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Starter Light Kit


David Hessel

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I have been shooting for a while now and I mostly shoot outdoors using available light with bounce or negative fill. I am looking into getting a light kit for shooting indoors and would like some opinions on what would be a good light kit to start with. I am fairly green when it comes to professional light kits, I've only used work lights and such in the past so any guidance would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

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For a small and versatile kit, you would be smart to look at some LED fresnels for daylight options. There are also many affordable ARRI fresnels on ebay for tungsten units.

 

Find lights you like to shoot with. I have a kit of 2x Arri 650 and 1x350, and a 400W HMI. The only thing I really need now is a 1500-2k HMI par for bouncing, book lights and windows. A couple of small LED fresnels to light up backgrounds and such would also be nice, but since I often shoot alone, and maybe with just one extra person, too much gear is just hassle.

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If you have the space and are willing to forgo the convenience of LEDs, I would also recommend getting some fresnel lamps off of ebay, you can build up a set from 350 to 2k without any trouble for peanuts. Avoid "AS ARRI" chinese lamps and go for ARRI, Desisti or Mole Richardson used lights. I have some 2.5K softlights I got on ebay, they can be useful if you have the time to set them up and the space to store them. I really like the dedolight spots but they are pretty expensive, even on the used market.

 

If you are going for LED (and don't want to spring for ARRI), Aputure and Lupoled are two brands that are worthy of attention. Lupo has the highest output 1x1 panel AFAIK and Aputure has a nice COB light (with a bowens mount so you can use all kinds of light shapers) and panels. The bigger of Aputures COB lights has a loud psu, so you may want to stick with the 120D.

 

I've been disappointed in the light output of LED fresnels so far, while the skypanel has nice output, the LC fresnels don't seem to be up to scratch.

Edited by Akos Baranya
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Thanks for all the advice, I am shooting for under $1000 for everything if possible. I actually just picked up a kit with 3 x arri 650w for about what one cost new. I guess now I will be looking into what else I might need to supplement them. I will check out the suggestions above and welcome any more advice.

 

Thanks again.

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Thanks for all the advice, I am shooting for under $1000 for everything if possible. I actually just picked up a kit with 3 x arri 650w for about what one cost new. I guess now I will be looking into what else I might need to supplement them. I will check out the suggestions above and welcome any more advice.

 

Thanks again.

Get some filters so you can daylight balance the Arris when needed. Just keep in mind you lose half the output when doing so. Also check out the Came-TV Boltzen LEDs. They seem to be a very good and cheaper alternative to Aputure, and they have a 150w LED.

 

I really like to shoot with tungsten, but daylight is often needed.

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