want to project a cucaloris on the wall (for that window frame pattern for instance) or you need a good sharp edged shadow, you'll need a hard light like that from a fresnel.

Lighting
 

I am also looking for reasonable lighting formats but during a search for 2 lights I found this indie filmmaker kit. I want to get it eventually but just want to get some feedback before spending that kind of money.

http://www.pclightingsystems.com/tungsten/tungsten.html

Thanks!

Ms. Taylor Kelley

Let there be light
 

Rehi Russ and Taylor,

If you can get by with low light, perhaps these flourescent bulbs will work for you. My guess is they would be better for interview and studio settings than your movie making environment, but if you can control the setting (tight camera shots like your trailer), you might have a good solution. Here's a few links that may be helpful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Movie_M...anual/Lighting

Taylor, your link shows more powerful lighting equipment. And when we're shooting through a softbox with several stops of diffusion, we love extra power. The big boys will go with the HMIs while the indy mortals are comfortable with tungsten.

Good luck, Michael

Lighting Kits
 

So, I guess this set would be perfect for the indie world of filmmaking!

http://www.pclightingsystems.com/tungsten/tungsten.html

Thanks,

Miss Taylor L. Kelley

Do a search for pacific coast lighting systems or pclightingsystems or pclightingsystems.com. I think you'll find its been discussed before.

"So, I guess this set would be perfect for the indie world of filmmaking!"

For some things, that kit may be nice. Unfortunately, I see two possible problems. The first is in the title - "3600 Watt". That is a whole lot of electricity. Of course, you wouldn't need to have them all on at the same time, but then why such an elaborate kit if it all isn't needed?

The other potential problem I see is that those look exactly like a light a friend of mine bought. The housing was made of plastic and there was a built-in thermal shutdown device inside to prevent overheating. The light shut down after about 5 minutes. Yes, a 1K light is very bright, but it is also hot. Even if that particular light was a lemon, the fact that it needs a thermal shutdown device speaks volumes about how it will behave while you are shooting.

I'm not trying to slam that company. I just think you should buy one of their lights before the whole kit to make sure you like their style.

They're Britek units. I don't know why they don't report that up front but they are Briteks and people have very strong opinions about Britek both ways.