CFLs for Rifa 3-way Adapter: Need Help

[Matt Lawrence]

Greetings all. I recently bought a Lowel DV Creator kit to be used mostly for interviews in controlled indoor settings. The kit comes with the Rifa 55, 2 Prolights, and 2 V-Lights, all rated around 3200K. I also bought the FLO-X3 3-way lamphead. I'm pretty new to the game and have a number of questions regarding CFLs for the Rifa:

-Lowel recommends CFLs rated at 5500K (daylight), so won't this create conflicting temps when used with the other lights indoors? How is this managed?

-Since the CFLs use less watts, how high should I go to get the most bang for the buck within the 500 watt limit of the Rifa?

-Suggestions for which bulbs to buy and where

I wouldn't mind having two sets of bulbs, outdoor and indoor rated, but I haven't seen many CFLs right at 3200K, though I have seen some at 3000K.

Any help with these issues or any other possibilities for the Rifa would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Mark Wheeler]

Yes, ignore the advice and get tungsten balanced.

105 watt

Amazon

3000K is far far better for indoor shoots then daylight balanced!

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Mark Wheeler

3000K is far far better for indoor shoots then daylight balanced!

Of course, when one says "indoor shoots" we are talking about locations lit primarily by tungsten or similar instruments. Remember that an "indoor" shoot can certainly be lit exclusively by daylight - large windows and such...

[Nino Giannotti]

Originally Posted by Matt Lawrence

Greetings all. I recently bought a Lowel DV Creator kit to be used mostly for interviews in controlled indoor settings. The kit comes with the Rifa 55, 2 Prolights, and 2 V-Lights, all rated around 3200K. I also bought the FLO-X3 3-way lamphead. I'm pretty new to the game and have a number of questions regarding CFLs for the Rifa:

-Lowel recommends CFLs rated at 5500K (daylight), so won't this create conflicting temps when used with the other lights indoors? How is this managed?

-Since the CFLs use less watts, how high should I go to get the most bang for the buck within the 500 watt limit of the Rifa?

-Suggestions for which bulbs to buy and where

I wouldn't mind having two sets of bulbs, outdoor and indoor rated, but I haven't seen many CFLs right at 3200K, though I have seen some at 3000K.

Any help with these issues or any other possibilities for the Rifa would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

This is the problem when buying kits, you end up with lights that you don’t really need for what you intend to do. Also this is the problem when buying lights without knowing what you really need. You should have asked these questions BEFORE making the purchase; knowledge here is free and can save you a lot of $$$.

The two V lights are useless for interviews, and so it the FLO-X3, unless you need the FLO for special situations, like filling the shadow area if using daylight to key your subject, something that can easily be accomplished with a reflector.

You have to remain consistent with your K temperature, at least on the subject. You can play with different K degrees on the background, making sure of course that the different colors don’t spill on the subject.

I would substitute the two V lights and the FLO with another small Rifa like the 44 to use as fill light and perhaps one or two more Pro Lights.

As an economical substitution instead of getting a new 44 Rifa you could buy a small Chimera or Photoflex soft box for one of the V light and use that one as a fill light.

Ideally your basic interview kit should consist of one Rifa 55 as key, one Rifa 44 as fill, one Pro-light with snoot or barn doors on a boom or grip arm for back/hair light and two Pro-lights for background. Always making sure that there’s no external light interfering with your set up.

You should also invest in grids for the Rifas and dimmers for all.

[Matt Lawrence]

Thanks for your responses. I did quite a bit a research before buying and found that many people raved about using CFLs with the Rifas as a key light for interviews. That's why I bought the adapter. When considering our needs and buying individual pieces, the kit looked like a better deal considering our budget.

From what I've read, V-ights can be used in interviews as a broad or fill light when used with a reflector. We may also be using them to light a green screen, which I know is not ideal, but I found people here on the forums who have used them successfully. We just can't afford two additional flo banks at the moment and we're in somewhat of a hurry to get our gear in order.