Coollights 1200 HMI Par?

Macville

Macville

Well-known member
Hey Richard, I was gonna email you about this, but I thought other people might like to know... How are you doing on the 1200 HMI par? I saw the 150 and 575 HMI's and love the pricing. Are you still hoping for $900 for the low end 1200 par? Even if it was $1000 or $1200, it would still be pretty affordable.

Thanks,

Matthew
 
Hi Matthew,

What's happening there is I've just run out of time and energy to work on it right now as I'm managing so much already to try to get our other stuff out in time. We'll just have to work on those later.

In any case, I don't see getting a 1200w par in the $1200 range or under any time soon. The choices I had were not great and testers said they would rather pay more for a full solution rather than a low cost one as presented. So most of the stuff will hit in the $2000 range consequently.

What we have now is a special order 1200w arrisun clone that will be around $2900 by the time you get all the lenses, the pro 575w/1200w ballast, cable and bulb. Not inexpensive but not the price of an Arri either. One thing holding that up is finding the lenses a bit less expensively than they currently are which hikes the price even more.

The only thing we'll have close to the $1200 range will be a 1200w compact fresnel arri clone at some point in the near future with a semi-pro 1200w electronic ballast and a $1900 version with a pro 575/1200 ballast.
 
Cool Lights said:
The only thing we'll have close to the $1200 range will be a 1200w compact fresnel arri clone at some point in the near future with a semi-pro 1200w electronic ballast and a $1900 version with a pro 575/1200 ballast.
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Okay, interesting to hear. All I'd really like is a under $2k 1200 solution. A fresnel would be more than fine with me as I'd be able to control the light better. Either two of the $1900 ones, or one of them and one of your 575's would be perfect for most of the stuff I shoot. Anything more or bigger for a shoot, I'd just rent for the client. I hope you can have it done by Feb, that's when I'm spending about $10k on grip/lighting gear, and would like to buy HMI's.

Matthew
 
Macville said:
Okay, interesting to hear. All I'd really like is a under $2k 1200 solution. A fresnel would be more than fine with me as I'd be able to control the light better. Either two of the $1900 ones, or one of them and one of your 575's would be perfect for most of the stuff I shoot. Anything more or bigger for a shoot, I'd just rent for the client. I hope you can have it done by Feb, that's when I'm spending about $10k on grip/lighting gear, and would like to buy HMI's.

Matthew
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Yes, what is the ETA on the $1900 version?
 
We just need three more of me to get all this done. ;-) I'm running around like a chicken with (blah blah blah) between 14 different providers right now to get this next group of products. If I had one more I think I'd burst. I just need to get this group of products out -- particularly the plastic portable flo's, so I can get more time on the 1200w HMI solutions both pro and semi-pro ballast versions and par and fresnel. That's all quite a project in and of itself and should start after October.

I think we can get the fresnel by February as I do have someone working on the sample unit for me right now. I hope to have pictures soon. You won't be disappointed in it--it has a very familiar look to it. Also, I'm sure we can get the par out fairly soon too if people can wait on the lens set until later. I've shown pictures of that as well and it's quite spectacular.

The 1200w semi-pro ballast is sitting on a bench now waiting for a better housing for it as well as some more testing time to make sure its reliable. The 1200w pro ballast will be the same 575w/1200w unit mentioned in another thread. The 1200w semi-pro will have fan noise just like the 575w semi-pro.
 
No actually more like 5K. Let's do the math and see why:

5000w * 20LPW (tungsten Lumens Per Watt--at the best ) - 100,000 lumens

1200w * 86LPW (per HMI bulb specs) - 110,000 lumens

Yes, that's right a 5K worth of light and you can still do it on most modern household circuits of 15a and under. The 1200w is about the last accessible solution before you start needing special power considerations. It's not a classic Cool Light, but it is a darn efficient one and relatively cool next to a 5K...

:thumbsup:
 
Cool Lights said:
No actually more like 5K. Let's do the math and see why:

5000w * 20LPW (tungsten Lumens Per Watt--at the best ) - 100,000 lumens

1200w * 86LPW (per HMI bulb specs) - 110,000 lumens

Yes, that's right a 5K worth of light and you can still do it on most modern household circuits of 15a and under. The 1200w is about the last accessible solution before you start needing special power considerations. It's not a classic Cool Light, but it is a darn efficient one and relatively cool next to a 5K...
Click to expand...

That's why I would rather have 2 1200's rather than 2 575's. 2400 watts of light is nice, but 5000 watts is far more usable for when you are indoors trying to equal out the outside light coming in through a window.

