lighting Buying first film lights

[sfoster]

How important is the angle of beam spread for a light?
Would softboxes and lanterns take care of all, or do I need to be specific in what i look for in the beam angle of a light?

GVM is having a christmas sale: https://gvmled.myshopify.com/collections/holiday-sale-2022

There this a BOGO deal and I'm considering these 150W daylight LED, two of them for $350.
The beam spread adjusts from "a tight 60 degrees to a wide 120 degrees"

GVM LS-150D 150W High Power LED Spotlight Daylight Kit

Employing the familiar, easy-to-use moonlight form factor, the LS-150D LED Daylight Video Light from GVM is a versatile light source with a daylight color temperature of 5600K that blends in seamlessly when shooting outdoors or in situations where daylight-balanced light fixtures are used. The...

gvmled.myshopify.com

And they have a 300W BI-COLOR LED for $379

GVM-SD300D 300W Bi-Color LED Video Light High Power Monolight

Versatile Color Temperature Control The GVM SD300D offers a wider range of color temperatures than conventional spotlights, this extensive range gives you greater creative flexibility and allows for precise lighting adjustments to suit any shooting environment. Exceptional Color Accuracy With a...

gvmled.myshopify.com

Are there any opinions on this GVM brand of lights?

The other birghter lights I was considering were amaran 200D (250W), or a Godox VL300 or the apurture light storm 300x but the light storm is way more expensive.
This christmas sale from GVM seems pretty great, could get five lights (4x150W) for $1,100 and have a lot of options.

There are lantern attachments and softbox grid attachments for these things that you can buy, it seems pretty versatile.

That concludes my questions.

Since 2013 i've never owned a film light - only ever lit stuff using light bulbs and the sun. yikes.
It seems like first impressions are everything. and the look of your film is all people care about in a first impression.

 

[sfoster]

I think I'll get that tube and the helios both, though I'm gonna have to make some lifestyle changes like not eat out for a few months, etc to get all this different stuff. Then I'll have the versatility to approach pretty much any scene to a decent result

 

[AcousticAl]

I understand that but it's still a good ballpark figure for comparing modern LED lights, if one led is drawing 4x more power than the other
$99 is a good price though, I'm going to consider it

This is the other panel light i found, half the weight (10 lbs lighter) than the other one - 1000W tungsten equivalent.

DigitalFoto Solution Limited HELIOS B100 Bi-Color 100W LED Softlight

Buy DigitalFoto Solution Limited HELIOS B100 Bi-Color 100W LED Softlight featuring 3200-5600K Color, 95 CRI, Dims 0-99%, 60° Beam Spread, 19.7 x 11.4 x 4", Onboard DMX, Remote Control, 1000W Tungsten Softlight Equivalent, Optional V-Mount 14.8V Battery. Review DigitalFoto Solution Limited B100

www.bhphotovideo.com

what is the mathhews stand you would recommend for that?

See my edit above. I looked up the missing info. I also take manufacturer specs with a grain of salt. They’re always testing in unrealistically perfect and controlled scenarios, and plotting the numbers to look as good as they can make them look. Same goes for microphones. Anyway, I find the Q25 to be an excellent tool in the toolkit.

For any of the larger, heavier heads (20lbs or less), I’d go with one of these:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33461-REG/Matthews_B387490_Light_Heavy_Black_Kit.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33459-REG/Matthews_B387485_Medium_Duty_Maxi_Kit.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/99162-REG/Matthews_387485_Maxi_Kit_Steel_Stand.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/139497-REG/Matthews_387031_Hollywood_Beefy_Baby_Steel.html

 

[sfoster]

Last thing I need is like.. a scrim jim like they have here - i would have expected them to use cardellini clamps but they show the stands at 9:20 and it doesn't look like it.

but yeah i need a setup like this for outdoors - video is time stamped to their outdoor rig
btw this light meter has apparently been sold out for like 4 months, and used ones are selling on ebay for over 1k. ridiculous.

