Cool Lights BlackLines

Hi,

My "blackline" models aren't out yet and won't be till middle of October timeframe so no one (except me) has any experience with them yet. The other blueline ones are sold by other companies and I can't answer for them. Maybe some others can chime in with their experiences on the existing models.
 
I'm looking forward to October- your HMI series of lights is very appealing. I think I'll be changing out my trungesten lights for a set of HMI's.

I do not see it mentioned anywhere on your site, but do your lights, especially the HMI's accept scrims and chimeras? If so will you be selling those as well, or do I need to get them from another vendor? (Mole or Arri for example).
 
Hi Ryan,

Good point on the scrims. I won't have them for a while I guess as I hadn't found them yet "off the shelf" here from suppliers/manufacturers. You can count on though that the accessory holders are standard sizes and therefore can use Arri sized scrims and other accessories. The barndoors though (of course) are supplied by us ;-) and I don't really consider that an optional accessory like the other guys do...

The accessory holder on the MF0150 (same as TF0650 instrument) is 168mm--just like an Arri compact 200w HMI or 650w tungsten fresnel.
 
Well, I don't have one to try over here unfortunately but given that all the measurements are the same, I would say a cautious yes. Let's take the 650w for instance--a very popular model. As I said, the Blackline 650 (until we get a better name!) accessory adapter is 168mm (6.5") like the Arri 650. Looking at the Chimera website and the speedring that works for the Arri compact 650 (which unless I'm missing something should be the "Video Pro" line):

http://www.chimeralighting.com/products/specs_hmi.cfm?ID=20

I think this model in particular:

http://www.chimeralighting.com/products/dspspeedrings.cfm?productID=9670

And, their corresponding softbox:

http://www.chimeralighting.com/products/dspproduct.cfm?productid=5



We see it fits a 168mm adapter and works for fresnels up to 2000w. So, you see it works perfectly (on paper) ;-)
 
Thanks for that info- glad to know that it atleast works on paper- I know that is not the same as working in real life- but after getting a couple of your lights I can test it out with some of the accessories that my associated have. (Mole and Arri kits)

I'm looking forward to the 15th of October. :)
 
Hi Richard, just wondering if your Blackline tungsten series is still on track for an October release. The availability on your site was changed to November.
 
Hi Jade, sorry about that. Many things are ready but some small things are holding us up that I wanted to cram in like carrying cases. In the past, I ignored some of the little accessories to get the big things out. This time, I've tried to pay more attention to the little things--so it'll be worth the wait and much easier to put together a total kit using all the different kind of lights that make the most sense for each person's applications. Got some really cool cases coming as well as new light stands, reflectors, etc. I've included a sneak preview picture of an early model of one of the new cases below. The final model will have a bit less padding in favor of actually having room to put something in the case ;-).

It turns out that it's quite a challenge to design a case that will let you have both fluorescent models as well as fresnels (HMI or tungsten) and still be able to check it as baggage on an airplane. We're trying to work in the limits of what you can check and still provide something that works for all our models.
 

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Looking good Richard. It's difficult to find affordable, roomy cases. That one above looks like a 4 fresnel and stands case? How much will that go for?
 
That model would be $195. It's the CL-CCL2. How many you fit in there would depend upon the wattage/size of course. The smaller 300s would probably fit 4 in there but it'd be tough to get four light stands.

We'll have 3 cases and here's how they're constructed.

All are cordura nylon with a hard inner thick plastic shell, foam padding and velcro removable separators. All have wheels, the smallest one has a trolley but the taller two just have a handle--like the one pictured. They will protect lighting gear very well. Final pictures should be available in the next two weeks.

CL-CCL1 Case that can contain eggcrates, 1 455P and 1 255P and bulb case or 1 655P and bulb case. Requires a stand of about 27 inches or less when folded to go in there. Dimensions are 30 x 19 x 11 inches. Has pull-up trolley and wheels. $135

CL-CCL2 Case (pictured) that can contain 1 650w tungsten / 150w HMI fresnel, 2 255P's or 1 255P and 1 bulb case, eggcrate(s) and 3 stands, or 3 650w fresnel and 3 stands. Dimensions are 37 x 14 x 8 inches. Has handle on top and wheels. $195

CL-CCL3 Case that can contain 1 455P and 1 255P, 2 bulb cases, 3 stands, eggcrates and 1 1000w tungsten / 575w HMI fresnel. Dimensions: 41 x 19 x 16 inches. Has handle on top and wheels. $225.

Case 1 and 2 can be checked as baggage on an airplane. Case 3 is purely for around town use throwing things in your car to go somewhere. It's very sturdy but its too large to be checked as baggage given the limitation of total girth on a checked bag of 62" (158cm).
 
Hey Richard,

You are going gangbusters with all these new products!! Great work. BTW - I love my new 655s. I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone needing a lot of light.

A couple of questions that come up based on the new cases you describe above...

You mention a "bulb case" a couple of times. Just what, specifically is a bulb case. Obviously I can figure out generically what it is but is there a specific product you recommend to transport bulbs easily and conveniently? And in a related question, do you recommend transporting the 655s with the bulbs out, perhaps in a "bulb case" :-) to avoid damage/breakage to the bulbs? I am talking about local transport here - not airline check-ins, etc., just in and out of the car.

Thanks again for all your knowledge, hard work, great products and contributions to this forum.

