Like you I struggle with the cost of staying on the cutting edge of the video production. Everything associated with what it takes to shoot video/film professionally is horribly over priced. Well, I have a money saving idea that I will take you step by step to owning a professional portable light kit for less than half of the leading manufactures like Lowel and Arri.

First get juiced - The number of watts any given lighting kit will output is the key to professional results. Second is control - Once you have a kit that continuously lights at 1500 watts, you have to be able to control that power to get the results you are looking for. Lastly is price - You don’t have to pay $1500 for a kit that you can put together separately for under $300 and get the exact same results.

Step one: Be super!  The kit that I use is assembled from old Super 8 camera lights. These lights were made to be mounted onto Super 8 cameras and usually output up to 650w at 120v. This is key considering that a 650w Lowel or Arri light can cost upwards of $800 each. These “super lights,” as I call them, can be found either around town or on eBay for sometimes as cheap as $10. What’s the catch? Well, there really isn’t one. Most are made of plastic which is probably the only downfall. Some of these supers come with the hot shoe mount. That’s OK because you can buy stand mounts for around $5 here. If you take care of them, they will last a really long time. And, otherwise at $10 a pop, they might as well be disposable. So search around and find at least 3 of these “super lights” to get your kit started.

Next: Stay in control. I suggest soft boxes. You can find these at B&H or eBay. The ones I use are cowboy studio’s soft boxes. They control the light just like the Lowel Rifa soft boxes. It has the option to have two levels of diffusion (outside and inside) with the two included diffusion clothes. You need to find a way to attach the speed ring to the light. The easiest way is to screw it to the ring of the barn doors. Some of the “super lights” come with barn doors, others do not. You can find them at B&H, but with everything else they sell, they can be pricey. So, when purchasing the “super lights” try and find ones with the original barn doors.

Lastly: Take a stand. You have to have stands for all of your new lights. The ones I use are Smith-Victor and can be found relatively cheap on eBay. Think quality over cosmetics. It doesn’t matter how ugly any of these components are. What matters is how well they make your subject look on camera.

With the soft boxes and gels, you can get professional results for well under $300.  Remember that the softboxes have to attach to the light.  Some supers come with barndoors that are usually the easiest solution.  Most soft boxes have “speed rings” which will easily attach to the barndoors.  Check out the details and measurements of each component, so you are sure they will be compatible.  Questions? Leave me a comment here.

|JONNYHEE|