Halogen Work Lights

anamexis · August 14, 2005

There have been several discussions about dirt cheap lighting, but I am wondering how halogen work lights fare. I ask because in today's paper there was an ad with them on sale for $10 including a decent looking stand. Would they work fine for cheap student films? Do they balance with tungsten?

Stephen Williams · August 14, 2005

There have been several discussions about dirt cheap lighting, but I am wondering how halogen work lights fare. I ask because in today's paper there was an ad with them on sale for $10 including a decent looking stand. Would they work fine for cheap student films? Do they balance with tungsten?

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Hi,

You can use them, the lower wattage ones can be a bit yellow. I have used them bounced into white beadboard.

Have fun,

Stephen

Chris Cooke · August 14, 2005

Some halogen work lamps can actually support 3200K tungsten bulbs such as a 1000W DXW, 650W FBX/FAD or 300W CL/CL2. Color tempurature may not be exactly 3200K with work lights but I don't know if it matters much to you. The bigest issues in my opinion with these lights is control and size(wattage). I've only used them on one shoot where I put a bunch behind some diffusion for some fill.

I just bought some little 300W PAR 38's for $50 each (Canadian) brand new with bulb. These are almost as cheap as Halogen work lamps, they're a lot more controlable, they're 3200K, they pump out quite a bit of light per watt and the bulb will last longer.

Phil Rhodes · August 14, 2005

Hi,

They're quite nice for backlighting with.

Phil

Alvin Pingol · August 15, 2005

Halogen worklamps are great solutions for inexpensive, wide-coverage hard light. Best used through some form of diffusion. They really are a headache to control, since you'll most likely be attaching some DIY barndoors/flags to cut spill, and you can't modify beam focus. They are also cumbersome and, along with their heavy duty stands, can be heavy. Fortunately, the long, tubular quartz-halogen replacement bulbs are only a few bucks and are easy to find.

My local shop doesn't carry 1k worklamps, which is a shame; the 500w (x2) "T-bar" worklamp setup is great for shining through a diffusion frame.

Just watch out when you start accumulating multiple worklamps and stands, as placing them in the largest case you can find for transport purposes becomes a real life game of Tetris.

Be sure to get some extension cords and power splitters while you're at it...

Josh Silfen · August 16, 2005

I seem to remember a DVD commentary on "Fight Club" by DP Jeff Cronenweth where he talks about using those worklights, but they were used as practicals that played in the scene.

-Josh Silfen

anamexis · August 16, 2005

I seem to remember a DVD commentary on "Fight Club" by DP Jeff Cronenweth where he talks about using those worklights, but they were used as practicals that played in the scene.
-Josh Silfen

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I recall listening to that commentary, and as I recall he did not use halogen work lights but rather what he called "budget busters"-- those cheap clip-on scoops that take regular household (or photoflood) bulbs. These, too, though, are useful in dirt cheap film.

Ryan Puckett · August 16, 2005

I recall listening to that commentary, and as I recall he did not use halogen work lights but rather what he called "budget busters"-- those cheap clip-on scoops that take regular household (or photoflood) bulbs. These, too, though, are useful in dirt cheap film.

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Its for the final scene in the office building looking over the city. They used a handfull of halogen work lights as practicals. I recall that they were gelled with probably a half CTB to go with the overall blue tone of the scene.

They did use a ton of those "budget buster" clip lights in the earlier portions of the movie though.

Nate Downes · August 16, 2005

I recall listening to that commentary, and as I recall he did not use halogen work lights but rather what he called "budget busters"-- those cheap clip-on scoops that take regular household (or photoflood) bulbs. These, too, though, are useful in dirt cheap film.

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Hey, I use those most of the time! (yes, I admit it, I'm a cheapskate)

anamexis · August 16, 2005

You're right, I forgot about the last scene. I will have to watch that again.

brian hendry · August 22, 2005

i swear all i use now a days are chinas, pracitcal lamps with photofloods , and clip on scoops on squeezers.

Jason Love · August 10, 2007

I just bought some little 300W PAR 38's for $50 each (Canadian) brand new with bulb. These are almost as cheap as Halogen work lamps, they're a lot more controlable, they're 3200K, they pump out quite a bit of light per watt and the bulb will last longer.

Where did you get such cheap things from may i ask? Are they common at that price? Im from UK but im hoping there is some sort of equivelant store that does them here...

Thanks

Douglas Sunlin · August 10, 2007

How many lumens would you look for in a key light, at a minimum?

Nate Downes · August 11, 2007

How many lumens would you look for in a key light, at a minimum?

Depends on your film speed,and normally they're rated by watts, not lumens.

Douglas Sunlin · August 11, 2007

The watts, in this case, just tells how much juice the lamp pulls. Different bulbs (fluorescent vs incandescent) output differently. There is a way of measuring light output in watts, with lasers, for instance, but for lights, their light output is measured in lumens or candepower.

Would it be possible to power one of these worklights with a 6-v dry-cell battery? I guess I have to try that out.

Douglas Sunlin · August 22, 2007

Would it be possible to power one of these worklights with a 6-v dry-cell battery? I guess I have to try that out.

The answer is NO. Maybe a 12-V car battery. I'll try that.

Spencer Stewart · August 24, 2007

This is my very cheap and unprofessional "softbox" halogen light attachment.

What are the "diffusion frames" mentioned in the earlier posts?

Thin white cloth stretched out on a C-Stand?

If you have any suggestions for my softbox let me know. By the way, the diffusion material I used was wax paper, and the light somewhat lit straight through, without much diffusion. Are there any other relatively cheap materials out there that do a better job?

Jason Love · August 24, 2007

This is my very cheap and unprofessional "softbox" halogen light attachment.

What are the "diffusion frames" mentioned in the earlier posts?

Thin white cloth stretched out on a C-Stand?

If you have any suggestions for my softbox let me know. By the way, the diffusion material I used was wax paper, and the light somewhat lit straight through, without much diffusion. Are there any other relatively cheap materials out there that do a better job?

I cant work out how you have done that... in the picture it looks like a floating glow of diffusion. where is the stand? and why isnt the light switched on?

Douglas Sunlin · August 24, 2007

I went to the plastics store looking for dirt cheap gels. They had some transparent tinted plastics, but at 150 F the plastics start to deform. Doesn't seem halogen-friendly.

So what are you using to color these lights, if anything?

Spencer Stewart · August 25, 2007

Umm, well, I did not use anything to color the gels. Its the original bulb with waxpaper for some cheap diffusion. I would probably try using real gels though; I'm no pro, but 150 degrees F doesn't seem that hot for a light.

As for the other post, the light is not floating :). I just spray painted the lamp stands black (instead of that yellow), and, using my cell phone camera, the photo is pretty underexposed w/exception of the light itself. The lamp next to the "soft box" is off simply because its broken. ;)

August 28, 2007

Where did you get such cheap things from may i ask? Are they common at that price? Im from UK but im hoping there is some sort of equivelant store that does them here...

I don't know where he got his, but his mentioning them led me to do a search and find these folks in the US:

http://www.stagelightingstore.com/

(Look under Lighting Catalog -> Lighting Units -> Par Units)

Here's something comparable in the UK:

http://www.ebdj.co.uk/shop/product_list.php?cat_id=57

Regards,

Tim

Edited August 28, 2007 by Timothy Wallace