2000 watt light question
 

saw a nice 2k soft light on cl. Was thinking about buying it but was curious would it blow fuses in hotel rooms?

It might

well a 2k lamp is 183.6 or something like that, it might use up 1/2 the motel room circuit and be hot as hell. wouldn't wanna chance it. why do you need so much?

i would rather shoot my vids at higher f stops.so was thinking about experimenting with it but if there is a chance it can blow forget it then.

2k is pushing it. Arri sells them without an edison plug as they are not UL approved. They will not blow a circuit if you are in say a studio or some other industrial power area. They will blow an average hotel circuit most likely. You are better off with an HMI light (if the color temp works with your situation) as a 575 watt will give off as much light as a 2K but not blow any circuits. :2 cents:

my friend who does mainstream has a few hmi's nice lights but sooooo expensive.

Only one light? I think not. You'll have a hard time finding enough sockets for your lights if you aren't in a studio also.

Yep, you'll find it hard to keep your shoot going in most places once they get hot. It sucks to stop and fuck with lights. (looses the mood too.) I put high amp breakers in my studio when I was still using hot lights. Use all cool lights and kino-flo etc... now. Use warm cards to white balance and it looks good.

They sell it on Brighton Beach in New York for $400...

Also shadows will be a mofo.

Do you really need it?

yeah except for the 5K price :)

grab a 1K par and bang it in to the ceiling and see how ya like that. I shoot about F 1.8 with video... the wide lens will give you the focus across the frame :)

in the ad a guy was selling it pretty cheap enough that if I didnt like it and it sat collecting dust I wouldnt be to broke up about it. But if it could blow fuses especially considering its not the only light in the room. I will have to play with what I got at home pull all my lights and the waveform form monitor and see what I like. two 500 watt softboxes isnt cutting it want to be able to do less in post.

I shoot single key all the time $.02

Growing weed?

i have a 1k lowell dp, a 500 watt omni, 2 750 watt tota's and two 500 watt jtl softbox lights.got to play with combos.

Tony, at 2k in a hotel room, that means that you're what 10 feet away with a 2000 watt light? Why not just shoot outdoors at noon. With that much light you're going to blow your highs and create really dark shadows.

bm bradley taught me how to not see the lighting, but rather to see in f/stops. How much of a difference is it in the highs vs the lows?

So the trick then becomes, not adding more lights, but try to light into the shadows.

good points

Yes, I understand that we can get depth, mood and demension etc... using one light. But when you go under the bodies in porn to see the close up of her pussy with dick going in and out at 90 mph you might want a little light up in there.

Are you using one 2Kwatt light? I'm quite sure that where ever the one 2kwatt light is not hitting (If direct lit) will be dark shadows.

perfect statement!!!

I currently use about 10 low watt cool lights all over the fucking place. very soft and bounced. 100% flat and minimal shadows.

2000 Watts is the MAX a 20 amp circuit is rated to handle - well just over it:


Watts/Volts=Amps

Id use the one in the bathroom - they are normally on their own breakers because hairdryers are INSANE and use way too much power - plus it has a GFY incase you DO blow the circuit - you can turn it back on yourself.

You might be able to find a device to split it between 2 circuits.

It has been my experience that bathroom/kitchen/GFY circuits blow faster every time than any non GFY recepticles in a location.:2 cents:

2K watts = 18 Amps (assuming US 110V AC)

I would assume it has a 20Amp plug (two prongs are perpendicular instead of parallel - again assuming USA)

If your hotel room has a 20Amp plug, you are probably ok assuming nothing else is on in the room.
If you only find 15Amp plugs in your hotel I doubt you'll be able to even plug in this light.

p.s.
Here's a suggestion - Dim it down to 15Amps (1650 watts)
Get a power strip with a 15Amp breaker on it and plug light into that.
This way, you'll blow your personal breaker before the room breaker. It's a lot easier to reset the breaker you have with than to have to call the hotel staff to reset the room breaker.

Sensible advice.

Yeah, but whats $5k for us high rollin' content guys :winkwink:

Shadows are good not bad. It's just how you use them :pimp

See above :)

Tony I assume you mean for video? If it is for stills then a 2K is just enough and you can get great light from just one fresnel. If you are doing video in a hotel room, go with Kino's its a lot softer and cooler. I would not use a 2K in a hotel room for video. No reason unless all your lights are that strong, and then you need a Geni. In all seriousness the HMI's are the way to go in the long run. :2 cents: