Cool Lights or Alt. Flo Lighting - Screen Grabs/footy

[NOMADIC]

So I looked for threads for footage or screen grabs of things shot using the cool lights or any other alternative flo lighting rigs (not diy), BUT, i can't seem to find any.

After shooting a 5 day event, i got a phatty paycheck coming, and i wanna get some lights for a documentary im working on...

I want to get something with good construction, and that as product support incase it breaks, or I just need new parts. I am really digging the cool lights, but I want to see some grabs or footage with them first.

im open for other products too. fyi: my budget is about 800-1000 bones, and its mainly for interviews and small room scenes...

THANKS
-matt

ps.

 

[Cool Lights]

Hi,

I'm Richard with Cool Lights. There are several users on this board which might speak up. I'll post these photos I took recently just for some reference. I'm also including a photo with the same subject taken with a new product I'm working on with ceramic metal halide which will be a great HMI substitute. You can also see my VLOG too on my site. My two first entries in the "Cool Lights Video Magazine" there were shot with Cool Lights (of course). No color correction in those videos but the quality is a bit reduced for web video compression purposes.

http://www.coollights.biz/wordpress/archives/category/cool-lights-video-magazine

The first included picture was taken with a 5600K CL-255 CRI 88 with a noticeable soft look. The next one with the same subject was taken with a 5200K CRI 80 150w ceramic metal halide fresnel (you'll notice the harder look and more defined shadows as CMH is a hard point light source). The last photo of the flowers was taken with a 3200K CL-255 CRI 88. All pictures are uncorrected "in post" so-to-speak, only compressed and reduced to fit here.

 

[hemophilia]

It's also worth checking out the flolights, such as:

http://www.flolight.com/fl110.htm

...which is dimmable and pretty darn similar to a Kino Diva 200, although the mount isn't as totally awesome as the Kino's ball-joint mount. The flolight 110 with eggcrate and bulbs is ~$435, the Kino Diva 200 with eggcrate and bulbs is ~$585.

-Kevin

 

[NOMADIC]

anyone else?

I looked at the flo lights, those are pretty cool, I dig the dimable.

Hey Cool lights guy, how is the stablity of the lights on the stands... is there any way they can be mounted to C-stands... as those are so much more convenient on set, and more stable.

 

[Cool Lights]

anyone else?

I looked at the flo lights, those are pretty cool, I dig the dimable.

Hey Cool lights guy, how is the stablity of the lights on the stands... is there any way they can be mounted to C-stands... as those are so much more convenient on set, and more stable.

Very stable on my stands. The leg extension base is wide enough to compensate for the relatively larger mass of a fluorescent fixture at the top. Some users have even used ours on worklight stands with good effects.

As for mounting on a C-Stand you can do it with something like a TVMP adapter (also known as stand to yoke adapter). The hole in our yoke is 3/8" wide as it comes from us. It's made out of 5/8" thick tubular steel which is also a bit different from most of our competitors. What this means though is that your TVMP adapter must have a bolt either sticking out of it that's about 1 1/8" long to be safe and accomodate a lock washer and nut. Perhaps 1" would be okay if you didn't need the lock washer or used a lock nut.

The other choice is a TVMP adapter that has a 5/16" or 3/8" threaded hole in the top. In this case you would stick a bolt down through the yoke and into the TVMP adapter. In all cases, the bottom of the TVMP adapter usually has a 5/8" female hole for a baby spud which is found at the top of most stands used in the USA.

If your stand has a junior adapter at the top you would need other kinds of hardware to adapt that like a junior male to baby spud or junior male to threaded bolt for directly attaching to the yoke.

We are working on offering a TVMP adapter with our fixtures but it isn't ready just yet.

As for dimming, that's a personal choice each has to make. We don't have dimming in our first models--I personally don't see the need. It's a question of whether you think dimming is really that necessary and worth an extra $230 ($215 + average $15 shipping) or so for the 2x55 model. I've worked with dimmable before and didn't think it was worth the extra cost, that's why we came out with the non-dimmable versions first. Dimmable to come later in the year for those that feel they really need it and don't care about extra cost.

 

[JasonFox]

Hey, I've got one of Miracom's 4x55 flos and love it. Don't have experience with other flos, mainly because there's no way I could've spent that kind of money of them. The fixture I got works fantastically, and since it was so economical I was able to afford bulbs in both color temps. Fixture was packed extremely well, too, and I use the box for transport. I'll definitely buy more stuff from Richard as the need arises.

