Best 3 Light LED Kit?

[Ryan Chapman]

Looking for a portable bicolor 3 light LED kit that fits into one case with stands, with good CRI/TLCI, better build quality than Dracast, and can be checked on a plane. I've spent a bunch of time looking around but nothing in particular has jumped out at me. I'm flexible about output. Any recommendations? Looking to spend $2500 or less.

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Not exactly a kit with stands... However, if you don't mind building your own, these are worth a look:

https://hivelighting.com/c-series/

There is currently a group buy going for the largest unit, the 200-C, but that would exceed your price point.

A combination of the 100-C and the smaller Bee 50-C PAR could be a nice travel kit.

Good options to incorporate light modifiers. Remote app without the need to purchase a dongle.
Quick search on YouTube or Vimeo will locate some overview videos. Or go over to Abel or B&H to take a look.


Side note: When on a lightweight travel shoot, I used to package small light stands with the tripod. Similar shape and dimensions makes transport a lot easier.

 

[John David Pope]

You're best off building a kit ala carte. For whatever reason, ready-grouped LED-based "kits" rarely consist of a mix of LED fresnels and LED panels. They are almost always 3 panels or 3 fresnels.

If it were me I'd want a 3-light kit that consisted of 2 LED panel-lights and 1 LED fresnel. You could populate a 3-light kit with two Brightcast LED soft panels ( w/ D-Fuse soft boxes ) and a budget LED of your choosing. Possibly the Apurture Light Storm LS C120d.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1309504-REG/aputure_lsc120dvkit_light_storm_ls_c120d.html

https://www.amazon.com/Kamerar-BrightCast-LED-Panel-Adapter/dp/B01MRLGHR0

Stands and travel-case of your choosing.

 

[Ryan Chapman]

Hives are a good idea, I'll look into them.

Thanks for the suggestion John, I'll look into building my own kit if I can't find the right 3 light kit. Yeah, it's annoying that they're all essentially 3 of the same light, and 2 panels and a fresnel does sound ideal. Have you used the LS C120D? How do you like the color?

 

[Slavik Boyechko]

You can fit an Aputure LS1S daylight panel, an LS1C bicolor panel, and any lightweight rim light, in one carry-on case, with a couple soft boxes and V-mount batteries and Manfrotto Nanostands. I carry both the lights and an Aputure Amaran with Sony batts in a Think Tank Video Transport 20. There are lots of kit options out there but this one has been good to me.

Cheers -

 

[Manish Hamza]

What about an iKan brand? https://www.adorama.com/iamsb83ptk.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_7HdBRDPARIsAN_ltcKweS8ebTP8ze7VERDiCfSlyE7OXEblKW-5ePIStVatYkMUybHi8NMaAm3qEALw_wcB Adorama has it on sale for $1500 and Epic Light Source is selling it for $1800.

 

[Eric Hales]

For the usual sit-down interviews and b-roll, this is my current go to kit:
Aputure LS1S, usually serves as the key (through 2x2 soft box or 4x4 grid cloth clipped to grip arm)
Aputure 120DmarkII, usually serves background or fill depending on circumstances (with fresnel and barn doors for slashing etc., or using the included reflector dome it gives a wide beam spread for green screen backdrop)
Aputure AL-F7, hair light mounted on an arm or as on-board camera light for run-and-gun situations. For really dark scenarios, I've even used the LS1S with diffusion paper mounted atop the camera with the battery controller box attached to my belt

 

[sam caravana]

I dont think its at your price point but the astra 6x are amazingly versatile and have a good bit of punch

 

[M Harvey]

I love the Astra 6x-- great quality of light, and enough power that you have a chance of dealing with a window in the frame. But they might be a little expensive, and a kit would be a little big for a carry-on. I like Aputure's stuff and so would also recommend the 120D mkII. (I might personally skip the panel light for the Lite Dome softbox.)

Just chiming in here to suggest a more compact kit that also fits the budget: the Luxli Timpani 1x1 panels. Less punch than an Astra 6x, but cheaper, smaller, and lighter-- and with a really nice quality of light. (As with any LED panel, you'll want to add diffusion for direct use.) As a bonus, you don't pay extra for the v-mount battery plate and the ability to control with a decent phone app. They also happen to be RGBW. Maybe pair two of those with one of the Hive fresnels, or even Luxli's own Cello (a 10" RGBW panel that takes L batteries)?

If you ultimately picked up a kit that you want to recommend-- or otherwise--, let us know.