 

[AcousticAl]

Last thing I need is like.. a scrim jim like they have here - i would have expected them to use cardellini clamps but they show the stands at 9:20 and it doesn't look like it.

but yeah i need a setup like this for outdoors - video is time stamped to their outdoor rig

A few things about butterflies:

C-stands are not enough. You’ll want combo stands that are much more hefty. Unfortunately, this means that you may end up spending $800-1000 just on the two stands. This may be one of the things that you find more practical, and affordable, to rent when needed for the time being. Again, there are two rental houses in the Baltimore area and rental on grip equipment is very reasonable.

Mounting hardware for the frames ranges from baby pins for typical grip heads and combo heads, to tabs that clamp into larger lollipops.

6x6 is fine for closeups and interviews, but won’t provide much coverage outdoors for anything past that. 8x8 is about the minimum useful size for anything beyond a close single or two-shot. 12x12 is a bit more versatile.

Beware the ones labeled “light duty” and read the reviews. Some of them are a bit flimsy, so anything above the lightest breeze may actually bend or damage cheap tubes/rails.

SAFETY! These require people and weight. You’re basically putting up a giant wind sail, so be very cautious about when you set these up outside and what weather conditions are. Put plenty of sandbags on the stand bases. They can be multi-person operations just to get assembled and flown, but there are days that we use “meat bags” in addition to sand bags; in other words, a human standing on each of the support stands. If you find yourself in a situation where that seems necessary, it’s probably a bad day to try and fly a butterfly.

 

[sfoster]

A few things about butterflies:

C-stands are not enough. You’ll want combo stands that are much more hefty. Unfortunately, this means that you may end up spending $800-1000 just on the two stands. This may be one of the things that you find more practical, and affordable, to rent when needed for the time being. Again, there are two rental houses in the Baltimore area and rental on grip equipment is very reasonable.

Mounting hardware for the frames ranges from baby pins for typical grip heads and combo heads, to tabs that clamp into larger lollipops.

6x6 is fine for closeups and interviews, but won’t provide much coverage outdoors for anything past that. 8x8 is about the minimum useful size for anything beyond a close single or two-shot. 12x12 is a bit more versatile.

Beware the ones labeled “light duty” and read the reviews. Some of them are a bit flimsy, so anything above the lightest breeze may actually bend or damage cheap tubes/rails.

SAFETY! These require people and weight. You’re basically putting up a giant wind sail, so be very cautious about when you set these up outside and what weather conditions are. Put plenty of sandbags on the stand bases. They can be multi-person operations just to get assembled and flown, but there are days that we use “meat bags” in addition to sand bags; in other words, a human standing on each of the support stands. If you find yourself in a situation where that seems necessary, it’s probably a bad day to try and fly a butterfly.

I'll only ever be using 1 lightout doors, the rest of my lights aren't bright enough.
So I can just repurpose two other light stands - i'll have to buy strong ones like you say - but i can use those light stands for the butterfly so I don't have to purcahse extra stands for it.

I don't have to worry about that until summer, but I think I can buy some aluminum bar from the hardware store and built my own frame as well with some simple connector joints, then just throw a king size sheet over it, a bottom sheet with the elastic corners to wrap the frame. and then do two sheets if its not thick enough.

What do you think?
Thanks for continuing to engage with me in this process, i appreciate it.

These are some really strong combo stands for $212. not bad at all.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/840733-REG/Kupo_KS200112_Master_Combo_HD_Stand.html

See my edit above. I looked up the missing info. I also take manufacturer specs with a grain of salt. They’re always testing in unrealistically perfect and controlled scenarios, and plotting the numbers to look as good as they can make them look. Same goes for microphones. Anyway, I find the Q25 to be an excellent tool in the toolkit.

For any of the larger, heavier heads (20lbs or less), I’d go with one of these:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33461-REG/Matthews_B387490_Light_Heavy_Black_Kit.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33459-REG/Matthews_B387485_Medium_Duty_Maxi_Kit.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/99162-REG/Matthews_387485_Maxi_Kit_Steel_Stand.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/139497-REG/Matthews_387031_Hollywood_Beefy_Baby_Steel.html

Ah none of those have a boom arm though, in my head I am imagining mounting the hairlight on a boom.
Anything wrong with just using an apurture 100D with some barn doors as a hairlight?

None of these LED panel lights are impressing me.

