Yo, yo Darious Britt here.
Still in quarantine. Can’t shoot stuff. It’s very depressing to have to stop right in the middle of shooting a project.
Film gods…why have you done this?!?
But hey everybody is happy and healthy. I finally saw Hereditary. Loved it. Anyways…
Lights, lights, lights, lights, lights, Fam. They make a big difference. Lots of videos on lights. Let’s talk about lights.
To be more specific, let’s talk about 3 small lights you gotta have on set.
A Light Bar Style Light
The first type of light you should get your paws on. a light bar style light. Bunch of companies make these lights. The one I use is by Youkoyi.
This is my favorite handy light by far. That’s why I’m talking about it first. Personal bias-don’t judge me.
They come in two flavors. Bi-color or RGB. The RGB is like 20 bucks more. They’re both dimmable.
They have internal lithium batteries. They charge via micro USB. they have 2600 milliamp batteries On a full charge they last 2 hours on 100% output. They last even longer if they’re not on full blast.
They each come with wireless remotes. It works up to 20 feet away. I can audition lights, while I hang out at camera. You can operate multiple lights off 1 remote. I always keep one of my remotes in my chest rig so I always have one on set. I love the Youkoyi light bar. It’s crazy useful.
Because it’s a light bar the quality of the light is a little softer than a credit card style light. Remember the bigger the fixture, the softer the light. It’s a bigger light source in that it’s longer. You get a little more wrap on your talent.
- I can use it without mounting accessories if need be. For me, that’s part of the appeal.
- They’re lightweight — I can gaff tape these bad boys to doors, ceilings, shelving.
- It has a Standard 1/4 20 tapped hole at the bottom.
- I can throw it on any stand and use it as a kicker light.
- I can throw them on a Pedco UltraClamp and clamp it to a tripod’s legs
I love using these little guys for fill light. If there’s a white wall nearby please believe I’m bouncing these bad boys off of it.
Since I bought them a year ago, I’ve used them on every shoot Bruh-bruh. Every shoot. I lit an entire scene just using Youkoyi lights.
I have not used many light bar style lights but I can say that these here lights punch higher than their weight class. I love them so much I’m thinking bout getting me two more bruh- bruh. If you’re thinking of getting one it’s worth the extra dough to get the RGB version. They’re about 80 bucks. Ya gotta get on it.
Ultracompact Light
The Second light you should have. an ultracompact light of some sort.
The one I use is the Godox Mobile Light. This light is marketed as a clip-on phone light. But it can do so much more.
- It has a Built-in 300mA Lithium Battery. Last about 40 ish minutes on full blast.
- Daylight color temperature.
- Dimmable.
- It has a CRIof 95 and a TLCI of 94.
I’ve never tested it but it seems accurate I’ve never had a problem with my colors looking funny. This thing is super lightweight. I mean look at it It doesn’t get much cuter than this, boys and girls. It’s like a baby light.
This thing lives on my chest rig. It’s apart of my kit. Seventy percent of the time I use it to see in the dark. Get things out of my camera bag and whatnot.
- I’ve used it to mimic light coming from a cell phone in a couple of my shorts.
- I’ve used it to add fill light in dark scenes when I need just need a little punch of light for exposure.
- I’ve used it as an eye light numerous times.
I have had this light for years. This is the best 20 bucks I’ve ever spent.
I strongly recommend having a tiny light like this on hand. It doesn’t have to be this specific light but a small Form Factor light is essential. I will not entertain any opinions that say otherwise.
Credit Card Size LED Lights
The third style of light you should have. Credit card lights.
My go-to for this was the Aputure Al- MX. Aputure sent me one. I loved it so much I bought another one. They’re heavy. Built like a German tank. Airforce grade aluminum chassis.
They’re bi-color, high color accuracy.
On a full charge at 100% output, it will last about an hour. At minimum out output up to 4 hours. These guys get crazy bright. Up to 3148 lux. That’s brighter than the Youkyoi lights.
I use these style lights as pop lights. they make great kicker lights on your talent.
Because of their size, they work great for replacing lightbulbs in lamps. You can still get the look of a practical but you have more control over the light.
I like to bounce’em off of other things for fill in close up shots.
Recently Aputure sent me the new Aputure MC lights. It’s like they took everything that needed improvement with their prior lights and made this super light.
The diffusion secures onto the light better than prior lights. I can just leave it on. That was a problem I had with the AL-MX. The magnetic diffusion would always pop off. Ninety percent of the time I just didn’t use the diffusion.
The MC has RGB hue and saturation built right into the light. No more using tells. It’s crazy light and it has magnets built into the body.
- You can stick’em on to a C-stand. Boom.
- Need little pop lights in a kitchen scene. Boom
Its also dope as an on-camera light to add just a little more fill in videos like this. Credit card style lights. Get on it.
Bonus Light: Spiffy Gear — Lumiee Light Bracelets
On the note of ultra-compact lights. Recently spiffy gear sent me two of their Lumiee bracelets. They look cool AF. Definitely get points for the cool factor but how useful are they on set? Seems like a gimmick.
After kickin’ em around a bit, I dig’em. I haven’t taken them out on set yet because…well…quarantine but I can already see 3 reasons to use it.
- Crazy convenient. Slaps right onto your wrist. You always got a light on you.
- Camera bag light. If it’s dark and I need something outta my bag, boom. I got a hands-free light.
- Eye lights. These lil guys will probably make great eye lights. Dim it all the way down. Hold it just outside of the frame, pan the light off of your actor’s face. Boom. You always have an eye light on you.
With the bi-color version, you get daylight and tungsten. Fully dimmable. Of the two, this one is more useful for film.
For the RGB version, the main colors are red green and blue but there are also 15 different sub colors. If you use lots of RGB lighting in your line of work then you’d find this version useful.
Supposedly they can last an hour on a full charge and up to 4 hours with low output. We’ll see. I’m curious to see if they’ll eventually dethrone my Godox light. And become my new go-to ultra-compact solution. Time will tell.
Lemme know in the comments if you found it useful.
Links to all the lights I’ve mentioned are bellow. They are affiliate links. If you use them I do get a small commission. Goes toward keeping the lights on around here.
Keep the cameras rolling. Make everyday count. Rackupyour10k (rack up your ten thousand hours)
-Dbritt out.
LIGHTS MENTIONED (on Amazon):