When it comes time, your probably going to get a decent sized order from me (let's see I need 2-3 diivas, 2 1200's, and maybe a few 1k's!)

Matthew
 
Macville said:
That's why I would rather have 2 1200's rather than 2 575's. 2400 watts of light is nice, but 5000 watts is far more usable for when you are indoors trying to equal out the outside light coming in through a window.

When it comes time, your probably going to get a decent sized order from me (let's see I need 2-3 diivas, 2 1200's, and maybe a few 1k's!)

Matthew
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We're also planning on a "1K killer" CDM too. Its a 250w metal halide like our 150w unit which is a "650w killer". Will be in the same package as the 1000w unit but will only be daylight color in the beginning. I have the ballast and the fixture, just looking for the best ceramic bulb to offer with it. That ballast is completely silent like the 150w unit and is also capable of driving a 200w HMI type fixture which would be good for a future pocket par if we can ever get that going. I don't know pricing yet on the 250w CDM.
 
Hey Richard congrats on the additions to the products page!!!

That price is even lower that what you estimated! on all of them, actually not just the one I want... now if I only had the money... soon I hope!
 
The lights look and sound great. Maybe this has been answered in one of the other posts on these HMIs but I didn't see it. What kind of connectors come with the systems (fresnel and the possible par) on the head cables? Are they the same Veem style connectors that most current pro systems have?

Thanks
 
TMFilms said:
The lights look and sound great. Maybe this has been answered in one of the other posts on these HMIs but I didn't see it. What kind of connectors come with the systems (fresnel and the possible par) on the head cables? Are they the same Veem style connectors that most current pro systems have?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I hate it when I have to say I don't know about a brand but I've never heard of Veem before. I've always just called then "military" connectors because you see these used a lot in military style equipment because of their toughness. Here's the one I chose to use on the 575 unit:

MilspecConnCm1.jpg


I went through lots of models at a local electronics market (you should see this place--but that's another story). I liked this one because its not only tough but I love the way it has a "twist-lock" type of action.

The 150w unit will be similar but smaller.

On the 150w, the cable is limited to about 9 feet and can't be longer because of the limitations of the ballast. So, there is only one connector and a cable permanently coming out of the fresnel. The 575w and above have connectors on both ends (fresnel or par and ballast) in the name of having lots of different cable types in the future.
 
Cool Lights said:
I hate it when I have to say I don't know about a brand but I've never heard of Veem before. I've always just called then "military" connectors because you see these used a lot in military style equipment because of their toughness. Here's the one I chose to use on the 575 unit:

> PIC WUS HERE <

I went through lots of models at a local electronics market (you should see this place--but that's another story). I liked this one because its not only tough but I love the way it has a "twist-lock" type of action.

The 150w unit will be similar but smaller.

On the 150w, the cable is limited to about 9 feet and can't be longer because of the limitations of the ballast. So, there is only one connector and a cable permanently coming out of the fresnel. The 575w and above have connectors on both ends (fresnel or par and ballast) in the name of having lots of different cable types in the future.
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Richard, one noob question for you all mighty light god... LOL!!

The cables... so... I have some extensions.. but normal house plug type stuff with the positive, negative and ground i a triangle... wall socket stuff... my Q: The fancier production cable stuff is all between the lights and ballast right... or is the cable from the ballast to the power source also the nuclear explosion proof type?

:grin:
 
LOL. No it doesn't have to be EMP shielded. It's just a normal type power plug. All our new power plugs though will be at least 15 feet long based on customer feedback.
 
cool beans so long as it is normal plug in the end and crocodile bite proof I am good to go!!

15ft. sounds nice... I got a couple that are a few feet shorter than that and it becomes truly annoying when flying them as high as the stands will go if I am trying to go without having to go get an extension when I am right next to a plug. However with the ballasts I guess the length is a necessity or you have to fly the ballast too which can become annoying. Is that the reasoning behind it?
 
The longer power cord is mostly relevant on the tungsten fresnels and our fluorescents.

With the HMI's it's not as relevant I think since you have two cords and the ballast is in the middle of the two. With the 150w CDM fresnel as its ballast to lamp cable is only about 9 feet long, your ballast will normally end up being at the base of the light stand and the power cord will go another 15 feet to wherever you get power from. On the 575w, power cord is probably more moot as you'll most likely want the ballast located a ways from the lamp head with the longer ballast to lamp cable--that's the most important thing on that model with the semi-pro ballast.
 
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