Go to lighting kit for small productions

[andy lee]

I very rarely use a lamp without it being gelled and diffused - thats the look I use

[Nicolas MAILLET]

4 minutes ago, Oliver Daniel said:

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

 

Yes !!! Always there out of the field of view !!! Have tons of it with different strengths too.

[cantsin]

This thread really reveals how light is the one important component in DIY/low-cost filmmaking where we are lacking affordable, high quality, portable solutions. In the last decade, we got affordable large sensor cameras, even affordable raw video, affordable high quality external video recording, affordable high quality lenses, some even with cine gears (Samyang, Veydra), cheap high quality audio field recorders (Tascam, Zoom), cheap high quality microphones (Rode), affordable high quality cine rigs, follow focus, video field monitors, affordable high quality video tripods, affordable or gratis professional-grade editing and color grading software (Resolve), affordable workstation computers,... -

But when looking for affordable light, you're stuck either with tungsten Fresnels that do not have the native color temperature of modern camera sensors, draw a lot of power, generate a lot of heat and aren't easily transportable, but produce high quality light. Or you pick some kind of LED light which, however you want to turn it, produces inferior color and is at best good for TV/documentary work. (Even CRI 95 doesn't say much if the 5% of lacking color spectrum are your skintones, and if you get different tints from the different LED lights you use, resulting in a nightmare in post.) 

[IronFilm]

LED technology *AND* battery technology is moving ahead very fast, so I'd be hopeful within a few years we'd be seeing this situation fixed cantsin. But for now.... yes I agree with you :-/

Kinda strange really, as some would argue it is the *MOST* important area of filmmaking (well... aside from "it is all about the story" yadda yadda), yet it has seen the least amount of technological progress out of all those areas you listed.

I think the closest thing we have to "small, affordable, portable" is a set of Dedolights with a bunch of V mount batteries and lighting modifiers.  But that is far from cheap, but it is what I want/hope to get soon

 

 

[AaronChicago]

LED color rendition is getting alot better. Aputure has them up to 98 CRI. I can attest to that accuracy. I've used some older LEDs and noticed a green spike while coloring. It's virtually gone now. 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1172657&gclid=CIuMioWKscsCFQiJaQodEGYBUw&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&Q=&A=details

Honestly, not that I've gotten to the point where I'm 100% happy with my camera/lens setups, I'm way more excited when I see announcements for new lighting tech/products.

[cantsin]

The problem is that CRI values don't tell you very much because (a) they don't say which parts of the color spectrum are missing, (b) how linear the color spectrum of the lights is (i.e. where you get tints/spikes). But the real deal breaker is that you practically can't combine different LED lights from different manufacturers (or even different products of the same manufacturer if they aren't pro equipment makers like Dedolights) because each of them has their own tint and spikes, and mixing those lights results in something that is nearly impossible to color correct in post.

@IronFilm, I agree that light "has seen the least amount of technological progress out of all those areas you listed", but would even argue that the situation has become worse: Ever since classical tungsten light has been replaced with energy-saving lights, light/color quality of consumer artificial light has gone downhill, and shooting in available artificial light has become a complete nightmare (were even the best camera doesn't help). IMHO, the quality difference between pro and run-and-gun amateur filmmaking has shifted almost 100% from camera to light.

[dbp]

^ That's a good point. I do many indoor event type of stuff, and some of the lighting is just brutal. Some places I've used several different cameras and they all look like crap.

[mat33]

I'm looking at getting a lighting kit together and want to invest in a kit that will last me a while.  So far I've been using natural light, with reflectors and diffusion.  I also have a Fiilex P100 which has a nice light but could be a bit brighter.  I am looking at getting something that can be run off batteries to use anywhere and to minimise set-up time/cords etc.  What would you recommend if you could build a kit from scratch -the aperture lightstorm LS1c and scorpion lights which have been mentioned, look pretty good but are there any other recommendations?  The stronger Fiilex like the P360EX look nice, but are $$$ for the output you get.

[AaronChicago]

10 hours ago, mat33 said:

I'm looking at getting a lighting kit together and want to invest in a kit that will last me a while.  So far I've been using natural light, with reflectors and diffusion.  I also have a Fiilex P100 which has a nice light but could be a bit brighter.  I am looking at getting something that can be run off batteries to use anywhere and to minimise set-up time/cords etc.  What would you recommend if you could build a kit from scratch -the aperture lightstorm LS1c and scorpion lights which have been mentioned, look pretty good but are there any other recommendations?  The stronger Fiilex like the P360EX look nice, but are $$$ for the output you get.

If I had to buy 2 lights to start a kit it would be a KinoFlo/FloLight/Lightstorm bank with barn doors, and a fresnel spot light that's at least 650w. Mix those with your diffusion and you can achieve a HUGE array of looks.

[andy lee]

if you use your fresnel for a hard backlight and your Kino for a soft front light you can create any movie set ups like Aaron says , the Chinese Arri Fresnel copies on ebay are actually very good- with the right globes in them .... - I have alot of Arri Fresnels and recently used a Chinese copy on a set and it was just as good - just alot cheaper off ebay

[cantsin]

3 hours ago, AaronChicago said:

If I had to buy 2 lights to start a kit it would be a KinoFlo/FloLight/Lightstorm bank with barn doors,

Would a $200 Flolight FL-110HM be sufficient?

[andy lee]

it does the same job its a poor mans KinoFlow - we use them it works , the more lights you have available to play with the better in my book !

[AaronChicago]

3 hours ago, cantsin said:

Would a $200 Flolight FL-110HM be sufficient?

If you're shooting indoors then yeah it should be good. It probably isn't strong enough for outdoors. The 4 banks are good b/c you can dim when needed, or open it full blast.