Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

Hello.

We are setting up a filmmaking community and a small production company and we need to buy lights. We will buy two or three kits including the most essential for lighting short films and smaller commercials.

These are the things we are considering in terms of light sources:
Tungsten 1K's type Fresnel or PAR
Soft boxes
Fluorescent light panels
LED panels

When in a bigger project we would rent HMI's or whatever needed and paid for.

We don't want to buy into old technology, so a specific question I have is, have the technology gotten that far that we can go with a complete LED kit?

Thanks.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

There have been a lot of discussions here lately around whether the non-full spectrum lighting response of (some?) LED instruments is ideal for video AT THIS POINT IN TIME.

You will need to decide for yourself if the benefit of less heat, low power consumption and relatively cheap daylight instruments outweighs the possible lower colour rendition index.

If it works for you, it doesn't matter what the spec sheet says.

I use LEDs occasionally but still prefer tungsten light when I shoot in controlled environments.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

LED is perfect for field interviews, very fast setup. Kino type flo lights are perfect for getting a lot of diffused light. Tungsten is perfect for low cost and great control. I currently have all three in my kit, still not sure which to standardize on.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

I wouldn't say Kino-style lights put out "a lot" of light. I find them quite underwhelming in terms of OUTPUT, although they are nice and diffuse.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

Thanks guys. I think a mix of different lighting types will be best at the moment. Although I could very well see that LED in a couple of years have taken over a lot of the lighting.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

Love my LEDs but I mostly shoot single camera, single subject interviews. When I am lighting a scene with actors or a whole room, LEDs are not the greatest, they have a weak throw and fall off quickly. I still use my Kinos and my tungsten lights much more often. LEDs have a very weak throw and only look good on talent when put through a softbox or bounced into a Flexfill, which diminishes their output even more.

So if you only shoot single subject interviews or need a travel kit, LEDs are great. But if you need to light larger areas, multiple actors in a scene, you will still want some normal tungsten instruments. Kinos are good too but only put out soft, hard to control light, no hard shadows, patterns, etc.

Bottom line is today, I think the average user still needs examples of all three types if lights to cover multiple types of shoots.

Dan

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

I don't know about that. I'd say that a 4 foot 4-Bank puts out as much as or more light than a 1K softbox. Plus, it has a bigger area, uses less power, and can be used with daylight and tungston sources without losing light.

Re: Small production company kit - go for LED?
 

It really depends on what you mean by a "lot of light". A 1k soft light wouldn't throw out what I'd term as a lot of liight, but does just what's needed for certain lighting set-ups, as is the 4 bank Kino. To start getting to larger amount of light with the Kino you're into the Wall o'Lite stuff Kino Flo Sales Catalog - WALL-O-LITE. Although, like all soft lights, they tend to not to throw that far.