Cheap Lighting kit for documentary interviews?

Richard Gooderick · July 13th, 2009, 11:03 PM

Hi Jonathan
I got my Lowell stuff from Prokit in West London.

Bob Kerner · November 26th, 2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

The further away you place the light, the less soft it will be. With a tungsten light like the Tota, the closer you place the light, the hotter the person will be. I'd give the average person 3-4 minutes before they get uncomfortable and begin to sweat.

Buy a fluorescent setup. Seriously.

Buy this:
Lowel | Rifa-Lite EX55 Softbox Light Kit, LB40 Soft | LC-95LBZ

And this:
Lowel | Rifa eXchange Fluorescent 3- Lamp Module | FLO-X3 | B&H

And some compact fluorescent bulbs, and you'll be golden.

You can put this light 3 feet from your talent and they'll never feel any heat. folds up small, comes with a stand and diffuser, easy as can be.

I'm going to drag this post out of retirement to ask a question about Perrone's suggestion here:

Is there an advantage to using the Rifa (which looks pretty cool since it can do tungsten and flo...I like multi-tasking!) over a Cool Lights portable softbank like this:

CL-455P Cool Lights Portable 4 x 55 watt Softlight - Cool Lights USA

The Cool Lights is a few bucks cheaper for non-dimming version and it's one piece to set up rather than a soft-box. Is there a practical limitation to using this instead of a Rifa-type softbox set up?

Perrone Ford · November 26th, 2009, 10:30 AM

The cool-lights solution will be brighter. It will also be heavier and larger to carry. You will need full sized tubes for it (daylight and tungsten balanced).

The RIFA will be fold up to the size of a golf umbrella, it's much lighter, you can add one bulb or up to 6 is as far as I've gone. It can use CFL bulbs you get at Home Depot or Wal-Mart. It will not be as bright. It switches to tungsten with a single bulb.

The Cool Lights fixture has barn doors on it and can be controlled easier than any softbox.

They are both good solutions. I chose the Rifa over a fluo solution because of cost and size. Other people may have different priorities.

Bob Kerner · November 27th, 2009, 10:39 AM

Thanks Perrone. I went with the Rifa since it's a tad more portable and available. Also like the fact that I can replace bulbs almost anywhere. Cool Lights showing their dimmable units as out of stock.

Perrone Ford · November 27th, 2009, 11:14 AM

Did you order the Exchange head?

Bob Kerner · November 27th, 2009, 12:35 PM

Yes, and an egg crate.

I really like the idea of being able to run CF bulbs in their to keep the heat down. Most of the people I interview are healthcare professionals or school kids and they don't like a lot of fuss or hot lights shining their faces.

This is the first piece to my kit, having avoided buying lights for too long. I'm going to add a couple of Pro lights for hair and background, I think.

Perrone Ford · November 27th, 2009, 03:32 PM

Excellent! It's a really cool setup. And I am not just saying that because I own one. If it wasn't good I'd say so. But I take that Rifa on ever shoot I do. I got the big one too... the 88. Man is that a nice light.

Denny Lajeunesse · November 29th, 2009, 04:10 AM

I know this is an old thread, but for anyone else looking for low cost lighting I just picked up a 3 piece red head kit with stands and diochromatic glass filters (3200k to 5600k)from China off eaby for $400 shipped. Also camewith a padded soft case.

Red head Continuous Light Dichroic Filter Kit Bag GIFT on eBay.ca (item 330369072736 end time 15-Nov-09 16:40:01 EST)

Also there are some nice cheap florescent soft box kits (each head uses 5 5500k CFL's - 200w equal to 1000w) on ebay as well. I have 2 that came with a green screen kit. The whole kit with 10'x20' green screen, stands, etc., was also around $400

The mounts on the softbox heads are not the most surable though. On the other hand the redhead kit looks exactly like how a red head should look. Built very well.

Bob Kerner · December 5th, 2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

Excellent! It's a really cool setup. And I am not just saying that because I own one. If it wasn't good I'd say so. But I take that Rifa on ever shoot I do. I got the big one too... the 88. Man is that a nice light.