(Any word on new light stands for the new hard lights?)

TVH
 
Hi Terry,

Great to hear you're loving the lights. A bulb case is just a polyurethane foam lined carrying case with custom inserts in it for the 55w tubes and a plastic carrying handle. We'll have them in 2, 4 and 6 tube sizes. On the question of transporting with tubes in the 655...

Yes, it can work if you're super careful, I do it all the time. But, one big bump and it could be good bye tube(s)! So, that's why it may be best to officially recommend transporting in a tube case. The same will go for the new plastic fixtures. I don't want to tell you its completely okay to transport like that, but my accidental research on the subject (like watching a 455P unit that was propped against the wall slide down and bang on the floor) that the plastic and the way the skeleton / reflectors / plastic bulb clips sit on the plastic housing tends to have a cushioning effect on the tubes. Your mileage may vary though so this is not an endorsement of running your own independent tests on the subject! ;-)

I will have a couple of things on light stands very soon also. I'll post a picture this weekend. I thought I'd have one portable baby stand for all those new products but now its looking like there'll be two stands. My work on the carrying cases actually made me rethink the stand options.

I had a stand thats about 90cm long (35.4 inches) when folded and thought that would be adequate for all of the new lights as a portable stand. In fact, that one is spring loaded and will easily carry a 30lb. load so its going to be our heavy duty portable stand with a wide leg base. Anyway, a bit later, I discovered I had to redo the CCL1 design (to make it luggage checkable on an airplane) which is our core smallest flo case and it will only allow about a 67cm (27 inch) folded stand now.

So, we'll also be getting an air cushioned smaller stand for use with that case which will work with loads of up to about 14 lbs. That stand will work with all the fresnels up to 1000w/575w HMI and all the plastic flos up to 655P/PMD.

The other 35 inch stand will be appropriate for larger loads like our metal studio fixtures--your CL-655s for instance, a 1200w HMI par or fresnel, a 2000w fresnel, etc. Or you can just choose to use this beefier stand for the other new products as well but you'd need to carry it in a CCL2 or CCL3 case or in another stand case if you're using the CCL1 small flo case.
 
i can't wait until nov. 19th.

do you have any plans to put together some kind of a package deal or a whole kit?
 
Probably. At least one or two I would imagine. A common one would be a 255P and 2 CL-MF0150 150w CDM fresnels (for a really efficient kit) or 2 650w tungsten fresnels instead of the 150w ones. They're both equal in output but the 150w only draws 150w to do its work. This would be a good all around portable interview kit when paired with stands and carrying case.
 
On your website you say that your tungsten fresnels come with "scrim", do you mean the full 4-scrim set (single, double, half single, half double) or literally just one scrim? If one, what strength is it? And does a bag come with it?

Secondly, for both the 575w HMI and the Tungsten fresnels, your availability says November 19th. Does that mean that on Nov 19th I could order say, a 575w HMI plus 2-3 tungsten fixtures and expect it to ship out to me within a week or so? Sorry if this has already been answered, I just read al 8 pages of this thread, but it's getting tough following all the threads where you are posting the info.
 
A question, or tardy suggestion re: cases...

A question, or tardy suggestion re: cases...

you've piqued my interest...now I only have to find the $$.

I do have one comment, though it may be too late for it now, and there may be practical reasons against it working, but here goes:
the big problem/complaint I have with any kind of wheeled case is the size of the wheels. They are always skate-like and too small to allow wheeling cases up stairs/steps without scraping the case against the edge of the treads. Have you considered larger wheels? I know it would add some weight, but I can't help but think larger wheels would protect the case and contents a bit better.

Just my 2 cents.

x
 
This is a pet peeve of mine too. I hate when you get a cheapy case like that. The only constraint I'm working in there though is you have to realize that the limits on checked baggage cover all the dimensions and that goes from where the wheels meet the floor and the distance between floor and bottom of bag is part of all that. I was really trying to steal as much room as I could for the CCL1 and CCL2 for instance. We're allowing about 2" underneath the bag which is actually more than many. I'm not sure of the exact size of the wheels though but remember, part of them is usually hidden inside the bag on most designs.
 
shawneous said:
On your website you say that your tungsten fresnels come with "scrim", do you mean the full 4-scrim set (single, double, half single, half double) or literally just one scrim? If one, what strength is it? And does a bag come with it?

Secondly, for both the 575w HMI and the Tungsten fresnels, your availability says November 19th. Does that mean that on Nov 19th I could order say, a 575w HMI plus 2-3 tungsten fixtures and expect it to ship out to me within a week or so? Sorry if this has already been answered, I just read al 8 pages of this thread, but it's getting tough following all the threads where you are posting the info.
Click to expand...

Not sure how I missed this. Anyway, I'm still looking for scrims. I found one but I'm not totally sure its mesh is a real "single". Looks a bit light to me. I hate to offer it just for the sake of offering it. We'll get more into the scrims next year when I have more time. When we do offer them, I'm sure we'll have a bag to put them in.

On availability, when you see a date, thats a projected date when you can actually order and have it ship right away from the warehouse. In general we don't sell things before they're available but we did take some pre-orders this time with some people that just felt the need to reserve stuff. Their stuff will go out first of course, then other orders as they come in will be served with remaining inventory. When inventory goes to zero on my site, you might be able to put it in your cart but the software won't let you check out so there's not much danger of buying something that isn't in stock.
 
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