200w Hmi question

NewYorkLion

NewYorkLion

Well-known member
hey,

so, i've been renting a 200w hmi every week and i'm getting sick of driving across town to pick it up. Plus, I realized that if I had just bought one 2 months ago it would have paid off in rentals already. So, it's time for me to buck up the cash and purchase one.

As far as the small HMIs go, I've only worked with the joker 200 and the sunray 200. I'm wondering if you folks had any thoughts on any of the other models, like the digi-mole , the ltm 200, desisti, or the frezzi super sun gun. I've never worked with a fresnel hmi, just pars, but i'm open to both. why is it that most hmis are pars anyway?

so yeah, just looking to get some feedback on various lights
 
Hi there,

I was the GM of K5600, Inc. (manufactures of the Joker) for 10years so I will try to be as nonbiased as possible ;)

All the HMI's you listed are great products. But if I where to be purchasing an HMI, out of all the companies you listed I would really consider, Joker, Mole or Frezzi. Reason being is customer service. If you ask around to current owners you will see what I am talking about. Remember with HMI's it’s not a matter of "if" you are going to need service; it’s a matter of "when". This is a fairly large investment so you want to make sure you are getting into something that can be serviced quickly and inexpensively.

Regarding the question of Pars and Fresnels; this is a great question. HMI's are usually used outdoors or in daylight interiors. A Parabolic system (Par) gives you the maximum output/reflection of the bulb. The downside to a Par system is that the light rays are not parallel so what you end up getting is a very dirty beam of light. Most people just use some 216 or frost gel to clean it up (or use the frosted glass filters that Jokers have in the kit). For those rare cases when you want a clean beam and lots of control with high contrast, I would recommend the Blackjack 400 which is a Fresnel HMI. I think you will see that as an owner, the PAR system will give you the most versatility.

One last plug; the Joker HMI is the only product that offers you 1) an AC/DC Ballast that can use your Anton Bauer camera batteries (most companies offer a separate DC ballast) 2) The ability to use the Softube which is a linear tube that produces a brilliant softlight. 3) The ability to transform your fixture into a “Bug-Lite” which offers you better output and more even fill in a Chimera Lightbank or Chinese Lantern.

If you have any other questions, shoot me an email, I will be happy to help. By the way, if you do decide to go with Jokers, I could point you in the right direction to get the best price and service.

Kind regards,
 
Hey mike,

thanks for all the info. I do LOVE jokers, as does every other shooter i know. I'm just waiting for that sweet deal on a used one to come along.

-Colin
 
So, I played around with a digi-mole today and I wasnt all that impressed. Do the 200w jokers ahve a built in dimmer?
 
i have the 200w ac/dc joker and love it. i can see why you wouldn't be impressed with the digi-mole as i, too found it very light and appeared to be fragile. it might not be, but it appeared that way to me.

no dimmer on the joker.

too bad you don't live in the SE - then you'd have the honor of buying from beth nardin at k5600 - she's the best. as for sweet deals, check with your local regions k5600 rep (you can find it on their web page) or wait for NAB in april and places like barbizon might have a deal or two, or if you're in vegas yourself, you can try out your negotiating skills!
 
ack, I just got outbid on a frezzi super sun gun by 5 bucks! Came with with all the extras and went for only $1850
 
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