Calumet Light Kit -New to lighting

I've read all the posts and just wanted an opinion. Calumet has this Smith Victor 3 light set with a mini boom for 259.99. I thought it would be nice as a starter light set. I don't want to do the work lights because those get too hot and I don't want to even chance a fire starting. I have the rebate from my Canon set to spend so I figured this would be good. It has everything to get started and I was going to turn my living room of my apartment into a small shooting area. Here is the link:

http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/SV4600.html

Opinons?

I think it's the same thing as the worklights. They don't state what kind of lights are they, but probably the same kind as they worklights.... so it's almost the same thing.

You'll switch to strobes eventually. Why not get a few low powered ones and then use them as rimlights or hairlights as you upgrade?

ironbelle wrote in post #2841611
I've read all the posts and just wanted an opinion. Calumet has this Smith Victor 3 light set with a mini boom for 259.99. I thought it would be nice as a starter light set. I don't want to do the work lights because those get too hot and I don't want to even chance a fire starting. I have the rebate from my Canon set to spend so I figured this would be good. It has everything to get started and I was going to turn my living room of my apartment into a small shooting area. Here is the link:

http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/SV4600.html

Opinons?

If you get a 500 Watt or 1000 Watt light, it will get hot. It does not matter if it is a "worklight" or a light specifically designed for photography.

The unit "Watt" (a Joule per second) is not a rating of light power, but a unit of energy per unit time.

So, a 500 Watt worklight will be dumping 500 Joules of energy into the room ever second. And likewise, a 500 Watt light designed for photography will be dumping the exact same 500 Joules of energy per second into the room.

The photographic lights are designed in a manner to accept light modifiers in a way that are less likely to cause fires.

But, anything that produces that much energy has some propensity to start fires. Just because they are photographic lights does not alleviate a significant fire hazard.

Certainly if you get lights that have lower Wattage ratings they will be cooler.

But, bottom line a Watt is a Watt.

Seriously look at flash gear if you are concerned about fire potential.

In addition, flash just produces far more usable light without roasting your subjects (and you) and without the associated fear of fires.

Enjoy! Lon