If you want el cheapo instant light, ephotoinc has two stands, two shine through umbrellas, two double socket fixtures, and four 45 watt cfl for about $60-$70. That's like $6 per item, plus a case. Their stuff is solid but not tank like.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-BULBS-DOUBLE-HEAD-VIDEO-UMBRELLA-LIGHT-LIGHTING-SET-/360418642957?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53eaa00c0d
I actually prefer these to the softboxes, but I have some of each. You can swap out the bulbs for something special, like the blu max, but that's a whole setup with stands.

@DrDave
In my opinion, these ultra-cheap fluorescent light stands should be labeled "disposable". The aluminum parts in the fixture sockets are so fragile that you can literally torque them to shreds simply by tightening the light bulb. It's not just the ones on eBay, every socket fixture I could find on Amazon is based on the same flimsy design. I resorted to installing short socket extenders into each fixture to handle the routine wear and tear of mounting the light bulbs before each session.

The white balance of the cheap fluorescents supplied with these fixtures is usually no better than that of cheap LED's. They typically have a huge green spike with some blue phosphor added to pull up the measured color temperature to 5500K or higher. The result is a very cold white light with a greenish-yellow tinge. High quality fluorescents use a tri-phosphor coating that keeps the green component under more consistent control. The difference between tri-phosphors and the cheaper halo phosphors is briefly explained here:

http://osumaterials.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/a-lesson-in-phosphors-and-some-cool-pictures/

I tested a half dozen brands of fluorescents before finding a type that produced healthy skin tones and did not turn mustard-colored fabrics green. To my eyes, 5500K is too cold for fluorescents; 5000K looks just warm enough. I also think the high-wattage spiral-tube fluorescents are too fragile for field work, especially considering the mercury hazard they contain. Some manufacturers seal the spiral-tube bulb inside a traditional cone-shaped floodlight bulb with a built-in reflector coating on the back. This double-bulb construction is far more robust than the naked spiral-tube lamps.

One of the best features of screw-base fluorescents is how easily and cheaply they can be replaced when they fail. The brand I settled on is not as large and high-wattage as others; it was instead the most well-balanced and sturdiest of the ones I tested:

http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/23-watt-cfl-r40-flood-daylight-5000k.aspx

The outdoor version of this lamp has a larger and heavier outer bulb and costs 50% more, but is worth it for rugged environments:

http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/23-watt-par38-flood-cfl-dl.aspx

I tested several myself but not the MaxLights as the CRI was below 90. The BlueMax meter around 5500. I didn't see a green spike, and when I used a custom balance with a grey card the light came out very good. The BlueMax was the only bulb I tested that I considered quiet enough to set 4-8 feet from a Schoeps or Sennheiser microphone. Removing a hum from four our five different bulbs is a tedious task. Most mics are not sensitive enough to really pick up that hum, but these are.

@lpowell, As a favor, please put one up to your ear and see if it is silent. If it is, I will buy some to test.
Let me know about the hum, I'm supercurious.

The 93+ CRI of the bluemax bulbs makes a difference. Colors sparkle and pop.
I see that the MaxLight has a CRI of just 84 unless I'm misreading it. But I'm always up for trying a new light, if it is silent.

As for the triphosphors, BlueMax claims to use a six color system. I don't know enough about CFLs to say whether that is better than a three color system or if it is just advertising, but the colors do pop.

The Ephotoinc stands are perfectly fine. They aren't as good as my Manfrottos, but I got two stands, two double bulb fixtures and two Weifeng umbrellas, plus four useless 45 watt cfls for very cheap. But that's OK, I have a portable, lightweight two stand system for quick setups to go with my heavier stuff. Sometimes cheap is OK.

You can see a comparison chart here that includes HomeDepot, etc., but it does not included the 5000K Maxlight, just the "warm" one which has the same CRI.
Sunwave also scores high.
http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/BlueMax_cfl_comparison.htm

@DrDave
I haven't found high CRI ratings to be a very reliable means of judging fluorescents or LED lights. CRI isn't a physical property, it's a somewhat dated measurement specification that is supposed to indicate how closely a light source approximates a black body radiating at a specific color temperature. The problem with applying it to the 5000K MaxLite is that it's at the bottom end of the color temperature range covered by the CRI tests. The standard illuminant used in those tests has a color temperature of 6500K, which is more closely matched to fluorescents with higher color temperatures. This has created an opportunity for manufacturers to game the CRI by fine-tuning a lamp to generate a high score regardless of how well it produces a balanced spectrum.

In practice, there's no substitute for examining frames shot with your own camera, using a light source in practical conditions. Viewing a light directly can be misleading since your eyes will automatically color-correct it for you, making even highly tinted light appear balanced. The greenish tint of cheap fluorescent lights may not become noticeable until you compare footage with higher quality lamps. In the critical skintone and mustard ranges, the 5000K MaxLight produced the most balanced results on the GH2 with the right amount of warmth for my taste.

This must be CRI 100:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Spiral-Fotolampe-Energiesparlampe-35W-5400K-Tageslicht-/110649158488?_trksid=p4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo%3DPI.WATCH%26its%3DC%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D15%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5023453269429671992

;)=

@spirit "And finally, can you direct the light on these i.e. make them more like a spotlight/add barn doors etc" Basicly no. But you could try to add a large plastic fresnel like this one:

http://www.otto.de/Homeactive-TV-Lupe/shop-de_dpip_A4L1Z6P/;sid=LhXXWodGrVJ1WMm2rQvWWoc5oCQGkvEAyABNK0vCaxOoprgLyGjk8xsLaxOopm_FRCYxsQle?CategoryName=sh12698825&psmAssortment=950&psmArticle=A4L1Z6

Dunno if this helps.. just an idea.

