Cool Lights BlackLines

So, if I understand correctly, there will be something of a gap in the HMI-type line, between the 150w (650w equivalent) and the 575w where the light jumps all the way up to a 2400w equivalent. I guess if you want something in between, you really do need the 1000w fresnel. Yes?

I love the fresnels and will certainly consider going for the 650 and/or the 1000w. But I am still a little obseesed with low heat output and energy efficiency. In your opinion, is there a reason to choose the tungsten 650 over the HMI 150?

Thanks for all your work and keeping us all educated and informed.

Terry
 
Yes a gap as there's no 1000w equivalent (for now anyway). If I were going to fill the gap at some point I would add a 250w HQI/HCI type as that's the same technology I love in the 150w and the ballast still has no fan. We can use those types up to 400w and still get away with no fan.

I can't think of a good reason to choose the tungsten 650 over the 150 except price of course. The CL-MF150 will be $399 and the CL-TF650 will be $265 or less if you get the 20% discount for buying other of our stuff in the same order. But it's not a huge difference in any case and, I think, worth it to get a cooler light output and also you can get a daylight fresnel too which you can't do of course with the tungsten 650 unless you gel it and we all know how much light you lose when you gel up.
 
Cool Lights said:
By the way, I have a 2000w model for evaluation but I doubt I would sell it as most of you couldn't use it so effectively off normal power. It is one hefty unit. But, it's just such a specialized instrument I don't know if it really makes sense for my market. I don't even have a great way to test it really. The main reason I got it was to use as a "frankenstein" for some experiments with 1200w HMI bulbs and such!
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Well if you want someone to test it we have a 2k we use with a generator for outside shots. Its a heavy old beast and anything lighter would be nice.

I guess you should maybe throw some crazy glue on that piece for a little extra grab cause they come out pretty easily.
 
The 1000 and above all have metal stand adapters so no way for them to come out. As for the plastic ones, just replace them if it really bothers you. The price is low enough on these things that you can't really expect much else than what those adapters are. By the way, I've never had one come out on me. Maybe I'm just not so rough on them though.

No reason to test the 2000w unit as it is as I won't sell it. As you stated most would need a generator or special power to use it. I think the HMI 575w is more effective for that type use anyway and requires no special power at all. Besides, I'm going to remake this one into a 1200w hot restrike unit at some point.
 
These lights defintely look promising, and I'd love to pick some up as soon as they are available.

I'd pick up some of the cool lights if I was doing more work without a 35mm adapter- but the HVX with the M2 is at about a 100 ISO, which means that I need more output then the CL-SF1 or the CL-255 can give me. These lights just might fit the bill ....
 
What about HMI's for what you're doing or for that matter the larger flo's like the 4x55 and 6x55. You still need soft lighting sometimes don't you?
 
Cool Lights said:
What about HMI's for what you're doing or for that matter the larger flo's like the 4x55 and 6x55. You still need soft lighting sometimes don't you?
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Yep, I still need soft light. I'm not sure that the 4x55 or 6x55 would read well except for close up work. At 100 ISO, you need a lot of wattage to have the scene read. If those didn't work, than I could always throw some opal, 216 or 250 infront of the HMI to soften the light. HMI's would be perfect, as they would already be balanced for day light.

Which, by the way, do you know what the CRI (Color Rendering Index) is of the lights you currently sell, and what the CRI of the HMI's and the fresnels are?
 
Well CRI of any tungsten unit would be between 95 and 99. That's because the way CRI works is by comparing the color rendering capabilities of the light source with the ideal its being measured against. The ideal for tungsten is tungsten so any real tungsten lamp typically reaches close to 100 but none are perfect. Any of the discharge type lamps like fluorescent or HMI are either measured against tungsten (if that's their correlated color temperature) or daylight (if the tube is in daylight range). CRI of our tubes is between 87 and 90. We chose that range because lumen output drops pretty drastically the higher you go past 85 at almost an exponential rate. Those that advertise 90 to 95 may be embellishing a bit on either their lumen output or their CRI. It's just the truth about fluorescent tubes: the green is what makes them seem bright. People have been way too worried about this especially when they're working with digital mediums.

Take that green component out in an effort to raise CRI and you lose light. So we struck a balance between 85 and 90 and that's fine. None of our users have complained about any problems.

