IronFilm

I'm very tempted by these:
http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/05/10/nab-2016-spot-lights-on-a-budget-aputure-launch-ls-c20-led-mini-fresnel-for-199-us/

I think these are what I'll order next for my lighting kit, once my next few audio purchases are sorted out.

I just struggled a bit with this very issue, and here's what I ended up doing.

I started with a couple used Mole Richardson 1K fresnels. I got each for about $150 off eBay, used in good condition. Beautiful lights, very robust, and easy to control. They're my bread and butter--I use them on everything.

Next, I hopped over to Home Depot and picked up some dirt cheap clamp lights. Fitted with some high-wattage incandecent bulbs, they're great for accents, hairlights, background splashes, etc.

Next thing on the list (should be coming this week) are a few ETC Source Four Pars. $70 each shipped, again used. These are 575W tungsten fixtures, but the design of the bulb makes them about the same output as a 1000W open face. These are great for bouncing or pushing through diffusion if you just need raw output, but they also come with 4 lenses: wide flood, medium flood, narrow spot, and very narrow spot. These attachments don't produce the same quality as a fresnel, but they're usable as direct light and easier to control than a redhead. I've used them on a few sets for background punch, kickers, and even as an effect spot for a dream sequence, and they're surprisingly versatile. You can even pick up 3rd party barn doors for $15 or so. Dollars per lumen, S4 Pars are unbeatable.

As soon as I sell off a few more things, I'm picking up a couple Aputure Amaran 672S LED panels. Excellent CRI, dimmable, run on batteries or AC, remote operable, and easy to diffuse (if necessary) with the built-in umbrella mount or Aputure's softbox attachment. I'm debating going with the Ws instead, as I already have enough hard lights, and maybe a variable color temp version, but we'll see how things pan out once I'm actually ready to buy.

Last item on my wishlist is a Lowel Rifa. I admit, this one is a luxury item; it's essentially a big tungsten softbox, but what makes it cool is that you can have it out of the bag and set up in maybe 20 seconds because of the slick way it collapses and expands. Great for motivating interior lights, as a dramatic toplight, beauty light, or anything else you'd use a big soft source for. Some of the newer Rifas even have a system where you can replace the tungsten fixture with three florescents, lowering your power consumption and giving you the option of daylight balance. Very nice. You can find used ones missing the front diffusion sheet for reasonable prices, then just replace the front for $20 or so.

Just remember, don't skimp on light modifiers, stands, and flags.

Go back to Home Depot and find those big 4x8 ft. pieces of styrofoam insulation--white on one side, silver on the other, 1" thick--cut them in quarters (halves if you have the space), and wrap the edges with gaff tape. Bingo bango, you've got some pretty dope bounce boards! If you're using fresnels, grab some used scrims off the 'Bay. They're a little pricier than dimmers, but they won't mess with your color temp when you need to knock down your output. Buy some basic Lee Gels (get these new) in all the essential flavors: CTB, CTO, Straw, Diffusion, ND. They sell a combo pack of 1'x1' gels that include all these, as well as more exotic stuff and some fun colors (primary red is a personal favorite). Grab a bag of clothespins to hold them on your barndoors, and 1" pony clamps for anything else that needs securing. Grab some blackout fabric (duvetyne) for negative fill and controlling spill. Extension cords seem like a "duh" item, but you'd be amazed how many beginners forget about them. You can't be loading 4000 watts of light onto one circuit, so keep enough of these around to run power everywhere you need it. Lastly, some black wrap (I use Rosco Cinefoil) is great for any time you need to shape a light on the fly. I like to cut mine into big, useful-size pieces so they can be reused from project to project.

When it comes to stands, it's hard to cheap out. You simply don't want to trust heavy, expensive, hot lights to a subpar stand. Most brands are great, although my friends speak pretty harshly about Impact. I haven't used enough to confirm or deny. A lot of people like to use C-Stands for their lights, especially the Matthews ones. Personally, I think they're best-used to hold your bounce cards and flag, as the leg design and articulating arm on the top make gripping and positioning modifiers quick and easy. A good one will run you $180-200 retail, although areas with more local filmmaking may have some on the used market for less. In terms of actual light stands, my favorite for the dollar is the Kupo Master Combo HD Stand. It folds up nicely, has both a baby pin and a junior receiver, gives you a leveling leg for uneven surfaces, a solid steel construction, and can hold up to 88 pounds. What a beast! Best of all, they only cost $150 retail. Use these for your fresnels, Rifas, or anything you need to fly high. Don't forget to pick up some sandbags to keep all this from tipping. I have a set by Impact filled with fine gravel from Home Depot (I feel like they should be paying me for this). Lastly, for your C-stands, some Matthews flags are a staple in any grip's kit. It's essentially just a sheet of black fabric on a metal frame with a post on the end for clamping into a c-stand knuckle, but they're invaluable for shaping your light the way you need it.

