About PAR 64 lights

J

jamani

Active member
A while back someone on this forum recommended PAR 64s as more affordable alternatives to open-faced lights. Been doing some reading on them and I think I'm convinced I need to pick up a unit or two. Three questions:

1. Which among THESE are you guys getting? Is there a difference beside build material and is this an important consideration?

2. What accessories if any are you guys getting with these? I understand barn doors are pretty useless on these. How about the gels made for them? Any use for those in filmmaking?

3. Do they make scrims for these?
 
I bought 4 of the $19.95 Stage Light manufactured Par 64 cans from Bulb America that you linked to. The build quality is Ok. There are pretty light weight. I set them up as two with very narrow spot (VNS) 1000 watt bulbs and two with and two with medium flood1000 watt bulbs. The medium flood bulbs give a much smoother beam spread but the VNS bulbs have much higher output over distance and make for a much higher intensity bounce lighting. They come with gel frames that you can cut gel to fit. You can also cut regular metal screen material to fit in the gel frames to make scrims. I pick up a couple of rolls of metal screen material from Ace Hardware for very little money. Just cut them with a pair of tin snips to fit in the gel frame.
 
There is a caveat to the Avenger TVMP's (read my review, it's the top one). But yes, you will need a TVMP from some manufacturer to mount them on stands.

Pick up some of these bulbs if you get them - https://www.interlight.biz/light-bulb/GFB
Those are the 1200w ones which are normally extremely expensive and hard to find. Even at only 200w extra, they are significantly brighter than a regular 1k lamp since they have a more efficient filament design. We typically would call them "firestarters" except those are NSP, not VNS lamps. Close enough though.

As far as the actual fixtures go, the Altman steel cans are much sturdier than the aluminum ones in the link you posted. They do cost much more though, and if this is for a personal kit that you won't be renting out or banging up yourself, they'll be fine. If it breaks, so what, only $30.

Any 10" scrim will work, I believe that size is usually found with 2k blondes.
 
PAR64 have been the mainstay of the Rock and Roll industry for years - I'll try to summarise the prs and cons.

The can itself, is rarely of any consequence apart from weight. Steel cans are too heavy. Aluminium is light. The variants are normal long nose, and short nose. As even the widest beam angle lamp is quite narrow, the shorter housing makes very little difference - apart from gel life. The few extra inches closer to the internal grill make the gels fade so quickly, in fact, with really dark ones, you can watch them burn! Inside there MUST, absolutely MUST be a metal grill, like a chunky scrim between the front of the glass lamp and the open end. Some cheap brands don't have this. When the lamps explode, which they do, the glass can land on people and things, burning and even setting fire to flammable items. The beam on a par can is oval, not circular, and the lamp needs to be able to spin in the tube. Sometimes steel cans will go rusty and the lamp can jam, and when it does, this can shatter the lamp. Because of the oval beam, the lamp needs to be rotated. Cheap cans have a closed back, so you cannot rotate them without opening them up - a real pain. Ones with an open rear expose the ceramic lamp holder, which means heat proof gloves as the very least to rotate the lamp. Proper, quality cans have a device called a PARsafe - an insulated lamp holder, that is extended outside the can, which can be rotated without gloves - it also provide extra electrical safety by keeping the cables well away from your hand. Barn doors can be useful for reducing the extra width of the oval beam - but will get too hot to touch in seconds. If you do use barndoors, the extra front weight may well overcome the yoke clamp, and the front will drop even when fully tightened. They sell a version with an extra stay to help stop this. If you want a branded PAR can, then Thomas is the only brand that people specify in riders. PAR cans provide intense beams of light. They are useless for anything other than that. They're a very crude, but cost effective light source - until you have to buy new lamps. 1K lamps do not last very long, and the few over rated lamps last even less time and run even hotter. The lamps have a hot spot that can be difficult for cameras to adjust for. For video lighting I'd never use PAR cans for anything other than special effect. I'd never use them in preference to Fresnels or floods unless there was a very good reason. Like seeing the beams in the air, with a bit of haze. So re-creating sunlight through a window works pretty well, but evenly lighting a scene? Nope!

PAR cans get abused. I don't think I have a single one that doesn't have dings and dents. We group them in 6's and they get transported on wheeled trolleys - 'meatracks'. The cans cost pennys, the lamps pounds. That's not correct of course, but how it seems.
 
paulears said:
1K lamps do not last very long, and the few over rated lamps last even less time and run even hotter.
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Maybe things are different in the UK with 240v mains, but here in the US PAR64 lamps last longer than any other commonly used 3200° lamp. They're rated for 800 hours, while the 1200w ones are rated for 400 hours.
 
