DSLRs are known for low-light capability and many shooters have been able to get some nice shots with natural lighting setups — especially in documentary work. But sometimes you need some lights to make the scene shine with cinematography power. But if you’re on a super low-budget framework, or you’re a student trying to build your own setup, you already know a good light kits cost a lot of money.

 

For example, a Lowel Omni 3-point lighting kit costs about $900:

 

For about $900 the Lowel light kit is outside many student and super low-budget filmmakers.

 

It’s got a nice set of barn doors to shape light direction, cords, tripods, and a carrying case. But that’s the price of a Canon Rebel T3i — which is what many of you saved up to get in order to make movies. Another $900? I’m not doing it.

 

I’ve consistently told my students — and I’ve built one myself — to go to Home Depot and build your own kit, with a couple of inexpensive items from B&H to supplement.

 

Bare bones light kit: ~$100

Three aluminum work scoops:

 

A work scoop lamp about $8 each (three for about $24)

Because the scoops come with clamps, you can hook these on door knobs, bed posts, doors — whatever is available on your shoot.

 

Three extension cords:

 

25′ ~$9 each for a total of about $27.

 

Daylight lamps (or whatever color temp you want):

 

2-pack 100W daylight CFL about $4 (three sets for about $12).

 

Aluminum foil: Get at your local grocery store — around $5. Use this to act as your barn doors, but never enclose your scoop, since you need the heat to breath!

 

One other key tool is a reflector — allowing you to bounce light or use as a scrim to defuse light.

 

Impact’s 32″, 5-in-1 reflector for about $39.

This is an essential tool for lighting, providing you with silver, gold, and white combos. Even if you’re outdoors using natural light, this is a great tool to bounce light back into the performer’s face.

There it is, for just over $100, you can build a workable light kit. And at the equivalent of 100-watts, these CFLs are more than adequate for DSLR lighting setups. Throw them in a duffel bag and you have a nice portable kit.

Anything else is just extra.

 

Extra

Sometimes you may be in a place where you can’t clamp your aluminum scoops, so you may want some light stand tripods to clamp them. The Smith-Victor Ravens from $33-40 each (price differences reflecting height extensions from 6′ to 8′).

Black wrap: http://www.filmtools.com/blacstudfoil.html

Black wrap, good for blocking light like a flag.

 

The Smith-Victor Raven RS75 light stand tripod for about $38. Three of them for just under $115.

 

The full package with light stands, aluminum foil, and assuming you already have a duffel bag, it will cost you less than $220. That’s the cheapest 3-point light kit I’ve come across.

 

Another inexpensive 3-point kit:

One of our reader’s pointed out the Cowboy Studio kit on Amazon (see comment below):

 

For under $70, this kis is a great option.

You will not have as much control as the scoops — where you can wrap tinfoil around them, but for general lighting, this is likely a nice setup, but I haven’t used this kit.

Scrims, flags, and C-stands

For those of you with an extra budget, I found the following equipment useful for more advanced work:

 

Scrim and flag kit:

 

The Westcott 24″x36″ fast flags scrim kit: $160

This puts you into some of the higher budget equipment, but it includes the fold-up storage bag and:

• 2- Frames 24″ x 36″
• 1- Black Single Net Fabric 24″ x 36″
• 1- Black Double Net Fabric 24″ x 36″
• 1- Artificial Silk Fabric 24″ x 36″
• 1- Black Block Fabric 24″ x 36″

These are designed to be attached to C-stands:

Avenger C-stand with arm and clamp: ~$160a c-stand by itself will cost about $100, but the clamp and arm is useful for hanging the flags, scrims, and reflectors.

So for about an additional $480, you can up your game with how you control your light with two C-stands and a scrim/flag kit, but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you really need it. In either case, if I had the choice of purchasing a $900 light kit and the DIY scoops and have money left over to get a a couple of C-stands with a scrim and flag kit — that’s where I would put my money and it’ll still cost me less than ~$700!

The $100 kit is a good place to start and you can work your way up to the light stands. Only get the C-stand with scrims if you know you need it, and only for those advanced enough to use them for their full benefit.

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Kurt Lancaster, PhD, is the author of “DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video, Focal Press, 2011.” He teaches digital filmmaking and multimedia journalism at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication.

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