ryan Strong

Very helpful guy... I appreciate the time and effort you have put into your reply and it has helped me understand the world of continuous lighting more. It appears us still photographers have it easy with our strobes! What I am going to do is rent a Kino Flo Diva 401 kit for my first shoot I have in 2 weeks and try it out, see what I think. It sounds like I'm probably just going to have to ret for awhile until I really figure out what's best. I will probably plan to rent the parabeam on the shoot after next. Still lots to learn but this has been VERY educational and I appreciate all that have chimed in.

Has anyone used or heard of these? Someone recommended I take a look at these... http://www.coollights.biz/clled1200-1200-bicolor-panel-p-142.html

Wait... 1/48th?? That doesn't exist on my camera??

I've screwed around a little with my 5d MKII and the ISO on it is great even at really high levels 3200 ISO even. I can go down to 1/30th of my shutter — I've been wondering how the shutter works with video.... so my Canon 5d MKII is set to 24p. So I should be shooting with my shutter at 1/48th and then adjust aperture to taste? I like 24p as I like that "film" look.

Oh wow shooting wide open in the studio with all of that light? Yeah video is way different then still. I think Adrian is probably right - it may be wise for me to rent for my first few shoots to get an idea of what I will need / want. I love owning my own equipment I'm able to just head out whenever I want, but apparently I have a lot to learn about video.

Is this the unit you are referrin too?? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/148848-REG/DeSisti_2330_700_Remington_1_2K_Par_HMI.html That light is $6,500! You would need that just to get a shot like that!? Holy moly. Maybe I really don't understand video but that seems ridiculous! I mean forgive me to each his own but we are talking about light. As I mentioned I use Alien Bee lighting for strobes for stills and they are middle of the road price point $400 for a unit - pro gear like Profoto are like triple that price and to be honest I've used both and in my personal opinion I didn't see that big of a difference and if were to invest in that type of gear I certainly would not see triple my ROI. I understand there is a art element to this that money and gear can never overshadow and that's hopefully what I want to capitalize on is just my overall judgement and creative eye. Again I'm not making a motion picture Oscar. I am just wanting to use light to shape my subject and be able to get decent quality result. If I am still too vague to what I am wanting or how I am going to be using my continuous light please ask so I can help us to start to draw some conclusions as to what I need.

Side discussion... what's the deal with these? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/569816-REG/Interfit_INT216_Super_Cool_lite_9_Fluorescent.html Seam super mobile and cheap. Do they get the job done?

Sorry I am very unfamiliar with video speak. When you say like 1k and 2k etc. What do you mean? And to be honest... I'm not extremely technical on the side of still... I mean I know what to do and do it to get the right result, but why or how I got there was just by pure art form on my part. If you do not mind, when you refer to products that you are suggesting like a ARRI or a Chimera, do you mind linking to the product to a site like B And H so I can see specifically to what I am dealing with? And again I only want 1 lighting fixture to do the job.

Guy thank you for your input... as well as Brian. The situations I'm going to run into will not be as involved as some of what you have noted in your examples Guy. Brian you are exactly right when you make mention of having to bring large units and generators. That simply would not be the case. If I go exterior with no power option, I would want to use my battery powered pack that is a pure sine wave inverter. I am familiar with wattage. If I run my Alien Bee 400 strobe at full power it would be 160 true Watts. I would be perfectly fine with that amount of power. The Diva-Lite 200 puts out 110 total watts. The Diva-Lite 400 puts out 220 total watts. The ParaBeam 200 puts out 110 total watts, and the ParaBeam 400 puts out 220 total watts. Honestly I think I would be fine with 110 total watts. I'm not trying to over power the sun... and honestly if there is a window present in the room, I will want to motivate that light, not overpower it or contradict. My shots are VERY natural in their appearance. Take for example this still shot of mine that I shot at a local cafe... I love the over exposed windows and then I just had a low powered strobe off to the right of the subject to light the face and the clothes. If I can accomplish something like that then I would be happy. SO with all that in mind... does that change anything? I mean I certainly don't want to go out spend the dough and get something I won't be happy with, but I certainly do not want to over do it either.

Thanks for the informed reply. Topically I think the Parabeam might be an overkill for my first piece of continuous lighting - especially regarding the mobility of the unit, it's twice the weight of the Diva. I generally will only be shooting with 1 MAYBE 2 subjects at a time. Certainly I'm up for being persuading it just seems like the Parabeam may be too much of a unit for me. I am, though, convinced that Kinos may be the better direction then the LED route. Lower priority question about the Kino... I run my portable power off of an Alien Bees portable battery power system that has a pure sine wave inverter. Check it out here: http://alienbees.com/VIIsystem.html — Would this be able to power a Kino Flo correctly? If so how long?

I am a still fashion photographer who is making the move to add video to my set up. I shoot with a Canon 5D MKII. I am very use to Alien Bees strobe lighting. They are not cheap but they are not expensive and for the quality they are a great product - I've never been let down. What I am looking for in continuous lighting is something the same. I need a workhorse single light setup. Like with my Alien Bees, I want to be able to use my continuous light purchase in studio and out on location. So as I said a work horse. It needs to be fairly mobile. I usually have an assistant with me but there are occasions where I do not. From Googling around and forum search I've landed at the Kino Flo Diva-Lite 201 as the top contender for what I am looking for. It is very important that I have a nice cool daylight balance - something to what I am use to with my strobe lighting. Another light that caught my interest due to it's mobility and lightweight was the LED Litepanel 1x1... however I am a little skeptical of the light quality and fall off vs the price.... Does anyone have any comments or suggestions as to what I should get that would be easy for me to step into with this new video world?