Help in choosing my next set of lights for a new three-point lighting system

[ghostwind]

I'm a photographer who started "going hybrid" doing video work a few years back, primarily corporate interviews and b-roll to match for 5-10min videos with 60-90s versions for social media. I've been using Nanlite Forza 60 LED monolights (key, fill, & back) with success, but that's because I've only done a handful and for the same, repeat clients every few months. I've done plenty of other video work, but with natural light/reflectors. And in those spaces I had full control of room lights and could shut all lights off and use my lights without needing to color balance for ambient. And for head and shoulders/upper body, the light output was sufficient with a Nanlite Forza 22" softbox on. But I will have more projects in the upcoming year, and I want to expand and have more freedom as well. So this means getting bigger lights and bi-color or RGBWW for matching ambient and having more versatility / creative options. My budget for 3 lights with softboxes is $3000. 

So that's the background. I've read this forum and and looked around, and I'm trying to decide between a set (or combo) of Aputure lights - 100x/200x/150c/300c for key, fill, and backlight. It's important that they are very quiet and that the color accuracy is very good - especially for white. As a one man show, it's also important to have something that's easy to set up and not crazy heavy to haul around, and these Aputures look nice. I'm not sure for example if the 100x/200x have better color accuracy for skin tones or can do a better daylight white than the 150c/300c for example. If not, the 150c/300c seem the most versatile, but don't know. I'm also open to other brands. 

So I'm open to any suggestions and recommendations. If you had to build a kit of 3 for that purpose and on that budget, how would you do it and why?

[bjohn]

Another option to consider is one light and several reflectors (see CRLS or Dedo Lightstream). This takes a bit of planning in terms of where to put the light and the reflectors, but the reflectors eliminate the need to color-match multiple lights since they're all reflecting the same light. And if you're using natural light as your main source you can bounce it around with the reflectors with no need to color match since it's reflecting the same light. These reflectors come in multiple levels of diffusion, so no need for softboxes either. The larger reflectors are like medium-size softboxes; you can also get very small ones for tabletop work or for focusing a narrow beam of light on something/someone. The CRLS Lightbridge website has some nice example videos of what can be done. You do need a pretty strong light but with some planning you can get key, fill, and (harder but possible) backlight all from one light source.

[newfoundmass]

Aputure is great, but also look into Godox or Small Rig if you want to save a little bit of money. I have a Small Rig kit I put together that is holding up pretty well, though there are a couple things I wish they'd done to make them better, namely a little better construction and putting glass over the LED chip so I could use it outside without worrying about bugs. Still a pretty good value given I got them on sale.

Adorama's Glow EZ soft boxes are also a great value and easy to set up. 

[MrSMW]

Big fan of the Amaran 60X lights which are only a couple of hundred each.

Plug into the mains or run off a portable 500kwh power bank or a pair of Sony batteries for a totally cable-less off-grid set up.

In my cart for weddings, I have a pair, 2 lightstands, 2 optional softboxes, 40m extension cable and powerbank and it’s been a fantastic set up all year.

I did have the Sony batteries but had them stolen along with another light at a wedding in Sep. Narrowed it down to the DJ, but can’t prove it…

But definitely one of my purchases of the year and unless I break them or they are stolen, I can’t see why they won’t last out my career.

[QuickHitRecord]

I'm a career DP/videographer mostly working in the commercial/corporate space and this is my current kit:

• 2x Nanlite FS300B lights
• Two cheap "Travor/Fositan" bicolor 1x1 flex lights
• 2x Nanlite Pavotube 6Cii
• 36in and 48in parabolic diffusors + one fresnel

I also have a round LED/lantern kit for travel, similar to this kit.

This setup has done very well for me and I have rarely had to rent anything else. It's also important to me that my entire kit for a shoot can fit onto my cart. If more is needed, then I'm going to need to work with a gaffer.

However, if I were starting over from scratch, I would probably get:

• Aputure 300x
• Aputure Amaran F22c
• Aputure LS 60x with Spotlight Mini Zoom
• Parabolic diffusors & large 5-in-1 reflectors

This would be a very versatile kit that would cover most situations that I could think of. Nanlite also offers comparable lights at even better prices, but they currently don't have anything quite like the F22c. Godox offerings look good. Two years ago when I last updated my kit, I took a long, hard look at them and concluded that their big COB lights had a magenta hue that I did not care for. The B&H house brand GVM lights also look great for the money, but I've never used them.

One other consideration: when shopping for COB lights, it's important to get a sense of how far they can be dimmed down. For instance, my buddy's Aputure 600c lights are great but even at 0.01%, they are too bright for some applications. This is the reason that I've stuck with 300w fixtures, and shooting at my camera's native ISO of 800, I've very rarely encountered any interior shot when I've wanted more light than what I can get from a 300w fixture.

[ghostwind]

22 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Big fan of the Amaran 60X lights which are only a couple of hundred each.

Plug into the mains or run off a portable 500kwh power bank or a pair of Sony batteries for a totally cable-less off-grid set up.

In my cart for weddings, I have a pair, 2 lightstands, 2 optional softboxes, 40m extension cable and powerbank and it’s been a fantastic set up all year.

I did have the Sony batteries but had them stolen along with another light at a wedding in Sep. Narrowed it down to the DJ, but can’t prove it…

But definitely one of my purchases of the year and unless I break them or they are stolen, I can’t see why they won’t last out my career.

I've looked some more into the Aputure and Amaran lights, and it seems like the 60x S/100x S/200x S models have the best SSI scores and thus the best color accuracy at 3200K and 5600K when compared to the 150c/300c, which are not very good, especially at 5600k, but of course more versatile if you want colors. 

So, I must decide between the 60x S/100x S/200x S and what combo to get. As the 100x S is the same size as the 200x S, I don't see a reason to get the 100x S. So, the following combos make the most sense:

 

1. 2 x 200x S + 1 x 60x S (I can  use the 200s as key and fill and the 60 as fill/rim/back)

2. 1 x 200x S + 2 x 60x S (I can use the 200 as key, one 60 as fill, and the other 60 as rim/back *OR* in smaller/tighter spaces, I can use just the two 60s as key and fill. 

Option 2 seems more versatile but has less power if I need more fill from the 60 for the 200 key. 

[A_Urquhart]

I’ve been extremely happy with the Godox m600Bi and M200Bi.