Affordable HMIs

vidled said:
Those HID lights can be found here:
http://www.alzovideo.com/

They should be somewhat useful, but they are nowhere near as able as a true HMI fresnel light such as offered by Arri/Altman/Ianiro/LTM etc.
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I've researched these lights, too. They run at 5200K - Standard HMIs run around 5600K, so you may need to gel the lights to get closer to daylight. Also, the numbers they use are a little misleading. I guess the numbers are supposed to indicate the light equivalent of a tungsten fixture.

Might want to check used HMIs on ebay - you can get far more powerful lights for far less than new, although you pay for the power with the weight of the ballasts. :)
 
I'm tempted to try one of these out; it's $269 for a full one-light kit right?

They're 140-watt HMIs that deliver a "tungsten equivalent" of 800 watts. I think that may be a bit optimistic, I mean, I usually calculate HMIs as being about 3x as efficient so that would make it the equiv. of a 400-watt tungsten. Maybe they're factoring in the need to put blue gel on the tungsten light to get it to the same color temp as these lights?
 
Barry_Green said:
I'm tempted to try one of these out; it's $269 for a full one-light kit right?
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Oh, I thought the ballast was extra, but you're right; it is included I see now.

It all sounds sort of okay, although they're not mentioning the CRI of that bulb. Being HID it could be all over the place. Barry, if you do get one, please report back with your evaluation. Would be interested in finding out, how good they really are.
 
My 2 Cents on the Alzo lights

My 2 Cents on the Alzo lights

I've been playing with these for about four weeks.

They seem to have a QC issue which affects the color temp; that being said they have been willing to sort out any issues in record time; their customer support has been second to none - literally - amazing responses when I've voiced an issue. I might also mention that they are very well built for their price point - they have large reflectors and softbox rings also and they are all well built.

Barry's correct about output though, they are a little "optimistic" but once you get the fixtures and bulbs ironed out they seem great for the price.

I have two 800's and one 2000 (the "2000" outputs 3x the 800 - why not call it a 2400?).

If you need any help from them, ask for Joseph, and tell him I sent you.

All the best,

Michael Schoenfeld


View my newest portfolio offerings at:

www.michaelschoenfeld.com
 
mlsphoto said:
They seem to have a QC issue which affects the color temp; that being said they have been willing to sort out any issues in record time; their customer support has been second to none - literally - amazing responses when I've voiced an issue. I might also mention that they are very well built for their price point - they have large reflectors and softbox rings also and they are all well built.
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What exactly was the color temp problem? Was it obvious? What was the fix? Thanks!

JP
 
Those bulbs aren't made for film, so my guess is they have a pretty poor consistency in both color temp and CRI. I see they list their CRI of them bulbs at 85, which isn't very high.
 
Joseph said that the fixtures and their microprocessor control circuit affect the voltage and color temp - if the fixture is having problems w/ it's microprocessor control circuit,
the color is bad - this seems to be my experience - they are having the bulbs custom made in China with the same chemical content as the high end HMI bulbs - it's just a different chemical make-up that separates the various bulb manufacturers or so I'm told.

Alzo has been excellent in replacing any defective fixtures with correct (they spec the color @ 5200K) "color temp" fixtures - no delays, as a matter of fact, they have been calling me to see how my testing has been going - when a problem showed up they would replace with a new unit immediately.

Like I said earlier, these are not US$5000 HMI lights - but the are working fine, and they are much less expensive - if you've got more money than time to sort out any problems, go for the LTM's, Joker's or Arri HMIs, that is, if you can afford to spend $20,000 fo the same amount of light I spent $3,000 for.

All the Best,

Michael Schoenfeld

www.michaelschoenfeld.com
 
Can anyone report back on these lights?? I have a shoot I'm planning where I could really use these and I'd love to hear some results, maybe even some screen caps
 
I've tried the 140W bulb with ballast, and it can be used for certain things video. No way a HMI replacement though, and the ballast isn't silent, but flicker seems acceptable, and it puts out some decent light. I beleive there is another thread where this is mentioned too.
 
Thanks vidled. The bulb and ballast is what I am most interested in, because I want to put it in my chimera mogul lantern. I realize it's not an HMI, namely an HMI is 5600k and these are 5300k, but when you are talking mere pennies on the dollar next to an HMI, even if it was 80% of what an HMI is then I'd be happy. How noisy is the ballast? Can I put a sound blanket over it? Is it a high hum that can be filtered in post? At which shutter speed does the flicker become noticeable? Given that it's an eletronic ballast there really shouldn't be flicker. When you say "flicker seems acceptable", what do you mean? I don't want to see any flicker, that would look horrible. I'd really appreciate your response.
 
Well, it's an HDI light, with that you are faced with some problems for video, namely VERY POOR CRI. Forget the color temp, the CRI is what's off here. I'd expect these to be in the neighborhood of 85 or so.
My stating: "flicker seems acceptable" means I couldn't see any noticeable flicker in the video, although this wasn't tested really to any extent, so I can't give any accurate info on shutter speeds vs. flicker. etc.
IIRC there was an issue with the cord of the light fixture: i.e. it didn't like being too long.
The whole shebang is about $135, and it's definitely worth that, but I won't commit beyond that. Hope this is helpful, although vague.
 
Thanks vidled, I appreciate it. I think I'll get it and test it. I wouldn't call 85 very poor (below 80 seems poor to me). Is there a way to test the CRI of it for sure? They are going to be at NAB and I'll be there, maybe I should swing by their booth.

Last night I had an idea...what if I took an older 1k or 2k mole fresnel (they go on eBay for under $200 with barn doors all the time) then rewired it to take this alzo bulb? For like $300 you could have a 5300k fresnel! I've been trying to think of why this won't work and can't come up with anything
 
The shape of the bulb and its projected beam would be a major concern, but yeah, I believe the Mole 2k fresnels aren't too dissimilar in bulb shape; so definitely worth a try I'd say.
Although if you're doing this, I'd probably suggest a LARGER wattage HID bulb. Look at eBay for some neat choices of 1kW HID lights (under plant lights IIRC). You'd still need a ballast, but you'd have a 1kW HID light in a FRESNEL set-up for maybe $400. Not bad, not bad at all. Again, the shape of the bulbs would have to be quite similar in order to effectively use the Mole's reflector and fresnel lens.
 
I have 2 alzo 2000's and while there are some issues, like in a small room the ballast can be a bit noisy, I'd have to say on balance that they have bailed me out of many more situatiuons than they have caused problems. I can point to any number of scenes that I have used them for shooting in 5600 k preset and have been very pleased.

TO be able to fire up one of these lights on 400 something watts and get a pile of day light type light ( 150 FC at 5-6 feet) out of a softbox is a delight. If I had used tungsten in the same situation I would have baked the subject and probably blown a breaker or two.
 
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