No disrespect to Brian - I've not used dedo.

The Lowel DV Creator plus a rifa is pretty versatile. I teach at a college that purchased just that, but bought a rifa 44 with it, which is too small.

You'll decide on the 3/4 or full CTB by clipping it on a light, white balancing to it, and see if the exteriors look blue. Alternativly, preset the daylight balance and see if you have good skin tones under the light. 20x24 sheets about $6 at bhphotovideo.

A pro is a small, narrow beam. An omni is much broader.

You'd probably only be able to use a pro for a backlight or front light for one person. Omni, a lot more coverage. Tota - a big bad light that will illuminate a whole room. Kinda' depends on the interiors you're shooting.

Someone here can tell you the allowed wattage on a 14ga. or 16ga. extension cord, or maybe it's printed on it. 14 is almost as light as a 16, I always buy 14 or sometimes 12 for heavier applications, but 12 is quite a bit heavier, bulkier, and harder to handle.

You'll proably not have an issue with a pro and an omni on a 16ga., but put a rifa 66 (750w) and a tota (1000w) on a single cable and you have to be carerful.

Wattage - I'd just go with the stock wattages to start, then figure out if they're serving you well. Your mileage will vary.

Hey thanks very much guys. I checked out those dedo lights. What an amazing product, unfortunately out of my budget. Thanks for the tips of the lowel stuff, I don't have a lot of cash to spend, but I figure this stuff is going to last me, unless you can think of anything better.

Luke

Luke,

Ebay is your friend. If you're cash strapped, and have the time... some judicious bidding will get you a LOT of gear for your money. FIRST check out the retail prices for the elements you want. Try not to pay more than 60% list (and don't forget those shipping charges!).

I've got an ENG kit, that I've built up over the years. (Som e before Ebay existed.) Garage sales, thrift stores, Ebay and Craigslist. People buy gear to make the next "Great Movie" all the time. Three months later, they realize owning gear is not making a movie. So it goes up for sale.

Keep your eyes peeled, don't get overexcited in bidding (there'll be ANOTHER fresnel for sale in a couple of days... I PROMISE you.) and GOOD LUCK.

Setting up my Lowel Dv 44 Kit
 

So I've got the Lowel 44 kit with the 250w Rifa, 250w Pro, 500w Omni & 800w Tota lights.

The Rifa has its own 'soft-box' and the Tota has a reflective umbrella.

There's also an assortment of gels and frames that I can't figure out how to attach.

Anyway, I am at a loss when it comes to knowing which light to use for what purpose.

I want to shoot a quick scene of two people talking. We'll have the two close ups (angle and reverse angle) and the wide shot.

Basically, I want to test a simple 3 point lighting set up.

So if I have a key, fill and back light (and a spare that can light the background) which light should serve which purpose?

Thank you for your help,
-- John.

So, John, the answer is - "it depends". The question of which light to do what with is the reason that some folks make a career out of nothing but lighting.

I'd recommend any of a number of good books on lighting. The two you might start with are "Matters of Light and Depth" by Ross Lowel (yes, the same Lowel) or "Lighting for Digital Video & Television" by John Jackman. There are a large number of other books that you can move on to, but these are both good starters.

There are also, of course, lots of DVDs, websites, and seminars depending on what works best for you.

So, some basics, and then spend time experimenting with the things you've got to see what you can get them to do for you. BTW, Lowel's website has some good info on it, and I've had good luck with support from them on getting the various little gadgets in their kits to work. They are clever, but pretty unique to Lowel.

Good luck!

As a general rule of thumb, you could use the Rifa as a key, the Pro as a hair light, and the Omni or Tota for your background. But that's just a starting point. As Ralph pointed out "it depends" not only on the situation, but on the person lighting the scene. Give your kit to 10 different people, and you could end up with 10 different viable setups.

I prefer DVD learning over books, so I'd recommend:
DV Enlightenment - A comprehensive look at lighting techniques and equipment.
Light It Right - Watch a master lighting pro in action. Worth it to see Victor Milt's gears turning as he lights. He simplifies the process by focusing on key principles and experimentation.


