Using theatre lighting for project studio

[Ian Stark]

I have been offered a small selection of theatre lights at a fairly low cost. Included are a 500w and 5k Lee baby fresnels. Would these be any good in a video project studio or is it not worth considering. I use the studio primarily for single person interview work.

Generally, are theatre lights to be avoided for video use or do they have their uses? If so, what bargains would you look out for and are there any special things to be considered when using them?

Thanks in advance of any guidance.

[Brian Drysdale]

No problem with theatre lights, I shot a location film drama using them in the past. 5k is a big wattage that could give you power problems - that sounds an unusual mix are you sure about the 5k? Fresnel spots are what you need unless you're after a lighting effect, the problems we had were that the stands were heavy and didn't fold down plus the theatre connectors were different

[Ian Stark]

Thanks Brian. Yes, I agree, it does sound odd, but I've seen them and they really do exist! Basically it's a theatre clear out. It is more the 500w units I'm interested in anyway, for exactly the reason you mention - blowing up the mains supply! However, they come as a package so my plan was to eBay off the things I didn't want. I would probably look to permanently mounting them on the ceiling.

The killer, though, is the connector - I hadn't considered that. They all have the professional theatre type of connector. I will have to see if there is some kind of adaptor that can be used.

Thanks again for the guidance.

Ian . . .

[Brian Drysdale]

We just changed the plugs to the type of connector we were using. If you're buying the lights that's no big deal, change them to suit your power set up, we were renting them and changing them all the time was a bit of a pain.