First Light Kit, Recommendations?

[Patrick Wieland]

Looking to invest in my first good light kit. Currently have some cheap no name tungsten soft bank kit that I bought for 300 bucks and have used for quite some time. The kit works but I'm really ready to step up my game.

A lot of time the light kit will be used for sit down interviews and lighting simple scenes. Would be nice to have a solid kit that I can add onto over time if needed. Want a kit that Im not embarrassed of.

I've thought about LED Light panels for interviews since they don't get hot but they don't put out a lot of light.

Thinking in lines to an ARRI 3 light kit.

Budget is probably 3-4grand.

Thanks guys. Basically after researching and looking at kits I don't just want to buy one that looks good on paper.

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Kino Flo Diva's/Barflys

You could get a decent kit for your price.

 

[Bob Gundu]

I like my Divas and Barfly too.

 

[jimhare]

My Divas are always at the center of my kit. Wouldn't want to be without them!

 

[Jeff Zueger]

I agree with the divas, they are great. I would avoid tungsten as your main sources, they are pretty inefficient when it comes to power consumption, especially if you are trying to balance to daylight. Not to mention todays sensors seem to like daylight It would be nice to have a couple 300 tungsten fresnels (w gels) for specials. Good luck

 

[Wouter Van Der Schueren]

imo all you need is 2x 500 watt tungsten spot work lights or red heads if you prefer them, some different types of bouncing material, a few large black cloths and enough good quality stands. Oh yeah and blue gels.

You place the key bounce light on the one side of the subject, the large black cloth on the other side. By choosing different types of bouncing material you can choose how hard you want the light to hit the subject. The black cloth will make sure spill from the key or from the practical lights won't mess up your shot. Use second bounced source as kicker if you're shooting the subject against a dark background. Doesn't matter what brand your lights are, what matters are the images you deliver to your customers. And I imagine this kit is gonna be a lot more cost effective!

Good luck finding what you need!

 

[David W. Jones]

If I were putting together a first lighting kit on a budget I might do something like this...

4 25' Stingers-High quality extension cords
2 Power Strips-High Quality 15 amp
1 Harbor Freight Router Controller
1 used 650w Fresnel w/barn doors/scrim set
1 used 200w Fresnel w/barn doors/scrim set
1 4x55w Biax Fluorescent w/daylight & studio tube sets w/case for extra set, w/grid, 1/8 minus green gel
1 1000LED Bi-Color light w/ 1/4 minus green & opal frost gels
3 Used Matthews Beefy Baby stands or similar
1 Medium duty light stand
1 used C-Stand w/arm & grip head
1 5in1 collapsable reflector
1 24x36 flag
4 small pony clamps
12 C-47-closepin
3 Milk Crates

This would give you a solid starting point and 3 different lighting instrument types to build upon in any direction you see fit.

 

[Nick Gardner]

I would second the above kit with the addition of 2 source 4 pars. They are the most affordable way to get some punch. Plus, they are extremely versatile. If I had to pick one instrument to do anything, it would be source 4 pars. You can put them on 1k dimmers, bounce them, shoot them through frames, take out the lens and have a screaming hot spot, put blue gell or a dicroic filter on them and they make daylight. Plus they cost like $180 bucks so you can afford a whole fleet of them.

Nick

 

[Nathaniel Kramer]

kino divas, 1x1 led panel, 4x arri 150s with snoots and insert gel frames...and if you want some real punch for blasting through windows, a kino parabeam

 

[Sean Harris]

Guess I'll jump on the diva train. 2 divas, a 1x1 litepanel and joker 400 have done a lot of work for years on my sets. My M18 Arri gets off the truck frequently.