I can't thank you enough for advocating for the Rifa. I think if I had not read this thread it would have fallen under my radar.

Sets up quickly. People badmouth Lowel a fair amount but they really have figured out how to make this very functional. The Exchange head with CFLs is nice.

My only quibble is the stand. It's a little lightweight for such a top-heavy item. It works.... and lightweight can be good when traveling but I can definitely see why some people say to use heavier (C-stands) stands.

Gotta go shoot something!

Thanks again.

Andrew Carter · February 6th, 2010, 03:17 PM

bump, i want to read this tomorrow. just so i dont forget.

Arif Syed · February 17th, 2010, 03:31 PM

One thing about this topic confuses me. Are you guys lighting your subjects with just this one light and reflectors?

Bob Kerner · February 17th, 2010, 06:59 PM

Not sure which part of this long, convoluted thread you're referring to. The Rifa is a softbox; therefore, no I do not use it by itself. I use it as a key, with another light either directly on the subject or reflected, depending on the situation. I've seen (in the Interview Lighting DVD by Vortex) people use white foam core to reflect the key from the other side of the subject but I've not had such good results with that and, as such, prefer to use another light.

Ross Hunter · February 18th, 2010, 07:09 AM

Bob,

What do you use for the other light?

Andrew Stone · February 18th, 2010, 08:16 PM

I'm going to jump in here.

You can use a RIFA for a key or a fill. Presently I use a Kino DIVA for a key and a RIFA 44 for a fill or a Dedolight or a Lowel Pro Light. Depends on what lights are required in the shoot and determining which light is best suited for a particular location. You could use a straight up fresnel like an ARRI 150W for a fill.

For a fill you can use almost anything as long as you can control spill and either mute the light by either pulling back the light or dimming it. If you are dimming a tungsten light you may wish to consider one of these dimmers...

Impact | 600 Watt AC Dimmer Control | D600 | B&H Photo Video

...as they are rated up to 600 watts. A caveat though the recepticles in them are only 2 pronged.

Lights are wonderful things to have. Essential. Their usefulness should not be under estimated.

If one does decide to go the fluorescent route in their lighting and you start to look at Kino-Flos, I would suggest the DIVA 400 as a key. Incredibly versatile. Lots use a DIVA 200 for a fill. Kino, in the past couple of years offered up a product called a BarFly. It's obvious use is as a fill light but it's thin profile would allow you to jam it into unusual spaces when creative lighting is required.

One final thing, beware of dimming lights as the color changes with most of them. If white balance is critical with your dimmed light make sure you do your in camera calibration after you have your lights at the levels you want.

Andrew Stone · February 19th, 2010, 09:29 AM

I realized shortly after I posted the above that the thread was about "cheap" interview lights. The Dedolights and the Kino DIVA are not what one would call cheap, however, I would still recommend them.

July 13th, 2009, 11:03 PM	#46
Richard Gooderick Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 795	Hi Jonathan I got my Lowell stuff from Prokit in West London. __________________ http://www.gooderick.com

November 26th, 2009, 10:30 AM	#48
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	The cool-lights solution will be brighter. It will also be heavier and larger to carry. You will need full sized tubes for it (daylight and tungsten balanced). The RIFA will be fold up to the size of a golf umbrella, it's much lighter, you can add one bulb or up to 6 is as far as I've gone. It can use CFL bulbs you get at Home Depot or Wal-Mart. It will not be as bright. It switches to tungsten with a single bulb. The Cool Lights fixture has barn doors on it and can be controlled easier than any softbox. They are both good solutions. I chose the Rifa over a fluo solution because of cost and size. Other people may have different priorities. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

November 27th, 2009, 11:14 AM	#50
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	Did you order the Exchange head? __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

November 27th, 2009, 03:32 PM	#52
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	Excellent! It's a really cool setup. And I am not just saying that because I own one. If it wasn't good I'd say so. But I take that Rifa on ever shoot I do. I got the big one too... the 88. Man is that a nice light. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

November 27th, 2009, 10:39 AM	#49
Bob Kerner Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 388	Thanks Perrone. I went with the Rifa since it's a tad more portable and available. Also like the fact that I can replace bulbs almost anywhere. Cool Lights showing their dimmable units as out of stock.

