Best lights to illuminate a small area.

I need to lighten a small area (around 3 x 3 m) with flat light. The total place is somewhat larger, minimum around 25 square meter (269 square feet).

The amount of light needed is 1250 lux (1/60/f=8/800 iso).

It’s a mobile set, so it needs to be easy to setup and dissemble, and fit in a normal sized car.

I think I need to use two lights, but I’m looking for my first singe purchase. What is the best option?

• Are LED panels flat enough?
• Is the Aputure 300d Mark II a better choice?
• What modifiers are the most practical?

My current budget is $1000 - 1500

What would you buy as a start of the kit?

I just got a pair of these to light a reception and dance floor this weekend and they seem well put together, powerful, and flexible enough. With light stands, and extension cords, they'd pack into a carry-on and are very quick to setup and adjust. AmazonSmile : Neewer 530 PRO RGB LED Video Light with App Control, 360° Full Color 45W Dimmable Bi-Color 3200K~5600K CRI 97+ LED Panel with 9 Scenes/Metal Shell for Photography, Gaming, Live Streaming, YouTube : Electronics

Thank you for the suggestion. They seem quite small. Are these in your opinion enough to light an area with models showing full body?

Contact a local rental company, ask for advise and hire some lights.

Don't buy into anything if you don't have a clue what you need or like to work with.

kooistraalexander wrote:

Contact a local rental company, ask for advise and hire some lights.

Don't buy into anything if you don't have a clue what you need or like to work with.

Yes, that's an option (any recommendations in the Netherlands?), but you still don't know what you need to rent, so building experience can take some time.

I think the question is more what type is the best, choosing between a pointsource LED bounced from a reflective surface or shot through some fabric; compared to LED panels. The less lights the better if a flat lightning can be achieved.

Your post is somewhat technical in approach... you know how many lux you need, it's only 3x3m and you want to fully light a model head to toe?

Some basic modifiers like barndoors, fersnel, octabox and a stip softbox are always good.

It's really hard to just recommend some lights. Daylight only? Mains or also on v-mount batteries? etc etc etc

Een partij als hetraam.nl is heel goed en kan je ook wel wat basis advies geven. En bij kamera-express kan je ook prima huren (wij zitten in het Noorden en dan is het wel fijn dat je daar ook kan afhalen).

Hendrik_nl wrote:

kooistraalexander wrote:

Contact a local rental company, ask for advise and hire some lights.

Don't buy into anything if you don't have a clue what you need or like to work with.

Yes, that's an option (any recommendations in the Netherlands?), but you still don't know what you need to rent, so building experience can take some time.

I think the question is more what type is the best, choosing between a pointsource LED bounced from a reflective surface or shot through some fabric; compared to LED panels. The less lights the better if a flat lightning can be achieved.

Hendrik_nl wrote:

Thank you for the suggestion. They seem quite small. Are these in your opinion enough to light an area with models showing full body?

Yer budget would easily cover larger models than these, and you could always double the count to bathe the model in flat light, but with your subject in the center of that 3m space, yeah I think this would have you covered.  Note - More powerful models often have active cooling which can add to your sound floor if you're doing video and at full head-toe, you may not need to think much about the light pattern reflected in their eyes.

Why not use flash with a flat modifier to shoot through.  Wouldn't that be the normal way?  Unless you are doing video.

richsfusa wrote:

Why not use flash with a flat modifier to shoot through. Wouldn't that be the normal way? Unless you are doing video.

As a photographer I light the model. I have three Balcar monoblocks with modifiers to do this.

I now want to do video. Because the model moves in the area I need to light the area. I don't have experience with cinematography. The question is what lights are the best for a first purchase for my use case.

I need to do the lights, audio, camera, direction, everything alone. So, ease of use helps also.

Hendrik_nl wrote:

richsfusa wrote:

Why not use flash with a flat modifier to shoot through. Wouldn't that be the normal way? Unless you are doing video.

As a photographer I light the model. I have three Balcar monoblocks with modifiers to do this.

I now want to do video. Because the model moves in the area I need to light the area. I don't have experience with cinematography. The question is what lights are the best for a first purchase for my use case.

I need to do the lights, audio, camera, direction, everything alone. So, ease of use helps also.

I have Godox VL lights. They are good but slight magenta tint. They are chip on board (COB) lights, not flat panel. They work well if you have Bowens mount modifiers, but I believe Balcar uses a different mount than Bowens mount????

You could set up a couple of COB lights and shoot through diffusion on one side to simulate window light, then set up a reflector or, more likely, fill lights in front or to the opposite side.

It kind of depends on how even you want the lighting to be.

AT a minimum it would be two COB lights shot through white umbrellas, although a key light in a large soft box and a fill with a shoot through umbrella would give more power.

If the area you have to light is 3 square meters you will want a lot of working room for moving the camera back and moving the lights out if frame.