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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Stocking up on multiple powerful lights on a "budget"

C

Corey Jenkins

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So I'm pretty new to the motion side of things. I've been an advertising photographer for a bit and recently invested in a RED Epic set up and have been shooting motion for new and old clients. I'm really having a lot of fun learning and shooting on it.

From a photography point of use I typically use a good amount of lighting on half of my work. Lots of strobes through windows / bounce / studio etc. These strobes are really cheap compared to powerful continuous lighting, I own around 10 of the Paul C Buff "budget" strobes and they haven't let me down once. I'm more of a one man show for now and would like to avoid renting lights / crew especially for the smaller shoots. I can keep costs down for the smaller clients and also charge for the rental my self if I own.

I've used the big Arri 4k HMI's on still shoots and really liked them. It seems as HMI's are the way to go power output and consumption wise. I shoot a lot of action / high frame rate stuff and it would be great to use the continuous lights for stills on a DSLR as most motion soots involve stills as well. Because of this tungsten just seems like a waste for me.

Now the question is where do I invest (or do I?) if I'm looking to buy 3-4 off the bat. I'm very very tempted in buying the eBay "As Arri" knockoffs. I just need something that works and is bright for now. If it goes out on a shoot it won't be the end of the world and if I can get 1-2 years of use out of them and really experiment with continuous lighting on small jobs then great. They seem to cost 1/6th of a true HMI. If these are just complete junk would it be better to rent and slowly build up my lighting kit as I can afford the real stuff?

LED panels similar Arri Sky Panels are interesting as well but I feel they just wouldn't have the power / direction I would need to light through windows for motion or shoot stills with. (they have been really great for fill lights on still shoots when I've rented though)

Any input would be great! I am very new to motion and continuous lighting like I mentioned.
 
Depends on your budget and business model. Assuming you aren't going to be renting out these lights for money on the side, assuming that you will be using for studio beauty and fashion work, and that you have around $12k to spend, here is one strategy: plasma.

One 1000 watt plasma par fixture with speed ring and a 7' octo soft box.
One 250 watt plasma par fixture with speed ring and a 5' octo soft box.

These two fixtures will go a long way, while still being able to run off of 20amp house circuits. They are more durable than HMI bulbs, last longer and have a more full light spectrum. Even though this is only two fixtures, you can complement with bounces/reflectors.

Alternatively you you can go LED, since they are getting pretty good and some mole Richardson fresnel units are starting to get pretty powerful, the quality of plasma light is second to none. But there are many ways to approach your question, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

In any case, best of luck!
 
Corey Jenkins said:
So I'm pretty new to the motion side of things. I've been an advertising photographer for a bit and recently invested in a RED Epic set up and have been shooting motion for new and old clients. I'm really having a lot of fun learning and shooting on it.

From a photography point of use I typically use a good amount of lighting on half of my work. Lots of strobes through windows / bounce / studio etc. These strobes are really cheap compared to powerful continuous lighting, I own around 10 of the Paul C Buff "budget" strobes and they haven't let me down once. I'm more of a one man show for now and would like to avoid renting lights / crew especially for the smaller shoots. I can keep costs down for the smaller clients and also charge for the rental my self if I own.

I've used the big Arri 4k HMI's on still shoots and really liked them. It seems as HMI's are the way to go power output and consumption wise. I shoot a lot of action / high frame rate stuff and it would be great to use the continuous lights for stills on a DSLR as most motion soots involve stills as well. Because of this tungsten just seems like a waste for me.

Now the question is where do I invest (or do I?) if I'm looking to buy 3-4 off the bat. I'm very very tempted in buying the eBay "As Arri" knockoffs. I just need something that works and is bright for now. If it goes out on a shoot it won't be the end of the world and if I can get 1-2 years of use out of them and really experiment with continuous lighting on small jobs then great. They seem to cost 1/6th of a true HMI. If these are just complete junk would it be better to rent and slowly build up my lighting kit as I can afford the real stuff?

LED panels similar Arri Sky Panels are interesting as well but I feel they just wouldn't have the power / direction I would need to light through windows for motion or shoot stills with. (they have been really great for fill lights on still shoots when I've rented though)

Any input would be great! I am very new to motion and continuous lighting like I mentioned.
Click to expand...