This may seem daunting at first, but the best way to learn is to pick up the basics and start using them. Practice makes perfect, and lighting is no exception.

Cheers!

I got the Dedos last night. A lady got them for a theater production and had them laying around for quite a while untill she decided to put them online for sale. I had a good fiddle with the set and the way they work beam/flood and light fall or lack thereof made me getting them. Thanks again!

My impression of Roland equipment is of the highest order. Great price, once again, wish I was living in the States!

Dedolights are normally way way more expensive than redheads, so if they're the same price and you can't make up your mind....    then it actually is a no brainer, get the dedolights every single fvcking time!!! :-D

For those looking at an alternative to the Zoom F8, I noticed that B&H has a "New Arrival", refurbished Rolland R-88 units selling at nearly half their launch price (I guess Zoom is providing some serious pricing pressure! They might even be new units, and only "refurbished" in name only?!):https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1286630-REG/roland_r_88b_r_88_8_channel_recorder_and.html

Dedolights are normally way way more expensive than redheads, so if they're the same price and you can't make up your mind....    then it actually is a no brainer, get the dedolights every single fvcking time!!! :-D

Hello:
         Again the boys lantern MGIC surprise us. A1ex, just determined as record the raw video in 12 bit or 10 bit, although it is a finding emerging, it is only a matter of time to debug the application and develop a specific module raw 10 or 12 bit.
As you know, the problem of actaul RAW 14 bit, is what is fantastic, but you need very fast and stable cards (1066x) to record on average 4gb x minute and sometimes, depending on the quality of the card becomes unstable recording . With the current discovery means we can record RAW, but with greater stability and less space or at a higher frame rate.
Today is a great day for the Magic Lantern filmakers community.
regards
Katrikura
Sorry for the bad English
 
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5601.300

Exactly. I think these companies were on the verge of making perfectly organic HD and then they decided to go for thin and brittle 4K instead. 

Pleaded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK5DigCpzeI&lc=z13qxtqyrvuus1g5a04cjnlrysrgvz4gvlc0k.1478039068043991
 

Well...it kind of was to be expected that the Karma wouldn't be as stable in the air or have all the flying features DJI has developed over the years.
But the point where GoPro totally dropped the ball imo is by not having improved the codec and overall IQ over the 2 year old GoPro 4...

That was the one thing they had going for themselves and they chose to leave it completely untouched..shame.
 

I just got a D500 to complement my other FF Nikons and it's a sweet little camera. I don't really notice that it's not full frame, and it matches my D750 so well that I have to check to see which files came from which camera. I'm mostly a stills guy, but I have shot video jobs with the D750 and I like the video I get from it, it's got a really efficient codec but there's still a little bit of room to grade, and once I get the loupe on the screen I don't miss peaking at all. 

Yeah, but at the time, the Brothers Duplass were using the best Mini DV they could get. And I think that's the lesson, use the best you can get, but use it to its strengths. Hell, you could probably go get a DVX100 for less than 500 bucks and shoot an awesome movie with it... You may even be revered for doing so. Look how much street cred Ed gets for doing his hipster video tests.
To add, I personally wouldn't mess with mini DV tape now because it literally takes forever to ingest into the computer, but there are definitely some other options that would give a similar look, using SD cards. Just look for a cam with 3 CCDs instead of a CMOS sensor, I'm contemplating buying a point and shoot and making a short with one just to take all of the technical headaches away... I will probably call it Point & Shoot as well. Lol. But I'm serious. I may look to one of the old Panasonic P&S cameras like the LX7... That little camera made some cool ass video in the mjpeg codec.  

So I got like the cheapest lens I could, and now it’s the only one I like. “Character” or crap, I love it. Just a non-ai 50mm with a $10 wide angle adapter. I have a telephoto adapter too, which definitely still has character, but not always my favorite. I like this even more than the 50 by itself. Didn’t know if there were just terrible cheap lenses anywhere that could be worth fiddling with. usually the budget lenses are still somewhat high for me. Kinda curious about fungus filled lenses, I’ve seen those do cool things
 
Ps, i know that those Dog Optiks are nice n Schidtty, and I appreciate the hell out of them, but maybe mostly interested from the cheapskate side of things, so /:

I have https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/319988-REG/K_Tek_KE_89CC_KE_89CC_Avalon_Series_Aluminum.html if you want to have a play with it. 

