Looking for suggestions in lighting for video and stills

[Rurik]

My company is developing online educational videos and guides in-house. We have a Sony HD camcorder and a Canon 40D still camera. Most of our work will be recording live presentations, but there'll be a fair amount of still photography work. We're looking for a set of lighting for around $1000 that would be fairly portable and good for video and still shooting, since we have standard office building fluorescent bulbs everywhere. The end result is videos and guides for DVD and online distribution.

A few of our guys were scoping out various lighting packages and they suggested a kit from http://www.photography-lighting.com/...tsproduct.html

# 3 PLC Trilight 750 bodies with power cords
# 9 Halogen double envelope quartz bulbs (250W each)
# 3 Soft boxes 24" x 24" with speed ring connector
# 2 8 foot air cushioned adjustable light stands
# 1 Boom stand
$700

However, to me, this site just seems very hokey and unprofessional. But, since none of us are photography people no one has a good baseline on what to look for.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[KmH]

Yes, hire someone who knows what they are doing, unless you don't mind the possibility of your results looking "very hokey and unprofessional".

 

[Rurik]

Thank you. Would someone like to contribute something useful to this discussion?

 

[KmH]

Thank you. Would someone like to contribute something useful to this discussion?

But, since none of us are photography people no one has a good baseline on what to look for.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

You asked! Sorry, I tried to be truly helpful.

 

[Rurik]

It's all good. We are not making high-professional products, but need something better than standard office lighting.

 

[Village Idiot]

??

http://www.techlearning.com/article/1162

 

[ANDS!]

It's all good. We are not making high-professional products, but need something better than standard office lighting.

The fellow above gave some good advice; unless you guys plan to do two or three "test runs" with this equipment, its almost a garauntee to come out looking "hokey. . ." - and that is no fault of your own (well I guess it is), but simply comes with the territory involved with the learning curve.

If you're going to be doing live video recording and photography you are going to need continuous lights and a way to mount them (do they need to be modular?), as well as a nice simple in-house setup for your product shots. What still photography are you going to be shooting?

 

[Rurik]

Thanks everyone for the comments. We are on a shoestring budget, and it's a closed facility, so it's all on us to figure this out. Bringing in an outsider can't be done. I also want to clarify my original message. We aren't looking for a lighting system for professional-level work. We are amateurs and are happy to stay that way. It was more a question about the quality of the PLC lighting kit itself. From the site design and images, it was difficult to tell if they would be quality products.

I am currently eying the Smith Victor K75 (401444 Smith Victor K75 2200-Watt Professional Quartz Studio Lighting Kit with 1 720-SG, 2 765-UM Lights, Softboxes, Boom Arm, Stands & Cases.). I realize that this is a budget set that is geared towards an amateur, and that many people shun SV, and I am fine with that. Most of our work will be recording live presentations, a few interviews, and still photography of electronic equipment (not really people). The videos will then be converted to web/iPod resolutions, and the images will generally be small (640x480).