Any opinions on the Lowel Omni

E

eco_bach

Well-known member
Any opinions on the Lowel Omni?

http://www.lowel.com/omni/

For only $200 it seems super versatile.
If I'm just starting out, would this make a good investment?

How does it work as a battery powered hand held portable? What type of battery pack would I need to invest in?

ie Swap the power cord & lamp and it becomes a battery powered, hand-held light.
 
So much to learn in lighting gear! In a nutshell, what are the pros cons of this vs the omni?

And what would you recommend for versatile diffusion/ soft box etc to be used with this specific light?

Thanks in advance!
 
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I have four Omnis that I have owned since 1982, so I guess I have some experience with them.

It's a versatile light with a wide focusing range. As an open faced tungsten light it is natively quite "hard" and casts very dark and distinct shadows. In spot mode it is good for pretty long throws, maybe up to 30' or so depending on circumstances. You can interchange the reflectors and they have a smooth shiny one that casts a really tiny and intense spot. The attached brackets let you use an umbrella or a gel/diffusion frame they make that takes 10" x 12" media. You would use all the usual techniques for softening it -- diffusion material in the gel frame, the umbrella, a softbox around it, bouncing off white cards or the ceiling, or through silk, muslin or other fabrics.

All things considered, I prefer fresnels for hard sources; I find the quality of the light more even, smoother and "creamier." And for soft sources, I'd prefer a big softbox, a Lowel Rifa, or nowadays, a fluorescent or LED panel. But the Omni is much lighter and more compact than a fresnel, not to mention cheaper than almost all of them. And, with some accessories and cleverness, you can use it for a tremendous range of different lighting tasks.

I don't think it excels as a battery light. It is large and heavy compared to the Anton-Bauer Ultra Light or some of the other dedicated on-camera lights like the Frezzis (not to mention LEDs). It gets very hot and could be kind of dangerous to hand hold (or even set down between takes). And the lamps it uses in battery mode really suck down the power; you'll need lots of batteries, or one very big one, to keep it running through a day. I think of the battery mode as more of a "check-off" selling point for those writing bid specifications, or an "emergency" capability in case you're really stuck with no purpose-built battery instruments, than something you would practically want to depend on day by day.

After almost 30 years, my Omnis are still looking pretty decent, less a little worn paint here and there. I've had to replace a few screws, nuts and lamp sockets over the years, but they're definitely rugged and easy to repair. Lowel has a fine parts department that can replace anything on them that could possibly wear out or break. I really like the company.

All that said, I am trying to phase out all my tungsten instruments now in favor of fluorescent and LED lights. I mainly want to get away from the heat and very real risks to personnel from working around them, and minimize the chance of blowing circuit breakers when I work in offices, labs, homes and other unprepared locations. I also like that the lamps last so much longer, and enjoy feeling that I'm doing something "greener" that is good for society as a whole. And the guy who invented LEDs (Nick Holonyak, look him up) works just down the street from me and hangs out at the gym where I work. :-)

- Greg
 
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Omni can go up to 500w i believe, pro light goes 250w max. I've got the pro and I love it. It works well as a small accent or backlight. Check out the lowel site for tutorials on how to light, they've got some great ones on there.
 
Greg
Thanks for all the info!
What would you recommend as the most 'bang for your buck' in the latest fluorescent, led lights?

Greg Smith said:
I have four Omnis that I have owned since 1982, so I guess I have some experience with them.

It's a versatile light with a wide focusing range. As an open faced tungsten light it is natively quite "hard" and casts very dark and distinct shadows. In spot mode it is good for pretty long throws, maybe up to 30' or so depending on circumstances. You can interchange the reflectors and they have a smooth shiny one that casts a really tiny and intense spot. The attached brackets let you use an umbrella or a gel/diffusion frame they make that takes 10" x 12" media. You would use all the usual techniques for softening it -- diffusion material in the gel frame, the umbrella, a softbox around it, bouncing off white cards or the ceiling, or through silk, muslin or other fabrics.

All things considered, I prefer fresnels for hard sources; I find the quality of the light more even, smoother and "creamier." And for soft sources, I'd prefer a big softbox, a Lowel Rifa, or nowadays, a fluorescent or LED panel. But the Omni is much lighter and more compact than a fresnel, not to mention cheaper than almost all of them. And, with some accessories and cleverness, you can use it for a tremendous range of different lighting tasks.

I don't think it excels as a battery light. It is large and heavy compared to the Anton-Bauer Ultra Light or some of the other dedicated on-camera lights like the Frezzis (not to mention LEDs). It gets very hot and could be kind of dangerous to hand hold (or even set down between takes). And the lamps it uses in battery mode really suck down the power; you'll need lots of batteries, or one very big one, to keep it running through a day. I think of the battery mode as more of a "check-off" selling point for those writing bid specifications, or an "emergency" capability in case you're really stuck with no purpose-built battery instruments, than something you would practically want to depend on day by day.

After almost 30 years, my Omnis are still looking pretty decent, less a little worn paint here and there. I've had to replace a few screws, nuts and lamp sockets over the years, but they're definitely rugged and easy to repair. Lowel has a fine parts department that can replace anything on them that could possibly wear out or break. I really like the company.

All that said, I am trying to phase out all my tungsten instruments now in favor of fluorescent and LED lights. I mainly want to get away from the heat and very real risks to personnel from working around them, and minimize the chance of blowing circuit breakers when I work in offices, labs, homes and other unprepared locations. I also like that the lamps last so much longer, and enjoy feeling that I'm doing something "greener" that is good for society as a whole. And the guy who invented LEDs (Nick Holonyak, look him up) works just down the street from me and hangs out at the gym where I work. :-)

- Greg
Click to expand...
 
