Cool-Light's Blue Line body with "HMI" guts

[puredrifting]

BTW, I would be fine with non-HR. My Joker was non HR and it's no big deal to wait a few minutes.

Dan

 

[Cool Lights]

3 questions for you sir! (I'm a little late to this thread, though I followed it ages ago when it started)...

1) Could you describe the Par lenses (7", right?)... I'm assuming they'll affect beam spread? And is this a "choose one" or "all three" situation? (Mew to pars myself but heck, I can do a lot with just an open face, lenses are icing on the cake...)

2) Are you going to set up a pre-order mailing list/ something along those lines?

and 3) What's your current comparison in wattage for the 575 vs. tungsten output (IE, are we talking 750, 1000, etc... or is the 575 watts the 'comparable" output?)

Thanks -- and count me in!

1). I'll try to post a photograph of the 7" par lenses in the next few days. There are four in that set actually. They are described as: 1). Very narrow spot (clear glass) 2). Narrow spot / stipple glass (slight diffusion) 19 degree round beam shape 3). Medium Flood fewer facets sized 6mm x 22mm 21 x 34 degree oblong beam shape 4). Wide Flood many facets sized 6mm x 12mm 30 x 51 degree oblong beam. In other words, the last two are standard par type lenses. These lenses change out but not as easily as the SportLight ones do.

The 9" par or "SportLight" as I call it has 3 lenses with it that are: 1). stipple glass diffusion wide beam type. 2). Narrow flood 3). Wide Flood. Here are the three SportLight lenses:

They change in and out of the barndoor / lens holder on the front of the light super easy.

2). Pre-orders will be that you actually put money down to buy the product in advance of shipping for a lower price than you would pay when they are in our inventory here. This discount reflects the fact that we won't have a storage charge to keep the item on the shelf and also giving something back for the time value of the money. We'll have product pages on the site and you'll pay 100% for the product to reserve it and the shipping amount from our U.S. warehouse to your address via UPS ground. When the pre-bought items arrive at our US warehouse after our manufacturing process and the ensuing large container shipment to the states, those products are shipped out immediately to the pre-offer customers and the rest are kept on the shelf for regular website orders processed in the same quick time our current orders are.

Those that don't want to pay in advance will be able to pay a higher price and buy from stock when the products hit the states and also hope we have sufficient stock for the item they want.

We're a small company and our resources and capital are limited so we can only spread so far on inventory. The pre-order system allows us to also get a better handle on which products are the ones to spend the most time, resources and capital on. Otherwise, it's a guessing game about what are the most popular products. The more of a particular product that people decide to buy in advance, the more of that product we will also stock for later on our shelves. And the lesser bought products will either be totally "special order only" every six months or so or very little stock will be kept for them.

Another benefit of the pre-order system is that we can fulfill special requests sometimes too. In my travels I see a lot of products and if there's something that people have been wanting and they put in a request, there's always the chance I know where to find it and we can get one of whatever it is for you. Then you take advantage of the relatively inexpensive container shipment to the USA rather than a special point-to-point express shipping fee which is huge from China to the USA.

Lastly, this is a chance for our growing customer base outside of the USA to get direct shipment from China to their country and save quite a bit over our normal process of ship to the states and then to them. A wasteful process. I would count those that have projects in the USA this summer too which I've had several write to me about. Those that are willing to pay the high shipping fee can get a product a bit quicker than the others that can wait a bit. There's a little compensation for the high shipping fee though as the pre-order people, as I mentioned, all get a bit lower prices than those that wait for stock.

3). I only quote actual wattage as the "out front" one and never quote equivalent wattages as my "marketing wattage" like Alzo for instance ;-) Any of the 575w units, fresnel or par is actually drawing 575w and puts out 49,000 lumens or the equivalent of a 2400w tungsten light. So yes, you can get 2400w worth of power in your house without blowing a breaker.

Hope this helps...

 

[Cool Lights]

What about prices for the 1200w models?

Right now sir, I only have one 1200w to offer and thats this "little" item:

This will have to do until I can get the ultimate lower cost model prepared which has been a bit harder than I expected! I'll be offering this for around $2400 during the pre-offer with electronic ballast (I hope to offer hot restrike), cable, barndoors, stand mount as seen above, safety lens and 1 changeable lens. Extra lenses are available but I found them to be pricey and will be about $325 each. It is a 12" lens though. Costs less than similar models but not at the price point I really wanted yet.