If you're just considering the 1080 straight out of the camera then you'd be very very hard pressed to see any noticeable difference between the BMCC and BMPCC. 

And the BMMCC is basically a BMPCC V2.0 (as the BMMCC has better battery life, full size HDMI, smaller overall size, and slow motion 60fps). 

Samsung NX1 is a different niche, as it is a 4K hybrid camera.

The difference between a 3 to 7 minute short film and an 80 minute feature is **HUGE** in terms of the amount of work it takes to get finished.

However I do agree about those 20 to 40 minute "shorts" some people make, I find it strange they didn't just go all out and make a feature film instead. 

The difference between a 3 to 7 minute short film and an 80 minute feature is **HUGE** in terms of the amount of work it takes to get finished.

However I do agree about those 20 to 40 minute "shorts" some people make, I find it strange they didn't just go all out and make a feature film instead. 

Oh yeah, most definitely.  Self distribution is the new (only) way to go for filmmakers like myself.  
Sundance gets a ridiculous amount of submissions (tens of thousands) from earnest people unable to be self-critical.  I'm working with a producer now that shipped off a proof-of-concept video I did with her to Sundance.  It was ridiculous.  I wouldn't even think of putting it into my own festival --and I made the thing!  I thought it was decent...for a corporate video, but that was the extent of it.
So, yeah, knowing the inherent value of your work and being self-critical seems to be a tricky skill for a lot of people.  Trust me when I say that exploiting such naivete is the financial backbone of many a film fest.  Those submission fees add up.

Any connection you make will be valuable.

I just filmed a short for a great director.  I had no idea he used to make movies as a director in L.A. and had taken a break to raise his sons by owning a restaurant, where my wife happened to work. We met, chatted, he saw one of my shorts and loved my camera work. I fell into a great working relationship, hopefully shooting a feature with him next year.

Don't scoff at what you see on display there. If you see someone's else's work that you enjoy chat with them, you never know what might come from it.

Reading the actual DPreview interview.. I feel OP may have focused on the negative. The last bit being:
'I think that line between movie photographer and stills photographers has gone. The client wants to you to shoot the both of them at the same time to reduce the costs.'
Kitaoka then expanded on the demands they're hearing from customers: 'First of all, quality of the movie is a basic demand so we have to answer that, second frame rate, then lens quality and autofocus, also, [the challenges of] movie AF and still AF totally different.'
'Movie autofocus needs to be smooth, sometimes fast, sometimes slower, depends on the situation. Movie shooters want to [be able to] choose high speed autofocus or natural speed autofocus.'
'Actually we equip the autofocus system fit for the movie but a lot of people [are finding it difficult to use] autofocus between still photo and movie. But we keep trying to [provide the] best movie autofocus in [our] DSLRs and across every single category.’
https://***URL removed***/interviews/6091205488/nikon-interview-photokina-2016
 
Sounds to me like next generation bodies will have much improved video AF enhancement, +60 FPS, 4K possibly 10-bit / 422 / better codec (IQ seems to come first).. I see this as Nikon is listening and will provide very interesting video solutions on their upcoming DSLRs.. 

Noooooooooooooooo.............. don't get BMCC EF!!! 

Get BMCC MFT at least, or even better BMPCC / BMMCC.

hate to repeat myself but its about letting your loyal customers think other brands are handling the video better, even if its just a perception made by very local internet commenters, not that D5500 or D750 output is totally useless. People are comparing and vote with their money. 

@Geoff CB Thanks Geoff!
The STILL-IQ, the VIDEO-IQ or both?
BTW: You guys are incredible! So much experience and good advice....After your advice i've took a look at some D750 samples (video + stills) and the DPReview full review and nearly ALL experienced shooters/reviewers love this Nikon: http://www.rossharvey.com/reviews/nikon-d750-review and https://***URL removed***/reviews/nikon-d750
In addition this camera + 3 prime lenses (35mm, 50mm and 85mm) is much more cheaper than the a7r II + the same Sony native prime lenses...round about 2.500,- Euro here in Germany.
BTW: My "dream" solution would be a 1DX m2, but first I am still a scholar and second that would mean some additional costs in a new editing PC hardware...Out of reach for me... ;-)

speed booster with AF and ND, it would be dream come true