U need to light for your location. Sometimes bouncing Lowell omni's off the ceiling will work fine, sometimes not. Led's & flour. R too expensive for what they can do.that said, I look forward to the day they r =. and I own both.
 
eco_bach said:
Greg
Thanks for all the info!
What would you recommend as the most 'bang for your buck' in the latest fluorescent, led lights?
Click to expand...


I don't want to claim much expertise in that yet -- I'm reading a lot here and elsewhere and learning and experimenting along with everybody else. I've purchased some "entry level" lights but they're far from the state of the art, so take this with an appropriate grain of salt.

I got the three-light Ikan LED kit (about $1500) which looks like it will work well for basic interview setups, product shots and such. The lights are well made, soft and even, but not terribly powerful.

My new on-camera light is a FloLight Microbeam-128. I haven't used this much yet because of a battery compatibility snafu, but I think I have that worked out now. The build quality is better than the economy LED camera lights I have seen, but I haven't used it enough in the field yet to have much of an opinion about how it looks in real life.

I have a four-tube Cool Lights CL-455PMD fluorescent. It's pretty bright, and the quality of light is good. I'm not thrilled with the "lollipop" mount (a little shaky and seems potentially fragile), and I really dislike the hinges on the barndoors -- they won't stay where I put them. I might look into getting a higher end light in this general class like the Diva 400, but they're pretty pricey.

I have a Cool Lights CL-MF0150 CDM 150W fresnel which I dearly love. The light quality is beautiful and it's well made. You have to let it cool down before restriking which is a bit of an annoyance, but that's a conscious compromise I can live with for getting the fresnel "look" at a bargain price. It is very compact for the amount of lumens, and my biggest issue with it is often that it's so much brighter than my other lights that I need to scrim it down to match them. I'd buy another of these in a heartbeat, and may do exactly that soon. (Granted it's not fluorescent or LED, strictly speaking, but is comparable because it's another relatively energy efficient and cool running technology with daylight color.)

Finally, I have a Lowel Rifa EX 55 that I usually run with three 65W fluorescents. It's bright and very soft, and exceptionally well made and cleverly designed like other Lowel products. It was quite expensive, but just oozes quality, and I enjoy working with it. (However, their claim of a "60 second" setup time is a wild exaggeration. That may be only mildly optimistic when using tungsten lamps in it, but with flos, you have to completely disassemble it to fold it up, stash the lamps in their protective boxes, and put everything back together when opening up the case again.)

- Greg
 
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I wouldn't buy any lowel gear except for maybe the Rifa light. Find a Mole tweenie or baby instead, its the industry standard for a reason. They're well made, easy to operate, and will last you a lifetime.

The omni's on the other hand...Well, the scrims are extremely weird, not to mention the fact that it doesn't even look like you get a full scrim set (two doubles, a single, half single, half double and gel frame) Instead you can only buy what looks like a double, half double, and a gel frame...sort of unnacceptable on this point alone, not to mention the fact that the scrims don't fit in normal scrim bags because they're oddly shaped and just ready to poke an eye out. It's really just all around awkward to work with and I always feel like I'm about the bend the thing in half.

I hope you get the idea that I really dislike this light :(, a lot of this just is a preference of course, but a lot of the other tungsten fresnels are so much more versatile and so much easier to work with. Do yourself a favor and skim through the mole catalog. You can find ones used for a great price.
 
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I put my lighting kit together over the course of many years to get it where it's at today, as few of us have the scratch laying around to purchase a 5-ton grip package outright. My advice... I would pass on the Lowel Omni, and follow this route instead.

I would start by purchasing a new 1000 LED Light. While it would be more initial investment than the Lowel Omni, it would be a much more versatile first light. Something like the ephoto 1000 LED with dimmer and color temp control would be fairly inexpensive compared to some of the big name brands.
Next I would go for would be a small LED light like the Z-96, which can be camera or stand mounted.
Third I would purchase a new Dive style biax fluorescent light. These can be found Chinese made on eBay pretty cheap. I would then construct an inexpensive front grid for the Flo for light control, and finish up by getting a few sheets of 1/8 minus green, 1/4 minus green, 1/8 CTO, 1/4 CTO, 1/2 CTO.
I would then start looking for a few used fresnel lights like a 650w, 400w, 200w, which can be found used inexpensively, for numerous uses from backlights to painting a background. and then add a few colored gels of your liking and a couple of Harbor Freight router controls for dimmers.
I would avoid the Lowel light stands as well, and get the most heavy duty stands you can afford, which can also be found inexpensively Chinese made. Something else to think about is an inexpensive C-Stand, once you start using C-stands with flags and reflectors you'll wonder how you ever did without them.

At the end of the day though, it's always better to have any light than to shoot in the dark.

Good Luck shopping!

Dave
 
I have several Omnis (and DPs and even Totas) and use them where I need a light weight source such as on the end of a boom or menace arm. The fixtures themselves are very tough but the barndoors are light and need some protection in transport. I have maybe ten Lowel Pro Lights and use them constantly. I've never been on a shoot where the DP or somebody didn't start asking all about these lights once they see how powerful and versatile they are.

The DPs are useful for about the same things and the Totas are good to raise ambient levels and in softboxes. I confess the number one thing I use them for is as worklights before and after shoots, or when the movie lights are off, around the truck and for the hair and makeup folks, etc..

That said, I find any open face light less versatile than fresnels. Lowel also makes a very good fresnel, as good as those from several other pro sources and I own half a dozen different brands.

Flos are great. It's comparatively early days for LEDs although I expect these to come to the fore as they improve technically and their price drops.
 
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