My Documentary Filmmaking Lighting Kit (Late 2022)

#filmmaking #documentary #gear #travel #lights

When choosing lights for a documentary film in 2022 there’s more choice than ever. What are the different kinds of lights that are most useful for doc filmmakers, which ones do I personally like the most, and which ones should you invest in first? We’re going to look at all that in this video. Enjoy!

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Light Tubes I own: Westcott Ice Light 2 (DISCONTINUED!!)

CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Thank You!
2:45 - Big Key Light
4:42 - Small Keylight/Backlight
6:39 - Small Light Panels
8:14 - Big Light Panels
9:39 - Tube Lights
12:06 - Tiny lights
13:38 - Order I would build my lighting kit when starting out.

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IG: @lucforsyth
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[LucForsyth]

What sorts of lighting set ups do you guys use for your doc filmmaking? Love hearing what others are doing!

[karllautman]

One advantage of getting all your lights from the same vendor (e.g. Aputure) is that you're more likely to be able to control all of them from the same app.

[Phasefirefilms]

I have a Smallrig 220B and love it. It came with a vmount plate and it's great for mobile shooting.

[zwheels]

I actually use a Westcott Ice Light as my key all the time. You have to get it pretty close and turn it sideways if you want a soft look but I like that you can get several different looks without a modifier just by changing the angle. I've pre-cut correction gels to size and just put them in the little case the light travels in. Add a couple of rubber bands and you can match lighting really easily.

[stephencaserta]

Doc DP here as well. I second your advice- buy the brightest key light you can afford. 95% of the time im using a single light with daylight. The more powerful the light the more options you have and in doc it's always great to have options. I currently have a 300x and it's good most of the time but would much rather a 600 or even 1200. Knowing how to work with the available light and a single light is the best skill you can have as a doc dp. It allows you to be agile while still getting beautiful images. Id say buy the most powerful light you can afford and a few modifiers and that will go a long way. Shower curtain or large diffusion source, Large soft box, fresnel attachment, spotlight attachment and invest in some large bounces/neg fill.

[crodas]

Agree. I started with the opposite. But looking back I would follow ur suggestion.

[paulgero]

Luc...solid video and good choices and thoughts....I might add that the Zhiyuan M40 Fiveray is a beast of a small little led light a bit bigger than the Aputure MC and only bi-color but it is a 40W little bad boy that packs a wallop. I also have the Small Rig 120D and it is superb....the reason I went for that over the Amaran 100D or 200D is the fact that you can easily put a v mount to power it with the Small Rig v-mount adaptor....while the Amaran's can be powered by V-mount you need to get their Two Bay Power Support which is a bit heftier than I would like. Glad I found your channel....very insightful and useful information!

[papsny]

Appreciate this video, I am a wedding videographer trying to do a documentary as a side project and your insights has helped me be efficient and selective with my lighting for this side project.
I went for the 200x as it is easier to manage and can be as bright as the 300

[dathofilms]

2x Tube lights with muslin diffusion all the way :) bright, portable and soft. One man band run and gun situations its my go to. Only need one light stand and no space required.

[youngerbrotherpictures]

I'm still on my Godox SL60 and finally just got some Nanlite pavotubes recently - I do love them so far! No need to break the bank if my kit works for now. Good tips as always!

[Rosenbis]

Always interesting to see what a real world user carry on shoot
And by the way, I just tested the COB Amaran 60d/x from Aputure for my super light kit. Bowens mount, can be battery operated (NPF / Vmount) and super small footprint. You should check it out !

[TannerGwaltney]

I really love the Quasar Science Q15 2' tubes. I have one daylight and one tungsten and I got some cheap dimmers from Amazon. For $50 per light + maybe $10 per dimmer, I think everybody should have them. They're great as back lights especially.

[CreativeTies_]

Awesome to see you cross 10K - It's wild that it was just in July that your channel has been popping off. Really excited to see where you'll take this!

[DreadinNY]

Hey man, thanx for another lesson! I am here learning! I started years ago with GVM LED panels. I thought I struck gold. Recently I purchased two Amaran 100d lights with Aperture soft boxes. WHAT A DIFFERENCE

[timdanyo]

I like using a Nanlite RGB 2ft tube with barn doors and grid for back light.

[Bo_Hazem]

I think you would love lights like the Aputure Amaran COB 60X/60D that come with NP-F battery plates to run 100% brightness (65w).

[mano]

Perfect got my answer clearly and efficiently by watching your video. Great job. Thank you so much

[Documentary]

Great video. Im currently using the Nanlite Nanlux Evoke 2400b, Nanlite Forza 720b and Nanlite Forza 60C. Covers every scenario I'm likely to ever encounter and the 2400b and 720b will easily overpower the sun where required. I have a few smaller odd LED lights, tubes and panels for specific use cases, but the aforementioned lights do 99% of the heavy lifting for my work.

Again, great video, good insight into documentary lighting equipment.

[IdeaStudioBKK]

Congrats on 10k, Luc, and great video, lighting is so key and know some more portable options now will be real helpful for me.

[Huttersvuur]

Nice to see all categories but wouldve been nice to hear about the CRI's. Pretty important to get consistent skintones.