Fox

 

[hemophilia]

I looked at the flo lights, those are pretty cool, I dig the dimable.

Yes, dimmable is awesomely fantastic.

I worked a shoot this weekend that had a pretty reasonable lighting kit... a variety of stuff to choose from. Included in that were two Kino Diva 200's... they were the only piece of kit that got used for EVERY SINGLE SHOT over the course of the weekend. I just hate how sinfully expensive they are, and how much we get nickel & dimed on the little stuff. It's just plain insulting bull*&^% to charge what they do for something like an eggcrate.

The dimmability is clutch though, and is certainly one of the reasons I used it so much. Just being able to get in the habit of instantly dialing in just the right amount of light w/o wasting any time on every single shot-- it's really fantastic. Plus of course the regular benefits of fluoros: low heat, low power consuption, interchangeable daylight/tungsten color-temp bulbs, etc.

I just wish there were some cheaper [yet still decent quality] dimmable fixtures like the Kinos and Flolights.

-Kevin

 

[Cool Lights]

Yes, dimmable is awesomely fantastic.

I worked a shoot this weekend that had a pretty reasonable lighting kit... a variety of stuff to choose from. Included in that were two Kino Diva 200's... they were the only piece of kit that got used for EVERY SINGLE SHOT over the course of the weekend. I just hate how sinfully expensive they are, and how much we get nickel & dimed on the little stuff. It's just plain insulting bull*&^% to charge what they do for something like an eggcrate.

The dimmability is clutch though, and is certainly one of the reasons I used it so much. Just being able to get in the habit of instantly dialing in just the right amount of light w/o wasting any time on every single shot-- it's really fantastic. Plus of course the regular benefits of fluoros: low heat, low power consuption, interchangeable daylight/tungsten color-temp bulbs, etc.

I just wish there were some cheaper [yet still decent quality] dimmable fixtures like the Kinos and Flolights.

-Kevin

There will be another choice in dimmable soon and it will be more reasonably priced.

We're a manufacturer and we don't have middle men between us and our factory like companies that distribute through dealers do (such as flo lights or kino or many of the other usual suspects).

Dealer structures, in order stand up, need higher prices so everyone can get their take. We don't have a huge network of dealers. It's a choice in how you buy. Everytime you buy something its like a vote and if you continue to vote for the old system then the old system stays up.

 

[tverhaar]

Question about Cool Lights

Question about Cool Lights

Miracom / Richard -

I have seen many helpful and knowledgeable posts from you here and I have a couple questions regarding the choices you made in developing your lights. You have mostly developed fixtures that use long flo tubes set sideways as opposed to some companies whose fixtures are set up to use 4-8 compact flo bulbs (spiral or "loop" type) extending outward from the fixture in a more "traditional" bulb set up. Except for your single bulb fixture, you have avoided this arrangement. Why is that? Can you discuss the pros and cons of the different set ups?

Also, because of this choice, you don't have a set up that uses a softbox. Is this because you see a softbox as unneccesary given the natural softness of flo lighting?

Last question - this one about your tube light fixtures... Can they be mounted in a vertical position?

Thanks for any "illumination" you can throw on this subject! :smile:

TVH

 

[Kelly Olsen]

There will be another choice in dimmable soon and it will be more reasonably priced.

I'm just about to dive in and buy a FLO and have been looking at Cool Lights but a less expensive dimmable is really what I have been looking for, so if in fact you are going to have what you just mentioned soon, then that sounds exactly what I have been looking for.

But I don't know how long I can wait for Cool Lights to produce the product and the phrase "soon" has almost always been a term used very loosely by manufacturers.

 

[Cool Lights]

Miracom / Richard -

I have seen many helpful and knowledgeable posts from you here and I have a couple questions regarding the choices you made in developing your lights. You have mostly developed fixtures that use long flo tubes set sideways as opposed to some companies whose fixtures are set up to use 4-8 compact flo bulbs (spiral or "loop" type) extending outward from the fixture in a more "traditional" bulb set up. Except for your single bulb fixture, you have avoided this arrangement. Why is that? Can you discuss the pros and cons of the different set ups?

tverhaar,

You're right of course. I thought long and hard about all this when I was developing all this stuff last year. There were a couple of reasons.