 

[AcousticAl]

I'll only ever be using 1 lightout doors, the rest of my lights aren't bright enough.
So I can just repurpose two other light stands - i'll have to buy strong ones like you say - but i can use those light stands for the butterfly so I don't have to purcahse extra stands for it.

I don't have to worry about that until summer, but I think I can buy some aluminum bar from the hardware store and built my own frame as well with some simple connector joints, then just throw a king size sheet over it, a bottom sheet with the elastic corners to wrap the frame. and then do two sheets if its not thick enough.

What do you think?

I think DIY butterflies can be a pretty dicey proposition.

First, I cannot reiterate enough the safety issues with butterflies. It seems simple and easy, but it can be one of the most dangerous pieces on location. A skilled gaffer is always keeping on top of weather conditions - current and forecast - and making judgement calls about how safe it is to fly one. And the people rigging it and, if needed, meat-bagging it, need to know what they’re doing. The stands need plenty of ballast - often doubled-up on 35lb bags - and often also need sandbags and tie line to anchor the downward corners of the frame.

That said, they can be built, but you end up buying the same parts that you’d get with any of the professional kits.

As for the fabric, check out Canvas Grip out of Van Nuys, CA. They make plenty of great stuff for butterflies and overheads. I use one of their 6x6 silent grid cloths quite often and it’s very well-made.

These are some really strong combo stands for $212. not bad at all.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve not been impressed by anything Kupo that I’ve used. Matthews or American Grip are the way to go.

Ah none of those have a boom arm though, in my head I am imagining mounting the hairlight on a boom.
Anything wrong with just using an apurture 100D with some barn doors as a hairlight?

None of these LED panel lights are impressing me.

For a small accent or hair light, a C-stand with Hollywood arm should be more than enough. I use the Intellytech Pocket Cannon as well as the Quasar tube. I’ve also got a 5-head interview kit that’s completely made of Dracast Silkray panels (all discontinued, sadly) that are extremely well designed to soften the light and avoid microshadows. You can still get similar fixtures from Fotodiox (Flapjack) and Genaray (mini moon), but I’m not entirely sure about build and light quality of those brands. My interview lighting package has two 18” discs and three smaller rectangular heads. The smaller ones serve as hair/shoulder accents and a C-stand with Hollywood arm is more than enough support.

What works about these panels is that the LEDs are all arranged on the outer edge and pointed inward, so the light bounces off the back panel and through a frosted front panel. I’ll still punch them through silk from time to time, as the built-in diffusion doesn’t soften the light quite enough for every situation. They still work very well and are dimmable from 100% to about 10%. I use the daylight-only instead of the bi-color to get maximum output.

And no, none of the LED panel lights are terribly impressive (with the exception of the Silkrays and simillar). I’ve worked on a few series for HGTV, Magnolia, and Discovery networks that basically live off of the LitePanels Astra 1x1, and while it is definitely one of the better-designed panels and doesn’t suffer from the same issues that cheaper panels with hundreds of tiny LEDs do, it still needs to be bounced through diffusion of off a bounce board to keep it from looking… well… like an LED panel. I get that it’s affordable and easy to pack. There are a lot of trade-offs, though.

 

[sfoster]

I think DIY butterflies can be a pretty dicey proposition.

First, I cannot reiterate enough the safety issues with butterflies. It seems simple and easy, but it can be one of the most dangerous pieces on location. A skilled gaffer is always keeping on top of weather conditions - current and forecast - and making judgement calls about how safe it is to fly one. And the people rigging it and, if needed, meat-bagging it, need to know what they’re doing. The stands need plenty of ballast - often doubled-up on 35lb bags - and often also need sandbags and tie line to anchor the downward corners of the frame.

That said, they can be built, but you end up buying the same parts that you’d get with any of the professional kits.

As for the fabric, check out Canvas Grip out of Van Nuys, CA. They make plenty of great stuff for butterflies and overheads. I use one of their 6x6 silent grid cloths quite often and it’s very well-made.



As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve not been impressed by anything Kupo that I’ve used. Matthews or American Grip are the way to go.



