Go to lighting kit for small productions

[Ed_David]

What is everyones now that cameras are so light sensative?

Mine is a joker 800 hmi, kino 2x4, 2 litepanel astra lights,  some rifa lights and some dedolights and a literibbon.

This with a bunch of grip and a 4x8 beadboard gets me through quite a few setups.

Let me know what everyone elses is.

[AaronChicago]

Aputure Light Storm LS 1c

Arri 650 Tungsten

Scorpion Light

Flag kit

Depending on the scope of the shoot I sometimes rent 2 Arri 1K's.

[dbp]

1 minute ago, AaronChicago said:

Aputure Light Storm LS 1c

Arri 650 Tungsten

Scorpion Light

Flag kit

Depending on the scope of the shoot I sometimes rent 2 Arri 1K's.

How are you finding the Aputure Light Storm?

[TheRenaissanceMan]

Great topic idea. We don't talk about lighting nearly enough.

Still using Arri fresnels over here, but I can generally get by with 300s and 150s on the BMPCC. Anything bigger I'll rent for that specific shoot. 

Sometimes I'll use a set of strategically placed small LEDs I picked up a while back, but dialing out the green spike is a total pain in the ass. Anyone have any suggestions for small, directional lights that won't break the bank?

[Cinegain]

10 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Great topic idea. We don't talk about lighting nearly enough.

Still using Arri fresnels over here, but I can generally get by with 300s and 150s on the BMPCC. Anything bigger I'll rent for that specific shoot. 

Sometimes I'll use a set of strategically placed small LEDs I picked up a while back, but dialing out the green spike is a total pain in the ass. Anyone have any suggestions for small, directional lights that won't break the bank.

You're using the Yongnuo's, aren't you? Might want to give the Aputure Amaran range (also a lot of other rebrands out there) a go. CRI95+. Aputure has an awesome collection of panels. Nitsan has tried a lot of them out over on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NitsanPictures/search?query=aputure and loves the AL-H160 rightfully so.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

2 minutes ago, Cinegain said:

You're using the Yongnuo's, aren't you? Might want to give the Aputure Amaran range (also a lot of other rebrands out there) a go. CRI95+. Aputure has an awesome collection of panels. Nitsan has tried a lot of them out over on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NitsanPictures/search?query=aputure and loves the AL-H160 rightfully so.

Even worse! They don't even make them anymore: $10 Rocketfish (Best Buy brand) LED lights. I worked there at the time, so I got them half off. They were actually a fun way to start learning-- cheap, directional, battery powered, dimmable, decent output-- but I've moved to greener pastures.

Aww, the Aputure looks perfect! I'll check out the reviews. Thanks!

[richg101]

 six 19w 90+CRI LED heads.  With CREE XT 4000k diodes.  each on a flash tripod, and each with 10meters of cable.  3 of the heads are 30 degree spots and 3 are 140 degree floods.  works out at under 120watts for the whole setup, but I recon this kicks out the same usable light as 2 or 3 500w halogen worklamps.

 

Worked out at just under £400 for the entire setup.  so way more expensive than halogen floods but I recon I;d get 2hrs run time off a 18hole sealed lead acid golf battery.

 

 

[Nicolas MAILLET]

Hi,

2 x 2K "blond" with diffusion panels in front of them and gels to correct the yellowish tint

3 x 650W ARRI fresnels with diffusion panels most of the time too

1 x 150 ARRI junior fresnel light with some manfrotto magic arm most of the time to reach some points...

2 x LED panels with 200 leds more or less (Chinese cheap ones Aputure) that i almost never use... Low CRI and mixing with other lights is not an easy task.

1 x Chinese ball that is sometime interesting to work with. 400W if i remember well.

 

When i need more, i rent... 

[Aidan]

What do you think about this stuff? 

[richg101]

Part of the reason there is such debate regarding camera 'colour science' is that often the cameras are subjected to less than perfect light.  My concern with the slew of diy light panel tutorials is that usually the tutorials quote total costs of making a unit with cheap led strip.  the diodes provide poor cri's usually and the silicone protective layer also interferes with the light.  the multiple shadow effect from such things also needs so much diffusion that the light output isn;t nearly as good as you;d expect once diffusion is added.

 

I'd much rather invest the money and effort into making a point source lighting setup with the high power 10w+ diodes now available in good cri ratings.   

[Aidan]

I found these guys online making +95 CRI LED light strips, they claim that waterproof or not the cri is 95+.
I made one of these before, cannot use it for its bulkiness and color accuracy, but something light like this with good LED might work out well, I guess.
 

[tupp]

My only "go to" light kit is for talking head interviews:

- 1 Omni light w/doors, and double scrim;

- 1 Pro light/ w/doors, snoot;

- The largest and/or smallest Rifa (lamped w/tungsten) w/egg crate;

- 2 600w squeezers;

- 2 25' stingers;

- 2 cube-taps and 2 ground-lifters;

- 1/2 CTB for all lights;

- 1/2 CTO for the Omni and Pro lights;

- Various party gel and diff;

- Other non-gel expendables -- black wrap, gaff tape, bullets, bailing wire, etc.;

- Various portable grip items -- Tota-clamp, Tota-tatch (mini trombone), #1 grip clip w/baby pin, #2 grip clip w/baby pin, fold-able flag/silk w/swivel clamp, french flag, etc,;

- spare bulbs.