First reason: its really hard to find quality spirals in the color temperatures and CRI's we all agree are usable for video work. I can find all the mediocre ones I want over here at 2700K or 6500K. I had several 200w / 5600K bulb samples custom made for me and most were klunkers. Finally I had one I really thought would be the one we would offer and then it started intermittently flickering during my testing. It's so much easier to offer a quality setup when you control the ballasts and the bulb production and its much harder to control ballasts with the spirals which are self-ballasted and they really don't have a lot of physical space to work with in the package meaning that the ballast is really simple.

Second reason: For sure the spiral lamp models are really simple and can be made quite a bit cheaper. One thing that bothers me about them though--especially the ones where the bulbs are really close to each other is the part that's not getting out to the world but just shining over on its brother (or sister if you prefer) bulb next to it. I prefer the model where most of the spiral is exposed to a reflector.

When you have 4, 6, 9, 12, or whatever bulbs all crowded together, I wonder about the efficiency of the inner parts of all those bulbs, not making it out to the reflector. With biax lamps its easier to design a reflector that exposes much of the backside of the bulb too.

Third reason: You really need the softbox reflector to go with one of those fixtures so you at least get some large reflection area out to the subject. Our softlight series just comes in one package and IS the softbox--no need to setup another reflector.

Fourth reason: While I personally don't mind using a non-dimmable fixture, I recognize there are parts of the market that do want dimmable and I'm not just making these for me. You can't do dimmable very well with those spiral fixtures. It's impossible with the spirals available today. You can do dimmable easily with the choices I've made so far however.

55w biax lamps can be either dimmable or non-dimmable based on the ballast that's driving them. Put in the more expensive dimmable ballast and whatever other ancillary controller stuff (DMX, manual dimmer pot, etc). you need and you've got a dimmable fixture using the same housing, reflectors, sockets, wiring, bulb clips and most importantly, same bulbs.

So, this means we can take our current infrastructure we've built up and just change out the ballasts and add a dmx controller and we've got a whole other "Softlight Dimmable Series" that's going to be very competitive with many of these other higher end studio biax fixtures--all without having to open up new manufacturing tooling and models which is costly.

I'm not saying we won't eventually do a multi-spiral fixture. It seems really easy too--just a very simple housing and a few E26 sockets and some switches. I doubt even britek could screw that up--but maybe they'll find a way. I imagine the reason some people like these is the perception that they are more portable perhaps. It's hard to say whether they really are or not. You still have to take the bulbs out to transport either one of them to be safe.

I wonder whether a more portable, lightweight 4x55 than our current studio model CL-455 wouldn't be more valuable and efficient though?

Also, because of this choice, you don't have a set up that uses a softbox. Is this because you see a softbox as unneccesary given the natural softness of flo lighting?

We do have the CL-SFT1 which uses a softbox as its reflector but doesn't need the silk on front. Silk is not really necessary with fluorescent. Also, our Softlight series really are softboxes when you think about it. Want it even more diffused or dimmer?--just add some styrene diffusion material to the front in our slide-in adapter or turn off some of the bulbs. We'll have egg crates later in the year too along with our dimmable models.

Last question - this one about your tube light fixtures... Can they be mounted in a vertical position?

Thanks for any "illumination" you can throw on this subject! :smile:

TVH

Not the way they are now, but what you could do is take off our yoke and mount something like this on the back of our ballast cover:

http://www.filmtools.com/avengerf810.html

and this to mount it to a 5/8" adapter on your stand:

http://www.filmtools.com/5fetofead4.html

Then you have the kino type mounting that's really nice and lets you swing the fixture vertical or horizontally at whatever angle you like.

 

[Cool Lights]

I'm just about to dive in and buy a FLO and have been looking at Cool Lights but a less expensive dimmable is really what I have been looking for, so if in fact you are going to have what you just mentioned soon, then that sounds exactly what I have been looking for.

But I don't know how long I can wait for Cool Lights to produce the product and the phrase "soon" has almost always been a term used very loosely by manufacturers.