November 27th, 2009, 12:35 PM	#51
Bob Kerner Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 388	Yes, and an egg crate. I really like the idea of being able to run CF bulbs in their to keep the heat down. Most of the people I interview are healthcare professionals or school kids and they don't like a lot of fuss or hot lights shining their faces. This is the first piece to my kit, having avoided buying lights for too long. I'm going to add a couple of Pro lights for hair and background, I think.

November 29th, 2009, 04:10 AM	#53
Denny Lajeunesse Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Kelowna, BC [Canada, Eh!] Posts: 257	I know this is an old thread, but for anyone else looking for low cost lighting I just picked up a 3 piece red head kit with stands and diochromatic glass filters (3200k to 5600k)from China off eaby for $400 shipped. Also camewith a padded soft case. Red head Continuous Light Dichroic Filter Kit Bag GIFT on eBay.ca (item 330369072736 end time 15-Nov-09 16:40:01 EST) Also there are some nice cheap florescent soft box kits (each head uses 5 5500k CFL's - 200w equal to 1000w) on ebay as well. I have 2 that came with a green screen kit. The whole kit with 10'x20' green screen, stands, etc., was also around $400 The mounts on the softbox heads are not the most surable though. On the other hand the redhead kit looks exactly like how a red head should look. Built very well.

February 6th, 2010, 03:17 PM	#55
Andrew Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 116	bump, i want to read this tomorrow. just so i dont forget.

February 17th, 2010, 03:31 PM	#56
Arif Syed Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Elmont, New York Posts: 143	One thing about this topic confuses me. Are you guys lighting your subjects with just this one light and reflectors?

February 17th, 2010, 06:59 PM	#57
Bob Kerner Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New York Posts: 388	Not sure which part of this long, convoluted thread you're referring to. The Rifa is a softbox; therefore, no I do not use it by itself. I use it as a key, with another light either directly on the subject or reflected, depending on the situation. I've seen (in the Interview Lighting DVD by Vortex) people use white foam core to reflect the key from the other side of the subject but I've not had such good results with that and, as such, prefer to use another light.

February 18th, 2010, 07:09 AM	#58
Ross Hunter Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Orange VA Posts: 38	Bob, What do you use for the other light?

February 18th, 2010, 08:16 PM	#59
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	I'm going to jump in here. You can use a RIFA for a key or a fill. Presently I use a Kino DIVA for a key and a RIFA 44 for a fill or a Dedolight or a Lowel Pro Light. Depends on what lights are required in the shoot and determining which light is best suited for a particular location. You could use a straight up fresnel like an ARRI 150W for a fill. For a fill you can use almost anything as long as you can control spill and either mute the light by either pulling back the light or dimming it. If you are dimming a tungsten light you may wish to consider one of these dimmers... Impact \| 600 Watt AC Dimmer Control \| D600 \| B&H Photo Video ...as they are rated up to 600 watts. A caveat though the recepticles in them are only 2 pronged. Lights are wonderful things to have. Essential. Their usefulness should not be under estimated. If one does decide to go the fluorescent route in their lighting and you start to look at Kino-Flos, I would suggest the DIVA 400 as a key. Incredibly versatile. Lots use a DIVA 200 for a fill. Kino, in the past couple of years offered up a product called a BarFly. It's obvious use is as a fill light but it's thin profile would allow you to jam it into unusual spaces when creative lighting is required. One final thing, beware of dimming lights as the color changes with most of them. If white balance is critical with your dimmed light make sure you do your in camera calibration after you have your lights at the levels you want.

February 19th, 2010, 09:29 AM	#60
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	I realized shortly after I posted the above that the thread was about "cheap" interview lights. The Dedolights and the Kino DIVA are not what one would call cheap, however, I would still recommend them.