I got my xl2 and I'm ready to make some short films.

I want to get a basic lighting package together and I love kinoflo.

thoughts?

All ideas welcome!


thanks everyone.

Drew

Pro Lighting - look at soft lights from Photo Flow, \

Cheap light, look to the fine folks at Costco and Home Depot. They have great lights you can use.

It's up to your budget

Cheers

DBK

Like anything else, you have to decide what you want to light. That means you need to decide what you are going to film. Distances, subjects, available power, etc.

A film can use 20 Kw. lights or 200 watt lights depending on where your ambition leads you. $3K can either totally outfit you or fall miserably short.

In any case, a light kit may not be the best way to buy lights. You may want to mix and match to best serve your needs.

One thing about lights, used is usually OK. If the light is intact and not damaged, it will work just about as well as a new one. For 1/4 the price or less. This assumes you buy good brands, not the products that were cheap to start with.

I'm VERY happy with the LTM Full Spectrum Pepper Pak. Incredibly professional and sturdy, including the Mathews stands.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=125479&is=REG

Not sure if this will help, but I just bought a few cheap Impact light stands at B&H ($20 each), and plan on grabbing a few small lights from Home Depot. The stands were a steal in my opinion, and a few low-cost 200 watt halogens from HD will return a great inexpensive lighting kit.

The stands can also be used for light discs, mics, and whatever else in the future.

I was also in your position at one point, ready to drop a few grand in a lighting kit. But, I think building my own own kit from scratch will help teach me much more about lighting - Or at least learning how to deal with tiny budgets if nothing else ;)

Arri, mole, LTM and Dedo among others all make nice kits.
Chimera makes a 24x32 light kit item 8000 which is very popular with DV shooters and works great in conjunction with other lights you might use to do your setup.
Let me know if I can help.
Strength and honor

Remember... sometimes.. cheap is the most expensive way to go!

Richard

Richard: I assumed you made a new thread by accident, so I
merged your post with this thread (Assumed you wanted it to
appear here).

Building your lighting/grip kit via ebay is a good way to go. As Mike pointed out, as long as it is functional and not broken a few dents and scratches won't matter. Mole Richardson, Desisti, LTM, Lowel, Kino Flo, Dedolight, B&M, Altman, Arri, Balcar, Chimera, Photoflex, all are good products. Get some good light stands and sandbags. Good grip gear-Matthews, Norms, American, Avenger, Modern Studio.

Be sure to get a few books about lighting and grip- the Carlson lighting book, The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, Bob Uva's Grip Book are all great books, that I still refer to every now and then. I bring the Set Lighiting Tech's hb to set whenever I am gaffing, or shooting. Get the B&H Lighting catalog-it's several hundred pages. It has the best gear and a few tips too.

Generally you will want a few small fresnels, a few medium and some larger units. Then some softlights like Zip lights, or Chimeras. But the project will dictate what you use. You will also need stands, mounting gear, bounce boards, etc. If you can visit some sets, or your local TV station you can get an idea about what they do. Your local Public Access Channle might be a good place to rent/borrow equipment. You could even do your own show.

for 3k I would mix it up..

get a kino 4ft 4 light
a chimera 8000
1/2 blue front face for 8000 kit
Two Tota light with Set of 4 barndoors
1 c stands turtle base
2 cstand kit head and arm turtlebase
1Chimera Med Pancake Lantern
1Chimera Tota Ring
1 avenger convertable boom a 475b
1 Arri 650 w/ barndoors or Dedo 650!! or Mole desisti ect
1Chimera ENG Panel kit 5630
2 superclamps with stud
1 variable resistance arm
stand bag
Light case


Go kick some butt

R