[Hans Punk]

Some LED makers are using different color temperatures as a reference to attain 100% CRI (or close too), when the actual CRI would be much less than 100% if noon day sun light was used as a reference. So always good to read the detailed spec sheet and see exactly where they get that rating from.

If 100% CRI is the ultimate goal in lighting, you can use the following:

Incandescent lamp = 100 CRI 

Candle Light = 100 CRI

Natural Sunlight = 100 CRI

...In other words, shoot with the lighting used on The Revenant...or Barry Lyndon. 

If the camera still renders skin tone as uncooked sausage meat with these lighting sources (and you can't correct easily) - it's the camera not having an accurate rendition of colour. 

[Oliver Daniel]

6 hours ago, richg101 said:

Part of the reason there is such debate regarding camera 'colour science' is that often the cameras are subjected to less than perfect light.  My concern with the slew of diy light panel tutorials is that usually the tutorials quote total costs of making a unit with cheap led strip.  the diodes provide poor cri's usually and the silicone protective layer also interferes with the light.  the multiple shadow effect from such things also needs so much diffusion that the light output isn;t nearly as good as you;d expect once diffusion is added.

 

I'd much rather invest the money and effort into making a point source lighting setup with the high power 10w+ diodes now available in good cri ratings.   

Totally agree with this. 

Theres a lot of ignorance towards lighting (and obsessions about cameras) in the enthusiast realm, however all cameras display their absolute best image under carefully lit scenes where the sensor isn't being pushed into sensitivity oblivion. Lighting is the biggest factor when differentiating good images from excellent images. 

I've moved to a battery operated setup of recent, as I can spend more time creating the look I want rather than dealing with reels and spiderwebs of cables. I can pretty much light anywhere, at anytime, whenever.

The lights are: 

3 x Lupolux Dual LED (650w and 1000w equivalent) with 6 Lanparte V-locks. (£4000).

6 x Scorpion Lights with Full Scorpion Kit. (£1200 approx). 

I love this setup as the Lupolux are Dual Color, they are very bright, light and have an excellent CRI. The Scorpions are absolutely brilliant as they are very compact, can bend in any direction and can be clamped on anything! And they are bright! 

Other lights I have in the kit are: 

Kino Flo 401s x 2 (£3000) 

Dedolight Kit x 4 and Gobos (£2000) 

1 x Arri 650w (£450)

These lights all brilliant workhorses and get knocked about, performing flawlessly. I love DIY solutions for lighting but my opinion is you shouldn't skimp and go cheap on your lighting gear. The reliability, colour accuracy and operation is very very important. 

Some of us out there buy every new camera with a 4K badge stuck on it, however lighting is far more important and the gear lasts for more than a decade easily. 

 

 

[BenEricson]

8 hours ago, Ed David said:

What is everyones now that cameras are so light sensative?

Mine is a joker 800 hmi, kino 2x4, 2 litepanel astra lights,  some rifa lights and some dedolights and a literibbon.

This with a bunch of grip and a 4x8 beadboard gets me through quite a few setups.

Let me know what everyone elses is.

I use the Light Panel 1x1 at work, I have heard the Astras are a huge step up in luminance output. Do you find this to be the case?

I shoot a ton of daylight balanced stuff, I find the Kinos harder to match and the kit is so much larger. 

[Hans Punk]

I was really impressed by Hive Plasma lights on a recent job...am still surprised Plasma lights in general are still not more widely adopted, but they still ain't cheap.

LED's are the stop-gap until Plasma takes over...more efficient, better colour, higher brightness. Highly recommend hiring them, especially for high speed work. (they are flicker-free up to 225 million fps!)

 

[andy lee]

Arri Fresnels , 3x1000w , 3x650w 3x500w 3x300w 3x150w , Kino Flos x 3 , 3x Red heads 3x Blondes 3x Par56 cans , that covers just about everything . Lee gels and diffussion on the lot

[AaronChicago]

11 hours ago, dbp said:

How are you finding the Aputure Light Storm?

I love it. It pretty much took the place of my kino flos. Extremely bright but dimmable. Color temp control. V mount battery. Greatcolor rendition.

[AaronChicago]

10 hours ago, andy lee said:

Arri Fresnels , 3x1000w , 3x650w 3x500w 3x300w 3x150w , Kino Flos x 3 , 3x Red heads 3x Blondes 3x Par56 cans , that covers just about everything . Lee gels and diffussion on the lot

I forgot to mention Lee gels and diffusion as well.

[Oliver Daniel]

1 hour ago, AaronChicago said:

I forgot to mention Lee gels and diffusion as well.

I have loads of rolls of this stuff. Don't go to a production without them.