I use a Bescor light and although it's not dimmable I made a softbox/diffuser for it and it works fine. 50W down to 20 with no appreciable color change. HOWEVER, I also use the Besor battery belt and a juice box with it. The juice box isn't too bad weight wise and the light will run 75-90 minutes with the juice box. The belt on the other hand will give me almost 3 hours of run time BUT it weighs about 15 lbs and by the end of the night my back hurts. They are lead acid batteries and last a long time but the trade off is the weight.
Don

Some time back I posted in hear that GE was developing a type "lighting wallpaper." They now have a picture of the prototype lighting a table of colorful ball on their Web site.

http://www.ge.com/stories/en/20147.html?category=Innovation

That's looking sweat! Together with ultrathin paper / cloth like
TV's / screens it is an interesting time we are heading into!

I'm in the market for a light meter to be used mainly for 16mm production. Am thinking too of using it to check contrast and lighting ratios for my DV productions.

It's a toss up between the Sekonic 508C or 558C meters?

Just anyone have insight they could share?

Thanks

<<<-- Originally posted by Barry Cheong : I'm in the market for a light meter to be used mainly for 16mm production. Am thinking too of using it to check contrast and lighting ratios for my DV productions.

It's a toss up between the Sekonic 508C or 558C meters?
-->>>

Are you used to working with incident light meters? Which was the one you learned with?

My first advice would be to pick that one.

If you are starting in incident light techniques pick the LM-398M with the direct disks and go to a much expensive one after you master it.

This advice is valid if you are going to use it for "normal" photography. If you are going to use on very low light scenes, you should certainly pick your best deal on any of the new ones.


Carlos

In desperate need of advice!

I live in the UK (Great Britain) and need an AC (Plug in) On board Camera light for my Canon XL1s.

I don't want one that runs on batteries and it HAS to run on 240 Volts and have a power output of about 100-150W.

I haven't seem to come across one and am running out of time!

Does anybody know of where I can get one in the UK??!!!

As you may know I have another thread about an on-camera light.

Thank you for responses from which I have decided to ditch the idea of an AC on-board camera light and have opted for a battery powered light instead.

So.....the next dilemma.

I want a light that is capable of around 100w output and a battery pack of a reasonable time.

I also would prefer the battery pack to be mountable on the MA200 of my Canon XL1s.

Can someone please advise me of what is a suitable setup. I am familiar with 4 Pin XLR lights and all that, but I'm not that knowledgable regarding on-camera lighting in general so would appreciate positive feedback!

Thanks!

I believe the general battery brand that everone's using is from
Anton Bauer. There are connectors for almost anything for that
brand including the XL1. I'm not sure which lights would work
with such a system or for how long.

Most professional shoots probably use some form of generator
out in the field to power all the equipment. Smaller ones
(which can happily feed 100W) can be easily rented at hardware
stores and hardware rental facilities here for example.

I used to use a "sun gun" dc light powered by a battery belt years ago when I was shooting TV news. There are different brands. Try Frezzi electronics on the web.

Basically, the on camera light gives a harsh flat unflattering light.
It's ok for shooting interviews with firemen & police at night but not much of anything else. I guess its ok for news and doc work.

Good Luck.

Ed Hill

Using my trusty trv-950, need to shoot several paintings on very tall walls (cathedral ceiling with skylights). There are nooks and crannies, too, where the skylights do not reach that have paintings I need to shoot, as well.

What would folks recommend? I figure either I bring a light kit and try to shoot at night, and focus the lights for a large portion of the wall (e.g. - lighting a few paintings at a time)? Or I shoot during the day and get what I get?

Any thoughts would be helpful. Hope this is clear.

THanks so much.

Hello Maureen,
This is an interesting problem not posted here before (at least in my memory).

Based on your description I'm envisioning frescos at the clerestory and/or vault level of a church or cathedral, perhaps 30 feet or more above the floor with bright light streaming into the clerestory windows during the day?

Yes, you will certainly need some lighting and, if those distances are anywhere near accurate, you'll probably need quite a bit of it. Unless you want to get a good exposure on both the paintings and adjacent windows I'd be inclined to shoot during the day and use as much ambient daylight as possible. Even a little will help augment your own lighting.