Hi Kelly,

I remember you were one of the first people to ask a question on our site after it opened last spring. :thumbsup:

All I can commit to is sometime later this year. It all has to do with getting things timed right to all ship together in one shipment via ocean container. It's the only way to offer products economically. Shipping is just so expensive. Can't go out with less than a full container so we have to get everything developed, manufactured, tested and ready for our next order then run the shipment from China to USA (which takes another 25 days or so on top of our manufacturing time). It's just not a speedy process. Go too fast and you run the risk of putting something out not tested well enough.

It's really a pity we can't just ship to individuals direct from China but its just not cost effective. Way too expensive for air shipment door to door.

 

[USLatin]

My two cents:

Using the two bank Flo lights on a C-stand with a heavy sand bag is inclredibly versatile. I use a 35lbs. bag and can get the light 3/4 of the arm out when not extended vertically and feel completely safe, you can go past thet point easily.
I am sure Cool Lights would work the same way, they can't be far off on weight.

I wanted to wait for Cool Lights to become dimmable and severely regret not having had the chance. They shipped me the wrong temperature bulbs, charged me for tax separately wich scared the crap out of me, I am on my secong FL-220 with a dead switch, and the ballasts on the socond 220 wouldn't fire once... it took severla minutes and many tries. Also, I didn't particularly enjoy their customer service. Sounds like I am out to get them right? But I swear it is all true. Yet another reason to keep checking the Cool Lights site.

 

[Cool Lights]

This is exactly the reason I'm taking my time and doing this right. Dimming adds another layer of complexity to the fixture.

 

[Kelly Olsen]

Hi Kelly,

I remember you were one of the first people to ask a question on our site after it opened last spring.

That's right, I have been watching your company for some time now. You either have a hell of a memory or hell of a data base. I have been SOOO close to jumping in and buying one of your lights. Right on the edge.

 

[Cool Lights]

That's right, I have been watching your company for some time now. You either have a hell of a memory or hell of a data base. I have been SOOO close to jumping in and buying one of your lights. Right on the edge.

I have both a good memory and a good db. :thumbup:

 

[USLatin]

Either that or Kelley is really Rene from Flo lights spying on you... rogar-SunGlass(DBG

 

[tverhaar]

Richard - Thanks so very much for the very detailed and long explanation. Above and beyond the call of duty and EXTREMELY helpful to those of us trying to optimize our investment in good lighting. There is so much in your post I'll have to take a lot of time to reread and digest it but I just wanted to say "THANKS!" for the info.

Best,
TVH

 

[Cool Lights]

Richard - Thanks so very much for the very detailed and long explanation. Above and beyond the call of duty and EXTREMELY helpful to those of us trying to optimize our investment in good lighting. There is so much in your post I'll have to take a lot of time to reread and digest it but I just wanted to say "THANKS!" for the info.

Best,
TVH

No problem. My approach to marketing is educational based so it's just part of what I'm doing.

 

[tverhaar]

Spiral Bulbs

Spiral Bulbs

tverhaar,

its really hard to find quality spirals in the color temperatures and CRI's we all agree are usable for video work. I can find all the mediocre ones I want over here at 2700K or 6500K. I had several 200w / 5600K bulb samples custom made for me and most were klunkers. Finally I had one I really thought would be the one we would offer and then it started intermittently flickering during my testing. It's so much easier to offer a quality setup when you control the ballasts and the bulb production and its much harder to control ballasts with the spirals which are self-ballasted and they really don't have a lot of physical space to work with in the package meaning that the ballast is really simple.

Richard - Questions, questions, questions - answers beget questions!

I have come across spirals at up to 105 watts that claim 5000K color but they do claim CRI at only 82-84. Do you suggest that the 5000K spirals from 40 watts and up are suspect as far as performance and reliability or is the low 80's CRI what you don't like about them? Are the ones offered at the bulb vendors on the web the same ones you rejected? I understand what you are saying about controlling the ballasts, but on the other hand, if the spirals get to be pretty consistent overall, you can always replace the occassional stinker for 15 bucks, give or take. Yes?

Just as an experiment, I did buy one of the Britek 4-bulb/spiral softbox units (the bigger head wasn't yet available) and it doesn't seem too bad so far. I'll post more info after I have had a chance to play with it. I like the "sofbox" form factor and the price (about $110 with soft reflector box and stand) was pretty attractive. One problem is that the bulbs are apparently 6400K, so they don't really "play well" with other lamps.

Again - thanks for the great info.