Investing in lights...

[sekhon17]

Hey guys...new to the forum.

Shooting a documentary, and interviews will be held intermittently so i have decided to buy lights. I want to buy lights that i can use for other projects too..i.e. music vids, short films and etc. so versatility is huge. Except the only problem is the budget which is around $1000. So i think tungstens would probably be the way to go.

So far i have decided on this kit

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-As-ARRI...016?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac9ed5c70

Let me know what you guys think..

Cheers,

 

[_Rok_]

I have some AS ARRIs, and they worked just fine (a couple 1Ks and a 650W). It can be hit-and-miss with the various copies out there, but I was very pleased with mine. Do I wish I had real ARRIs? Certainly. But I'm not ready for that yet.

The the focus knob on the 650W froze on the last day of shooting. I wasn't handling the lights, so I do not know under what circumstances it was jammed. So, I pulled it apart (very easy) and then lubricated the worm screw with graphite, and it works just fine now.

Also, the day I received the package from the US distributer I bought them from, I opened each light and checked the connections to make sure everything was tight and the housing was grounded.

Between the 3 AS Arris, 6 clamp lights, and 3 DIY LED panels we were happy with the results.

Thomas

(BTW, I grew up in Vancouver)

 

[sekhon17]

Did you buy your set from ebay as well?

Also did you use the 3 DIY LED panels as fill?

I have been doing a lot of research and it seems like the more research i do, the more confused i get.
Right now i plan to buy 3 lights:
650 watt tungsten for key light
250 watt backlight
400 watt softbox for fill

(Van is amazing

 

[_Rok_]

Let me start by saying I was not the DP on my film. But, as the principle filmmaker, I did an enormous amount of research and sourced all the gear.

Yes, I purchased the gear from a US eBay location (Southern California). For me, shipping times from China have been hit-or-miss. Since I needed the lights pronto, I went domestic. The lights arrived in Berkeley two days later. As I recall, the price was the same.

I built the LED panels because needed to shoot some night exteriors and driving shots. We grabbed these guerrilla-style, so a generator was out of the question. The panels ran off a 12v deep-cycle battery. The whole thing was light, ran cool, and we could setup/tear-down in an instant. Although the light from the panels was adequate for my needs, the color rendering was pretty iffy and will need work in grading (especially in the skin tones).

Thomas

 

[baoliun]

Please,please don't waste money on fake lights. There is enough threads on various forums explaining why. 1K is not a budget. Your best bet would be to rent tungsten fixtures,esp open face are dirt cheap.

Lighting is all about controlling the light not just having as many lamps as possible. Reflectors,negative fill,black wrap,flags,c-stands,gels etc. Roger Deakins used natural light and bed sheets as bounce for his documentaries.

 

[_Rok_]

Sekhon,

Check your PMs.