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Old March 17th, 2010, 04:07 PM   #1
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Suggestion Lighting Kit

What are some good lighting kits out there? I never really looked into lighting before but after using some of my teachers, Ive seen a huge difference in my production. What do you guys suggest that good?
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Old March 17th, 2010, 05:23 PM   #2
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Welcome. Your question as posed cannot be answered since you have not provided us with any information to help give suggestions. What is your budget, what types of projects will you use the equipment with etc etc.

This question is asked hundreds of times here so it's good form to start with a search of the forums. Try search terms such as "light kit" "beginner lights" "economical kit" and so forth. I bet there's thread open on this topic either on this page or page 2 of the forum.

A good place to start is with a book or the excellent Intervier Lighting DVD by Vortex Media. I wouldn't spend a dime on gear without first watching it and understanding three point lighting and how you can get a lot done with a simple kit.

Finally, you'll get more mileage for your dollar in many instances by purchasing individual lights rather than a kit. So don't go into this thinking you have to buy a pre-assembled kit.

Good luck
Bob

Last edited by Bob Kerner; March 17th, 2010 at 05:24 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old March 17th, 2010, 06:45 PM   #3
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Old March 26th, 2010, 11:53 AM   #4
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Location: Zagreb,HR,Croatia
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I got my first Lightning Kit recently

Hello there!

Maybe I can share my experience with you... Who knows, maybe it helps...

First of all, I must say that I red at least 10 books about lightning, and studied Film Academy, so my knowledge of what exist out there is wider then some newbie...

And with all that knowledge I seem to made a mistake...

You need to know that all Photo/Video/Audio Equipment is about 100% more expensive here in Europe then in USA...

So, since I own couple of cameras, few Working Stations for Editing picture and sound, I started building the rest of what is to become my "one-man-band" ENG production company...

So the first kit I went for was $1000 Hedler Portable kit (Hedler Special offer of the Month - exact one I got) - two 1000W lamps with stands and umbrellas for bouncing light... I put some extra money in to get barn-doors...

It is very handy... Packed in small bag, you hang it on your shoulder and carry it - it's not heavier then my camcorder bag...

It gives strong, harsh light with very sharp shadows - but since the body of laps is very small, and we are talking lot of heat - the worst thing is - THOSE LIGHTS HAVE VENTILATORS!!!! ULTRA LOUD FANS!!! They work like vacuum-cleaners, sucking in all the dust in the room and spitting it out in front of light, and when you put the Barn-doors on, the whole construction starts vibrating like crazy - extra loud sound!!!! O.K. - those vents have 2 speeds, but lower speed is already way too loud - and bulbs itself have a lifetime of only 75 hours (and, no, they are not cheap - here in Europe around $50 a piece!!!)

UNUSABLE FOR INTERVIEW OR ANY SOUND RECORDING situation...

It is good for lightning Chroma-key backgrounds (which I also bought - it is 10,5 feet wide and 21 feet long on 9 feet high stands) - Screen is of blue color (somehow I expected green, but this is what came in package - and it is Manfrotto product - don't know about States, but Manfrotto is very admired brand in Eruope!!! And they say BLUE is now IN :)

It is also OK for lighting scenes which don't need sound recorded on the same set (various Music Videos, Corporate Films etc) - but for what I do most often - documentaries - ergo - lot of interviews - Total disaster...

My huge disappointment...

So, the very next day I went back to the store and said that this Hedler Kit is fantastic, but unusable for my purposes...

The guy suggested Dedo-Light kit, made of 2 smallest Dedo-lights (150W) - don't get confused - since Dedo light (like every lens amplified light - Fresnel invention) - those 150W get you the same amount of light what normal, hot, open end light of about 850W gives you...

I didn't wanna risk again, so I got just one of those, plus dimmer for it, plus extra lens - looks like lenses you put on your camera - which works on the quality of the circle of your light, shapes it, widens it (you can get perfect top-like circle with sharp edges, or feather edges, big circle, small circle, you can put different small aluminium round-shaped decorations in front of light (before extra lens) and it gives you decoration for backgrounds - like Venetian blinds, clouds, undefined shapes etc...
Everyone will tell you that DEDO LIGHT is the best "warm" light on market...
But for its great design and various possibilities you pay a big buck!

One smallest (150W) DEDO lamp - $ 450
Power cord with dimmer - $ 235
Extra lenses for designing light - $ 330
Barn Doors (very good one) - $ 47
4-leaf-mini barn (you put it
in extension lens and form very
small shapes, for isolating just
picture on the wall or some-
one's eyes - $ 50
2 decorative filters
(venetian blinds & clouds) - $ 22


Now, for decent lightning of the scene (even 3 point lightning + hair light + background lite) you need, I'd say, 4 pieces of those DEDOs...

So If I were you, I would go for something in between; it would be good to have 3 lightning bodies, two of them with some bouncer (Umbrellas or Diffuse-boxes) - make sure your lights (lamp bodies) are passive - cooling (i.e. NO VENTS, or at least the kind of VENTS you can TURN OFF during shooting) - Ideal would be get at least one of those 3 bodies to be of Fresnel kind (with Lenses), so you can shape at least one light source)

And get color gel filters, ND filters (different F-stop), Reflector (42" round reflector 5in1 is great thing - ROSCO's got good offer - you get 42" collapsible circle, which is already a great diffuser, you get SILVER, GOLD, SILVER-GOLD and WHITE surface to reflect your light from...

So... that is my latest experience...

I hope you can get at least one clever thing out of this huge novelist post - I'd be glad

I was writing this, thinking you are not going to spend 10 thousand big ones right away - therefor I didn't go into Kino-Flo, Tube lightning, nor any HMI stuff...

Although, thinking of prices in USA - for the same price I got this incandescent light here in Europe, You could put your hand deeper in your pocket (if possible, of course) and get 2 Kino-Flos (one with 4-6 tubes and one with 2 tubes) - it would take care of such a large gamma of possible demands! Crews are shooting entire sit-coms and soap operas with just those two lights!!!!

Cheers!

V.
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Old March 26th, 2010, 05:00 PM   #5
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hi vanja,

re your hedlars,

osram make several bulbs that fit the hedlar base,

they come in 300w, 500w, 650w.

using the smaller wattages lets you run the fan on low and they are probably cheaper to buy.

if you are looking at flouros check out "cool lights", i have several of their 4 banks and a couple of their 600 led lights and am very happy with them.

i also have a 4 kit of the 150 dedo, very nice lights, expensive but worth every cent (euro).

cheers
ian
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