Alternative Lighting

Liberalis

Liberalis

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Kris
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Going to do more car photography, and I want to pick the brains of someone who is knowledgable in such matters.

Just wondering, whether or not the lights in the image below would be suitable for pointing onto a large (car length) reflector/diffuser ?

I pressume I would have to make some barns doors for them, but what do you guys think ?

At £20 I have to ask.

6f468fd5.jpg
 
At that price it would be rude not to ?

You might need to consider diffusers/reflectors depending on the wattage you intend using and the overall effect you are after ... but you cannot go wrong at that price even if it means experimenting with set-up and settings etc., ?

Good luck and I am sure we'll get to see the results of your trials ... !
 
I got a set similar single halogen (500watt) on a sturdy metal tripod from Aldi, 11.99 each so bought two of them, they are fantastic although get very hot, and some kind tog from another forum sent me up some gels including polarising gels which i was told are very expensive and hard to come by. He worked in the film industry and i swear by them.
 
Just make sure whatever you use as a diffuser is able to cope with the heat. They get VERY hot and so does anything they point at!
 
It has to be worth 20 quid just for the covenience of the telescopic stand. ;)
 
Speaking as an ex manufacturer... cheap floods like that are usually OK. The problem comes with the lamps (bulbs to you) that come with them. To get good light output and good colour from tungsten halogen they have to run hot so the halogen cycle works and the glass envelope does not blacken.

A very hot lamp has to be well made. Lower the colour temperature and light output and you can get away with inferior materials - make heat instead of light.

So a long winded way of saying buy the fitting but don't use the supplied lamps - get some Philips, GE, Sylvania or other major brand not B&Q or other own brand. You'll get light not heat and they won't explode sending red hot glass everywhere. Don't touch the halogen lamps with bare hands, or wipe the lamp with meths if you do - finger acid causes short lamp life.
 
I have the single lamp version of the above (cost me £12)
They get incredibly hot as already mentioned, might be different for you as you're taking pics of cars but, for me working in a small room, I found I couldnt use any kind of diffuser as I couldnt put anything in close proximity to it.
Im going to try Robert's advice & replace the bulb with a brand name & see how much it helps.
 
This is what you want mate - the UK branch is based in Uxbridge (near to all the major London Film studios - Elstree, Pinewood etc).

http://www.arri.de/prod/lighting/index.htm

I had a look at the ceramic ones back in January and they're cool to the touch - ideal in confined spaces.
One of the field tests involves throwing buckets of water over them while they're switched on, then leaving hosepipes playing on them for 48 hours.
These things are tough, believe me.
 
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