Inspiration
800 Watt Equivalent DIY Video Light
If you are looking for some really great video lights on a budget that I have the video for you. This is a DIY project that I have used myself, though I admit that I made some modifications to fit my own needs making my version slightly more expensive than the advertised $86 price tag. Checkout the original video below, and then read about my modifications.
The modification I made was to spray paint the outside of the white dish pan black, so prevent the while glow that you see in his video. I feel like this also help keep even more of the light reflected forwards rather than through the white pan. The other modification I made was to add two more switches so that I can control the light output by turning on/off each bank of lights individually.
When used with an umbrella the light from these lights is nice and soft. I also like that you can go out and buy different color temp bulbs to match your environment. I think my favorite things about these light though has got to be the fact that I built them myself (I have built three of them), and since I wired them all myself I can fix them myself because I know exactly what is going on inside of the unit. So If you are in the market for some video lights, but don’t want to spend a ton of money I highly suggest you check this out. Here are a few shots of my latest(now several months old) version of this light.
What do you guys think about this DIY project? Are you going to try it out?
Can you expand on your modifications a bit? I was curious, where did you get the metal section that houses the switches and wiring?
No I won’t personally but I will pass it along to some of my friends & post it on my school page for the video students to see in case they want to make some. They are ALL about inexpensive equipment that serves their purpose! I mostly shoot stills so I don’t think this will work for me. I need more light & the ability to freeze motion. But thanks for the info!
Did you paint the inside silver? or is that just the shadow angle?
I think on this particular one I painted the inside silver yeah. I ended up not liking it as much as the original white though so I don’t recommend it.