But here's the the thought that struck me. Why not shoot high-resolution digital stills with a good digital SLR (ex: Canon EOS 10D, Nikon D1, et.al.) instead of video? If there are no moving subjects up there, there may be some significant advantages in such an approach.

1. You can probably accomplish the photography with two powerful flash guns on separate stands and slaved together. That sure beats shlepping heavy video lighting gear.

2. You will have a good selection of 35mm lenses, perhaps a single good zoom and/or telephotos / wide angles.

3. You can drop the high-res stills into your video sequences and zoom them to introduce motion and visual interest. I envision that you might have a narrative voice-over in the background, perhaps with some background music as well. This technique might actually give you more control over the sequence timing of the footage during post than if you shot it with video.

As long as you're careful with lens selection (i.e. stay away from extreme wide shots that might have barrel distortion) nobody would know that you actually shot that footage with a still camera.

Just a brainstorm.

Hi,

Keene Electronics (www.keene.co.uk) stock the Unomat LX301, which is 300 watts and can be zoomed from flood to spot. It's about 90 quid and is a great little light.

I don't know of anything less powereful than this available here in the UK.

Roger

Hello
I am planning a production and plan to carry a lighting set (Lowel Omni lihgt x4, Tota light x1) with us. WIll be shooting in Europe, US, and China, due to the Voltage differences, we are considering having different voltage range bulbs, but also considering having a transformer. Does anyone recommend a better solution?
we do no t have the budget to rent lights each place we go.
Thanks for you advice.
Takeshi

Can anyone confirm on the Omni light being able to shoot with diverse voltages? Just with different watt bulbs? Has anyone tried this out yet? It does say in the back about the color temperature difference when using 120V and 240V.
http://www.lowel.com/omni/omni_b.html#info
T

Usually I just repostion, swap things out for other lighting options, or diffuse another way, but yesterday, for the first time, I popped in the little scrim on my Pro Light to knock down the hair light on a bald spot. When I packed everything up, I noticed the scrim had a brown/burned-like spot on it. Is that normal? I hadn't clipped the frame in completely as it sits so tightly it's hard to get open, so I'm wondering if it not being seated flush had anything to do with it. But is a burned scrim now useless? Won't that affect the color of the light when it's used next?

I presume you mean a metal scrim. Don't worry, they all get that way after 1 or 2 passes in front of hot lights...gives them a bit of character. Sometimes scrims have a coating on the metal mesh, sometimes the screen material just heats up and discolors.
The closer the frame is to the light, the faster they go.
This won't change the color of your light, but over time the scrim material can become brittle. This could take years...I have some 30 year old Mickey Mole 1Ks with the original scrims that are still going strong.
Hope this helps.
ken

It does indeed, Ken. Character... I like that. Kinda like my own dings and knocks. :-)

No worries then. Thanks!
Marcia

Hey Everyone,

Just ordered up a Super Ambi Kit from Lowel to add to my collection. I figure this should pretty much do the trick for most applications. Anyways, included in the kit is a Lowel Pro light. Does anybody know where to find a stud so I can mount the Pro Light on my XL1s? also, I'm using Anton Bauer Hytron 50 cells to power the camera using the QRXL1c gold mount. Can I power the Pro Light using the Hytron 50?

I'm curious if there are any lighting books geared specifically to lighting for suspense and/or horror.

Or any recommended books on lighting setups that have a chapter devoted to the subject of horror lighting.

-D.

I would recommend buying John Jackman's Lighting for DV and Television. It's a great book that will teach you a lot about lighting. Once you have the basics down, just watch horror movies to see how they light (it will become more obvious to you after reading the book). That's what I do.

A while back, I posted a thread called "Sinister Light," in which I asked for - and got - help on a lighting issue for a short.

The piece is complete and on the way to potential distributors, but I thought I'd post a link to the trailer, so anyone interested could take a look at the end result.

http://www.rustywilliamsvideo.com/onlinetrailer.wmv

WARNING: The language in the video is VERY harsh!

