$150 for a 575 HMI par?

FilmDude said:
Got my second HMI in the mail today, this time with used bulb, NO BUZZ! woooo! So that problem is solved, now that I have the 50' header option, I dont think I even need to worry about modding the fans anymore either, very quiet light now. I'm happy

So has anyone gotten a real answer yet as to the UV protection of these lenses? I'm really hoping they are because I haven't been using any UV gel, any thoughts on this? I would assume that because these were used in the mass of 50+ heads going at the same time in a public space, that these would be UV protected, as for everyones eyes would be hit with massive UV at a car show if not... but you never know?
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They wouldn't even sell me a used bulb. What gives?
 
Aharon Rothschild said:
Combining lower strength -green and +O is probably the better way to go. I went with a straight -green correction and that needed -3/4 green to get to neutral. I'll try it the other way and let you know how that went.....
Using gels on non linear spectrum lighting is going to be a rough approximation / whatever looks pleasing as these are spikey outputs and these gels are designed for the smooth output of a tungsten light. The upshot of the test for me was that this is very usable for my needs, and that I can mix with daylight.
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All of my sorta-DIY HID stuff, the 400 moguls and the Enliten - 1/4 or 1/2 CTO and a touch of minus green and done. Very little loss, and I think the CTO vs. minus green is friendlier to skin tones.

The best way to dial this in is to take a raw still and open in photoshop - the color temp slider is your CTO/CTB, and the tint slider is your plus/minus green. Just by playing with the sliders you can get a very good idea of what gels you need. Gel the light, take another raw, see how close you are and play with the sliders again. Very quick way to suss it out. I add a strip of painter's tape to the fixture or globe box and mark the gel combos with a sharpie.
 
Anyone know a good place to buy cheaper bulbs that dont buzz? I didn't take my head apart yet to see what brand my non-buzzy bulb is yet, but figured I'd ask now before I do just in case someone knows already
 
The $35 bulb ("Roccer" brand) I bought on ebay buzzes pretty loudly. I wonder if it will die down after some use? Color seems to be about on par with the used bulbs.
 
Did another shoot with mine, but haven't made the extension yet. Location, put the light in the next room with the spot lens and blasted it into diffusion.

Badass little light for the cash, though I lost a stop with the distance and added a 400 mogul HID - and still picked up some ballast noise (the mogul ballast doesn't use a fan). Got to order some powercon stuff!

There are a bunch of Enlitens on the bay, but I think $325 or so. Hard to swallow after $150!
 
The first 2 globes are G22 base. The 2nd two are 400 watts - the G22 definitely won't work in the source 4 mods, I doubt the 400 watt will either.

Also, at least the Enliten ballast isn't compatible with HR bulbs.
 
Michael Carter said:
The first 2 globes are G22 base. The 2nd two are 400 watts - the G22 definitely won't work in the source 4 mods, I doubt the 400 watt will either.

Also, at least the Enliten ballast isn't compatible with HR bulbs.
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Ooops. Nevermind.
 
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Policar said:
What case are people using for lenses?
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Often you'll see HMI pars for sale with the tiny little lens flight case (which is geeky-cool if you like cases…)

I have a big bag full of soft velcro dividers from every camera bag I've ever owned - makes it easy to customize any divided case for specific trips or gigs.

I have a Nikon soft bag that's big enough for both of my sets of par lenses - just stuck a bunch of dividers in it.

I've also made custom inserts for cases… basically I'll cut 1/2" plywood (also called Luan or door skin) and assemble it with homemade tape (fabric soaked in wood glue) and then glue padding in the divisions (old yoga mat material, my wife is a teacher) and stick it in a case. That's great for small inserts with dividers - if you make them to fit a specific bag or case, they won't flex and fabric/glue is a strong way to assemble them. For a little larger, I'll use a router to cut slots in 1/2" plywood and glue the 1/4 into the slots, and again, add the padding (usually I use spray mount adhesive, spray both surfaces, let dry a minute, pretty permanent). You can aslo cut the 1/4 slots with a table saw with the blade barely sticking up - a little harder than a router though.

