Cineo Matchbox

H

Harry Lime

Well-known member
Does anyone here have any experience with the Cineo Matchbox?

A few questions:

Is the Matchbox roughly equivalent to a soft 650w tungsten?

I have read that the Maverick is the equivalent of a 1k tungsten soft light. Can anyone confirm this?

Has anyone ganged up two or three Matchboxes for greater output? I figure that stacking two or three of them together would greatly increase output (coming close to a single Maverick)

Although the natural output from a Cineo is soft are shooters adding a touch of diffusion?

Can the Cineo be seamlessly shot with traditional tungsten lights? I assume so, since they appear to be quite color accurate across the spectrum.

Has anyone mixed Cineos and Kino Flo?


Any one have any interesting tidbits to share based on their experience working with Cineo lights?


thanks in advance




thanks
 
I've used the Cineo HS fixtures with daylight panels and tungsten panels. They mix just fine with other tungsten or daylight balanced lights, the colors are very accurate. I don't know the equivalent of the Matchbox, but I can say the HS was about equivalent to a 1k zip. I find them soft enough to not need diffusion. Cineo originally had a space light which was 2 HS fixtures in one bracket. I don't see why you couldn't do the same with the Matchbox (although it would probably be cheaper to just get an HS or a Maverick.)
 
Thanks.

I've been looking at getting three Matchboxes with barn doors as a classic basic setup, but am starting to think that I really need to also go for a Maverick.
Oddly I'm having difficulty finding Cineo lights for rent in LA for testing.

I'm currently all tungsten with 4 bank Kino Flo. Personally I think tungsten still has the most beautiful light, but obviously you need a lot more power than with LED.
I like my Kino Flo, but at + 4ft they aren't exactly compact. The Cineo lights would fit in a Pelican case...
 
I know for a fact that Acey Decy has Cineo lights, I just used a ton of them on a shoot last week. Cineo might also do a demo for you. Trisha Maas is their So Cal sales rep last I checked. If you're keen on buying them, Pete Magadini is the sales guy I always use at Acey Decy.
 
Did you end up getting them? I just bought two and they make for a great small portable kit when I don't want to lug the 2 diva 400 light kit with me. The light is very spread out so total brightness doesn't come anywhere close to 650 W for now, but within a few feet it lights peoples faces just fine for a fill light, for a back light, or even a key in tight circumstances. I have two matchboxes and one zylight Z 90 for a three light kit. I bought them for $259 because they're super discounted right now which I assume is because Cineo might be coming out with a new color tunable version I'm betting. Not worth waiting for me because then the fixture, if a new one is coming, is going to be $500 or more again...so at that lower price point it was worth it to me.
 
Comparing photometrics, the Matchbox appears to be less than 1/4 as bright as a 500W softbox and a much smaller source. So seems safe to say it's similar to a 100W tungsten softlight, which is impressive at only 13W, but in practice that seems like a comparison that is hard to justify given the comparative size of the source.
 
I find the Cineo Matchbox terrific as a stash light / trick light. Great for hiding behind an object to push slightly soft light into a nearby object. The perfect light to hide on a restaurant table to fill in an actor's face, often hiding it behind a small object right in frame. It's also nice as an on-camera light either for a less harsh interview light or as a soft basher to fill in the eyes or neck.
 
Plus they do seem to be built very well...I think their price points are about twice what they should be. Seems to be a very nice $260 light but certainly not worth $460 to me. Also if the cineo maverick were $1200 I'd buy one, but at over $2K...no way
 
Can remote phosphor be bi-colour? I'm finding lights of this nature need to be bi-colour, where you're likely going very warm or blue.
 
These are on sale right now at B&H, $150 off. One reason they are supposed to be nifty is that they create hard shadows because of how the phosphor panels are separate from the phosphors, unlike LEDs with their multiple shadows. The fixture comes with one tungsten and one daylight panel. Barndoors and Louvre are sold separately ($112/$126 respectively).
 
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