KINO OR FRESNEL?

[Jonathan Pears]

OK, so deciding between KINO's (Diva at the moment) or a 2K Fresnel set up with soft box and maybe a dimmer.

For lighting inside situations, what would you rather have on hand? I know that there are many differences between the two set ups, and they offer very different types of light. But which light would you rather have to be able to create more lighting setups.

Whatever you pick, imagine you had 3 of them to work with to create your look.

Thoughts?

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Just one observation - you can always soften hard light but you can't create hard light from soft. So, faced with what you are proposing, the fresnels + soft boxes might yield more flexibility.

The downsides to the (tungsten, I presume) fresnel are heat and energy draw.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Whatever you pick, imagine you had 3 of them to work with to create your look.

Thoughts?

Whatever I were to pick, I wouldn't pick 3 of the same unit. That's the most specific answer I can offer to the question as asked; it's too vague.

If you have nothing, and want to do anything and everything... then 3 fresnels will get you started, but I wouldn't choose 3, 2K fixtures.

 

[Mike P.]

If they're dimmable, what would be the problem getting three higher/highest output lamps and lowering/dimming them to taste? Colour temp change? It's tungsten/full-spectrum, so it could be filtered back up/down. And then if you need an even amount of light, you can blast them all full bore.

 

[Jonathan Pears]

I'm talking potentials, not specifics. I mean would you rather have to purely be able to create more looks. Not talking about where you would put the three of them or what 'K' each light would need to be.

Say you just had ONE light, and with that one light you needed to create as many looks as you could.... which one?

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Again - most flexibility with the hard light of a fresnel. If you had a high powered one, your 2K is a good example, then you could bounce for your fill, flag and scrim to cut in certain areas, use the soft box for overall softness, etc. You could do a lot with the one 2K fresnel. Not somuch with the Kino, I think.

 

[Jonathan Pears]

That's what I've been thinking. Start with the most 'raw' light you can and you can always break it down however you want.

 

[Scott Crawley]

If they're dimmable, what would be the problem getting three higher/highest output lamps and lowering/dimming them to taste? Colour temp change? It's tungsten/full-spectrum, so it could be filtered back up/down. And then if you need an even amount of light, you can blast them all full bore.

Sure you can use dimmers but my experience has been that more often than not they are noisy, and that sucks. Scrims, nets and filters are better but then you still have the heat. Indoor locations on bootstrap indies= many small rooms so I find it best not to overpower. I can do a lot with (1) 1K, (2) 650 and (1) 300. Got room for one more? Then add a 2K. That is where I start FWIW.

I'm with Terry, fresnels are most flexible.

 

[Peter Strietmann]

Just on light? I would go with the fresnel option, http://www.arri.com/l-series/.

 

[Mike P.]

Sure you can use dimmers but my experience has been that more often than not they are noisy, and that sucks. Scrims, nets and filters are better but then you still have the heat. Indoor locations on bootstrap indies= many small rooms so I find it best not to overpower. I can do a lot with (1) 1K, (2) 650 and (1) 300. Got room for one more? Then add a 2K. That is where I start FWIW.

I'm with Terry, fresnels are most flexible.

Thanks Scott... yeah, I wasn't considering heat or dimmer noise (power is always a bit of nightmare if you're trying to use location/regular outlets).

 

[Tony Koski]

Because of the locations and projects I shoot I rarely use 2k's anymore. * I *prefer 2 1k's. 1 of them could even be an open face to save a bit of cash. I have a 4 light Arri par kit with all 1k's. I have 2 of them bulbed with 600w most of the time. Great versatility for both soft and hard lighting solutions.*