Plenty of us are out there trying to ball on a budget, but when you barely have two pennies to rub together, purchasing a lighting kit seems almost entirely out of the question. Almost. In the latest video in his budget lighting series, Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter shows you how to put together a super budget-friendly light kit for just $150, complete with powerful LEDs, light stands, and batteries. Check it out below:


Pike's $150 kit includes:

  • NEEWER CN-304 LED light ($56)
  • NEEWER CN-160 LED light ($33)
  • Battery Kit (Includes 2 batteries and a charger) ($34)
  • Light Stand Kit (includes 2 stands) ($26)
  • Umbrella ($11)
  • Umbrella mount ($7-$11)
  • Diffusion ($0-$8)

(For links to each piece of equipment, check out the description in the video.)

Pike's $500 and $250 kits utilize a lot of the same pieces of equipment as the $150 kit, including the inexpensive battery kit that comes with two batteries and a charger and the light stand. The $250 kit even includes the same NEEWER lights as this one, which comes highly recommended by Pike. We've talked about their many beneficial features in a previous post, like the CN-304's brightness, dimmer, battery level indicator, and wide battery compatibility.

Now, while this kit is limited (you're only getting two lights), it's a great starter kit for beginners. You've got plenty of features and tools, like dimmers, diffusion, and additional power, that will help you practice more professional-level lighting. Though you may not be able to light up a football field or a party scene, it is still going to give you the flexibility to light a wide variety of different shots and make it look good. I mean, if you ask me, it's a hell of a lot better than fishing clamp lights out of your dad's garage and using your buddies as light stands. (That was literally my first lighting kit.)

Source: DSLR Video Shooter