Diy Kino Flo's

[Mr. Blonde]

Has anyone dabbled in a diy kino system? Any info would be appreciated. :thumbsup:

[Jay Rodriguez]

I was thinking of doing one..... Headed out to the hardware store to buy the parts (and to figure out how to build it) but decided to build the skater dolly instead.

[Ted Ramasola]

Coffee,

Hows your plywood skater comin up? If you like this, save some of the plywood for this project.:)


Mr. Blonde

Not exactly kino lookin thing but try to see if you like this. Its DIY made of plywood, metal, aluminum and diff fabrics for the skirt, reflector and diffuser.
holds nine daylight balanced tornado flos.

Sample images show how small the opening you can get.

http://www.stickypod.com/stickypod_upload/uploads/DIY%20flo-softbox.jpg

[Justyn]

Ted,

How close are you to finishing this up and posting the plans. Once again.. you have done a great job on something. Have you thought of building a kino. I have 2 already and I love them.. Especially for HD which seems to love the darks. I tell you what though, I'd love to see if anybody is making anything like an HMI... and another thing I think I'm going to try to build is a overhead/butterfly. I'll buy the surfaces and build the frame myself and should save some cash.


J

[Ted Ramasola]

J,
Yah, I thot of building something similar, with an elongated aluminum body, but with lights that anybody can buy, anywhere. I'm still finetuning the adapter tho coz I got a shoot comin up. In case you've noticed those still life bottles are the same ones I used in testing the adapter and the plywood skater. Remnants of the holidays!

[rpster88]

i read an article in DV about a company that makes HMI kits that converts your standard floodlight into a simple HMI setup for something like $150, too. i just dont remember who done it.

[gumonstro]

Next Nobel Prize I´ll vote TEDDYBEAR!!

[Justyn]

Rpster... We'll have to hypnotize you to figure it out... We need that hidden secret info. I'm sure it is out there.. and we could save thousands and thousands...

[Mr. Blonde]

Teddybear, that looks great! You truly are a man of many talents. Please do share your plans on how you made this. Also teddy, do you have any idea as to whether the lamps used on kinos are "special" or if they can be found in an average place?

[Ted Ramasola]

Mr. Blonde,

I got the idea of my softbox from two items, one is our photostudio department's bronco flashunits with those big "impaflex" softbox, and this fluolighting system
by SFL, click to view fluolight system (http://www.avenuephotoinc.com/catalog.php?pageno=2&cbocat=11&subcat=33). I looked closely and saw that its the same wattage and color balance with those PHILIPPS 23watt spirals! These fixtures are cool daylight balanced so you wont have a problem using them when subjects are also illuminated by window light.

[Justyn]

Mr blonde,

They are special lamps, but I believe the connectors are the same as standard ones. I have two kinos and I bought a stockpile of lamps when I bought them. They come in 3200k and 5500k. They are readily available and cheap. I bought 20 of each in both 2 foot and 4 foot.. so it was like 4 sets total.. 80 lamps and I only paid 130 bucks with shipping. Since I'm still using 2 lamps in each.. the same lamps I put in 2 years ago.. I think this will last me another 20 years.

Also to save some cash, I bought videssence lamps instead of kino. They are the same but cheaper. i also like their units a bit more than kino. They even make a 2k flo hard light now... Very very cool...and bright.


Thanks and Teddy keep on being McGvyer. You are adressing a lot of needs we have.. now if you could only build a HD monitor and a robot/cyborg on-set massage therapist.. we'd all be set.


J

[Shawn Murphy]

Although not the easiest to find, there are a few really great threads on this subject, here's a couple that I remember:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=27275

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=20506

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=25162

http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=26869

[Mr. Blonde]

Cool stuff, thanks everyone!

[JasonFox]

Are there any books/online guides (found some, but not too informative) to shooting with flos? Or is it roughly the same as with hot lights? Can you achieve hard edges with flos using barn doors, flags, etc? The links Shawn gave were great, btw. Thanks.

Fox

[Justyn]

Jason,

I'm sure you'll find a lot online about how to use them. I got them because I do a lot of documentaries and instructional DVDs with untrained actors and the hot lights were always something of a concern to these people.. as well as a liability in schools. Since having owned the flos, I have grown to love them, and if you think of them as a broad source you'll be very happy. They are great for overhead fill as you'll see them often used.. or as a side fill. The throw is very very limited. After like 7 feet something like the next two feet back but the lumens in half. Being that they are cool lights it's great to get some stunning portrait work and awesome for interviews.

You can cut with the barndoors and they have some eggcrates and diffusion. I would recommend ones with dimmable ballasts as well as ones that you can turn lamps on and off. I got the old models which do none of that so I move the lights instead.

Probably the biggest key with flos is this though, they are very delicate. Ya have to make sure the connections are good and then turn it on and or off. Disconnecting while it's hot is bad. I have had fuses blown by people just unplugging or fiddling with the connectors. So also, don't rent them out.. They get beat up really bad. Not good for abuse.


Hope this helps.


J

[JasonFox]

Justyn- Thanks, that does help. I have more questions, but I think I'll move that to the lighting forum.

Fox