Jump to content

The best for the money


Recommended Posts

Hi guys, I'm thinking about investing in some professional lights, I'll probably go used, so far I've only been using those crappy home depot work-lights, does anyone recommend anything in particular, I want something that will produce hard light, not a florescent, and that is relatively portable with bulbs that are a reasonable cost to replace, so what are the best lights for the money? Budget by the way is probably 200-300

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Hi guys, I'm thinking about investing in some professional lights, I'll probably go used, so far I've only been using those crappy home depot work-lights, does anyone recommend anything in particular, I want something that will produce hard light, not a florescent, and that is relatively portable with bulbs that are a reasonable cost to replace, so what are the best lights for the money? Budget by the way is probably 200-300

 

They are not in your budget Im afraid to say, but the first light si bought was a set of dedo's they are just so flexible and well built. Being low voltage the globes can take some punishment and are only a couple of bucks to replace. And they last hundreds of hours.

 

There are lot's of options for powering them, and they are small and compact too. The optics mean you have a great wide and spot option. Don't let the low wattage fool you. The optics mean that they punch above their weight for brightness. The only downside is that they are tungsten only....!

 

So yes expensive, but they pay for themselves in globes just about compared to others anyway. They still go out on every shoot with me, big or small 10 years later. Can't think of many other lights as flexible or robust....they're my desert island lights...

 

 

jb

 

(don't work for em, just use em a heap)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You might be able to pick up a few stage Fresnels for that much if you get lucky. I bought a bunch of theatrical lights and some DJ lights with 2 lighting boards and power packs from a theater company that had moved out of their theater. There were about, I don't know, 30 Fresnels with barn boors 4 of which were were 5ks the rest were babies, 20 or so ellipsoidals mostly 3 in but a few 5 in, a scoop. They're as old as the hills, most came in good working condition but some need repair. I gather up a follow spot from a bar that closed and another real nice 5K from a TV station. I paid $1600 for the theatrical lights and $150 for the spot. I also picked up 4 lighting trees, I think that were $300. The DJ stuff was mostly small pars with an real small electronic board and some disco lights. The stuff has paid for it's self in rental for theatrical productions I've done.

 

The main problem I have is the bales are basically strap steel with a hole where the clamp bolts though. You can use the base of some clamps to fit them to a standard light stand pin but I didn't get enough of these style clamps for all the lights. I have a couple of lights that have a regular movie style bale but that's it. I haven't worried about it 'cuase I have access to Mel's grip truck so so I don't really need to use them that much BUT Mel has borrowed them from me an a few occasions as he doe's have theatrical lighting equipment. I DO want to equip my grip a 3 ton grip truck but first I'm gonna finish up my camera stuff and production funding, THEN I'll build up my grip truck as I go alone, little by little. You should look for older, used equipment in good working condition. The bulbs are EXPENSIVE ($25 bucks each or more) so try and find ones already working. If not plan on fixing them and let that help you decide if it's worth what they're asking for them.. The GOOD news is the non working ones should go cheap so bide your time and look for the deals. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://cgi.ebay.com/900-W-Fresnel-Spot-Flo...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

how reliable are these things on ebay? I want something that can produce a fairly good 4:1 lighting ratio, and that will be able to light for more than one character, like a flood that would be broad enough to hit character's 1's fill and also act that way for character 2 and produce decent results, would investing these be worth the money?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...