@LPowell how do you power the fluos outdoor?

Wow. You da man.

@lpowell I have to use the bulbs in a session next week, but I would be happy to send a BlueMax to you if you would be interested in doing a shootout. Alternatively, if you can asssure me that the Maxlite makes no noise, I would be happy to purchase one and do a test, but I'm reluctant to buy one unless it is silent since I would have to return it, which is usually a hassle for CFL bulbs.

@DrDave
I'm interested in testing the BlueMax 23-watt floodlights as they're very similar to the MaxLites. The main difference is that the BlueMax are rated at 5500K while the MaxLites are 5000K. The MaxLites also sell for about half the price of the BlueMax.

I'm finding it hard to pin down the technical specs on the BlueMax 23-watt floodlights. While Full Spectrum provides much end-user marketing material, they make a variety of similarly labeled lamps. Here's a link to their online catalog:

http://issuu.com/fullspectrum/docs/fsscat09

Full Spectrum uses "BlueMax HD" branding to refer to a wide range of lamps from 5000K-5900k. I suspect the five-phosphor "scotopic" coating is used exclusively on their 5900K low-efficiency models that feature the highest CRI ratings. I think the 5500K and 5000K models probably use fewer phosphor layers to achieve high-efficiency light output.

A lamp optimized for scotopic viewing would contain more blue phosphor, which would tend to raise its color temperature. That in turn would more closely match the 6500K standard illuminant color temperature, resulting in higher CRI scores. However much this may improve the visual quality of the lamp, it's irrelevant to the GH2, since it lacks the human eye's scotopic sensors. With the GH2's RGBG Bayer sensor, it's only the metameric properties of a light source that make a difference in image quality.

That 4 bulb light light stand seams like a decent value even though it probably doesn't come with the bulbs. I would freak out if it did.

I had to do a lot of research in lighting as well. It was for a house and although I was using it to shoot a music video for those kids, it'll be mostly used by Michael, the boy in the video. I ended up deciding on fluorescent since some lights can consume a whole lot of energy and the last thing I wanted was lights that with have the circuits shut of in which it would need a reset. Looking at YouTube videos on lighting for green screen, I saw one video that was from TubeTape and I ended up having the family get a 3 light kit including the boom and an extra 2 light kit.
http://www.tubetape.net/servlet/the-193/Cool-Flo--dsh--900/Detail
http://www.tubetape.net/servlet/the-191/Cool-Flo--dsh--600/Detail
Since it was bought on one of those 20% off days, I think it was a little less than $500 total for the 5 lights and that includes the 5 85 watt bulbs. 5100 Kelvin.

Since it was a very tight place, the lights weren't in the best positions but the video still ended up being decent. I've shot and edited live multi cam music videos but this was differentt since it was mostly green screen and it was also during the time I was practicing with the Ultra Keyer in Premiere CS5. I almost decided to use After Effect for the keys but that Ultra Keyer is pretty cool. Yes the fluorescent lights seam soft but I still used the diffusers in order for the shadows to not be a problem.

Here's the video.


It was with a GH2(not hacked) +20mm lens. The ISO was at 160 and I set the to Aperture around 2.5 to 2.8. The green screen that we used wasn't anything fancy.

One advice I were to give to people is that although around 85 to 100 watt per lamp is decent, I would advise to get at least 200 watt per light if you intend on having having a higher number Aperture or if you decide to put ND filter on the lens as well.
Personally, if I were to have a business doing green screen videos, I might consider this 5 light kit:
http://www.tubetape.net/servlet/the-618/5100-Watt-Cool-Flo/Detail

If anyone's interested, they have a sale for a set of 2 umbrella light kits for $100 including the bulbs. The sale is for today only.
http://www.tubetape.net/servlet/the-582/Cool-Flo--dsh--600/Detail

They have other items for half off today but unfortunately they did not offer any of their expensive lighting kits for half off. I probably would have ordered if they did!

This whole thing was a complete collaboration with the kids. We basically put ideas together. The flying scene was done by the kids with the Canon S95 camera on their own and Michael edited it. Besides the swimming scenes and trampoline scenes, every other real life scene was shot with the S95 that they used.



Here are 2 good deals from other companies:
http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Digital-Continuous-Softbox-Lighting/dp/B001P7G0ZQ/ref=sr_1_18?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1324865249&sr=1-18

http://www.amazon.com/Fancierstudio-Lighting-Hairlight-Softbox-9004SB2/dp/B0050K3DW2/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1324867446&sr=1-8

@LPowell - did you ever test the BlueMax bulbs? I am about to purchase 20 or so CFL's and trying to figure out the best ones to buy. I'll be using them in 4-bulb heads, and am trying to decide between:

42w Maxlite CFL (84 CRI, 5000K
and
50w BlueMax CFL (93 CRI, 5500K)

On the surface, it would seem that the BlueMax is the way to go, with its color temperature for mixing with daylight and CRI, but since I'll be mixing these with fresnels as well, it would be beneficial to not correct as much (more light) and CRI measurements don't say very much about the quality of light that is produced. Has anyone used both?