Best budget dj lights?

Yep, Scotto seems to have turned budget lighting setups into a business, so listen to the man!

Personally one of the reason I don’t do lights (officially, I do have a few LED Par fixtures) is because I think budget lights like the Chauvet or low(er) end ADJ stuff looks the part and gives too little effect for my taste. But that is highly personal.

I spent a small fortune on DJ gear (from booth to PA and from controller to all the small stuff, like cable crates) over the years. I upgraded to where I am now, confident that I can deliver high-end, professional quality gear to an event, justifying the price I charge for rental of the gear. It somehow doesn’t feel right to add low-end, gimmicky lighting to this setup. I am saving up for a very compact but high(er) end lighting setup, so I am skipping the first step of buying stuff like Scotto describes. Anything with mini, micro, glow in the dark or something in the name kinda drops of my radar.

Again, it’s budget version how bad you want to own stuff. Scotto decided on a business model that involved having stuff to work with without a budget or desire to start pro-level in order to keep a certain level of pricing up while introducing himself into his future market. A fair choice to make.

If you only need lights occassionally, it’s better to rent stuff (perhaps there is a Scotto type in your area?). Once you figure out how often and for what kind of money you could rent out gear if you owned it yourself, you’ll probably find yourself with a higher budget and able to get higher end gear, if you so choose.

Good luck with your decisions.

Please don’t revive/bump posts that are this old. If you have a question to which you can not find an answer in previous posts and/or you believe that things may have changed in a year’s time (which it probably did), then make a new post.

On-topic: if you have a really dark room and preferably a hazer they will get you some effect. However, imho, like with PA there is no shortcut to quality. Meaning that there is a reason pro-lighting uses fixtures that cost 10, 20 or more times the price of a budget fixture.

Especially at high end parties like weddings (usually a once in a lifetime affair with quite a budget) I would not want to be there with 100 dollar lights. Also lights are only as good as the people controlling them. So if you decide to add lighting to your gear, be prepared to find a friend that is willing and able to be your LJ (light jockey). If you set all these budget things to sound mode or automatic, it really feels disconnected from the music.

Another thing is that setting up lights takes a disproportionate amount of time for the extra money you can usually charge for it. You can easily spend an hour and a half setting up the lights properly and an hour taking it all down. And there is just no way you can recoup that usually.

Again, just my personal opinion.

The only lights I usually bring of my own are a few LED par cans that I use to uplight a few walls, columns or trees/plants. If the customer wants lighting, I rent (including operator!).

You are welcome. When I ended my reply with “I rent”, that implies that I quoted the customer separately for light/operator and they had a choice to accept or decline. Either way bringing in lights or not does not effect my bottom line.

Since I have a deal with rental companies in my area I actually get a 10-20% kickback from their rental fee, which I find reasonable to compensate for time and effort spent determining what the customer wants – lightwise -, asking the rental company for a quote and adding it to my overall quote, coordinating with the rental company, instructing the LJ, etx.

As for “wondering if you should have some of your own”, I would like to say the following (all this in general, not specifically for you). When comparing rental equipment vs owning your own, you should always compare the same gear. And you should consider that, just like a rental company, you should make the return on investment needed. Buying high end gear will cost lots of money in advance and only if you rent out as much as rental companies will you recoup your money in a timely fashion and end up making a little profit on your gear and getting paid for your time.

Also a rental company will have a broader range of lighting gear than you can afford. Meaning you can fine-tune the lighting to match the type and theme of an event. And you can upscale if it’s a bigger venue.
So rental really is your friend. If a customer is not willing to pay what any regular rental company would charge for lighting, I won’t do lighting.

If you play out and present yourself as professional, go and act professional. And that includes valuing your own qualities to a certain level. It will mean you will have to say no to a few cheapskate customers, but those are the ones that will squeeze your for the last dollar of discount and be moaning and bitching about things all night long anyway (I speak from long experience). You will start playing more and more higher end parties, where people are willing to pay for quality and more appreciative if you deliver on your quality promise.

So in a sense it is also a choice if you want to be at the bottom fighting all the other bottom-feeders willing to DJ for next to nothing and willing to even bring their own (sound and light) gear or if you want to build a reputation as a high end performer with matching gear.

As usual, just my 3 cents worth.

You are welcome and good luck. Keep on spinning!