Thanks for the links they answer some of my questions. I'm already planning on ordering the Enlightening DV Video.
Just not sure what kind of equipment is going to be suitable for on location shooting and what kinds of wattage should be used?

When we're on location shooting interviews, we use the Lowell kit. It has three lights, 500w each. One is used with an umbrella (soft, 3-D lighting of subject's face). A second light is used as a kicker--rim light--to separate the subject from the background (when possible). Usually has a 1-stop scrim and softspun in front, and barndoors are used to control spill light.

Jay

I only see 2 lights mentioned there. Is there a third.


Dave

Umbrellas work well.
As does bouncing the light on some piece of white foamcore.
As does passing light through a "silk", like a Flexfill (brand among others) silk (or opal? different people, different names...).
You don't need to invest into softboxes if you're thight on budget right now. They're great but some very dicent results can be obtained with methods above.
A necessary thing to have to balance light sources (Kelvins) : gels. CTBs and CTOs. And wood clothespins to hold the gels on the lamps.

I'd also (and it's personal) look for a 1000watts lamp to "challenge" with the sun intensity sometimes and two other lamps like a 650W and a 400W or two 650W or... you get the idea.

Also, you can craft yourself a dimmer box to control household ordinary lamps you could have in the shot (they usually burn in the picture so you can just dim them).
And Blackwrap (flat black aluminium foil) to block some sources of light you don't want wothout having to work twice to get rid of.

Some guys use Chinese lamps in wich they screw daylight bulbs (like the ones to grow plants) as sources. Now THAT is budget wise... and it works very well for, say, interviews in the evening. Similar to softboxes. Very soft light.

Translucent umbrellas are nice, but nothing beats a softbox, IMO. Bit more money, but worth every penny in the long run.

We use Photoflex softboxes on just about everything. Loaded with either Lowel or Photoflex starlights, it's just hard to beat the look, weight, and speed of these things.

I guess the questions are now, Are softboxes a lot of work to setup? (we sometimes don't have a lot of time with our subjects), are all softboxes the same amount of work to move and setup? and if not are there any suggestions as to ones that won't take so much time?

Dave

The Photoflex boxes take about 2 minutes to set up if you're into it, about 5 minutes if you like to talk while you're doing it.
4 short rods into 4 metal holes, fixture slides in and locks, put on stand. There are slower softboxes, I'm not aware of anything faster. Lowel's new box takes about the same amount of time to use.

There was a JVC miniDv being demonstrated on the Shopping channel last night which contained 2 led's built-in to the front of the camera.

They called them "pure white". They looked pretty bright but the demo didn't really show their effectivness. (Actually, the demonstration was so poor that I changed channels).

Not that this has anything to do with professional lighting kits, but I can see the potential.

To answer nickle's question about the potential of LEds, have a look at the LED Lite Panel site.
BTW, Spot did a review of these that was posted earlier today. Looks like something I'd love to have in my own kit :-)

Mike

Mike

Interesting links for this technology.

The JVC camera $495 Ca. had two lights about 1/3 inch diameter which they said used about 1/10 of the camera battery's power. It seemed to throw the light in about a 3 foot radius at about 4 feet from the camera.

I didn't see any example of how far the light was effective.

But compared to the links it looks like a huge price drop is likely for led lighting.

These LED lights aren't cheap, indeed.
But there may be a way to get some results with these? Probably less effective but cheaper too... depends of the needs of course, and actual effectiveness of these lamps...

http://www.theledlight.com/wallfixtures.html

The wall fixtures don't seem to have enough oomph, but they have Luxeon 5W LEDs also, an array of those would certainly light things up, although color temperature is a big question.

I don't think the LED Panel reviewed by Spot was that pricey, considering what you get.

Of course, considering what you get , the price is ok.
I was just putting my "plumber 2 cents" here. ;)

You also can go with KinoFlos and get something around these prices.
Dual 12volts kits work great in lots of situations (cars, labs, interviews, remote places, etc...). A little long to setup though; you might not be in a hurry.

The LEDs must be less fragile, and quicker to use. I'd like to try those one day.

I use the ARRI Softbank kits - 4 lights, 1 1k, 2 650's and 1 300 - 1k also comes with a Chimera softbox. Not as quick to set up like has been mentioned before on the Photoflex or Lowells but much more flexible of a system. You get barndoors, scrims, gloves, C47's, a pigtailed extension cord and 4 really nice stands. Kit runs about $2000 but well worth it. Sucks to fly with though. Both oversized and overweight.

It really depends on your needs. If you're looking for something more than just "studio" lighting, I wouldn't suggest the Photoflex kits (personally) as you can't gel them like a normal fresnel or HMI light. Lowell has much improved their kits however I always found their stands to be really crappy. not sure that has changed. Haven't used Lowell lights in over 6 years.

Pepper, LTM and Mole Richardson are also good light kits. I still think you get more bang for your buck with the ARRI's

Mike

well, I'm looking at 2 - 600/300 W lights with barndoors and 2 - 24x24 softboxes and 1 umbrella with 7.5' stands as well as one 300 W light with focus controll and barndoors on a 4.5' stand for backlight. is there anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks

Dave

Dave, what brand are the lights and softbox? Are the stands the type supplied by the vendor (eg. Lowel)? If that's the case, then you definitely want to consider adding at least 2 C-stands (and sandbags to stabilize them) to hold the light/softbox combo as the basic Lowel stands are not sturdy enough. BTW, I speak from the voice of experience on the value of C-stands. You don't want the light toppling over because of the extra weight of the softbox :-)

Mike

Not to mention the infinate versitility of a C-stand. It's the Swiss Army Knife of the film world.

Mike

I agree about the C-stand's versatility. They're a pain to lug around but just so useful that you forget about it:-)
I've used mine to hang all kinds of things from. Boom mics, flags, foam core, cue cards, fabric, Lowel omni as a back light, etc. etc. etc.
The turtle base is a great option because it allows positioning on uneven surfaces such as stairs if the need arises.
Make sure to get the grip head and arm as well. Gives you a lot more flexibility.
Avenger and Matthews are the two most common brands with the Matthews usually a bit more expensive. Either is a great choice.

Mike

well, I'm going with britek for now. Gonna see how they do - as it's only between 500 and 600 to get everthing and some extra bulbs. But I will check into the stability and possible necessity of sand bags when I get them in.

Dave

well, I'm going with britek for now.

Gotta be honest Dave. I've been in the industry for over 30 years and I've never heard of them. The one thing that gets repeated over and over on several video forums I subscribe to is to spend money up front for gear like lighting and audio. You'll never grow out of it, only add to it as more money becomes available. My Lowel kit has lasted almost 20 years with minimal repair needed. I seriously doubt that the Britek kit will but good luck with it.

Mike

I think this could help you with lighting while you learn

http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrack.cfm