For a small accent or hair light, a C-stand with Hollywood arm should be more than enough. I use the Intellytech Pocket Cannon as well as the Quasar tube. I’ve also got a 5-head interview kit that’s completely made of Dracast Silkray panels (all discontinued, sadly) that are extremely well designed to soften the light and avoid microshadows. You can still get similar fixtures from Fotodiox (Flapjack) and Genaray (mini moon), but I’m not entirely sure about build and light quality of those brands. My interview lighting package has two 18” discs and three smaller rectangular heads. The smaller ones serve as hair/shoulder accents and a C-stand with Hollywood arm is more than enough support.

What works about these panels is that the LEDs are all arranged on the outer edge and pointed inward, so the light bounces off the back panel and through a frosted front panel. I’ll still punch them through silk from time to time, as the built-in diffusion doesn’t soften the light quite enough for every situation. They still work very well and are dimmable from 100% to about 10%. I use the daylight-only instead of the bi-color to get maximum output.

And no, none of the LED panel lights are terribly impressive (with the exception of the Silkrays and simillar). I’ve worked on a few series for HGTV, Magnolia, and Discovery networks that basically live off of the LitePanels Astra 1x1, and while it is definitely one of the better-designed panels and doesn’t suffer from the same issues that cheaper panels with hundreds of tiny LEDs do, it still needs to be bounced through diffusion of off a bounce board to keep it from looking… well… like an LED panel. I get that it’s affordable and easy to pack. There are a lot of trade-offs, though.

Okay point taken, I see some mathew combo stands so those could double as light stands and butterfly holder, making this thing relatively affordable for me come summer.
I also hear what youre saying about safety and if I use or build one of these I'll get a couple meatbags while its being operated.

The amaran 100d is 8 lbs so its kinda hefty.
Are there good alternatives to a c-stand if I wanted to use something a little sturdier with a wider base, but still have a long horizontal arm?

IDK a lot of the technical terms for these stands so it's hard for me to do searches to find what I need.

BTW I ordered some lights, that tube light, 3 amarans and one LS30x so these stands are the final piece of the puzzle.
Not going to order a light meter.. it would be nice, but I can do contrast ratios with the spot meter on my camera and there are better things for me to spend $600 on right now than a light meter.

Also speaking of scary equipment, this is the thing that really scares me lol
and definitely something i would rent not buy

 

[AcousticAl]

Okay point taken, I see some mathew combo stands so those could double as light stands and butterfly holder, making this thing relatively affordable for me come summer.
I also hear what youre saying about safety and if I use or build one of these I'll get a couple meatbags while its being operated.

Proceed at your own risk (and the risk of others on your set). Just wanted to be on record cautioning against it without an experienced gaffer.

The amaran 100d is 8 lbs so its kinda hefty.
Are there good alternatives to a c-stand if I wanted to use something a little sturdier with a wider base, but still have a long horizontal arm?

There are heavier—duty arms available that can go on some of the beefier stands. Look at Matthews Junior Boom, which extends to 10’.

IDK a lot of the technical terms for these stands so it's hard for me to do searches to find what I need.

The tricky part is, some names are pretty standard while others are unique to each manufacturer.

Century Stand, or C-stand, is pretty much universal. With that come grip heads and Hollywood arms. Also, a turtle base is an option on C-stands: detachable, and spring loaded extend/collapse. Non-turtle-base C-stands often have legs that extend and collapse with a lockable T-nut to secure it in either position.

A combo stand is generally a heavier-duty stand with a collapsible tripod base, with the combo being the mounting head that has both a 5/8” baby pin receiver and a retractible 5/8” baby pin.

Grip heads come in a couple different sizes, and Matthews call their 4.5” grip head a lollipop.

Triple rise stands are exactly what they sound like: three riser sections. They can have baby pin or combo heads on them. Collapsible tripod base. Come in varying maximum height.

Rocky Mountain Leg is available on both C-stands and tripod-base stands. That means that one leg is height-adjustable, or extendable, for leveling the stand on an uneven surface.

Then there are lighter-duty aluminum stands with tripod bases. Typically a bit shorter, anywhere from 5’-9’ max, but there are some 12’ versions. Handy to have a few on hand, but not built to hold heavier loads. I have a few of the Manfrotto Alu Ranker 9’ air-cushioned stands, and I like them for the smaller heads. They also nest and lock together when they’re collapsed for really easy storag.

There are lots more, but those will give you some basics.