 

[Cool Lights]

Hi Richard:

In my cases, I would have used the PAR. I used to own a Joker HMI 1200 watt PAR, it was a great light. I think I paid $2,800.00 used for it, used it for three years and sold it for $3,200.00. HMIs really hold their value.

If you can bring a reliable, good looking HMI to market for the prices you are listing above, you will be a very rich man at some point. HMIs are awesome lights but have been so massively overpriced that very few shooters have used them these days. I sold the Joker because it was large and I rarely used it. I decided that two or three of the smaller fixtures like 800s or 575s would be more practical but I never bought them, they were too expensive.

What is a sportlight? I have never heard that term. It's dimmable? Anything else unique about it?

Will the PAR come with, what, three lenses? A hard case for the head and ballast? If so, where can I sign up, thats a killer deal.

Best,

Dan

Hi Again Dan,

This is what I call the "SportLight 575":

It's my own name I gave it as a play on words for kind of a "sporty spot light"--so to speak. It is a bit pricier than the solution I originally envisioned which is the lower cost par but it also does have some nice features and the craftsmanship is super too.

It is 17" long and has the following accessories with it:

Yes, that's an electronic ballast and its not so heavy, 3 to 4 pounds. It is dimmable to 50% but the focusing mechanism on the back of the unit allows withdrawing the bulb from the reflector by quite a bit so that's another dimming effect which I estimate allows further dimming down to 15% which, I believe is rare for an HMI. Certainly, 50% is the limit with a normal metal halide bulb and ballast of any kind that does electronic dimming just because that's the limit of the bulb. The 575w ballast does have a fan but we will include a long cable to allow moving the ballast to another room from where you're shooting.

This is what the removable back end and focusing mechanism look like:

I'm particularly excited about this part because I think it shows great promise for a future accessory like that found on the K5600 types--a glass protection beaker which would allow you to use the lamp head alone in a softbox or lantern / spacelight configuration.

The price will be $1699 during the pre-offer period and will include all the things shown above including 1 HR bulb. A case will be available too for an extra $150 during pre-offer and higher later. This will be a hard road type case with a trolly and wheels and custom molded foam enclosure for the par, ballast, barndoors and especially those lenses and a couple of bulbs. I do strongly recommend getting the case for a lot of reasons. This par will most likely be in the $1999 to $2199 range after the pre-offer period for those that would rather wait. The case will be $225 later too. I have a drawing of the road case that the case company gave me I can post later when I have a chance to shrink it a bit.

I believe I posted this picture before but this is the lower cost $699 par (with four lenses included) in what I call a "commodity" fixture body which is more commonly available and thus lower cost than the SportLight:

Not a par can and certainly very sturdy. Non-HR only on this model as we can't fit the larger G22 base in at the back without extensive modifications. The ballast on this unit also has a fan but will again include a long cable to allow it to be put in another room.

I'll be posting pictures of all the fresnels soon, both tungsten and the HMI ones.

 

[j]

Drool...

 

[Michael Carter]

1). Pre-orders will be that you actually put money down to buy the product in advance of shipping for a lower price than you would pay when they are in our inventory here.

Sounds good; I'd normally be wary of this setup, but your track record (and your enthusiastic support of this forum) ease my mind!

So... when do we whip out the credit cards? Could we talk you into an email announcement list or something? often, for me (and others I imagine) weeks go by where work keeps us from checking up 'round here. Heck, I'll order one now!

(Not trying to be pushy... I'd hate to miss out on the first round though!)

Thanks, most sincerely, for your work and your attention to all of our questions! -- MC

 

[Cool Lights]

Well I actually have an email list of customers on my site but I've never used it yet. I was saving it for important stuff. So many of these newsletter emails clog my box every day and I never read them. I figure if I send out emails on a regular basis then most might have the same reaction I do and any important messages would be lost.

I think though, that's going to be the best way for now to get the word out because the window will only be open for a while then we have to cut off so we know how many to manufacture, etc. I think everyone that wants a notification should sign up on my website by registering as a customer. That way, you're in the list and be sure you check the "Newsletter" option. Those that are already customers, many of you didn't check that option. You may want to go back and edit your customer record to be sure you'll receive the notification. Our system will only send emails to those that have this option checked--so that's important. I hate spam and I take this whole "opt in" thing pretty seriously.

