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Compact lighting for guerilla shooting

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Gabor D.

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Hello,

I'm planning to shoot a zero-budget film which has scenes on abandoned alley like streets at night.... Or just night street scenes, where I'd like to get some illumination just to give it a little style, and of course from practical standpoint for a proper exposure, at least on the cast.

I thought of some 1x1 LED lights, with battery power. What do you think of them? Of course I don't want to light a 500m long street with one lamp :D, I just want to use it as a "practical" and put the cast near to it...

What do you think of this? Could you recommend me some really affordable light that would do the job? There are many chinese brands but I don't know who to trust...
 
I see that F&V has the K4000s for sale, and the Z400 is the new one. What are the differences? Am I Ok with the K4000?

Somewhere I read, maybe on BHphoto site, that the Manfrotto 1x1 Spectra has a light output like an 1000w traditional lamp (and uses 40w). Is it true? How much output has the K4000 compared to a traditional lamp?
 
Here's a one-stop summary of both the strengths of the F&V solutions, and their weaknesses: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?313307-F-amp-V-Z400D-UltraColor-CRI-95-LED-Light-Review

My experience with LED panels (I have Philips Selecon Studio Panels) is that they have very little throw, but they do have lots of spill. It's theoretically possible that when you convert a 1kW tungsten to 5600K, then diffuse the heck out of it and spill a lot, you get the same effect as a 40W LED panel. But the 1kW fresnel is a very multi-purpose tool, and very controllable. The LED is much more limited, especially because of its very limited throw, and the great challenge of actually cutting the light in any meaningful way. It can be made to work as a fill light, but you still have the problem of having a proper key light. I would look elsewhere for a primary light source, and then bring in the LED panels when they are the right supplemental tools for the job.
 
Tungsten lighting, depending on the wattage, has a luminous efficacy of ca 14-20 lumens per watt. A LED source about 80-120, where the high cri ones (best color rendition) generally are a bit less efficient. So let's say LED is about 5 times more efficient than tungsten lighting.

You tend to see a lot of those numbers on websites of LED manufacturers where they they compare their low-wattage LED's with a 1000 or 2000 watt tungsten light and they never tell you how they do that. I guess they use heavy filtration on the tungsten to make it soft like a 1x1 LED panel? Or they add full CTB gel? Anyway I'd say it's total BS. The output of a 40 watt LED is comparable with a 200 watt tungsten light. If you add full CTB to the tungsten for daylight then you loose 2 stops so you are at 800 watt but since you're shooting at night it doesn't make sense to go for daylight anyway.

If you're going for guerrilla style then I would go for that style of lighting and basically go for any cheap battery powered light you can get your hands on. Never mind the high cri led panels, your street lights are not going to be color balanced anyway and they're probably high in the air and cast hard shadows. But do try to get some different kinds of lights, maybe some Chinese LED panels in different sizes, some high power flash lights and some LED strings. If you have time there's a lot you can do with cheap lights and creativity and it's going to look better than spending all your money on expensive LED panels.
 
Michael Tiemann said:
...My experience with LED panels (I have Philips Selecon Studio Panels) is that they have very little throw, but they do have lots of spill. It's theoretically possible that when you convert a 1kW tungsten to 5600K, then diffuse the heck out of it and spill a lot, you get the same effect as a 40W LED panel. But the 1kW fresnel is a very multi-purpose tool, and very controllable. The LED is much more limited, especially because of its very limited throw, and the great challenge of actually cutting the light in any meaningful way. It can be made to work as a fill light, but you still have the problem of having a proper key light. I would look elsewhere for a primary light source, and then bring in the LED panels when they are the right supplemental tools for the job.
Click to expand...

+1

IMO, you still can’t do better than a 1k Tungsten Fresnel for versatility. And, now that you can parallel Honda EU6500s for a combined 120A output, power is less of an issue for guerilla filmmaking. With the twelve 1ks that you can operate on a couple of Honda EU6500s, you can establish multiple keys if necessary, as well as back lights, and even rake the sides of buildings if you want.

Paul Dean
 
These have a built in vlock battery plate (can be changed to AB easily). Out perform The name brand in every way possible having done side by side comparisons. Cheap, pretty damn bullet proof. Sure, when PA's trip over a stinger and bring the light down from top stick on a stand, the barn doors are gonna break, but the lights just keep on working.

1/8th minus green usually makes them play nice with other daylight sources, but that depends on the batch of LEDs they used for that particular run.

Really hard to beat bang for buck.

http://www.amazon.com/Fancierstudio-CN600SA-lighting-Lighting-Cn600sa/dp/B00686PZYG/ref=pd_cp_p_0

Nick
 
I would try to rent a addentech punch plus or jab. The punch plus takes 10amps and does the same output of a 2.5k hmi. You can also run them for over 650 feet on 12 gage edision if needed. Can't do that with a HMI. The jab is 4amps and is a 800w hmi in strength and can be battery powered very easily. Did a Route 66 road trip film and they basically saved the day everyday on location.
 
Thanks all for the replies! Unfortunately solutions like tungsten or Honda generators, etc... is out of the question :) As I said I need to shoot it guerilla style, meaning very low profile.... (supposing that I shoot in the streets without permission ;)

I definitely need some light, as I'm going to shoot with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and that needs light...
 
So you need small units and battery power to keep a low profile. Have you considered at the Zylight F8?
 
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