Light package advice

[Dominik Bauch]

I direct and shoot on an Epic Dragon and I wanted to experiment with lighting during some downtime.

 

I want to get a basic set of lights, mainly geared towards creative lighting, that I could also use on some lightweight shoots.

 

Grip gear aside:

I was thinking of picking up an Arri T2 fresnel and one of the new Kino Select 30 Led lights.

My thinking is that the 2k fresnel will probably have enough punch to make a bookiight through 1/2 grid?

And the Kino is supposed to be great and supposedly offers similar light quality to a regular florescent 4x4 bank, without having to carry and swap different bulbs. But it's new and there's is no info on the output, I'm assuming that it's 1k?

 

My main concern is whether the Arri T2 will run ok on mains power and whether it will have enough punch to balance out bright daylight exteriors. I tried out a Arri T1 (1k) and that really has very little punch for anything other than dark or night interiors. Obviously a T2 will still be lacking but I want to avoid breaking the bank and avoid blowing fuses everywhere.

 

Any advice or suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Dom

 

 

[David Mullen ASC]

If you are worried, get two 1K's for the book light and run them to separate circuits. But you said "bright day exteriors", which is not what small tungsten lamps are good for. Use small tungstens for night interiors and exteriors, use daylight units like HMI's, LED's, and Kinos for day interiors and exteriors. You can use powerful tungsten units for day work for a warm late afternoon to sunset effect, but they have to be pretty bright to feel like sunlight. At best, if limited to a 20amp circuit, a 1.2K tungsten VNSP "firestarter" parcan is useful for a punchy warm edge light but not useful for soft bounces.

[Dominik Bauch]

Thanks for the fast response David.

 

I figured I could 1/2 or full ctb the 2k which would, even with filtration, be more powerful than a 1K. I also would as you said, limit myself to late afternoon where the warm color is justified. Like the dual 1k's idea but trying to keep a leaner footprint if possible.

I don't suppose there are any LED fresnels that are worth talking about, 2k power with good CRI?

[David Mullen ASC]

The Mole LED fresnels are pretty good, and you could try the "5K" version since it pulls much less power than a tungsten 5K.

[Satsuki Murashige]

I figured I could 1/2 or full ctb the 2k which would, even with filtration, be more powerful than a 1K.

Just remember that you will lose 2 stops with Full CTB. So by the time you add the CTB, the 2K will output about the same amount of light as a 500w fresnel which will basically do nothing in day exterior conditions.

 

To compete with direct sunlight and still diffuse the source, you need to be in the 4K HMI range. You can use a 1.2K or 1.8K HMI without diffusion up close if you are going for a hard-lit look. Personally, I think if you're doing day exteriors on a budget, bounce materials, diffusion fabrics, reflectors, and mirrors are the way to go.

[Michael DeStefano]

Dom, Let me know if you'd like to Demo our 250w Dimmable Daylight or Tungsten LED Fresnel.

[Dominik Bauch]

Just remember that you will lose 2 stops with Full CTB. So by the time you add the CTB, the 2K will output about the same amount of light as a 500w fresnel which will basically do nothing in day exterior conditions.

 

To compete with direct sunlight and still diffuse the source, you need to be in the 4K HMI range. You can use a 1.2K or 1.8K HMI without diffusion up close if you are going for a hard-lit look. Personally, I think if you're doing day exteriors on a budget, bounce materials, diffusion fabrics, reflectors, and mirrors are the way to go.

 

Thansk for the thoughts. Mirrors are definitley a good call. Now to find a semi transportable one, the Matthews mirror boards are beasts.

[Dominik Bauch]

The Mole LED fresnels are pretty good, and you could try the "5K" version since it pulls much less power than a tungsten 5K.

 

Thanks David, I'm looking into those. Saw that they released a new version of the 400W Junior which is now bicolor. The 900W senior is pretty heavy, nice punch though. Any idea if the overall light output is the same regardless of color temperature?

[Satsuki Murashige]

Thansk for the thoughts. Mirrors are definitley a good call. Now to find a semi transportable one, the Matthews mirror boards are beasts.

If you don't need the hard side, a beadboard with one side covered in silver stipple material is a good replacement. I also keep 4x 1x1 mirrors taped to Matthews foamcore holders in my car just in case. They fit in the seat back pockets!

[Dominik Bauch]

If you don't need the hard side, a beadboard with one side covered in silver stipple material is a good replacement. I also keep 4x 1x1 mirrors taped to Matthews foamcore holders in my car just in case. They fit in the seat back pockets!

Nice tip! Thanks.