Got a camera that takes really good video, now my problem is lighting. Just wondering if anyone (esp Kbear) can suggest some good lights on the cheap that will work. I have found 115v fluorescents should work well but they are 240v so not sure about the plug and ballast.
Video lighting
- Thread starter DirtyDaveII
- Start date
Go to dvshop on dundas in west Toronto they have a good range and some fluorescent units with stands as a complete package.
What kind of camera is it? Is it a camcorder or a digital camera that can also shoot video? Can it do 1920x1080p?
Since I don't know what kind of camera the OP has, I'll just mention that several models of Sony and Canon camcorders have their owm built-in steady light source. Or, one can buy something similar to a hot shoe speedlight and mount in on your camera or camcorder.
I suggest that you start by looking at some Youtube videos on 3-point lighting effects.
Most pro light kits have come down in price, but all seem to be best suited for studio work, as opposed to shooting in a house. You’ll get a minimum of three in the 1000W-500W range. You’re biggest problem will be trying to dial down in most situations with dimmers and scrim. If you get a pro kit, and set up even a single 500 watt halogen, the room will as blown up bright as a hospital operating theatre.
Lighting is an art, and a skilled lighting tech will create magic.
But it is also, on the one hand, pretty easy. A minimum of effort will drastically improve your shots.
If you are planning to shoot mainly indoors, consider just getting a couple of directional office style, desk lights, and a couple of inline electric dimmers, and maybe a few sheets of ten-dollar gel filters to safety pin over the lights, from someplace like Vistek. Even with three 40 watt bulbs, you'll be scrambling to find ways to tone down two of them if you're shooting in a living room. Small light stands are available from China for super-cheap if you can wait a few weeks for delivery.
Don’t throw money at the project. It’s more about tinkering and experimenting. And creatively jury-rigging solutions to position lights in odd places, out of your shot line.
For outdoors, wait till the so-called “magic hour”, the hour just after dawn and before sunset, when the rays of the sun are coming in almost parallel to the ground, and give both nice shadows, and a warm glow to everything.
Most pro light kits have come down in price, but all seem to be best suited for studio work, as opposed to shooting in a house. You’ll get a minimum of three in the 1000W-500W range. You’re biggest problem will be trying to dial down in most situations with dimmers and scrim. If you get a pro kit, and set up even a single 500 watt halogen, the room will as blown up bright as a hospital operating theatre.
Lighting is an art, and a skilled lighting tech will create magic.
But it is also, on the one hand, pretty easy. A minimum of effort will drastically improve your shots.
If you are planning to shoot mainly indoors, consider just getting a couple of directional office style, desk lights, and a couple of inline electric dimmers, and maybe a few sheets of ten-dollar gel filters to safety pin over the lights, from someplace like Vistek. Even with three 40 watt bulbs, you'll be scrambling to find ways to tone down two of them if you're shooting in a living room. Small light stands are available from China for super-cheap if you can wait a few weeks for delivery.
Don’t throw money at the project. It’s more about tinkering and experimenting. And creatively jury-rigging solutions to position lights in odd places, out of your shot line.
For outdoors, wait till the so-called “magic hour”, the hour just after dawn and before sunset, when the rays of the sun are coming in almost parallel to the ground, and give both nice shadows, and a warm glow to everything.
And spend twenty bucks for a roll of Gaffer tape. It looks like Duct tape, but has none of the downside. Strong, but no sticky residue, won't support burning, and is non-conductive. Many venues have a No-Duct-Tape clause in the film rental contract.
Gaffer by the way, is the head electrical guy, or the chief lighting tech on film shoots.
Having a roll of Gaff tape on a shoot, is like having your towel with you when you're intergalactic hitchhiking. Even if your lights are all from Ikea, and your snoots and bounce boards are from Staples, they'll still assume that you're a man to be reckoned with.
Happy Douglas Adam's Birthday, by the way.
Gaffer by the way, is the head electrical guy, or the chief lighting tech on film shoots.
Having a roll of Gaff tape on a shoot, is like having your towel with you when you're intergalactic hitchhiking. Even if your lights are all from Ikea, and your snoots and bounce boards are from Staples, they'll still assume that you're a man to be reckoned with.