Also, the DVeStore at DV creators has several short & free demos by Guy Cochran.

Thanks guys,

I'm considering DV Enlightenment. But I was wondering if it (or others) are specific to the Lowel lights?

Have a look here:

http://www.efplighting.com/

The basic lighting situations are very well dealt with, and you might learn how to start.

IMO you should begin by learning the basic qualities of each spot. Start with lighting one person, following the instructions on that site, using hard and soft light.

Use one spot only at first, so you can see the light working on your subject, and how it accentuates several features.

Then add a second spot to lower contrast. Look at the results on a TV screen, if possible edited one after the other.

Then add a spot on the background, and watch to see how a backlight or hairlight helps or not to separate your subject from the background.

Lighting two persons is not different from lighting one. You just have less freedom to put the lights around. Sometimes using one subject's frontal light to work as backlight for the other subject.

Follow the simple setups on the site and you will learn a lot.



Carlos

So now you have the lights what do you do? Learn to use them of course :P

Anyway for something thats a pretty useful tool to understand the basics, or for another perspective for pros, I recommend the Walter Graf DVD's. I have disk one and two.

http://www.bluesky-web.com/new-pagemerchandise.html

Good advice here.

As a contributing editor for a major consumer video magazine, I did digital video seminars all over the country for years - one of the lines I enjoyed delivering most was when I reminded my audience that your equipment doesn't make the video - YOU DO.

We somehow understand that buying a piano doesn't make ANYONE a pianist. But we still somehow confuse being able to PURCHASE a cool camera or a nice light kit with the ability to shoot or light.

So congratulations on your new tools. Let the learning begin!

My advice is to concentrate not just on HOW to do things, but to try and uncover the WHY of things.

Why do people who are really good a lighting talk as much about THE SHADOWS as they do about THE LIGHT?

Why do they spend so much time looking at the areas where the light BECOMES shadow.

What are they seeing there that helps them understand not just THIS light, but ALL lights.

Get a subject and turn on ONE light. Any light. Move it around. Look at the picture. What effect does moving a single light have on how the audience perceives the subject. With one light straight ahead - does it look like a flat and boring drivers license photo? Is that what you want? When you move the light off, what happens to the shadow from their nose? When the light gets WAY far over, do they start looking sinister?

How about a single light from above? Or below?

If you don't like the nose shadow from one light, and you add another light, do you simply get twice the problems with TWO unpleasent shadows instead of one?

Keep asking yourself questions like this, and keep reading and learning and in a few years, you'll look back on the work you're doing now and wonder "what was I THINKING!"

Just like everyone here has (and continues to do) every day.

Enljoy the journey.

Lowel i-Light
 

I practically made up my mind to buy this portable light to use with my Sony Z1.

Has anyone used it and didn't like it, or has anything to comment about it?



Carlos

It is a reduced in size modification of the pro light. I've used them for years, and really like them. Caution. they do get hot.

I don't use on-camera lights very often, but I've owned one of the I-lights for years and found it to be a great little light. Chimera makes a micro-softbox that works very well on them, and I've also just clipped a little diffusion over the barndoors with good results. The built-in dimmer is a huge help, just be aware that it goes a little orange (as all tungsten lamps do) as you dim below 50% or so. I've also found numerous uses for it as a lamp in situations where cabling is a challenge, such as the glow of treasure inside a pirate's chest.
A valuable little light, and I'd recommend it.

Thank you all for your comments.

As it was taking time for the comments to come, I went ahead and bought one. All based on my past experience with Lowel products. Fortunately I seemed to have been right.

As I am thinking ahead, I may not be using it many times over the camera, particularly because I think it's a bit too tall. But it might fit well on a tripod or even on a monopod, just by the camera. I bought several accessories which will let me do several combinations.

I also just bought a softbox for my Ianiro Lilliput that might go well with the i-Light too. I am not buying the dimmer, as I don't think I will need one, with the barndoors and all that. I did buy the diffusing glass.

One thing I intend to try are those MR16 lamps that carry 42 LEDs.