BTW I ordered some lights, that tube light, 3 amarans and one LS30x so these stands are the final piece of the puzzle.
Not going to order a light meter.. it would be nice, but I can do contrast ratios with the spot meter on my camera and there are better things for me to spend $600 on right now than a light meter.

Which Amarans?

 

[sfoster]

Proceed at your own risk (and the risk of others on your set). Just wanted to be on record cautioning against it without an experienced gaffer.



There are heavier—duty arms available that can go on some of the beefier stands. Look at Matthews Junior Boom, which extends to 10’.



The tricky part is, some names are pretty standard while others are unique to each manufacturer.

Century Stand, or C-stand, is pretty much universal. With that come grip heads and Hollywood arms. Also, a turtle base is an option on C-stands: detachable, and spring loaded extend/collapse. Non-turtle-base C-stands often have legs that extend and collapse with a lockable T-nut to secure it in either position.

A combo stand is generally a heavier-duty stand with a collapsible tripod base, with the combo being the mounting head that has both a 5/8” baby pin receiver and a retractible 5/8” baby pin.

Grip heads come in a couple different sizes, and Matthews call their 4.5” grip head a lollipop.

Triple rise stands are exactly what they sound like: three riser sections. They can have baby pin or combo heads on them. Collapsible tripod base. Come in varying maximum height.

Rocky Mountain Leg is available on both C-stands and tripod-base stands. That means that one leg is height-adjustable, or extendable, for leveling the stand on an uneven surface.

Then there are lighter-duty aluminum stands with tripod bases. Typically a bit shorter, anywhere from 5’-9’ max, but there are some 12’ versions. Handy to have a few on hand, but not built to hold heavier loads. I have a few of the Manfrotto Alu Ranker 9’ air-cushioned stands, and I like them for the smaller heads. They also nest and lock together when they’re collapsed for really easy storag.

There are lots more, but those will give you some basics.



Which Amarans?

For my frame of reference, whats the heaviest lbs you would consider something to be a light head?
I got a mix of 100d 200d and 200x, went a little over budget but I figure the amaran have a lot better resale value than gvm.

thanks for the breakdown, its very helpful.

If I just want to do a medium shot of one person is there a better, safer alternative to a butterfly in direct sunlight?
Like just a floppy or something?

 

[AcousticAl]

For my frame of reference, whats the heaviest lbs you would consider something to be a light head?

Around 5lb? I usually use lighter-duty aluminum stands for my Pocket Cannons, Quasar, lighter Silkray panels. The C-stand with Hollywood Arm is pretty sturdy, but I wouldn’t load it past 10lb at the end of the arm. The stand itself has a load capacity of 25lb, but you really don’t want to put a load on any stand that is near or at its limit… same as tripods/heads.

If I just want to do a medium shot of one person is there a better, safer alternative to a butterfly in direct sunlight?
Like just a floppy or something?

Sure. Avoid direct sunlight.

But seriously… avoid direct sunlight. Try not to shoot midday. Put the sun behind the subject if at all possible and use reflectors to bounce key/fill from the sun.

4x4 silks can work, but they don’t offer a huge amount of coverage, so you need to make sure that it’s not casting shadows from the edge of the frame either on the subject or on anything near/around the subject that is also in frame. And remember that 4x4 frames are also wind catchers, so use them with caution on breezy or windy days.

 

[AcousticAl]

One other add-on, fairly inexpensive, and extremely handy: get a pancake (eighth apple) and a couple of baby plates (one straight pin, one right-angle).

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/99404-REG/Matthews_259538_Eighth_Apple_Box.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33161-REG/Matthews_429041_Baby_Plate_3.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33194-REG/Matthews_429590_Right_Angle_Baby_Plate.html

Depending on what you’re shooting and where you find yourself, particularly for interiors, this is a great solution for (straight baby pin) placing a fixture on the floor for underlighting or (right angle baby pin) placing a light on top of a book case or kitchen cabinet, or up on an overhead landing. I used to shoot a YouTube cooking series in a loft kitchen and this was an absolute lifesaver for getting the hair light up high with very limited space.

 

[sfoster]

One other add-on, fairly inexpensive, and extremely handy: get a pancake (eighth apple) and a couple of baby plates (one straight pin, one right-angle).

