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emergency lighting

USNFilms

USNFilms

Hey guys I'm filming in two days (this saturday) and there is a part when I will be filming in a building with no power and few windows. I can achieve decent lighting by cranking up the ISO a little bit (400) with relatively low noise, but I was wondering if you guys of any ideas of lights I can get that can run without a power source. I can't order online because I don't have enough time. Does home depot, lowes, or walmart have any lights that are battery operated that would fit my purpose?

Thanks.
 
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Those little on camera type LED lights that run on batteries would be good for this situation, but you probably won't be able to get them that quick as you said. You may be able to find some pretty powerful LED (or tungsten) flashlights you could diffuse to just up the overall light level a bit.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Those little on camera type LED lights that run on batteries would be good for this situation, but you probably won't be able to get them that quick as you said. You may be able to find some pretty powerful LED (or tungsten) flashlights you could diffuse to just up the overall light level a bit.
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thanks, what is something i can obtain cheaply and quickly to use as a diffusion sheet? and is there anyway I can get light that isn't as direct as an LED flashlight? Thanks.
 
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Home depot has a tonne of little led flashlights, including the kind that you can strap to your forehead. Kind of like a miner's light. 2 for $10 :cool:

You can get Fluorotube lanterns, too, usually in the camping section of a hardware store.

They might also have those battery-powered big round button discs that light up. Attach to wall with velcro, or what have you. Push the disc itself to light up the disc. Like the Simon game, but just one light button.
 
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I have heard good things abot the Coleman Lantern !!!

Four removable LED panels , this gizmo has been used on NCIS I think. $60 and a ton of batteries, Im sure you can find at any outdoors store





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I found some 132 LED rechargeable stick lights at Auto Zone on sale for $30.00 each. These things are almost 4 feet long and throw some light. They have about 5 hours of continuous run time between charges, and they came with 120Vac and 12Vdc plugs. They even have a hook at either end to hang them from things. I use 4 foot by 2 foot sheets of flexible frosted plastic (the covers for cheap fluorescent light fixtures) as diffusers.
 
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USNFilms said:
I can achieve decent lighting by cranking up the ISO a little bit (400) with relatively low noise
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400 is hardly 'cranking up' the ISO - what camera are you using? If that's enough for your current lighting situation I'd say you're good to go, and you should have room to go even higher without significant noise.
 
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ItDonnedOnMe said:
400 is hardly 'cranking up' the ISO - what camera are you using? If that's enough for your current lighting situation I'd say you're good to go, and you should have room to go even higher without significant noise.
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Everything went well, I use a Rebel T3i, but when I went to the location to "scout" it out I used the crappy kit lens. Back in may 2011 when I first bought the Rebel T3i I also bought a canon 50mm 1.4 because so many people told me to. I've never really used it because I've never filmed in low light situations, but when I filmed at the location two days ago I took everyone's advice and brought some freshly purchased lights, but when I put the 50mm 1.4 on I was able to achieve great lighting on 100 iso with the aperture varying from 1.4 to 2.2
 
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