First Light Kit

Dorian Quell · May 16, 2004

havent been here in a bit, still quite a novice, and was planning on getting this light kit. Just checking with you guys to see what you thought. Good choice or no?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3814714520&rd=1

it's quite affordable and better than anything i got now so am i looking at the right thing? three tungsten lights with stands and a case sounds pretty good for about 140 with shipping.

Mitch Gross · May 16, 2004

These are simple scoop lights that you could go to a hardware store and purchase for about $5 each. They are extremely basic and create a very uncontrolled light. Check www.bhphotovideo.com to compare the list price for this kit before you buy it off eBay--I don't think it will be much different and then you'll have a reputable dealer with a warrantee, etc.

There are many types of lighting fixtures available at various price levels. Lowel brand lights are a great value for the price. B&H has a lighting gear catalog that is a great primer to such equipment.

Dorian Quell · May 17, 2004

well i didnt see any kits there i could afford. i saw some lights by themselves but i dont know where to start or what i should get. need some help.

what should i do?

Dan Salzmann · May 17, 2004

I agree with Mitch that Lowell lights are good value for money and very compact as well. The lights you saw on ebay are tungsten and not halogen and thus their colour temperature drops considerably with age. You need to be clearer about what you want to do with the lights.

Consider renting on a per project basis or work with a gaffer that has more serious gear.

Josh Hill · May 18, 2004

Or buy one light at a time and supplement what you're doing with rented lights. Its what I'm doing at the moment. I bought two Arri fresnels, a 650 and 300 watt, and I'm supplementing them with two Mole Midgets (200W) that I rented along with some bounce cards (white foam core). They're working out really well (I literally just finished lighting a night scene with the two midgets as fill and the Arri 300 putting out a concentrated swath of light across a bed. We're using the 650 for a door that opens and spills light across the room.

I bought what I could afford without going broke and rented two lights (with stand, scrim, and barndoors they came to 15 a day). I'm shooting video so we're white balancing for color (we have the tungsten balanced cool for the night scene). If you buy what you can afford and supplement with renting you can start building a light set, built to your needs, and not have to worry about getting everything at once.

I'm a theatre major who does film/video work on the side, so I bought fresnels because thats what I'm most comfortable with.

monster vs robot · May 19, 2004

Hi

I'm going through the same difficulties in selecting a small kit. It seems to me if you assess

your needs and finances that all the questions are answered for you.

Say you want three lights for a simple setup:Key, Fill and Back. Odds are you can't afford an HMI source or a Kino etc... so that leaves you with tungsten. Odds are you can't use anything bigger than a 1K that works on house power because you can't afford a generator of any size... even if you could, can you afford production insurance? No reputable Grip/Electric house will let you rent without it. Short term insurance can be spendy too. So, you either get a gaffer (about 450 for 10hrs in Portland) who has gear you can use to supplement yours and he won't ask for insurance since he's on the show.

Survey: If you could have three lights that fit this criteria what would they be?

I like the Arri Kit as a single purchase for around(gulp) $3,000.00 complete(incl. hard case)

You could also put together your own mix/match for less.

Mitch Gross · May 19, 2004

The way to determine a light kit that will work for you is to begin with your busget. If you have $500 to spend that will greatly alter your options compared to having $5000 to spend.

Dorian Quell · May 24, 2004

300.00 dollars for all light components is my budget. yeah its not much.

i'm looking for just a simple light setup : key, fill, and back.

tungsten is obviously cheap and so i can get a hold of those easy. But someone suggested halogen for better color temp. What should i get and where?

the mix matching deal is where i will go on this.

Michael Nash · May 24, 2004

http://www.lowel.com/systems.html

Look for used gear though for better prices.

It seems I recommend Lowel all the time, I swear I don't work for them or anything! It's just that people seem to get fixated on Mole or Kino or HMI's when they're on a video micro-budget. These are the workhorse lights for that kind of thing.

Mitch Gross · May 25, 2004

I think used gear is the only way you can get much of anything for this budget level. That or a trip to the hardware store to try to cobble stuff together on your own, but I don't think you'll get the most flexible stuff.