CL-455P vs CL-655P for lighting two person interview

[Tom Wilkinson]

I am current using a Panasonic AG-HMC150 and lighting one person interviews with two CL-MF0150 Cool Lights CDM 150 Fresnel with Cool Lights CL-SRB0650 Fresnel Softbox Kits but that is not enough light for two person interviews. I went with the Fresnel hoping I will need them for dramatic lighting for narratives, but so far I am only doing interviews.

I read about using two light for two people using the left light as the key for the person on the left and fill for person on the right and vise versa with the other light. I was think of going with Florescence to give me more light. I was thinking the 6 tube fixture would be more versatile for other scenes besides interviews.

Is it worth the extra $150 and 3.4 lbs. per light to get 1/3 more light using the CL-655P?

If you use either of these lights with the HMC150 let me know how you like them.

Thanks.

[Shaun Roemich]

I can't speak to the specific lights but remember light intensity is a factor of the inverse square law - as the distance from lights to subject doubles, the light intensity on the subject is one quarter as intense.

Gaining 1/3 intensity MAY be all you need but as lights need to generally be further away for 2 shots, you may not gain enough if you are at the upper limit of you camera's ability to expose with your current setup.

Hope this helps.

PS. The technique you refer to is called "cross keying" BTW.