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/99404-REG/Matthews_259538_Eighth_Apple_Box.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33161-REG/Matthews_429041_Baby_Plate_3.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33194-REG/Matthews_429590_Right_Angle_Baby_Plate.html

Depending on what you’re shooting and where you find yourself, particularly for interiors, this is a great solution for (straight baby pin) placing a fixture on the floor for underlighting or (right angle baby pin) placing a light on top of a book case or kitchen cabinet, or up on an overhead landing. I used to shoot a YouTube cooking series in a loft kitchen and this was an absolute lifesaver for getting the hair light up high with very limited space.

Nice link, thanks !

I will be shooting a pool movie this summer, shouldn't i show some sunny scenes?
Obviously I don't want harsh shadows in my foreground protagonist but maybe some sunny people splashing in the pool behind the protag

 

[AcousticAl]

I will be shooting a pool movie this summer, shouldn't i show some sunny scenes?
Obviously I don't want harsh shadows in my foreground protagonist but maybe some sunny people splashing in the pool behind the protag

Of course. I‘m not seriously suggesting you never shoot in sunlight. Just work within your means. Avoiding high noon also avoids hard shadows from straight above. Using sun that’s at an angle and bouncing it where you need it can help you get your images clean and with depth.

It’s tricky, and it may or may not allow you to get the framing and background you want. But it’s something to look at If it can be done. Shade where/how you can. Use the existing sunlight to your advantage everywhere else.

 

[sfoster]

There are heavier—duty arms available that can go on some of the beefier stands. Look at Matthews Junior Boom, which extends to 10’.

Holy smokes that pole weighs 41 lbs, it's practically the weight of a barbell and exceeds what most of these stands list as their maximum load capacity.

This matthews seems more appropriate

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33149-REG/Matthews_427801_Baby_Boom.html/reviews

And this avengers is half the price.. its not a stand.. its just a metal pole.. and im broke now, so i might go for this bargain pole to put on top of the matthews stand

Avenger D600 Mini Boom (Chrome-plated)

Buy Avenger D600 Mini Boom (Chrome-plated) featuring Steel Construction, 83" Maximum Extension, Rubber Handle, Counterweight Hook, 5/8" Stud and Receiver. Review Avenger null

www.bhphotovideo.com

So it's clear to me I messed up ordering one of those lights, bc the small amarans are heavy as hell they really don't work very well for something like a hairlight on a pole. I didn't take the bodyweight into account when ordering that last light. Should have gone with one of the 60s instead, they're waaaay lighter.

 

[sfoster]

Thanks for the help everyone, especially Al! Lights and stands all figured out, topic complete!
I'm going to make a 1 page horror short in february with my new lights!!!

As a fun little aside, I actually bonded with my camera a lot more over this past week too, for the first time i built out the customized menu with every functionality ive ever used in one convenint spot now - and reassigned all the physical buttons for faster use - never gonna have to hunt through the menu, etc again.

This thread will self destruct in 5 seconds.

 

[AcousticAl]

… topic complete!

Until a new member registers in a year or so, and dredges up this thread with something about their $50 Neewer panels that they absolutely love. (Magenta shift? What magenta shift?)

This discussion cost me money, too. After all the exchange, I decided to make one more capital purchase for ‘22 taxes and ended up grabbing a 2-head kit of the Intellytech X-100, plus an optical snoot. An even better deal with their year-end 20% discount. I’ve got a couple of projects coming up where I can put them through the paces.

@sfoster, definitely give us an update when everything comes in and you start playing around with the new gear.

 

[sfoster]

Until a new member registers in a year or so, and dredges up this thread with something about their $50 Neewer panels that they absolutely love. (Magenta shift? What magenta shift?)

This discussion cost me money, too. After all the exchange, I decided to make one more capital purchase for ‘22 taxes and ended up grabbing a 2-head kit of the Intellytech X-100, plus an optical snoot. An even better deal with their year-end 20% discount. I’ve got a couple of projects coming up where I can put them through the paces.

@sfoster, definitely give us an update when everything comes in and you start playing around with the new gear.

It's amazing how long we've gone without a thread about buying new lights.. used to have them all the time.
Maybe it's the suggestion feature about similar threads/not creating redundant threads that stopped it?

