Cool Lights 575 or 1200 HMI?
- Thread starter LouCap
- Start date
575
575
I have one of the early "test" cool lights 575s. My ballast is insanely loud, but thats precisely part of the test process. Andrew decided the ballast wasnt good enough and upgraded to the far beefier 575/1200 ballast, which is by accounts way nicer and infinitely quieter.
So my cool lights "beta" 575 has a "reject" ballast that is loud and seems kinda light-duty compared to most ballasts. And yet... it has been 100% reliable with no complaints (other than the noise). Mostly i use it punching through a window, so the ballast is outside, or in the case i need it inside, the ballast cable is long enough i can shove it inside a cabinet. Its louder than I wanted, but it was cheap enough as a test unit that I'm hanging on to it and planning to pick up one of the versions with the new ballast at some point.
I also have the cool lights "diva", 4 of the cdm 150s and a pair of the led600s. Most of the cool lights stuff is a notch down in "build quality" than the big brands in stuff like the finishing of edges and castings. Your gaffer will never mistake it for an arri. On the other hand, the build quality so far hasn't affected the light quality at all. I'd treat my cool lights a little more gingerly than I might an arri, but its SO much cheaper than i could buy 5 units instead of one in most cases, and thats worth being a little less monkey-handed with the fixtures.
The exception is the LED units. I find their build quality excellent, and would recommend them without caveats... but thats me.
hope that helps,
-a
575
I have one of the early "test" cool lights 575s. My ballast is insanely loud, but thats precisely part of the test process. Andrew decided the ballast wasnt good enough and upgraded to the far beefier 575/1200 ballast, which is by accounts way nicer and infinitely quieter.
So my cool lights "beta" 575 has a "reject" ballast that is loud and seems kinda light-duty compared to most ballasts. And yet... it has been 100% reliable with no complaints (other than the noise). Mostly i use it punching through a window, so the ballast is outside, or in the case i need it inside, the ballast cable is long enough i can shove it inside a cabinet. Its louder than I wanted, but it was cheap enough as a test unit that I'm hanging on to it and planning to pick up one of the versions with the new ballast at some point.
I also have the cool lights "diva", 4 of the cdm 150s and a pair of the led600s. Most of the cool lights stuff is a notch down in "build quality" than the big brands in stuff like the finishing of edges and castings. Your gaffer will never mistake it for an arri. On the other hand, the build quality so far hasn't affected the light quality at all. I'd treat my cool lights a little more gingerly than I might an arri, but its SO much cheaper than i could buy 5 units instead of one in most cases, and thats worth being a little less monkey-handed with the fixtures.
The exception is the LED units. I find their build quality excellent, and would recommend them without caveats... but thats me.
hope that helps,
-a
LouCap
Member
That's a big help. Like you, I'm more concerned with the light quality than anything else. Based on the quality of our 1K fresnel, I'd be happy if they HMI's are built to a similar standard. Now I have to debate whether we need a 1200, or a 575 (or two) or both. I'm going to be using them indoors mostly to combat daylight coming through the windows, so I have to assume their output is similar to any other 1200 or 575 I've ever seen, right?
The HMI don't come with bulbs. You buy the exact same SE HMI osram/ge bulbs you'd buy for any other 575/1.2k fresnel. If there is a difference in output due to the ballast, its not noticeable without a side by side test - which I haven't done.
If you rent out your gear, or have a rough-ass crew, or film crash-schedule features all year long, then cool lights might not yield a net savings over an arri/mole. If you treat the lights like a cheap-wad trying to milk more lumens out of his dollar (like me) then they seem to hold up great. I keep 'em in a big plastic tub and try not to drop them or call them hurtful names. hehe. So far so good.
If you need an either-or scenario with 575/1.2k, you might want to ask richard about buying 2 ballasts and a mixture of 3 fixtures. The ballast are a pretty huge chunk of the price and since they are 575/1.2k switcheable, one could be used to power either unit. (of course, once you have 3 fixtures, you'll want a 3rd ballast, so thats probably not a real solution).
Also note that the 1.2k par does not come with lenses. Thats another expense to factor.
cheers.
If you rent out your gear, or have a rough-ass crew, or film crash-schedule features all year long, then cool lights might not yield a net savings over an arri/mole. If you treat the lights like a cheap-wad trying to milk more lumens out of his dollar (like me) then they seem to hold up great. I keep 'em in a big plastic tub and try not to drop them or call them hurtful names. hehe. So far so good.
If you need an either-or scenario with 575/1.2k, you might want to ask richard about buying 2 ballasts and a mixture of 3 fixtures. The ballast are a pretty huge chunk of the price and since they are 575/1.2k switcheable, one could be used to power either unit. (of course, once you have 3 fixtures, you'll want a 3rd ballast, so thats probably not a real solution).
Also note that the 1.2k par does not come with lenses. Thats another expense to factor.
cheers.
LouCap
Member
Thanks Floop! Your input has been invaluable. My crew is really good with our gear...I think we might even still have the first light we bought years ago! For the price, these sound like a great deal, even without the bulbs or lenses. Certainly worth a try I think!
Thanks again for your help.
Thanks again for your help.