I bought lights, 500w halogens 3 sets of two , but I'm thinking I should have a decent set of lights for film and not a set of lights that should be in a mechanics shop.

so I have been looking and found these:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/285845-REG/Lowel_TOR_94LB_Tota_Omni_Core_44_Three.html

A set of Lowel lights are great for a beginers light kit. There great lights, durable, efficent, and have a good line of products.

Went with this kit instead, same brand, just upgraded a notch or two. Thanks for the input.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009J4UVM/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Dang, wish I'd seen this sooner.

I'd recommend Britek lights for starter kits. They aren't as sturdy as Lowell, but they are much cheaper - and they'll last forever unless you really abuse them. Just need to keep a weight on the legs, as they get a bit top-heavy with the soft-boxes attached.

There are many Britek retailers you can find on the 'net. (I use Skaeser.com)

Thanks anyway man, it will help someone who comes along later.

"Just need to keep a weight on the legs, as they get a bit top-heavy with the soft-boxes attached."


I never fully understood how useful sandbags are, or why they made fancy ones with handles, until I saw my DP use them for everything from bracing lights to sitting the camera on top of a stack of them for a low angle.

They seem silly and pointless until you have a 1k tip over on you and get a serious 2nd degree contact burn that blisters intstantly... then they suddenly make sense.

In snowy states, we can get 5 lb bags of salt for melting snow on sidewalks and whatnot. I bought a chunk of canvas that I'm going to sew into saddle bags that just fit the salt bags, then put some strapping through it and flip them pockets inside. Cost should be about $10/ sandbag that way.

They seem silly and pointless until you have a 1k tip over on you and get a serious 2nd degree contact burn that blisters intstantly... then they suddenly make sense.

In snowy states, we can get 5 lb bags of salt for melting snow on sidewalks and whatnot. I bought a chunk of canvas that I'm going to sew into saddle bags that just fit the salt bags, then put some strapping through it and flip them pockets inside. Cost should be about $10/ sandbag that way.

$10 is too much for DIY sandbags.

I can tell you where to get the BEST deal on them. Lumiere Technology. They have the 18 pound (sold empty) saddle style for $8 on their site (http://lumieretech.com/store/product.php?productid=16226&cat=0&page=1), and $5.98 in their ebay store (http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Lumieretech-com__W0QQ_sidZ361262901?_nkw=sand&submit=Search).

Nice find IT! Although, the $10 includes the salt bags in mine and gets you a 10 lb bag.

Nice find IT! Although, the $10 includes the salt bags in mine and gets you a 10 lb bag.
You can still fill these cheaper and have professionally made bags 18 lbs. each. Sand is cheap! Plus, what happens if you get the snow-melt wet? Salt dissolves.

yes it does, but it's in a sealed plastic bag @ $2/ 5lb bag. And finding bags of sand that size is quite difficult.

I'd actually bought a bunch of those sandbags last winter and a nice big bucket of salt... plus ziplock bags. Great value. I'd never considered how useful salt is. Great sandbags.

Yup, it's amazing how cheap they are when you look at the competition.