Suggestion for buying lighting kit

Giancarlo Giuliano · June 22, 2014

Hello everybody,

I'm a director and producer running my own production company.

We produce commercials, music video and short/feature films.

Now I'm planning to invest 1k bucks to buy a lighting kit to rent to other companies and to use by myself to make feature film for theaters, tv and web.

Got already:

1x 800watt tungsten redhead

1x 300watt spot light

2x z96 led light

4x fluorescent lights with soft box (the ones with bulb, 1 socket per lamp)

Should I go for LEDs, tungsten or fluorescent bulbs?

I'd rather go for LEDs than others for their portability and battery-use for external shots but, what about the amount of light compared to others?

I'm not a Dop, got several people who are cooperating, depending on the project but I' d offer a good lighting kit to work with..

What would you suggest based on your experience?

Thanks!

Giancarlo

From Italy!

Jerry Murrel · June 22, 2014

"Now I'm planning to invest 1k bucks to buy a lighting kit to rent to other companies and to use by myself to make feature film for theaters, tv and web."

Your budget may be a bit on the low end for putting together a good

kit which you can use and rent out. I would suggest hard lighting - you can always

soften hard light with a scrim or net, but you can't make soft light hard.

Arri makes a nice 3 light kit with a Chimera for about $1970~

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=527188&gclid=COWMpLq-jr8CFUwV7AodvXcARA&Q=&is=REG&A=details

These lights have fresnel lenses and come with barn doors, which will give you more

control.

This is a good starter kit, and you can always add softlights, or larger tungsten lamps

(e.g. 1K and 2K Tungstens are very useful).

-Jerry Murrel

Cinevision AR
Little Rock

Mike Bao · June 23, 2014

For this price range tungsten is the way to go, 2K blonde is an awesome light and I would def recommend getting that first as 1K fresnel is just not enough in most situations. Yes you will be lacking smaller units,but you can always substitute them with diy stuff/practicals and you can always cut output of the large unit. Chimera is a waste of money for low budgets,you can get a 8x4 poly or muslin or shower curtain and bounce or shoot through.

David Landau · July 10, 2014

I agree with Jerry, get an Arri kit. There is a wide variety of kits available. What cameras are you shooting with? If you are using the newer digital cameras such as the Sony F3 or F5 or the Canon C500, you don't need 2K lights. You don't even need 1k lights. You do need Fresnel’s. You can easily add diffusion on the lights, such as 216 or gridcloth. But your budget is so low, any LED light you can afford to get will be green and unreliable. There are many very poorly made LED units out there now, I see them every year at the NAB. Flolight makes inexpensive fluorescent units, that work well but they are small and don't throw far. I wouldn't rent them out, they are really made for owner/user.

Mark Kenfield · July 10, 2014

A couple of Kino (or Kino-esque) Flouros, two 2K Blondies, and two 650w Fresnels would be the starting point I'd recommend. Get some grip gear, and you can do a lot with a simple six light kit like that.

And David makes a very good point about the sensitivity of newer cameras. I lit a short over the weekend primarily with a couple of remote phosphor panels, we were shooting on the Sony F5, and even with the camera rated 2/3 stop under (ISO1250), I was lighting a dinner table of six actors with a grand total of about 85w of power... pushed through two layers of diffusion.

...and the singles with just 45w of power - that's how ridiculously sensitive these new cameras are.