Thanks again for all the help!

-Rusty-

I like the way it turned out. Good luck with distribution!

was wondering if anyone has any experience w/ the lowel fren'L 650? thanks!

Yep, I've got a three light kit. Work great, very good quality light. Only draw back is when you put three of them with stands, cords, extensions, dimmers, gels and frames in a box, it takes two people to move it! Not really but they are fairly large instruments to be moving around a lot. I would not recommend for run/gun type stuff but would be a great selection for a shoot where you'll be there for a while

Im not completely sure about oncam from the ab powetap but do know you could get the ab belt you can slide a hytron into and power from, I power my pros in the field with a 30/13 belt and the adapter and the dc bulb...of course i have never tried off the powertap but if theres a way im sure there is a adapter.

you might call bh a board sponser if there is a adapter they would know...

Can you use <500W bulbs in a DP fixture? I'd like to have a 250W option as I fear 500w may be too hot most of the time... should I stick to PROs and VIPs? or get into DPs and TOTAs?

http://www.lowel.com/dp/dp_b.html#info

Lowel publishes all the info at the link below. The DP is 500 -750-1000 watt. Bill Pryor swears by the DP and he's been in fil and video for years. Rumour has it that he started with a flat rock and a chisel (a loooooong time ago)

What lights you get should be influenced by your subject matter. Do you want hard or soft light, for large or small areas, etc?

I use soft lights with low wattage focused accents.

The DP or Tota work well in softboxes. The omni would be fine in a small box

www.photoflex.com
www.chimera.com

The tota by itself is hard to control and will give you broad and ven coverage. The DP can be more easily controlled. The Omni can be lamped at 300 to 500 watts and can be focused but not as well as a fresnel

For lower wattage accents (hair,back light etc) use a lowel prolight or something like the Arri 300 watt fresnel.

It depends on what you will be lighting. For a one or two person interview a 750watt tota in a softbox with a reflector for fill and a 300 watt fresnel or 250 watt pro as a kicker or back light.

I'd love to buy more lights but people balk when it starts to look like center ring under the big top.

I figure 2 medium, one small softbox and two accents would be smurfy.

You don't have to go nuts.
Start with one key light and use an umbrella to soften. Fill with a collapseable reflector.
You can then go on to buy more.

There are several schools of thought. Mine is buy quality and buy as you can afford them. Some buy less durable stuff and claim to be content. To each their own ;--))

I belive this is the one i have, works good for me. Even worked ok for some cheap small chip panasonic had till it broke.
http://www.adorama.com/BOKLK50XT.html

It's a pain to carry around though.

the big old yellow ones... talked to Lowel and was told that the only difference between them and the DPs was the yellow and that they're corded. They also said that for $75 they'd convert them to removable cords... anyone know of any limitations to them? 500w minimum?

What is the basic light kit for weddings considering that an assistant will do the job?

Instead of buying, can I build one, with cables, reflectors, batteries, etc? Any information about homebuilt light kits?

By the way, do you know any GOOD resource that talks about how to start a wedding video company and techniques also?

Hail DVINFO!

I"ve never shot a wedding where a light kit would have done any good. They don't want equipment in the auditorium and they normally don't want a lot of light in a reception. At least in the U.S.

I use a softbox with an on-camera light if I can. Frequently the bride wants no extra light at all.

That's when I kiss the PD150.

The difference in price for the 420 is only $20; however, the lamp in the 300 is more than 30% more expensive than the 420. Does this mean that the 300 gives a better quality light than the 420? or is it just one of those things that means nothing? Does anyone have experience with these two fresnels? Thanks in advance.

I've used the 420. Its a nice fresnel. I believe you can lamp this light with a 420 or a 200 watt globe.
So you have two fresnels in one.

In terms of light quality, once you pass the light through the pyrex glass, its going to be the same quality...hard. But much easier to cut than an open face.

Just be careful. Peppers generate a lot of heat.

