Westcott Spiderlites?
 

Anyone have experience with Wescott's Spiderlites?

They have normal threaded fixtures which can take halogen, compact flourescent*, stuido strobe or modeling lamp bulbs. Fixtures can be individual turned on/off.

http://www.fjwestcott.com/fjw.com/products/td5.htm

The five bulb version kit cost around $650 from B&H.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...5_Small_1.html

I'm looking at this as an alternative to a Diva Light.


*Westcott supplies the bulbs and specs them as: 27-watt daylight fluorescent lamps CRI 93.

Just got the TD-5 five bulb spider light with the medium softbox. My initial impression is "WOW!" A friend of mine who is a gaffer checked it out and was duely impressed.

You can turn on-off individual bulbs. The light looks really well balanced, so CRI 93 seems to not be a stretch.

With the stand, bulbs, softbox, baffle and diffusion it came in at around $600.

To be honest, I think this is a better option than a Diva light, and for ~$400 less.

You can get this setup significantly cheaper and it uses a single 200 watt fluorescent bulb, either 3200 or 5500K:

http://www.coollights.biz/clsft1-coo...ture-p-33.html

FWIU, you can't dim a flourescent bulb significantly w/o changing its color temp. With the Spiderlite, there are five bulbs that can turned on/off. I can change the intensity by 1/2 a stop or 2/3rd's of stop w/ no change in temp.

And the quality of the light from the bulbs is outstanding, IMHO. The industry gaffer who checked it out thought the light looked nicer--a little softer--than what comes out of a Diva light (and KinoFlo's have very nice light). Also, the bulbs can be switched out with higher or lower intensity ones.

Re: Westcott Spiderlites?
 

all-

i'm reviving a VERY old thread.

has anyone used the westcott td5 spiderlites?

i have series of short-10min, interior/evening, stand-up talking heads in a very tight space and i'm concerned that a tungsten softbox will "melt" my interviewees.

the idea of using flous is very appealing.

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

be well

rob
smalltalk productions

Re: Westcott Spiderlites?
 

If you want to get past the hot lights & pricey (fire proof) softbox... I've become very fond of the biax flo fixtures. You can find duals (about 400 watt equivalent) for $200 or so, quads (like 8-900 equivalent - and that's with no CTB) for around $300. Cool lights sells some nice ones.

They're already pretty soft - just clipping 1/4 diffusion to the barn doors is often all you need. I like clipping unbleached muslin to the quad for a bit of warmth. Or you can shoot them through a 4x4 frame, or narrow the doors for more of a strip-light look. I wrap them in black mesh if I need some cut, or white mesh to soften sometimes.

I just like how versatile they are, and how much kick they have. I have 4 duals and a quad, use them all the time. Will likely get a six-tube before long.