Happy Douglas Adam's Birthday, by the way.
Sounds like you want to fool around with video on your camera. Can get the halogen lights from Canadian tire for $10-$20. Think they are 500w. These lights are used for working on the car, around the shop, have a handle on the top side. Bounce the light off the walls and ceiling, should be good, best if your walls and ceiling are white. Might need 2 of them. You will need to set the white balance on your camera to halogen, or set the white balance manually. Have fun!
Found it
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...alogen+Work+Lightgen+Floodlight.jsp?locale=en
Have seen them cheaper, can try the flee markets.
Found it
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...alogen+Work+Lightgen+Floodlight.jsp?locale=en
Have seen them cheaper, can try the flee markets.
This sounds remarkably simple and low cost. I was at an incall not long ago and it so happened that there was a photographer (was he you?) there "shooting" the other girl. He had all kinds of expensive looking lightning equipment such as reflectors, umbrellas, etc. I assume he was shooting stills and not videos.
Apart from being unbelievably bright, and best suited for shooting in barns, and outdoors at night, A 500 Watt halogen work light is hot as hell, can be too much load for some indoor circuitry, and they don’t like dimmer switches. Halogens on dimmers can flicker, buzz, and undergo colour changes by shifting around in the spectrum from too warm to not warm enough. They also burn out faster.
Most people have mostly 60 Watt bulbs in their house. Why? Because the 100 Watt bulbs seem too bright for most applications.
You can get very low wattage CFLs in nice daylight temperature, and previously mentioned LED panels are dimmable and not too expensive.
You can get CFLs quite close to your subject. Or back them off to cut them down in intensity. The intensity varies with the inverse of the square of the distance, which simply means that if you double the distance from the light to your subject, you have cut the intensity down by ¼.
There are dimmable CFLs now, but I don’t know how or if dimming affects temperature.
Most people have mostly 60 Watt bulbs in their house. Why? Because the 100 Watt bulbs seem too bright for most applications.
You can get very low wattage CFLs in nice daylight temperature, and previously mentioned LED panels are dimmable and not too expensive.
You can get CFLs quite close to your subject. Or back them off to cut them down in intensity. The intensity varies with the inverse of the square of the distance, which simply means that if you double the distance from the light to your subject, you have cut the intensity down by ¼.
There are dimmable CFLs now, but I don’t know how or if dimming affects temperature.
Don’t know if it was me at the photoshoot, depends on the location. I do mostly use umbrellas on stands with strobe lights, but don’t often use reflectors.
For the halogen lighting, can use 250w bulbs if the 500w is too hot. They do get hot, but so do the color balanced 500w incandescent "hot lights" they sell at the camera stores. If he wants to spend money, Vistek has a video department with lots of lighting options. http://www.vistek.ca/provideo/
There was a guy doing video when I was taking pictures at one location and he was ok using my strobe light, modeling lights, which I think were 2x100w incandescent lights.
There was a guy doing video when I was taking pictures at one location and he was ok using my strobe light, modeling lights, which I think were 2x100w incandescent lights.
Actually I have a D80 for stills - first real camera and I love it - 50,000 shots later. I used the 500w halogens but wasnt overly happy with the light. I now have a sanyo xacti for video - its quality is astounding but you need sunlight to get a good picture. Regular lighting in a room and it is very grainy. Want something cheap that will give something close to pro quality on a low budget. I havent tried many settings but the quality in sunlight is amazing. Mabye try the shop lights again, but I was reading that these 115v fluorescents are far better. They are cheap too just not sure about the ballast and I think they are banned in Canada because they arent CSA approved. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with these or other cheap lights that will look decent to good on video.
missed the post. Are you bouncing the halogen light off white walls, reflectors, a white sheet? Did you set the white balance. If the walls are yellow, the light will not look good. If the light is directly on subject, it will not look so good, or at least difficult to get looking good. Working with lighting takes some practice. Try lighting a smaller area, and do video of something small and see if the results are better. Whats wrong with the light?
I am only using sunlight right now. You think the best budget setup would be 500w work lights bouncing off of a white sheet on the wall?
