Cheap and Easy High Quality Photo and Video Light DIY

i wanted to make a cheap light to record videos inside my house, firstly i wanted to buy some video lighting equipment but it was so expensive that i decided to investigate about what 2700k, 5600k and 6500k means, and found a very trusted light called kino flo Diva-Lite 415 but it cost $1,099.69 USD so that´s how this project started

also this light has about 16,000 lumens output so it will allow you to use very low ISO on your camera

i decided to make it 24 inches wide and 14 inches tall but you can make it 12 inches tall if it acomodates your light bulb size...

the frame is made with wood that is 4 inches wide and 1 inch deep because we dont want it to be too heavy.

we are going to cut 2 pieces that are 24 inches long and they will be the top and the bottom part

then we cut 2 pieces that are 12 inches long to be the sides of our frame.

first we need to make pilots holes for the screws that will hold the frame assembled because otherwise we might split the wood apart

i used 3 screw for each corner they are zinc number 6 that are 2 inches long but you can also use drywall screws...

i used these wall lamp socket base i bought them on home depot, they are small and easy to wire

they are centered along the wood lenght

the 2 middle ones are 2 inches apart from the center of the wood to the center of the socket because in the center goes the wood insert to have 1/4-20 thread for the light stands and tripods

the other sockets have a space of 3.5 inches from center to center, but you can probably go as small as 2.5 inches separation center to center if your light bulbs allow it

i just used a cheap leviton 15 amp 120 VAC switch to turn on and off the lights

and for the wiring i used 16 gauge wire, because it can easily handle 13 amps or 1300 watts

i didnt cut the wire into pieces, just strip the insulation and you´re golden

i also used a 15 amp 3 prong plug

i put on a handle to move it easier it doesn´t needs to be a fancy one

and in the bottom at the middle is a 1/4-20 wood insert so you can use it in lighting stands or tripods, but im thinking on getting a flag pole holder like this one to make it more versatile...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301219263285?_trksid=p2055...

the silver backplate is 1/8 inch thick and 14 inch height and 24 inch wide, got it from home depot.

paint it silver to reflect the light because otherwise you would get brownish reflections that will affect your colors.

because i use some natural lighting i needed to get light bulbs that work well with the "sunlight" white balance setting on the camera so went to the store and bought different type of lightbulbs and started the testing phase to se what would be better without breaking the bank....

got some red green and blue led lights, thinking on how a CMOS sensor works because they have sensors for red green and blue colors,

also got some 6500k cfl´s because they were cheap and also a good brand wich is philips

and some ecosmart 2700k because the light looks similar to the one from incandesent bulbs as it is more yellowish

i tried to find cheap 5600k or 5500k wich is the temp of the diva lite but couldn´t find them in the store or online they where like 10-15 USD each

also i didn´t bought daylight led lightbulbs because they where very expensive where i live (30 usd each) but if you can get them they will be better...

and finally i didn´t bought incandesent lights because of the insane amount of heat and power consumption...

for the test i set the camera in manual mode the white balance to "daylight" and used auto exposure to compensate for the changes in light intensity but not in color reproduction

all the color information was analized checking the RGB histogram

also the

FINAL NOTE:

make sure to buy your daylight 6500k lights from a trusted brand like philips because if you go to the dollar store to buy some cfl´s you´ll have a hard time

Finally!

i needed to use 5 23w philips coolwhite 6500k and 1 8w philipscolors red light

and because the box can acomodate 12 lights you can use 2 reds and 10 whites to have high quality photo and video light withouth breaking the bank...