I have a bunch of short ones with brandoors, that I use instead of other open face lamps.
They came with reflectors instead of sealed beam bulbs, so they look and feel like real open face lamps.
The bulb they use are regular GE CP70 230V/1000W Socket GX9,5
 
These are usually called Raylights - on the lamp life hours, a CP62 on UK voltage has a typical lifespan of 300 hours, but often much, much less. We flash them, of course, and this eats into the hours. Many people (me included) use pre-heat on the dimmers to reduce the thermal shock, and this does seem to have a small impact. However, I break quite a few on moving them. The lamp sits in a small groove, and is held in with a spring clip so it can be rotated, but the things stick, and when you try to spin the bubble, it jams, then releases suddenly, and pop! Same with tilting. The yoke jams, you heave, and heave and then it releases, and pop!

I also didn't mention that on their first use - PARcans need to burn in. Loads of smoke and smell. This can be a shock!
 
I set them up as two with very narrow spot (VNS) 1000 watt bulbs and two with medium flood1000 watt bulbs
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I see people mention this kind of set up around here a lot. Is it safe to say that most people use more than one on a single stand? Is this so as to beat their narrow nature and provide a flood source? Any pictures with such a set-up?

They come with gel frames that you can cut gel to fit
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How about the gels used with them in concerts and stuff, can't those be used in video? I'd assume they would be easier to work with since they are made specifically for these lights?

Any 10" scrim will work, I believe that size is usually found with 2k blondes.
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This is helpful. Will check those out once I get my units. Thank you.

I'd never use them in preference to Fresnels or floods unless there was a very good reason
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Even bounced or through diffusion?

I have a bunch of short ones with brandoors, that I use instead of other open face lamps.
They came with reflectors instead of sealed beam bulbs, so they look and feel like real open face lamps.
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Do you have a link to these?
 
jamani said:
I see people mention this kind of set up around here a lot. Is it safe to say that most people use more than one on a single stand? Is this so as to beat their narrow nature and provide a flood source? Any pictures with such a set-up?



How about the gels used with them in concerts and stuff, can't those be used in video? I'd assume they would be easier to work with since they are made specifically for these lights?
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I meant that I have four in my kit, two with the VNS bulbs and two with the medium flood bulbs. I do have an Avenger F900 Baby Triple Header

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=orderHistory&A=details&Q=&sku=3617&is=REG

so I could mount multiple lights on one stand but I have not done that with the PAR 64 cans yet. I have used the two medium floods, on separate stands, to give me an architecture wash and to light back ground detail in night exteriors. I may have a night exterior shoot next month where I will probably use the two PAR cans with the VNS bulbs on the triple header, off of a 4 X 4 bounce source, as my main portraiture lighting. I don't have any pics of the PAR cans in use.

As far as gels go, there are color compensating gels, which are specifically made for film and video work, but most the gels that are used in a theatrical venue can be used for film and video work. It just depends on what you want the light to look like.
 
I was seriously considering PAR cans as a low cost alternative to indoor scene lighting and I was glad i was steered away. Some of the discussion here, explains why, but the bottom line is the light isn't consistent enough with the hot spots and barn doors as well as being able to use a flood or spot (without changing the bulb/lamp) to me is quite important. I went with Coollights and really for the price I am much more comfortable showing up on a set with those. I do have some par 18 can's which I expect to put to use someday.
 
steve4505 said:
I was seriously considering PAR cans as a low cost alternative to indoor scene lighting and I was glad i was steered away. Some of the discussion here, explains why, but the bottom line is the light isn't consistent enough with the hot spots and barn doors as well as being able to use a flood or spot (without changing the bulb/lamp) to me is quite important. I went with Coollights and really for the price I am much more comfortable showing up on a set with those. I do have some par 18 can's which I expect to put to use someday.
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I am curious, do you shoot much night exterior fictional narrative with your Coollights?
 
Par cans are a great bag of tricks light. Need to accent some shelves in a warehouse? Hang some Pars. Want to put a slash on a building? Hit it with a par, want to make a really compact booklight? use a par. Want to light a table surface from above, hang a par, etc etc.
 
Yep - and you can fry an egg on one turned upright, sticking a frying pan on the top! For music events, they're great, but unlike Fresnels, they blend poorly and are anything other than subtle. A Fresnel can be spot or flood, and be adjusted to fit the space. PARS are what they are. Intense beams of light, and narrow. Even the wide angles are narrow, just not as narrow as the CP61 and 60.

Here's a link to the Rayight kits - but they are horrible in terms of the light. http://www.cmpstore.com/Ray-Light-Kits_c93.htmhttp://www.cmpstore.com/Ray-Light-Kits_c93.htm
 
NextWaveG said:
I've used Par 64s as ways to get higher wattage sources without going beyond 1000w per circuit.
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Sorry to sound ignorant, but what do you mean by that statement? Do you mean Par64s are very efficient in putting out light per watt? Otherwise, I'm not understanding you.
 
Paul Hudson said:
Source 4 pars are on all my trucks they are great as bounce sources.
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How are those for film work? Do they need to be bench focused often from getting banged around like source four ellipsoidals or do the lamps stay put well? ETC claims around the output of a 1k PAR64 but I'd imagine that once the bulb gets slightly knocked out of the focus of the paraboloid that bad things would happen.
 
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