Cheap Daylight China Ball and portable china ball with literibbons?

Ed David · July 29, 2015

I'm a big fan of china balls - or whatever the term is now - laterns?

What's everyone's best solution for daylight balanced ones - I know there are some giant Flourescent balanced tubes for them - 60w bulbs - wondering if there is a way to get a joker 400 into a gem ball to get more punch - or well does one know the different options?

Trying to light a conference scene for a film during daylight way in the air and love well the china ball overhead for getting a nice spread.

then again I could just use a joker 800 overhead in a pancake and get something similar.

anyway let me know

also thinking about a battery powered china ball for night and steadicam a la what they used in black swan - maybe stick it with literibbons?

JD Hartman · July 29, 2015

Why don't you just build something like a chicken coop and use "daylight" photo-floods?

You also can get a chimera speed ring for the 1x1 Litepanels. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/767071-REG/Chimera_1650_LED_Lightbank.html

Ed David · July 29, 2015

yes that's a great idea - good thinking ! thank you. how would someone go about building a chicken coop - basically i guess a overhead hanging 9-light system with just edison sockets and wrap it in cage wire and then put some diffusion underneath. Seems also like a kino flo system could do the same trick - or I guess a space light as well - and just yes use photoflood bulbs

Edited July 29, 2015 by Ed David

Mark Kenfield · July 29, 2015

Kino also do some regular edison base CFLs, so you could get decent daylight colour quality from those.

Satsuki Murashige · July 29, 2015

Not exactly the same as a China Ball, but I have seen a few gaffers using Litemats on a pole for walk and talk Steadicam-style shots. Very lightweight, 12v battery powered off a belt pack, bi-color, and dimmable. That's the direction I would be thinking if you don't need to fill a large area. Otherwise, there are better solutions like bouncing HMIs, Jem Balls, Balloon Lights, a grid of Kinos, etc.

Ed David · July 29, 2015

litemats look great - thanks didn't know they existed - but still that china ball softness and uniformity is really something special - I think maybe literibbons china ball is the way to do it for me

in the meantime what would I need to build a chicken coop - or does someone have something already kind of - could be a cool DIY solution for a bunch of stuff

Phil Rhodes · July 29, 2015

I think at that level you may as well buy a load of that LED strip and stick it on something!

P

JD Hartman · July 29, 2015

Chicken coop is explained and diagrammed in the book by Harry Box.

JD Hartman · August 8, 2015

Coop light: http://www.tomguilmette.com/archives/2717

Adrian Sierkowski · August 9, 2015

Cree makes some 5600K LED screw bulbs that aren't awful; and can be dimmed. They pull 18W and put out about 100W worth of light, so they claim (never actually tested) but you can get something like a 6 socket adapter for them and that'd give you some output.

Stuart Brereton · August 9, 2015

Cree makes some 5600K LED screw bulbs that aren't awful; and can be dimmed.

The Cree bulbs are bright, but they are also expensive and are noticeably green on camera.

Adrian Sierkowski · August 9, 2015

That's what they make -G for. I think; though i'd have to check, min are 1/2 -G. And $20 for a bulb isn't too too bad in my book as they last far longer than photofloods and I can dim them. But to each their own tradeoff

Stuart Brereton · August 9, 2015

But why spend $20 on a bulb you have to correct, when you could spend a few dollars more on a Kino -Flo CFL that has a CRI of 95? Sure, you can't dim them, but then I'm usually trying to make daylight sources brighter, not dimmer.

Adrian Sierkowski · August 9, 2015

Not as bright in my experience as the crees. and honestly; if i'm throwing them into practicals on set or a china ball, I need to dim them to match what else is happening. Also the Crees should well outlast the CFLs. hell even the one's i've dropped and had the glass shatter on still work (not nearly as pretty; but usable totally). Like it said though; it's the trade-offs you're ok accepting. For me, buying a bulb once that'll last a very long time, and a few bits of -G isn't too big an issue (though i'll admit I also use them un-corrected sometimes too-- such as when dealing with overhead floros and then I can FLB the lens). And I've spent $120 on the 6 I have so far but that's it. For that I get a 600W equiv of daylight pulling at most 2A. I'm ok with that and think it's quite a valid option. If memory serves the Kino CFL @23w is a 60ish equiv, something along those lines?

Are they really rating those CFLs @95? Not out of the question, just seems a bit high.

Stuart Brereton · August 9, 2015

The Cree bulbs are definitely a valid option, I just think they are expensive for what they are.

JD Hartman · August 9, 2015

The Cree bulbs are definitely a valid option, I just think they are expensive for what they are.

Short life on photofloods? Who cares, it's cost of lighting on a shoot and getting the look you want. Crees in practicals, ...maybe.

Energy savings with Cree bulbs? Adrian, have you gone all green and become a tree huger since you moved to the left coast? Since when, was the film industry Environmentally correct?

.......and then there's the light loss of putting the minus green om them. I still see LED's making promises they don't keep.

Phil Rhodes · August 9, 2015

I might do as the OP suggested and try some of that low-cost, high-CRI LED ribbon we noticed on fleabay. Easy to battery-power and available in various CTs (though I'm not sure what either of them actually are).

That, or various discharge lights work. People have made very effective china balls with the 400W (often mogul-based) types, and they are bright. 150W versions can be battery powered, too.

P

Adrian Sierkowski · August 10, 2015

It's not energy saving as much as it is plugging them into whatever I want, practicals, china balls, and not worrying about the load. As for environmentally friendly, I'd say LA is the least environmentally friendly place i've been in a long time but that's a whole other discussion.

JD Hartman · August 10, 2015

Just yanking your chain Adrian.

LA not environmentally friendly?? If they didn't steal all the water from Owen's Valley and from most of the surrounding areas, LA wouldn't exist.

Edited August 10, 2015 by JD Hartman

Adrian Sierkowski · August 11, 2015

And there would be much rejoice. ;)

JD Hartman · August 11, 2015

And there would be much rejoice. ;)

Sadly true. There was even a feature film that documented what LA did in the Owen's Valley. A great Engineering feat, a tremendous Environmental disaster.

Environment/Political rant - off.