You'll have no fear of your name being sold to someone else though as we don't share our list and we don't even take advertising on the site yet (although when I find complimentary partners at some point that is an option).

I think I may put up the first pages this weekend to make sure there aren't any bugs in the new system. We've been revamping the site a bit and are going to be putting those changes out soon on the live site. The first pages I'll probably put up will be for the fluorescent units we're out of stock on now like the CL-455 and CL-655. I may also put up pages for the CL-455MD and CL-655MD which are the manual dim versions with the more expensive continuously dimming ballasts. From an outward appearance point of view, the only difference will be a dimming dial next to the power switches.

By the way, if you're comfortable with working with wiring and electricity, it's totally possible to upgrade a 255, 455 or 655 to a dimming model. I may even put up some pages for some upgrade kits but I think you should only attempt this if you're comfortable with this sort of thing. It will also require drilling a 3/8" hole (for the dimming pot) and another two or three for the shorter dimming ballast mounting holes in the chassis and that's a delicate operation that can only be done right once ;-) . Aahhh! I don't know if this is a good idea or not... We won't take your old ballasts as trade-in either but I would keep them as at some point in the future we'll have a way for you to use them.

Anyway, we still have CL-255s in stock so no need for a pre-order there and I don't think we'll offer a CL-255MD unless there's some demand because most people seem to want the higher wattages and also dimming wouldn't seem to be as important in a 2 x 55 unit--but if anyone disagrees please feel free to write in and let me know. That's how we know what to offer; when people aren't shy.

Once I see these first pages going without bugs, the shipping quotes working, etc.; I'll probably start putting up the others like for the tungsten fresnels and the HMI fresnels and then finally all the pars. Hopefully they'll all be up within the next two weeks. Then we'll keep it all open for about 2 to 3 weeks or so. In the meantime, we're manufacturing pre-requisite parts that are necessary to the manufacturing of the other items and nothing can take place anyway until we have all those parts. For instance, ballasts are all being manufactured right now as are a new batch of flo tubes.

Those in other countries beside the USA--I don't know to what extent I can automate a quoting process for shipping to you, so the old fashioned way will probably be necessary where we quote on an individual basis the shipping for the products you want to your country. We've had really bad luck with the accuracy of the automated international quoting systems from UPS and especially USPS so I'm still handling a lot of the international orders manually. In addition, air cargo may be a better way to go if you don't mind picking the item(s) up at your local international airport. All this applies to people in the USA too that want quicker shipping direct from China because of your summer projects and needing the goods ASAP.

I don't know if the portable flo's will be in this time or not. It seems to be taking a while longer than I hoped to get the case people we've been working with to come up with what I want. So its primarily a cosmetic problem at this point of getting something attractive, sturdy and lightweight. The lolipop is also doable, it is just a really big investment of several thousand in tooling to make it happen. From an electronic/electrical standpoint we already have that down of course.

 

[Macville]

I don't know if the portable flo's will be in this time or not. It seems to be taking a while longer than I hoped to get the case people we've been working with to come up with what I want. So its primarily a cosmetic problem at this point of getting something attractive, sturdy and lightweight. The lolipop is also doable, it is just a really big investment of several thousand in tooling to make it happen. From an electronic/electrical standpoint we already have that down of course.

What was the price range you were thinking of for the portable flo's? (they are gonna be like kino divas correct?)

Matthew

 

[Cool Lights]

Well actually I'll know more about that after this weekend as I'm expecting a revised fixture early next week with some changes I demanded. If its interesting and they did what I want then I'll post pictures of the result.

At this point I'm actually thinking of offering two portable versions: 1) the revised kino clone with improvements 2) a suitcase model that is itself a suitcase with accessories and bulb holder in the lid. I'm thinking that the portable kino 4x55 clone could be in the $599 range with manual non-dmx dimming. A carrying case would be extra but probably not too expensive at all.

I won't offer a 2x55 unless there is more demand. To compare, our studio model CL-455MD should be about $499 which I'm sure many will agree is a new price point for a dimming 4x55. The kino clone model is just a bit more expensive to us to begin with than the studio model which we have complete control over the costs.

