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Jan 3, 2008
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Small Accessories, Big Results
Consider these low-cost tools for your kit
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by Chuck Gloman
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I'm always looking for ways to make my productions easier and more streamlined. Here are three separate items that, in their own ways, can ease the burden on most production shoots in the area of lighting or sound.
The first item is Lowel's Ego light, a strange name for what they call a "digital imaging light." Basically, two Edison-type, screw-in fluorescent bulbs reside behind a piece of white plastic to produce soft light. Ideal for tabletop shoots where the product in question needs soft lighting, this lighting option lists for $125 and will make itself right at home in your kit.
Lowel Ego Light
It takes a little time to assemble the Ego, because you need to fit the rear bounce card into the plastic slots. My "kit" included two 27-watt 5500K (daylight) balanced fluorescent bulbs, which consume very little power (a 70-watt bulb is the largest that the Ego accepts). A rocker switch on the power cord activates the light.
Both lamps equal the output of a 200-watt incandescent lamp without the heat. Lowel claims these lamps last up to 10,000 hours but are not dimmable. The lamps themselves do get hot if on for an extended period of time, but little or no heat is felt through the plastic bounce card.
The "tilt dial" on the back of the unit allows it to sit on a table to add lighting, while the screw adapter on the bottom lets you mount the Ego onto a tripod. A folded white bounce card is also supplied to provide the needed fill if the Ego is used as a key source.
Ideal for still photography (because it's daylight balanced), the Ego is just as comfortable in the world of video. I used it as a portrait light when shooting an interview. The unit can be placed within inches of the talent's face without casting too much illumination (or burning the skin).
The Ego is a great low key or fill light; in fact, Lowel recommends using the Ego as a key source for a webcam. I found it to be an excellent fill source in shooting situations, and it's now a permanent part of my tabletop shooting arsenal. My students use it on shoots because it's lightweight but packs a powerful soft lighting punch.
K-Tek Avalon Traveler KE-79
On the audio side of your shoot, K-Tek (a part of M.Klemme Technology Corp.) has two amazing accessories to improve your audio and take up less space for transport. The first, the Avalon Traveler KE-79, is a six-section, mini boom pole that extends to a length of 79 inches. This lightweight, inexpensive pole (list price $210) collapses to 20 inches and weighs a little more than a pound, so it should easily slide into your tripod bag or case for travel.
The KE-79 features an XLR cable inside the aluminum pole, with the female end extending from the top and the male end at the bottom. The real test to see if the internal cable would get kinked was to allow my students to use it on several shoots.
After more than a dozen separate incidents, not one of them was able to mangle the internal wiring. (This equates to about the same type of punishment I would give it over 12 years of use.) K-Tek calls each connection a "captive collett that has maximum holding power with minimum torque." I just call it functional.
The black finish will receive its share of kicks and scratches, but each section locks tightly. I don't know if I will ever use my grown-up boom pole again -- with location work, I'm rarely farther that six feet from my subject. The KE-79 now has a permanent place in my tripod case.
K-Tek also offers a six-inch softy for medium to smaller microphones (like my Sennheiser 416). Named the Fuzzy, this fabric coated exterior covers a form-fitting wind resistant foam inner core. With wind gusts at 30 mph, my Sennheiser was well protected and I didn't hear any of the wind noise. Acoustically transparent, this covering is also water repellent.
If the medium-sized Fuzzy isn't the right fit, for the same list price of $110, you have a choice of six sizes. The people at M.Klemme Technology helped me get the right fit over the phone for my shotgun. Now, I never leave without having my shotgun microphone covered with a Fuzzy.
Chuck Gloman is an awarding-winning producer/director of photography with more than 800 commercials to his credit, and is program director of the TV/Film Department of DeSales University. Contact him at chuck.gloman@desales.edu.
MORE INFO
Lowel lowel.com
K-Tek ktekboompoles.com
GOOD FOR GOVERNMENT
The Lowel Ego offers a soft, low-cost light that you can share between the still photographers and videographers in your department. K-Tek's Avalon Traveler KE-79 provides more than six feet of reach in a boom pole that collapses to about 20 inches for travel, while the Fuzzy comes in six sizes to fit your shotgun mic.
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