Cool + inexpensive = fluorescent. Fluorescent is not versatile.

Cool + versatile = LED. LED is expensive

Inexpensive + versatile = tungsten. Tungsten is not cool.

Choose one.

I don't know much about lights. Just a couple soft lights Whatever would do the job for indoor living rooms interviews of an individual not person to person. Budget as inexpensive as possible. Like up to $500 max.

I recently bought the "Erin Manning Home Studio Lighting Kit" for about $CAD320.

Just might do the trick for you.

Tom

cut from my reply to another thread:

when i sold up and (thought i was going to!) retire some 10+ years ago, i sold my lowell kit, along with the other pro instruments i'd acquired over the years with no thought for the future....

Maybe a Rifa...

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOWEL-RIFA-LC-66-softbox-light-NR-/290525706468?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a4ae78e4

where (the bloody hell) are you?

this place is not bad, and might give you some ideas.

http://www.dragonimage.com.au/

and

http://stores.ebay.com.au/steven-studio-china

and

http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/home.php?cat=281

Check out the lights from JTL, relatively inexpensive and surprisingly high quality.

http://jtl-lighting.com/fluorescent-lights-kits.html

We've got quite a number of softboxes that use those 85W CFLs and they'e good value for money. Just treat those big CFLs with care, they break if not handled gently.

LED lights are much cheaper than they used to be, are quite versatile, many will run off battery.

Bob.

For interviews I use Cinecity LED’s which I attach either to glue pods/camtree grippers for tables or smooth surfaces or the old large mic spring clamps to clamp on furniture, curtains, hanging pictures, anywhere I need, this is very versatile and easy to set/shoot/duck setup.

Yesterday I did some interviews with the guys from the ATP Tour circuit and there are always at least 5 or 6 film crews stuffed into one location
Setting up cables falling tripping during other crews interviews, so I keep it simple and use a few battery LED’s

http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/home.php?cat=278

These folks have some fairly inexpensive lights that are OK if you treat them very gently. http://www.backdropoutlet.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SC102

Consider using one softbox as the main light + a reflector on the opposite side to fill in the shadows and the 2nd softbox as a hair light (works well with everyone - especially follically-challenged individuals). For the background light you can use almost anything. If you purchase a light that doesn't have barn doors you can use black wrap to help control the light. But if you spring for a light that has barn doors it will be much easier to add gels for color and cookies for patterns for a more interesting background.

Don't forget sand bags - you don't want lights falling over! And gaffer's tape (paper tape for painted surfaces and cloth for carpets etc.). Also, wooden clothespins for clipping gels to lights.

Bottles with water work better than sand bags as you can fill and empty on location as most locations have water available then don’t have to lug hefty bags

I'm also using the Erin Manning kit because it was a decent price. I throw in a light disc to help out. I also found I had to switch up the bulbs for different/better effect depending on my situation. The bulbs that came with the kits were monsters! If you want something completely different, there's the Rotoflo? I think... played with them at a trade show and they're a neat little rig.

Dale.

Dale,
Can you please post the specs of the bulbs you switched to?
Where to obtain? I am in Toronto.

Thx,
Tom

I use an ultra-inexpensive http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/379776-REG/Lowel_Ego_Digital_Imaging_Fluorescent.htmlLowel Egosys kit[/link].

For carrying it around, I bought a couple of http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270618130770&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570%26_nkw%3D270618130770%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1black pizza delivery bags from eBay[/link].

There's a thread where I talk about this http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=737477here[/link].

The pizza delivery boxes look very professional but they are a little big. Fine though really.

I shot the interviews in this piece with these lights:

http://vimeo.com/17626296

I use this setup:

[backlight]


[talent]


[camera] [interviewer] [keylight]

Very simple setup that I use pretty much all the time for interviews these days.

Under $300 for everything including cases for the stands and lights. Looks professional. Easy to set up. Consistent results that look great (to me at least).

I was using an LED setup which I liked, but it tended to look a little harsh on faces. I wouldn't use the Egosys beyond close one person interviews, but it works great for that.

Laurence, that's looks good. But I'm noticing what appears to be a combination of warm and cool light. Not being critical, mind you, just an observation.

The older woman, with short hair and glasses, appears to have a cooler light on her face, while a warmer light from directly above seems to be shinging on her nose.

Or is it just my imagination?

You are probably right Jay. There was some existing light at a different color temperature. I noticed that too, but it doesn't bother me, and nobody at the church had anything but praise for it.

I've been thinking about going to Home Depot and buying two more sets of bulbs that I can screw into the Egosys at the two color temperatures that they have in stock in order to better match existing light for this very reason.

I bought a couple of 20" x 24"sheets of Rosco Cinegel #3401 (RoscoSun 85) at $5.95 each. I use the binder clips to attach them to the the lights. Works great and very fast to set up and break down.

Thanks all for the replies so far. It's great reading for me.

Oh and Laurence, "Mercy Me". I know you get that reference.

:-)

Water + 120VAC + steel / aluminum stands = ????

I'll keep using sand...

With some help from farss I now have 3 x Z96 LEDs and it has changed my life!No more hot lights.
Diffuser and 3200K converter attaches magnetically,
They can be mounted on mic stands with converter, or on any tripod
They come with camera shoe adapter
Can even be hand held.
They can be locked together horizontally or vertically to make array of up to 3 x 3 = 9 lamps

I have three big Sony L series batteries I never use, from Z1 HDV days
which run these for hours. (I had to remove small lugs to get them to fit, but now they slide and lock in perfectly.

They can be run with 5 AA batteries.

I luv 'em!

edit: and I forgot to mention the built-in dimmers