GEAR
BUYERS’ GUIDE BEST BUDGET LIGHTS We take a look at a range of lighting solutions that won’t put a massive strain on your cashflow WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
I t’s easy to spend thousands on large professional lights for shooting your movies. But there isn’t always the time, space or budget for these feature-packed, yet expensive light panels. For well under £500 – roughly $700 at time of writing – there is a whole range of smaller lights with an array of uses. And just because some of these are inexpensive, doesn’t mean they are not of professional quality for everyday use.
ones can change colours, as they have full RGB spectrum at the turn of a dial. Noise from the lights has to be considered, too. Some larger ones have fans to cool them, but that’s useless if you are conducting interviews, as a decent mic will pick up the noise – another reason to lean towards smaller kit. So, here is the Pro Moviemaker guide to affordable lighting that’s well worth the investment.
Of course, large light sources provide softer, more flattering illumination – ideal for portraits or approximating daylight at times when cloud cover proves troublesome. But they often need lots of power to make a difference. Smaller or more focused lights are harder and crisper – ideal for backgrounds, hair lights, or when it’s darker. Many video lights have a colour temperature dialled in. And lots of the new
1. ROSCO DMG DASH POCKET LED £263/$279 dash.rosco.com
Rosco’s pocket-sized DMG Dash LED is a bargain at £263/$279, as it really is professional-level kit. It can output a huge spectrum of colours, using the same six-chip LED set found in all of the company’s larger Mix LED lightbanks. The Dash recreates more than 130 colours that match Rosco’s gels, white in all temperatures and hues, plus colour matching to most popular light sources. Many LED panels are made of plastic, but the DMG Dash is a solidly built bit of kit. It only weighs 367g/0.8lb, despite the rugged, all-weather aluminium housing. The unit is just 128x80x28mm/5x3.1x1.1in, yet outputs 320 lux at 1m/39in. Its light output is rated to 95+ CRI and 90+ TLCI for consistency. Each light comes with a flat diffuser panel, dome diffusion panel, plastic eggcrate grid, and gel holder for additional Rosco gel or diffusion. These have small magnets in each corner and they stick firmly to the matching magnetic pads in the corner of the unit. It’s possible to stack several together – for example, using the grid on top of the gel holder. The unit has standard 1/4in threaded holes on the rear panel, bottom and left side to allow different mounting options – one way is using the included light stand mount. A screw-in magnetic plate with a soft rubber cover can be fixed into one of the mounting holes and magnetically attached to a flat steel panel, such as a metal hand rail. The whole lot, along with a USB-C charging cable, comes in a custom-fitted protective case.
The USB-C charging port has a rubber cover to keep out the elements, and it’s rated to IP54 weather- resistance. There is also an optional silicone half-globe diffuser that envelops the whole LED, creating a soft, round light source. A free smartphone app lets you control everything remotely, too. You’ll get a reliable beam for up to 1000fps, so there are no worries with slow-motion – and it’s completely silent, meaning you won’t encounter any problems when recording audio.
56
PRO MOVIEMAKER
Powered by FlippingBook