Advantages of Pars?

D

dcho787

Active member
Hi,

On most of the sets I've been in, the bigger lights have always been fresnels. But now and then, I see sets that are lit with all pars - and pars seem to very popular in stage lighting. But I am curious about the advantages of using them? I read that they produce "an intense oval light" - but is this light focusable? Does it produce better images than fresnels in certain instances? Why do people use them? And why would someone prefer them to fresnels?

Thanks,
David
 
Pars have a long throw is one feature.

They are very focussed is another.

They are very efficient. eg high output for low wattage.

They are very good at throwing color from a gel frame . eg like a projector lens

Fresnels are more controllable.
 
Hey, I appreciate your reply. I was wondering how the advantages you listed above compare with HMI Fresnels. I see on the rental websites that HMI Fresnels are much cheaper to rent than HMI Pars. Why is this? And are HMI pars more focused than HMI Fresnels? How much more efficient are they than HMI Fresnels - more specifically, would I notice considerable difference in output between a 12k HMI Fresnel and a 12k HMI Par? And also, how are are Pars better with gel frames than Fresnels?
 
Fresnels shoot a soft* beam. Pars shoot a hard sharp light that kinda goes everywhere.

Alot of times Pars are set behind diffusion, or if you just need an even broad light on a surface, just break out a par, and go. For example. If youre shooting an outdoor night scene, a 2k Par will throw a nice even light on a building across the street. A fresnel even at "Flood" will throw a beam of light with a hotspot. The pars are more even.

Also they string together Pars on a grid, and set them as "one" light source. These are called Maxi Brutes. Usually they are 1K pars, so if the grid has 16 lights on it... its called a 16K for example...
 
And PAR's also have different lenses that can give from a really narrow (and focused) to a wide light beam.
 
I've been using the VNSP 1k Pars for bounce and Love them, so freakin much light. Its ugly light but for bounce who cares... They are nice and cheap too :)
 
I miss my Joker 1200 watt HMI PAR. It was a nice light but alas, I rarely used it since it was my only HMI so I sold it.

Dan
 
I think that the name PAR comes from the fact they use a parabolic reflector. This reflects the light as straight "beams".

Originally they were 'PAR Cans' and were used in theatres/stage lighting. They had no lenses. Just a basic cylinder of aluminium with a parabolic reflector at the back. A degree of focus and spread was available.

The straight beams produced a hard light and the distance from the par reflector to the gel frame had the capabilty of projecting the color of the gel. They did not burn out the gel

The PARS used in the film industry were self contained and had lenses (basicallya car headlight). I first worked with them in the form of Minbrutes and Maxi brutes. These were an array of 6 and 9 par bulbs switcheable in banks. They were grunty but very hot due to the focussed power of the lenses. Almost impossible to keep gels and diffs from burning through. We often had some good fires and smoke.

A really good fresnel should not have too much spot or fall off but usually they do. They also use a parabolic reflector but the difference from the PAR lamp is the fresnel lens that is used to control it.
 
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