Jump to content

Suggestions/build ideas? An ultra cheap, very bright daylight source fixture?


John Robinson

Recommended Posts

A colleague of mine with a small production company is struggling with work, I'm doing him some favors lighting with my tungsten kit to help make his projects look better in hopes of grabbing in some clients with deeper pockets. Sometimes we need a bright pool of daylight because the cameras used aren't very sensitive (around 250 ASA) and/or shooting into windows. I was thinking of putting together an array of those giant 6500k 105w CFLs with 90+ CRI, though keeping their built in ballasts cool might be a concern if they're packed in closely. Renting isn't an option; HMIs, kinos, etc. are out of budget and this wouldn't be used that often.

 

Does anyone have any ideas? Has anyone seen any creative solutions for getting a lot of daylight for your buck out of a 15A outlet? Also considering lipo battery/giant inverter options for quick shots that require more current. It's definetly not something that would go on a truck for day-in-day-out production use by different crews and such.

 

Looking to get something that will output around 50 foot candles at 30ft from subject 30ft+ width beam. Softness/hardness isn't a concern at this point, just getting exposure is hard enough. Impossible to find/build?

Edited by John
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking of putting together an array of those giant 6500k 105w CFLs with 90+ CRI, though keeping their built in ballasts cool might be a concern if they're packed in closely.

 

 

What brand are these giant spiral CFL's? The ones I've seen, being used by vegetable and other curbside vendors/peddlers aren't 90+ CRI and generally look like ass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A colleague of mine with a small production company is struggling with work, I'm doing him some favors lighting with my tungsten kit to help make his projects look better in hopes of grabbing in some clients with deeper pockets. Sometimes we need a bright pool of daylight because the cameras used aren't very sensitive (around 250 ASA) and/or shooting into windows. I was thinking of putting together an array of those giant 6500k 105w CFLs with 90+ CRI, though keeping their built in ballasts cool might be a concern if they're packed in closely. Renting isn't an option; HMIs, kinos, etc. are out of budget and this wouldn't be used that often.

 

Does anyone have any ideas? Has anyone seen any creative solutions for getting a lot of daylight for your buck out of a 15A outlet? Also considering lipo battery/giant inverter options for quick shots that require more current. It's definetly not something that would go on a truck for day-in-day-out production use by different crews and such.

 

Looking to get something that will output around 50 foot candles at 30ft from subject 30ft+ width beam. Softness/hardness isn't a concern at this point, just getting exposure is hard enough. Impossible to find/build?

 

Most 'cheap' solutions have crappy color rendition, despite any claims about 90+... the reason is that CRI only considers the overall 'average', where as LED and CFLs have spikes in various places, or holes, depending, which 'on average' looks like 'tungsten'... more or less to the human eye, since the human vision system can adjust to a wide variety of conditions... but not so for the camera sensor, and there result is those spikes and holes in the spectrum cause for color shifts, which only become obvious in the final minutes of editing/colorwork and one has a deadline at 8 am tomorrow morning...

 

However... if you shoot for monochrome aka Black and White... some number of these problems are mitigated...

 

That said, I've thought about retro fitting or building such light fixtures as a light 3x3 or a 4x4 array, but I've not had the time.

Edited by John E Clark
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Personally I think this question is often better answered with conventional fluorescents. I built some fittings with high frequency electronic ballasts designed to accept 4', 36W tubes. They were one of my earliest homebrews and remain useful to this day because they are much smaller and lighter than kinos, to the point where they can be mounted on very lightweight photography stands. Practically any type of tube that has ever been made is available in 4' 36W T8, including party colours (with green and blue suitable for illuminating keyable backdrops), blacklight, and tungsten or daylight balanced types with adequate colorimetry for use as a key.

 

Naturally, homebrew gear has only a very small potential value as rental gear, but if that isn't a concern to you, and it sounds like it isn't, a few hours with a makita might be in your future.

 

P

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I think this question is often better answered with conventional fluorescents. I built some fittings with high frequency electronic ballasts designed to accept 4', 36W tubes. They were one of my earliest homebrews and remain useful to this day because they are much smaller and lighter than kinos, to the point where they can be mounted on very lightweight photography stands. Practically any type of tube that has ever been made is available in 4' 36W T8, including party colours (with green and blue suitable for illuminating keyable backdrops), blacklight, and tungsten or daylight balanced types with adequate colorimetry for use as a key.

Naturally, homebrew gear has only a very small potential value as rental gear, but if that isn't a concern to you, and it sounds like it isn't, a few hours with a makita might be in your future.

P

Yes, certainly not rental gear. Do you have any details or pictures of your homebrew flous? Being able to mount the fixture on a light duty photography stand or at worst, a c-stand, is essential. Thanks. Edited by John Robinson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...