Dirt cheap lights that are actually good

[Grimor]

1 hour ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

I know that the Godox SL lights come in a battery-powered flavor, but has anybody used the mains / AC powered units with an inverter???  (Something like the Vagabond inverters from Paul C. Buff???)

 I run sl60w with an 12v car inverter, and it works well. 

But even if the inverter have 3 outputs and is 500watt rated, can't hold 2 units at the same time at full power. 

So, one inverter for unit of light. 

[scotchtape]

I've had a 400WH lithium battery I've been using for years.

Works great for all sorts of lights.

[Oliver Daniel]

There should be an EOSHD lighting challenge. Light an indoor scene with a budget of $30 or something. @Andrew Reid? 

 

5 hours ago, AlexTrinder96 said:

Nanlite have just announced a BICOLOUR version of the Forza 60. Also they are releasing a Forza 200 - bridging the gap between the 60 and 300! 

 

 

 

Look great. 

Lots of these type of lights on the market now. Great to have so many options but many headaches when making that choice! 

[Thpriest]

11 hours ago, Oliver Daniel said:

There should be an EOSHD lighting challenge. Light an indoor scene with a budget of $30 or something. @Andrew Reid? 

30€ and/or lightest but brightest (stick in a backpack lights)

[gt3rs]

13 hours ago, Oliver Daniel said:

Lots of these type of lights on the market now. Great to have so many options but many headaches when making that choice! 

Yep crazy time so many players and so many choices.....
 

The Nanlite 200 looks cool kind of good compromise between power and transportability..... but 699 usd .... the 300 at 750 usd (currently in discount) is probably a better buy.

[AlexTrinder96]

I mentioned that the GVM RGB lights that I owned were unusable in Tungsten mode. They are now releasing mark ii variants of their rgb lights that now have dedicate tungsten leds. ArtVideo Productions has some great in depth videos on their lights. 

 

 

[MrSMW]

Define 'dirt cheap' and also it depends what you want to use them for.

I had been using some uber-cheap (like under £20) Godox LED's which are dimmable, but that's about it, but I have found them to be bright enough when it's really dark, but not quite bright enough when it's not pitch black...if you get my meaning.

Also, not directional and can't adjust the colour temp.

I did some reasearch and was going to go with the Litra Pro, but when I came to buy the kit, it was out of stock. 

So I went with the Falcon Eyes 7 (stoopid name) and it's really good with the rubber grid on it. The TNDR guy on YouTube above gave it a really good review amongst others.

Under 150 euros, but it will be my single light source on a light stand for highlighting speeches at weddings and general dance floor stuff.

Hopefully my next and first wedding of the year will take place at the end of this month as they are adamant it will!

[gethin]

On 6/13/2020 at 8:17 AM, JordanWright said:

I picked up a Godox SL60 for under £100, works a treat! I think they have newer versions out now that'll hopefully drive the price down even further.

I've got one of these plus the sl150

The 150 is a crap ton brighter, and is almost a perfect colour match (but not totally identical)

The word is to avoid the sl200, it's very green.

I also bought a cheap fresnel

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Bowens_Fresnel/Ntt/Bowens+Fresnel/N/0

This coupled with silver boards gives a nice backlight keylight.

I made my own silverboards from insulation foam. 

Personally I think these lights are way more versatile than led panels.

 

[newfoundmass]

Never thought to share this but I've been using these with cheap clamp lights to add color to venues and backgrounds for a while. 

They're under $4US, you can't really beat that.