Aww just because the bulb exploded into your eye doesn't mean they're all bad!
Aww just because the bulb exploded into your eye doesn't mean they're all bad!
"Good" is relative. If one is just starting out and has a limited budget or experience level then I think spending $2500 on an Arri kit might be misplaced. If this is just a hobby, then spending $100 on a Lowel to dip one's toe in the waters is a fine starting point. Sure, some of their stuff is not as durable as other brands. I think the stands suck and have replaced them. But their are many people who use that brand day in, day out without major issues.Originally Posted by vinny
I have an Arri coffin kit at work. Head and shoulders above Lowel. Glad my employer spent the money on it and not me. At the end of the day, a 600w light is a 600w light. What one does with it and how one takes care of it is what makes the difference, not the brand label, methinks.
Hell, at least $10 shop lights have protective glass!
Much of the arri gear (especially large hmi pars) aren't fun to work with either. I use to like them but now having worked with them every day over the past 5 months, I'll take those French Ltm's any day. They spend more time being fixed than turned on. Arri kits are okay but have too many plastic parts that always wear out. Arri should stick to cameras.
A 600w light with a well designed reflector puts out much more light than a lowel. A light with real barn doors is easier to control and won't melt your gels because they collapse while you're busy shooting.
I've been planning on seeing what the new 85W CF daylight bulbs used by JTL, Smith Victor, Alzo, and a few others, will do. I tried a few years ago with "balanced" bulbs, and I gave up real quick and went back to 64T, or a tungsten filter, or flash. Or just plain daylight.
tgtaylor wants to do this on the cheap.
Since the 85W CF bulbs are $20 each, why not buy one, get a trouble light reflector holder, aluminum foil, and a white milk jug. Clamp the reflector light to something, then cut up the jug and place it over the bulb. Use aluminum foil and duct tape to fasten it together. Measure the light, and have some fun.
Photoflex held their annual warehouse sale in Watsonville this morning and I think I scored! I spent a total of $137 and came away with a complete medium soft-box, 3 1000W incandescent bulbs, 1 StarLite light source and connector, 2 8+ foot stands, 2umbrellas - 1 shoot-thru and the other with opaque backing (they didn't have any of the convertibles when I arrived)- and a TransPac MiltiKit Case to hold it all. Also included in that total was a large On Camera Litedome.
Since Tungsten balanced film is no longer available, would you recommend a color balancing filter be placed on the camera or (if available) as a gel in front of the soft-box?
Also, since I am now in the market for backdrops, I started a new thread on that topic and would again highly appreciate your input.
Thanks again and Happy Holidays,
Thomas
Yes, by all means use a filter for color film. You'll need either an 80A or 80B filter (Tiffen filter link).
This was an interesting read... I'm relatively new to LF photography, but I've been shooting everything else for years. I've got a pretty good selection of lighting gear, and I'm looking forward to shooting some LF portraits with it. Haven't used hot lights since I worked in television about 10 years ago. I'm curious how many LF shooters out there are using them (or other constant lighting)... I'd also be curious what kind of exposure settings you guys are getting with them (at say ISO100). Flash has a lot of advantages, and I'm just curious if there's a tendency for LF shooters to use constant lighting for any particular reason...
Why is this?
I understand how DOF changes as one changes formats, but I would think that lighting would be constant, regardless of format.
I'm looking for an inexpensive lighting setup, so any light one can shed (pun intended!) would be greatly appreciated.
Chris
Im definately not an expert in still lifes, but I want to share my thoughts on cheap light.
I got a Tristar "Magic Square daylight kit", it was like 150$ including tripod and softbox.
The bulb consumes 85W, but is equivalent to about 500W (4800 lumen).
So it does not get very hot and still give a decent amount of light.
Wouldnt use it for portraits or any living things though.
Flash exposures are instantaneous, so you can't drag the shutter to increase the exposure... Flash exposures are controlled at the camera by the aperture, but also by the distance between the flash and the subject (it gets more powerful as it gets closer and vice versa), and by the power of the flash at the head. The smaller the aperture you have to shoot at, the more power you need obviously...and at f45 you're going to need a ton of it (or have the lights right on top of the subject). Even relatively small flashes can make a lot of power up close, but the light will fall off sharply (this can be good or bad depending on what look you're going for). If you're using hot lights, you can just leave the shutter open as long as you want if the subject is static (or willing to sit very still). If you're using a combination of flash and natural light, you're really making 2 exposures at once, and getting it balanced is kind of a trick.
Flash does have some advantages over hot lights though... Leaf shutters can theoretically sync with a flash at any speed, so you can shoot with high shutter speeds and let the flash freeze your subject to prevent motion blur. You don't have to cook your subjects with a lot of heat, and they might appreciate that. There's also an almost unlimited number of modifiers available for the different flash systems. Power is also infinitely variable on most monolights, but you might be stuck with 3-5 stops of adjustments on pack/head systems.
Best way to decide what equipment you need is to understand how light works...you can get by with a fairly cheap kit if you understand how to use the tools (like everything else in photography I suppose...)
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