3 Head Lighting Kits. 300w or 800w?

[Henry Spencer]

Okay, I'm about to splash out on my first lighting kit

I've got about £750 to spend, and from my shopping around, I have seen that this isn't an awful lot, but it's something that I need and this is last time I'll be able to spare some cash for a while

I have my eye on two kits at the moment. The links are pasted below


http://www.proav.co.uk/Lighting-Chroma-Key/3-Head-Kits/800w-Head-Kits/p16520_sc836.aspx

http://www.proav.co.uk/Lighting-Chroma-Key/3-Head-Kits/300w-Head-Kits/p16498_sc834.aspx

Now the two kits I have linked to are very different in terms of watts, but for a very similar price. The second kit comes with dimmers. I have only ever worked with a theatre lighting desk type set up, so I'm used to dimming light remotely as opposed to using scrims, gels etc

Would you recommend buying lights with less power but the ability to dim, or lights with more power, this then leading me to learn how to control my lights in other ways???

 

[knightly]

get the bigger lights and go to harbor freight tools to get Router speed controls as dimmers at $15/ dimmer.

 

[Anim8]

Router speed controls.... thats a great idea... They will handle the power much better than a dimmer switch..

Dimmer switch is 600watts (5 amps), Router Speed Control is 15 amps (1800watts)

Thanks knightly.

 

[CDCosta]

Both are pretty terrible choices. Your better off getting 2-3 Lowels, you wont be stuck with 3 of the same light, and they are much better quality.

 

[directorik]

Both those kits look fine to me.

CDCosta, what has bee your experience with
the Ianiro Varibeams? I've never used them
but I have heard only good things.

Until now.

 

[knightly]

@anim8, I own 2 of them and they work like a champ. It's lovely to be able to set your iris where you want it for DoF, Then dial your key into exposure and your fill into the contrast ratio you want.

It's totally changed the way I light and shoot They're strong enough, you can even put a couple of lights on them and dim them all together.

 

[CDCosta]

I'm not sure if they were the exact brand, but I've worked with ones that seem oddly similar, and they were terrible.

Mostly in the sense that they were easy broken. Barn door screws would just fall out, power switches would just stop working, they were jsut made cheap.

These may be a different brand, esp. if there are from the UK, but they seem very similar.