Does this video lighting kit seem adequate for basic stuff?

[Corey]

I located a kit which I can buy locally from a single source without having to know much about lighting, just curious what the experts think. Is this enough lighting to do a basic one-on-one interview indoors? Here's the product page:

http://www.lowel.com/kits/goAllPro_sm.html

At my local dealer:

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...&Specs=N&Box=N

I was thinking about grabbing the one with the hard case. Any thoughts or caveats?

[Corey]

Also very curious about this one:

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...&Specs=N&Box=N

Would it be good as a portable solution for lighting small-room interviews, i.e. for Desmond at IR main office?

[Corey]

What about these? I keep hearing these referred to as a trusted industry workhorse.

http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/sto...tegoryId=10442

At my dealer:

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...&Specs=N&Box=N

[AXXESS]

I use a Lowel kit consistently... similar to the kit you have linked - but with the addition of the Rifa-lite..

Rifa Lite

It provides incredibly good (soft) light - very hard to make a mistake. I have also found the Lowel kit to be durable and problem free.

[Corey]

Nice! What size Rifa do you use? Does it make the room you are shooting in terribly hot? I'm looking at the dual redheads and thinking, "Dang", I'm not sure I cherish the promise of baking under those babies. I'll be like a McDonalds french fry after about 20 minutes. (with a dash of salt of course)

[AXXESS]

I use the LC 55 with a 500w lamp.

Surprisingly, it is not *that* hot... the front diffuser keeps any of the direct radiant heat for going directly on your subject. Since the lamp itself is housed inside the hood, it actually is very user friendly. The umbrella light and the barndoor lights do get hot... not so much that they heat an entire room, but you certainly would not want to get too close. The lamps on the other lights are shielded so you cannot directly touch them. The lamp with the umbrella mount uses an aluminum mesh shield over the lamp.

The only issue really I ever run into is trying not to bump into the stands while moving back and forth from the camera to setting up the subject.

[Corey]

Yeah I've been in a roomful of tripod stands before, not fun. I notived lowel has some other kits aimed directly at DV production, i.e.:

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...&Specs=N&Box=N

I wonder if that's a better bet?

[AXXESS]

Heres the kit I use:

link

It has served me well. I would certainly consider the Rifa in the kit if you are going with a kit. Especially for interview use... an extremely forgiving light! The hardshell case is a nice touch too.

[Corey]

Yes that Rifa is certainly a "must have" light. I like the term "forgiving" in that context. Hee!

[eric_darling]

I think 500 W is a good minimum number to look at for fresnels. The Rifa is very nice, and it packs well with the Lowel kits that I've seen. I use something similar, but it's a third-party product, which is a more versatile system:
http://www.chimeralighting.com/products/film.cfm

The 250W instruments that you're considering are underpowered for key lights. You can probably get away with something like that for a back light, but it's underpowered for anything in front of your subject.

The one major drawback to the Lowel lights are their stands - the ones that aren't exceedingly flimsy are too prone to stick in various positions, making them difficult to manage on set sometimes. But other than that, I love their lights. They cool quicker than any competitors I've ever used, too - particularly the open faced models (DP, Omni). And they are indeed durable - nice quality instruments. Be aware that the kit you choose will list maximum wattage per instrument. In my DP kit, I have two lamped with 1 K bulbs and one lamped with a 500 K bulb. They are rated at 1 K maximum. Always have spares on hand!

[Corey]

Yeah, I didn't think 250W would do much. What about those redheads Eric? Vistek has a Chimera soft light in their clearance bin:

http://www.vistek.ca/clearance/

Is that a good deal? (it's in CAN funds)

[eric_darling]

Corey -

I'm sure you'd be saving some money if you needed that big a bank, but it's too big for your needs. Go with their Video Pro bank in the Small (up to 1K) or XSmall (up to 750W) size. For a Lowel DP head, I really like the Small size. For anything smaller, the XS size should work well.
http://www.chimeralighting.com/produ...fm?productid=5

Honestly, I've never used an Ianiro light. They aren't so popular in the US for some reason. I hesitate because I have no experience with them - I can neither recommend or advise against.

[Corey]

OK gotcha. Thanks. What about this thing:

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...&Specs=N&Box=N

Is that a useful light? It says it "adds sparkle to the eyes". I'm a little worried about that in Desmond's case because he's already stretching the capacity of our in-house charisma meter, and we don't need any swoon related law suits. It's David Cassidy all over again. We add a little sparkle to Desmond's eyes and the next thing you know some 10 year old hits her head trying to get a better look.

Also one more question, if you had no choice but to use a single portable light to help light office interviews which one would it be?

[eric_darling]

It's not that I couldn't find a good use for that light, but I think better choices exist that accomplish what that light was designed to do. A nice 1K fresnel (Mole Richardson "Baby", Arri Junior 1000 Plus), or open face (Lowel DP) along with a soft bank like a Rifa, or better yet, a Chimera, would do worlds better.

You ask an age-old question - a minimalist DP kind of question that is the stuff of many a post-shoot beer. If I could only have one light.... For me, it's a no-brainer. It would be an Arri Junior 1000 Plus with Chimera speed ring and Small Video Pro Chimera light bank. At least give me my accessories (scrims, diffusion, gels, C-47s, etc.).
http://www.arri.com/entry/products.htm

[Corey]

least give me my accessories

No dice. Nonetheless curious what would those entail for a typical "talking head" type office interview?

Seriously though, no dice on the accesories. Just kidding, OK seriously this time, I really appreciate your help. Here's the deal Eric. I got $2700 to get set up. The GL2 is $3200 plus tax. It breaks my heart but I'm decided to go with the Panasonic for now, with the hope that I can use it, along with some decent lighting, to put out some much better Speedy CDs which will hopefully, in turn, finance the GL2. If I stretch myself and get the GL2 now it'll be pointless because it'll be months until I can afford any lighting or neccesary accessories.

I'm also going to use the Panasonic to put together some promo vids for our new products and free instructional vids for this web site.

Anyhow just thought I'd add that so you know that I'm still taking your advice albeit circuitously. I've decided that 2005 is all about aquiring new gear, a GL2, a Cintiq18, a DV editing box, etc. so I need to get out lots of new Speedy CDs fast and I figured this would be the best way.

The Panasonic seems to be like this, under optimal conditions the video is very good, superb for web/CD. Under non-optimal conditions I believe that drops off steeply, i.e. once you start using the built in image stabilization or low light modes, etc. So I think with some good lights, a tripod, and a bit of advice from you it should be feasible to wrestle some decent beginner stuff out of it. Good enough for CD ROM usage anyhow. Then hopefully by about July I can grab a GL2 and I will have some basic fundamentals in place so I can start using it too.

This camera has an included zoom remote too, so that might be useful.

http://www.vistek.ca/details/detail_...ecs=True&Box=N