I want to figure out what would be the best lighting for videography for outdoor, and indoor green screen as well. Anyone with a good advice.

I  could not make up my mind on what type of light to use. I want something that is pretty mobile but it is good enough for location as well as indoor green-screen.
I could not decide yet whether it should be fluorescent or halogen. I sort of want to use it to shoot beauty commercial like things and music videos.

Anyone with experience what would be a good start-up kit ? Something that is good for the beginning , does not cost a fortune but nice in quality maybe sthg. I can build on slowly to make it into a more advanced kit.

Thanks, Niki B.

I would really give fluorescents a try (ones made for this with ballasts that sync). They tend to be much cooler, they have a pretty even, smooth output.

Kinos are probably the most popular brand but very expensive. Amvona recently came out with these daylight balanced ones that are hard to beat for the price: http://www.amvona.com/?page=shop/subcat … 3d78ac72d3

Thanks, I will check them out. how is the power generation for them and stuff.

I don't know about the lights from Amvona but that is another bonus of fluorescents, they draw much less power than high wattage tungsten lights, HMI's, etc.

Ooops, double post.

I have always been in love with Arri lights since the first day I picked up a camera.

http://www.arri.com/entry/products.htm

Yeah you can't beat Arri for film/video work but they are not cheap by any means. Also running a couple of 650w or greater lamps in some locations could easily blow a fuse so just be aware of it.

I have a lot of hot lights for the video side of my business which is primarily broadcast work. No light will give you more for the money and in a compact form than a couple of Lowel Omnis and a few LTM Pepper lights. The Omnis can be lamped at 420 and 600 watt. You can also buy a 30 volt lamp and run the Omni off a battery belt.

Get a Chimera with soft grid for both one Omni and one of the Peppers. A couple of 600 watt dimmers, some black wrap, extension cords and your on your way. Don't fear buying the Lowel lights used since they are easy to repair and rebuild.

Light and cost effective stands at B&H - the small air-cushioned Impact stands work fine.

best

Anything that's soft, indirect and diffused.  I'm not a Kino fan, mostly because they put out light without character...even too characterless for video.  Having said that, I've used them quite a bit for general broad lighting of locations, and for tight spaces.  The best thing about them is that you can get daylight tubes.  They also have a very short throw.

I'm mostly a Mole-Richardson guy.  I use Photoflex "Silver Dome" light boxes.  You have to be very carefull to control light off your background, and watch your highlights, if you overexpose the whites, it'll look like ass.

-W

If you want flourescents check  www.coollights.biz  best bang for the buck

they are nice and cool but lower powered and softer in nature and cannot be hardened up, HMI's are worth it and that site is selling some new lower priced units, very worth it as are their tungsten lights.

Arri are great.

If you need lights and shoot wide and want a rims remember they may be far away and you will need a good throw to get any power from them and keep them out of site.  If its all close up anything will work.  Nice thing about fresnels are they can run hard or soft with a softbox or umbrella.  Lowel has some great units from totas to prolights, omni's,  dp's and fresnels that are very reasonable in price and power. 

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

If you need to move the lights to different locations.

Lowel tota lights are small and can take 1000 watt bulbs or down to 150 watt bulbs.

The D lights and the omnis are good

It is the lowel system that makes it work.

Thank you guys for the answers however it still did not make it easier to choose whether the I  should choose the fluorescent or go the fresnel way.=I
I did look at kino flows and the Arri and I liked the Arri but I am still confused on long term which one would be the best system to pick.I have lot of soft boxes , umbrellas and a huge octaplus5 and 7 from Chimera.


Stephen: would the Fresnel ones you say have the options to use any brand of light shapers? What sites would you recommend were they sell those at?

Thanx

you can use some arri or a few other speedrings on the coollights fresnels, just remember fresnels are not the ideal match for a softbox so a deeper softbox is made to help accomadate the tighter light pattern, it may be smarter to get a lesser priced softbox and tota ($110 with 1000w) for a cheap softbox alternatve and still have all the fresnels to use as well.  You can also use a normal softbox with the fresnels but the center usually has a hotspot since its a bit more of a spotlight.  Another great option if a omni or dp with are focusable open face, they are great to have no matter what and have a range from 250-1000watts  they will fill a softbox a bit better without a deeper box.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com