You can also take those wal-mart wheeled footlockers ($40 or so, stackable, not tough enough for ATA or rentals but if you take care of your gear they're great) and use a pop-riveter to add 1/4" dividers for custom sizes (or build a divider grid that sits in them in a way that it won't move), then add either yoga mat material, or if you want something thicker and stronger:

Get some fake black leather-style vinyl or black ripstop nylon (camera bag material, harder to find). Cut upholstery foam to fit each side or surface of your case, warp it in the vinyl or fabric, and hot glue the wrap around the foam, then hot glue to the case. This can look very good if you're careful with your cutting and folding - pretty much like a legit case. Foam is expensive, so look for people throwing away couches and grab the cushions or check the goodwill store for square foam cushions.
 
I've been using 4 of these on a feature and wanted to share my experience.
There is no way we could have pulled off two critical sets without these. I'm so grateful to Michael and the other posters in this thread for getting the information on these out there. We are shooting on Dragon which is a very light hungry (and doesn't like tungsten) sensor and with the very small budget we have for G&E there would have been no way, just no way to light what we needed without these lights.
I've been able to do a upscale apartment with lots of hard sunlight and a junkies apartment at night with lots of shadows and I've used the 575's as the workhorse.
Couple of things...
Ballast needs to be in another room.
These work best with flags, shaping the light with barndoors not so much.
I'm using the wide angle lens only, spot will burn right through gels, even on the barndoors.
These are perfect for sunlight with no diff. I had a M18 and would say that once balanced with gels the 575 worked for daylight against a .9 ND window than the M18 , ie. The right level of light with the right amount of punch.
There is something very convincing about daylight through a lensed par unlike a open face or Fresnel. It's a smooth punchy vibe.
 
Thanks Aharon, I'm keeping my eye out for a deal on another Enliten. Just got the parts to make a 50' extension (also, buying a 50' 14g extension cord and chopping off the ends is about half the price of 50' of SOOW 14 cable…)

Another cool thing about the enliten, with the separate ballast and igniter - I imagine one could re-purpose the pieces for, say, a spacelight, a fresnel, a softlight… a lot of uses for a 575 watts of daylight.

BTW, earlier in the thread I posted a DIY 150 daylight fresnel build - I still find that light insanely handy for well under a hundred bucks, depending on your donor fixture. That build would even work in a 3" 300 watt fresnel and put out about 500 watts eq. of daylight.
 
Michael Carter said:
Another cool thing about the enliten, with the separate ballast and igniter - I imagine one could re-purpose the pieces for, say, a spacelight, a fresnel, a softlight… a lot of uses for a 575 watts of daylight.
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I've done a lot of research into this recently and all I can say is BE CAREFUL. Entertainment HMIs/HIDs (including the Enliten) are not like growth light hids. The ignitor is much stronger to support the short arc and there is a massive capacitor to facilitate this. If you do not carefully discharge the capacitor you have a good chance of electrocuting yourself trying to make a mod like this. Whereas with grow light HIDs you just have the one box with a plug, here you have the ballast with the plug and the ignitor without one. Don't cut the cord from the ignitor to the light unless you really know what you're doing.
 
I think there are a lot of Enlitens out there, but around $300 -

This guy still has dozens, marked at $350 but he's now added the "best offer" thing. This auction's been up for months. Cheap shipping, too.

There are TMB models out there, but the ballast/igniter is attached.

I think this is the same eBay seller, but priced at $300...

Note that the eBay auction doesn't mention "Enliten" but uses powerpar and source 4 - you have to google a variety of terms and see if you get lucky, the Enliten brand probably has less meaning for someone buying units for shows.
 
Michael Carter said:
I think there are a lot of Enlitens out there, but around $300 -

This guy still has dozens, marked at $350 but he's now added the "best offer" thing. This auction's been up for months. Cheap shipping, too.

There are TMB models out there, but the ballast/igniter is attached.

I think this is the same eBay seller, but priced at $300...

Note that the eBay auction doesn't mention "Enliten" but uses powerpar and source 4 - you have to google a variety of terms and see if you get lucky, the Enliten brand probably has less meaning for someone buying units for shows.
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Thanks! It does look like the same seller. I might have to make an offer.
 
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