It’s a point that could be argued for days, and with no resolution-what
is the most impressive change in video production since the 1950s?
Sure, there is videotape, camera portability, satellite newsgathering,
nonlinear editing, hi-def-the list goes on. But if you make a living
hauling a camera to a location and making that location look good, I
bet you would agree with me that the biggest advance in video thus far
are the ever-increasing levels of light sensitivity. It’s easy to
forget that the original TV cameras were largely studio-tethered
beasts, which required tens of thousands of watts of light to make an
even recognizable picture. As recently as the late 1980s, even the best
of the tube cameras were still quite light-hungry. My last tube camera
was the estimable Ikegami HL-97D, yet I never left the shop with less
than 3000 watts of light-a big improvement over what preceded it, but
it was still, by and large, afraid of the dark.

My, how things have changed. My cameras are now CCD-based Ikegami
HLV-79s and Canon XL1s and XL2s, and I don’t carry anywhere near the
amount of light I used to. For one thing, it is much easier to use
environmental light to great advantage today-for example, the desk lamp
that was once just a pesky prop now does very useful service as a
backlight or to brighten up a background, and mixing in window light
with tungsten doesn’t create the havoc it used to. But while you may
not need to haul around 3000 watts, you still need some high-quality
lights. For the sake of this article, I’ve limited the scope to
tungsten-based lights.

The granddaddy of portable light is definitely Lowel. The company’s D,
Omni and Tota luminaries have been fixtures in almost every shooter’s
kits for decades. In fact, the 3000 watts I used to haul around usually
consisted of three or more Lowel D lights. Well, as cameras have gotten
more sensitive, Lowel has adapted, and have engineered a line of
less-powerful but still very flexible lights. Their ViP kits are built
around the V-light, which is a 500-watt broad, and the Pro light, which
is a 250-watt focusable flood. (It’s important to note that while the
Pro light can rack from flood to spot, it does not feature a fresnel
lens, which makes a much more focused, hard-edged light.) A third type
of light that shows up in many ViP kits is the Rifa light, a very
clever self-contained softbox. For interview situations, I don’t go
anywhere without a softbox, and you shouldn’t either. If you haven’t
yet tried one, do so. It will change your life.

Since I won’t leave home without at least three lights, it’s good that
Lowel has dozens (if not hundreds) of kit configurations to choose
from. Several of the better ones include (at least) a Pro light, a
V-light and a Rifa softbox, along with accessories like stands, barn
doors, gel frames and gels, carrying cases and umbrellas (a decent
stand-in for a softbox, if necessary.) Expect street prices to hover in
the $800 – $1,750 range, depending on how you outfit your kit. Of
course, you can run that cost up quickly if you want by adding any of
the hundreds of cool lighting accessories, for which Lowel is
justifiably famous. www.lowel.com/kits

While Lowel lights are undeniably great, very few of them offer what I
find pretty essential in a light kit: a fresnel lens. Being able to
have that sharp, defined edge is important to me. One vendor that does
offer portable fresnel lens luminaries is LTM, with their Pepper line.
While the Pepper kits don’t even approximate the breadth of the Lowel
offerings, you can get a very useful three-light set in the $1,600
range. The Cyan Pepper Pak includes a 100-watt fresnel, a 300-watt
fresnel, and a 650 watt open-face instrument that is perfect for use
with a Chimera or similar softbox (which will tack on an extra $300 –
450 or so once you include the mounting ring.) Standard accessories
include stands, barndoors, bulbs and usually a very sturdy plastic case
with wheels and a retractable handle. Given a little imagination, you
can get a lot of quality work done with this three-light set.
www.ltmlighting.com

Another famous name in lighting is ARRI. The luminaries made by this
company are tough, built like tanks and look great. One of their more
functional field kits is the Softbank D2, which consists of two
300-watt fresnels, a fresnel 650 watt light and a softbox to mount on
it. With stands, filter frames, bulbs, a case and more, the kit sells
in the $1,800 range. If you think you need even more light, ARRI has
fresnel and open-face fixtures that can run up to a 1000-watt bulb.
www.arri.com

Finally, if money is no object, I strongly recommend you look at
Dedolight. These fixtures, made in Germany and popular throughout
Europe, offer full dimmability in a tiny package that is easily
camouflaged behind almost any plant or background item. The Dedolight
Basic Compact 3 Tungsten Light Kit includes three fresnel-equipped
luminaries, a softbox, power supplies, stands, filter holders and a
soft case. While the price is considerably higher than other offerings
at around $3,200 street, the fact that Dedolights use common 12-volt
bulbs and have a dimmer built-in on each power cable more than offsets
the costs. I once lit a stage performance and used Dedolights
exclusively for my backlighting. The punch these tiny fixtures put out
has to be seen to be believed.

This overview is not complete, of course; many other vendors offer a
number of fine products to add to this list, including such well-known
and venerable names as DeSisti and Mole-Richardson. But on the whole,
it’s good to know that we don’t have to light scenes to death anymore,
and that reasonably priced, lower-wattage options are available and can
actually make your video look great-without baking your subject or
popping circuit breakers.