 

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

What about a non-dimming one? Most grips I know just use the 4banks without any dimming. Dimming introduces color shift. I hate it myself. If I want less light, I just get my gaff to drop to two of the four and then diffusion on top of that.

 

[Cool Lights]

I have considered that too of course. But we still can't offer it at the price of our current studio models because of the cost issues of the fixture itself. I think the non-dimming 4x55 could be made available for around $425. If I can bring that model in completely under my control later, the price can drop for sure.

I am pretty sure our suitcase model though can be brought in less than the kino clone and closer to the studio model prices as I'll have more control over that from the start. Will still be a bit higher though because of the fact that it's a carrying case built-in with foam padded space for the bulbs, etc.

 

[hemophilia]

I feel that the 2x55w Kino diva 200 is just about the handiest light on the planet. And one of the big reasons is the light weight-- which is doesn't sound like your suitcase model will attain. So, I'm just one potential customer, but my interest is mostly in the lighter fixtures, both the 4-bulb and a 2-bulb.

-Kevin

 

[Cool Lights]

I feel that the 2x55w Kino diva 200 is just about the handiest light on the planet. And one of the big reasons is the light weight-- which is doesn't sound like your suitcase model will attain. So, I'm just one potential customer, but my interest is mostly in the lighter fixtures, both the 4-bulb and a 2-bulb.

-Kevin

I actually do feel its possible to make the suitcase model very lightweight given the materials I'm trying to use. But we'll know more about it pretty soon when I get some more concrete stuff back from the company I'm working with. Certainly the kino clone we have is about as lightweight as anything can be and, I think, certainly more durable than the kino so really an improvement. We'll see more with the improved fixture when I receive it next week.

I think you're more interested in the dimming versions given your previous messages on the subject. The reason I didn't get too enthusiastic about the 2x55 is we just haven't seen so much demand for that this year. Seems the sweet spot is the 4x55, then the 6x55 with 2x55 coming in last. I ordered a lot of 2x55's for inventory because I believed it would be more popular but it hasn't been the case. I hope more people will chime in on the subject because it's certainly nice to hear real reactions about this stuff from potential customers.

 

[Spartacus]

I actually also can think of the 2x55 as nice handy lights, but their fragility outweights their lightness for me (I´d rather prefer a HMI flood with easy collapsable softbox for that, remenber Richard :happy
Lightness in the sence of portabilty of course (walking around with it, travelling by bus, plane, train, whatever...)
What I could really use and what should be dang cheap to produce, is a single 55w fixture, with build in e-ballast, , like a professional version of those worklights.
Sth to bring in as a handheld fill, eyelight, sth you can rig just anywhere because its so lightweight...
Maybe even make it battery powered...
Maybe design it like a long Totalight, just out of plastic...

 

[Cool Lights]

Wouldn't an LED panel be better for that? No question we could do something like that but seems like the LED panel would be smaller, lighter and easier to operate off batteries too. I'm definitely planning something in the LED area which I think you'd find far more interesting for that use.

 

[Spartacus]

Sure, why not, just thought such a single flow fixture could be done easily and fast and could sell cheap and much better than going with a HomeDepot fixture...
But I love my VidLeds and if you can come up with a large surface panel like the 1x1 from Litepanels, this would be great!
The new Luxeon Rebel and the Seoul P4 (with the XR-E chip) seem to be the brightest LEDs out there right now, but thy are too pricey for a panel setup...

 

[Cool Lights]

My LED product will definitely be a panel and I think it's what you're looking for. You see, I doubt the effectiveness of the 55w tube and ballast under battery power. It also means we need a DC capable ballast too; as an inverter added to the mix to convert battery DC to AC power is inherently inefficient and only contributes to wasting the batteries energy.

I think the LED may be better in that particular instance if a battery might be needed at all--or we need a DC operable ballast. But even so, the voltage will still be higher than the 12v required by LEDs thus the battery would still need to be a beefier one.

 

[USLatin]

Richard, the 3-5 minuute re-strike wait... is that based on a particular ambient temperature? I suppose ambient affects this and while I suppose the difference might not be great I will still ask out of curiosity:

_would a very hot day under the sun make this wait significantly longer?


like Shawn said, I can wait that!

 

[Cool Lights]

My understanding is that no, it doesn't depend upon ambient temperature. I believe I could wait too.

 

[bena]

Any ETA on when these new lights might be avaliable?

Thanks
Ben