I anticipate grip issues, like struggling to attach flags and stuff, I'll let you know how it works out.
Damn I am gonna be pissed if I suck at lighting lol.

I've been watching tons and tons of youtube lately, I came across this video that was quite fascinating

What I found was so interesting is that he shows this home depot clamp light 10 years ago when he started, and IMO, that is the best image in the entire video. He buys all this equipment and "learns" all this stuff over a decade and shows us his evolution and every single image he shows is worse than the first one.

At least in my opinion - the skin tones are overexposed in all those images, you can't even see her freckles in her cheek. imagine photographing cindy crawford and you can't see her mole lol.

Anyway hopefully I take an enormous leap forward, i'll be pissed if I suck at lighting.

 

[sfoster]

I did get two of the amarans in, I fired up the 200d and it's a lot louder than i expected.
it's nothing like central AC, but if I am standing 20 ft away on the other side of the room and I listen closely I can hear it and tell that its on.. from 20 ft away. i mean damn really NOT what i was expecting, this is what people normally film with? and then what they do some kind of audio filter to remove the fan noises?

I feel like I made a mistake and should have gone with the larger, bulkier godox silent led that don't have a fan

 

[AcousticAl]

I did get two of the amarans in, I fired up the 200d and it's a lot louder than i expected.
it's nothing like central AC, but if I am standing 20 ft away on the other side of the room and I listen closely I can hear it and tell that its on.. from 20 ft away. i mean damn really NOT what i was expecting, this is what people normally film with? and then what they do some kind of audio filter to remove the fan noises?

I feel like I made a mistake and should have gone with the larger, bulkier godox silent led that don't have a fan

Well, you’re still well within the return window.

I’ve been on sets with the 150D/200D/300D, and it hasn’t been a huge issue. This from a sound mixer’s perspective. Keep in mind that I’m actively swinging a boom and using the mic’s rejection to my advantage. Properly-placed lavs also tend to be insulated from a good bit of ambient noise floor. You could always set up a more practical test with whatever sound setup you typically use. Shoot a sample scene, and put it through post with sound design. That may end up covering up what little fan noise creeps through. If too much fan noise shows up then it may be time to reconsider.

My F-165 Fresnels are damn-near silent, and the fan can be turned off but at the expense of limiting output to 50% power. The X-100 is also supposed to be nearly silent and I’ll get hands-on with those next week. The Pocket Cannon has no fan. But fans are a new reality with so many LED lighting fixtures, so there will likely always be some level of fan noise. It’s just a question of how intrusive it really is.

Noise removal these days is near-magic, like with Izotope RX. It’s not something the be planned for. The best plan is not to have to use it. Then, if there are scenarios that just cannot be avoided, noise removal is there.

 

[sfoster]

Well, you’re still well within the return window.

I’ve been on sets with the 150D/200D/300D, and it hasn’t been a huge issue. This from a sound mixer’s perspective. Keep in mind that I’m actively swinging a boom and using the mic’s rejection to my advantage. Properly-placed lavs also tend to be insulated from a good bit of ambient noise floor. You could always set up a more practical test with whatever sound setup you typically use. Shoot a sample scene, and put it through post with sound design. That may end up covering up what little fan noise creeps through. If too much fan noise shows up then it may be time to reconsider.

My F-165 Fresnels are damn-near silent, and the fan can be turned off but at the expense of limiting output to 50% power. The X-100 is also supposed to be nearly silent and I’ll get hands-on with those next week. The Pocket Cannon has no fan. But fans are a new reality with so many LED lighting fixtures, so there will likely always be some level of fan noise. It’s just a question of how intrusive it really is.

Noise removal these days is near-magic, like with Izotope RX. It’s not something the be planned for. The best plan is not to have to use it. Then, if there are scenarios that just cannot be avoided, noise removal is there.

I plugged in the second one and had the 200x and 200d going at the same time and it's so noisy that I laughed out loud.
Literally so noisy that it's funny. These are pieces of shit. I filed for a return.

Looks like the light thread is back on the menu boys!!
edit: for reference, these are loud enough that I wouldn't sleep with them on in the same room.
edit2: assuming a blackout sleep mask! for any smartasses