Affordable Lighting kit

[Benjamin_Lussier]

:huh: Hello

 

I'm a young visual effects artist (compositor), and I'm used to lighting CG scenes and stuff like that... but I want to work on a real set now, lighting is smtg that always intrigued me... its fascinating... So one of my friends, who's a director, wants me to photograph his next short (independant), I feel very lucky... hope I dont screw up...

 

I started shopping for some.. lighting equiment... lol... It's not my money so Im being very cautious..

Why is it soo expensive ?? I dont get it... are the light bulbs made out of diamonds or smtg ? :blink:

 

Is there.. anything affordable out there ?

 

Thanks...

 

Ben

[Stas Tagios]

I guess it depends on what you consider affordable.

 

Lowell offers a bunch of relatively inexpensive and portable light kits (inexpensive at least in comparison, say, to Arri kits).

 

Cheaper still are the open-face tungsten Britek lights offered at www.rostronics.com.

 

They're not nearly as robust as pricier lights like the Arris, and aren't fresnels, thus don't offer quite the focusability and control, but for the price, they're quite capable, plus the light casing (made of "space-age plastics") doesn't heat up nearly as much as the metal casing of most lights.

 

I bought and used a set of two 650w Britek lights with softboxes for a recent shoot (cost for the package: $365) and was quite pleased with their performance, though I used the lights more to supplement my DP's Arri kit than as the sole source of lighting.

 

Since I've only owned the lights for several weeks, I can't comment about their robustness or the robustness of the accessories (softboxes and stands), but they seem soldily constructed enough to last, given the proper treatment.

 

You can read more info and opinions on the Briteks at the "lighting" forum at www.dvxuser.com.

 

Here are some links to the rostronics pages:

 

Rostronics film/video lighting kits:

 

http://www.rostronics.com/products.asp?cat=13

 

Individual lights:

 

http://www.rostronics.com/products.asp?cat=27

[Xuefei24p]

Kubrick used a basic kit often used by students to light A Clockwork Orange. Alcott knew how to use it.

 

I was shooting black and white 35mm some time ago, and I used a kit composed of probably 40% halogens. It looked fine. Of course, they don't have any kind of practical color spectrum, but in B&W, who cares? Well, most of the time. Just don't put a frosted curtain in front of it, lest it melt. :rolleyes:

 

So, you could probably construct a kit on the cheap. Go to the local Community College, and sign up for a class in whatever. Get an I.D, then drop the class. Now you must do this once a semester, and you can get discounts on all kinds of things.

[Josh Hill]

B&H Photo Video often has used lighting on sale.

 

I've been buying one piece of lighting at a time (okay, I've only bought two lights so far, sue me). You can pick up a used fresnel here, a used fresnel there. Check on eBay. Open-faced lights are good too, though they're not as focusable as the fresnels are.

 

The best bet is probably get a 1k, 2 650s, and a 300. Thats a fairly well rounded kit, and with some bounce cards/scrims/etc is very useful and maleable. You can also get some china balls with different wattage bulbs for some good soft light sources.