Osram HMI is typically between 85 and 90 on CRI and that's what ours will be too. There are a few manufacturers that claim 95 but again lumen output will drop a bit for a bulb like that for the same reasons as with fluorescent.
 
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No on this thread we were showing the tungsten models of fresnels we'll be selling: 150w, 300w, 650w and 1000w units.

We have other threads dealing with HMI fresnel and par versions and also some new fluorescent light versions too. Lots of new stuff and hard to keep it all straight.
 
You really need to come up with a distinctive name for all of your lights. I'd vastly rather tell crew when they ask about my new HMIs that they are "these cool new lights called Drewski's" than to try to say they're "black line" to which they will then poo-poo them as cheap chinese knockoffs.
 
That's what some college buddies used to call me: "Drewski". I'll work on it. It's not so easy to come up with a name that catches though.
 
Arri, Mole, LTM, Desisti, Drewski. See? It fits! Pay a talented arts major to come up with simple distinct logo and create a solid brand for yourself. Seriously. You are creating a lot of value, have a common name stamped on every single one of your new lights so that you're a brand, and not just cheap chinese stuff
 
shawneous said:
You really need to come up with a distinctive name for all of your lights. I'd vastly rather tell crew when they ask about my new HMIs that they are "these cool new lights called Drewski's" than to try to say they're "black line" to which they will then poo-poo them as cheap chinese knockoffs.
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Would´t you just say: "Hand me a 1K tungsten!" ?:cheesy:

And why try to disguise the chinese origin of the lights?
It´s just honest, other companys do the same, designing in Europe or the US and fabricating in China - they just don´t say it...
I´d even call them CHINOS!
 
Cool Lights said:
Well CRI of any tungsten unit would be between 95 and 99. That's because the way CRI works is by comparing the color rendering capabilities of the light source with the ideal its being measured against. The ideal for tungsten is tungsten so any real tungsten lamp typically reaches close to 100 but none are perfect. Any of the discharge type lamps like fluorescent or HMI are either measured against tungsten (if that's their correlated color temperature) or daylight (if the tube is in daylight range). CRI of our tubes is between 87 and 90. We chose that range because lumen output drops pretty drastically the higher you go past 85 at almost an exponential rate. Those that advertise 90 to 95 may be embellishing a bit on either their lumen output or their CRI. It's just the truth about fluorescent tubes: the green is what makes them seem bright. People have been way too worried about this especially when they're working with digital mediums.

Take that green component out in an effort to raise CRI and you lose light. So we struck a balance between 85 and 90 and that's fine. None of our users have complained about any problems.

Osram HMI is typically between 85 and 90 on CRI and that's what ours will be too. There are a few manufacturers that claim 95 but again lumen output will drop a bit for a bulb like that for the same reasons as with fluorescent.
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Interesting- good to kow. Glad to hear that the CRI will be 85 - 90. :)
 
Spartacus said:
Would´t you just say: "Hand me a 1K tungsten!" ?:cheesy:

And why try to disguise the chinese origin of the lights?
It´s just honest, other companys do the same, designing in Europe or the US and fabricating in China - they just don´t say it...
I´d even call them CHINOS!
Click to expand...

This is a really good point! You know, there's no entity that enforces what you put on your box. You could say Made on Mars and there's no one to do anything or say anything about it. When I had my boxes made and the factory asked me what I wanted to put on there. I said, just put Made in China. They seemed a little surprised so perhaps many lie about it.

I do believe you should be truthful about it. No question that many of these manufacturers just make the parts in China, ship them to Europe, assemble them there (and maybe even minimal assembly) then slap them in a "Made in Germany or Italy", or whatever box.

The best scam is the one where they ship the parts through Mexico and then into the USA to escape customs taxes (thanks to NAFTA), assemble some there, do some final assembly in the USA and then they say "Made in USA" on the box.
 
As far as a name for the lights... How 'bout your "PORN" name Richard.. ?
Someone once told me, to get your "porn " name, you just use the street name you grew up on and the name of your first dog...
Unfortunately, my "porn" name would be LEXINGTON SNOOPY, not exactely a name that spouts testosterone.. but it's a start.. lol
 
Richard,

I'm in the market right now for a set of lights. When do you expect these to be available? How do these compare to Arri? How do these compare to BluLine?

Thanks.
 
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