The "as Arri" knockoffs are total crap and can be a fire hazard as well. Back in 2010 I was working on a micro-budget film which used some of the nicer looking "as Arri" 800W red head knockoffs. Power fluctuations caused the light intensity to be unstable, one of the fixtures died (not a bulb burnout, a fixture burnout) within 3 full shooting days, the second one died after 8 shooting days, and all of them caused the power supplies and cables to get way too hot, almost like the barn doors on the fixtures. I was concerned they might cause an electrical fire, so we stopped using them eventually.

I live in China where most of that equipment is manufactured, and have strong contacts in the lighting manufacturing world here. The LED lighting coming from China, such as F&V, is much more reliable and consistent QC wise. But again, speaking from experience both behind the scenes and in real use, the HMI and tungsten copycat / knockoff products are not worth it
 
I'd agree with others to stay away from the "as ARRI" knock-offs. Really, it all depends on your budget, what you're looking to purchase, and especially - do you mind buying used. I'd rather have a good-quality used ARRI at twice the price of a brand-new Chinese knock-off. Search Ebay; if you can afford to be patient, there are some killer deals that turn up on fairly regular basis. Also look at other brands. DeSisti is under-valued, IMO. They make really good lights, but without the ARRI brand name mark-up.
 
Yes avoid knockoffs.
Plasma does indeed look to have a rosey future.
If you need to do high speed work a Lensed lamp head is handy.
A used Arrisun 1.2 is versatile and portable, I used to regularly fly one as accompanied baggage but I'm not sure how well they colour match with plasmas.
If you do remote field work, something else to consider is which lamps run on portable generators.
Anyone used Plasmas on a hand portable like a 2KVA Honda?

Mike Brennan
 
You might like these a lot...

you can put Between 7 and 10 of them on a single household outlet...

you can use an inexpensive glass fresnel modifier in Bowens mount for hard light, you can use a nice Fotodiox EZ open soft box with Bowens mount for a soft key.

great light, not too expensive... very effective. Not a rip off of someone else's work.

http://amzn.to/2cyUEZN
 
Just one thing to keep in mind about these Bowens mount LED lights:

Many Bowens mount light modifiers are designed to reflect light emitted from the perimeter of the mount (where the strobe bulbs normally sit. These LED elements project light forward from the center of the mount, so if you use something other than soft boxes, certain reflectors, or snoots, you may run into problems.

I've tried Beauty dishes, ring-light adapters and other specialty adapters that did not work well with this type of light.

Generally you need to treat this type of light as you would a PAR can.
 
Hi Dan,

What would you say the beam angle on the Godox product you linked to would be? I tried to look around for it on Amazon / Google but couldn't get anything that seemed too reliable.

Thanks :)
 
If you buy the knock offs and use them on any sort of regular basis you'll be kicking yourself in about three months

My friend bought a knockoff 1200w hmi and it died in a week of use
 
I only have experience with small productions so I cannot comment on more expensive gear, but our studio has had tremendous value gotten from the Kino flo diva lights as they are small, cool and hav a nice qualtiy of light and also more recently the Aputure Lightstorm LED panels. They are seriously powerful (suitable for most any indoor lighting and even decent fill in full daylight) and give a good quality for only about $500 - 600 each. But like I said you may be in a higher budget bracket than may and able to get some of the newew Mole LED lights which look very nice indeed.
 
Hi Dan,
Couple more questions. Just wondering whether you've found the fan noise on the unit to be an issue if the light is say 6 feet or so from a boom mic indoors? In case you've placed them at this sort of distance.

And also if you've found the colour rendering to be good enough under a studio-setting, not at a pixel-peeping level, but as far as lacking noticeable issues :)

Thanks again!
Mohammed
 
6 feet from a boom - no problem.

Color wise - i feel like they are a quite clean daylight don't see huge green or magenta spikes

a 1/8-1/4 straw or 1/8 orange can make them a littler closer to warm-ish daylight, but in studio they are crisp and clean daylight.
 
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