I just bought one from BHPHOTO I know it's a little late now but I only found one sort of review on the net and here on this forum here.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6155&highlight=cool+lux

Just curious to see any other user experiances with the lighting cast and distances. Also the comment on that link says the battery pack is not that good wondering if it could be used with a better pack?

Have anyone used or try this lighting system:-

http://www.unomat.de/org/english/vineleu/seite5.htm
http://www.unomat.de/org/english/vineleu/inhalt.htm

Please give me suggestion coz i planning getting one...

My setup: Xl1-s MA200

They might be OK if you're not shooting sound. I've only run across one light with a cooling fan in person, and it was too noisy to shoot around.

Thanks Bill, I haven’t seen the actual light in action, will the cool fan sound noisy during Event shot? Means not advisable to buy the light with cooling fun???

Hi I very new to lighting, a very basic question that confusing me. Is the power supply (voltages) in USA and Asia (Malaysia) different? What is AC / DC stand for? I live in MALAYSIA, If ordering lighting kit from USA, which type of lighting kit I need to purchase? Are the power “same”? What Brand recommended? Thanks


Setup Xl1s, MA200

Andrew,
I don't know the standard voltage in Malaysia. But, around the world:

A/C = alternating current. This is the electricity supplied from your power company through an outlet or from a generator.

D/C = direct current. This is electricity supplied from a battery, such as common 12v batteries.

Here in the U.S. the standard a/c power supplied to most home and office outlets is 120 volts.

Thanks KEN

Let say I order Lowel lighting Kit from B&H, do l need to specify the voltage in my country which is 240 Volts or additional accessories adaptor for that.

Hi, can anyone recommend an on-cam video light that would be suitable for shooting a wedding?

I have a small camcorder (panasonic gs100k), and would like to keep the price around the $100 mark. I've just started searching around, but would really appreciate some suggestions. Especially recommendations on wattage.

BTW, I would like something with a battery and that would last at least around an hour. Thanks in advance.

Here are pages of threads (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=315402&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) (found via "Search") in this section concerning wedding-related lighting and power. Make a pot of coffee and have at it!

While so far they're only talking about home lighting implementations, I wonder what the possibilities are for film and theatrical lighting? I also wonder what the color temperature is.

http://msn-cnet.com.com/Reinventing+the+lightbulb,+with+nanotubes/2100-7337_3-5226906.html?part=msn-cnet&subj=ns_5226906&tag=tg_ns

I have a 3 head set of Lilliput lights (650watt) and they are bright as hell. Great for some applications, but way too bright for most indor situations. I can but lower 300watt bulbs, but is it possible to also purchase some kind of dimmer to adjust the brightness of the output? I checked and 300watt was the lowest bulbs they take.

Im based in the Uk.

Hello:

I have an LTM Pepper (fresnel). I'm looking into getting either the focal spot or the snoots. I have found very little information on the subject. I'm wondering if anyone in the forum has experience with this as to which one to get. Thanks for any help in advance. Also, the focal spot is twice as expensive as the snoots.

Hi Allen,

could you tell us a bit more, like what you are trying to do and why
you think you need this stuff?

Thanks!

Very interesting. The U of M just got a grant to do Nano material creation
simulation. 160 duel 2gig Xserves will be crunching the simulations.
Looks like Nano technology is going to be ramping up and the possibilities
are exciting.

I thought this post might be about LED lights. IMHO, the light those
give off looks really ugly (grey).

Can I use my hardware store bought lights with my light kit? What kinds of gels should I use? If I can at all. I am using a XL1S and am in the learning stages. I have 3 tungsten lights that are too powerful so I want to use some normal (100 watt etc) practical light bulbs. Can I do this? What do I need. Hope this isn't a stupid question but I pose it anyway.

Thanks

You can use gels just fine. Best thing to do in your situation is to use 12"x12" gels and clip them on with wooden clothespins.

As to sources of gels try http://www.rosco.com

or

http://www.leefiltersusa.com

lee makes packs of 12"x12" gels in various assortments you can get them at http://www.filmtools.com

or

go to your local university or little theatre, if nearby, and ask for scraps.

I use those black binder clips to attach filters to my worklights. Works great. Try opal if you want a softer more even spread.