Coollights fresnels?

Using a G38 bulb for a non-hotstrike unit is really odd. Don't know why they'd use the more expensive bulb like that. In any case, you can try it. Turn the unit off then on again. There would normally be bulb protection if its cold start (I hope). If there's bulb protection then it will appear as nothing is happening and it will just wait 5 minutes or so, maybe retrying every couple of minutes to relight. However if it does try to light and if you hear any kind of screeching or squealing sound, turn it off immediately and don't try it again.

EDIT: Here's what they say in the listing:

"Our HMI lamps have soft start system , when you turn off the lamp, you need turn on the lamps around 10minutes latter , till bulbs become cool."

So yes its cold start.
 
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taybo20 said:
This is funny and made me laugh! Pics if you have the chance Barry.
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My wife stuck the Minnie Mouse on the garage door in this shot. I was trying to take a shot of the light, but for whatever reason she felt that this just had to be in the shot. And, perhaps I should note, it's stuck up there by suction cup, which also came with the Minnie Mouse doll.

I cannot fathom the reasoning.


1200W head.jpg
 
AWESOME!!! I can't stop laughing!

I may buy one these just to get the minnie mouse...lol. (I'm just kidding, but seriously, what a crazy, random thing)
 
I just ordered a few Cool Lights fresnels; they will hopefully be here by Friday. I can't speak for the lights themselves (as I have not used them yet), but Richard was very helpful throughout the process of ordering the lights. He answered every e-mail I sent very quickly. So at the very least, you will be getting good customer service. I will report back here with my experience with the lights (how they compare to arri, etc.) after I have used them.
 
I recently bought two 150 cdm fresnels and they're really good. To get a hard daylight temperature fresnel at this price is amazing. And I bought the tungsten bulbs along with it so I can jump back and forth from daylight to tungsten if I need to. It's perfect.

They do require special attention compared to a tungsten Arri because of the ballast, and you can't plug a dimmer inline or you will damage the ballast. And there's a specific order to plugging things in that you have to remember. So, I wouldn't be comfortable lending, or renting these out because you can damage them if you don't know what you're doing.
They do make a high frequency buzzing sound, but it is acceptable under most circumstances. And to my ears it is a very narrow frequency range, so I'm sure it can be filtered out quite effectively in Post with a scientfic filter if your location sound is critical.
And the scrim set for these lights is a little rough around the edges. The half scrim I have is slightly warped making it tricky to slide it behind the barndoors. But, despite these small issues, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

I also have the 6 bank flo light and it's very good also. It puts out a ton of soft light and you can back it off using the bank switches, or the dimmer. I'm a little disappointed by the dimmer though. It doesn't seem to have a very effective range on the dial. I can make a substantial turn on the dial with no change in output. But the dimmer isn't that essential because you have switches for each bank.
And the barn doors have a will of their own. It's quite difficult to make precise modifications. But, overall it's a great light.
I also highly recommend their spring stands. Very sturdy, super lightweight, and fast to setup.
 
Just as a follow up, I've used my Cool Lights fresnels on two shoots now and they work great. I had a couple of minor problems with my initial shipment, but Richard took care of it.
 
I'll just add my vote -- I have one of the same 150W CDMs that Mike H. speaks of, and a four-tube fluorescent, and can echo his observations on both exactly, right down to the warped scrim.

Since I fired up the fresnel for the first time in my bedroom after unpacking it, I've been obsessed with trying to find the dough somewhere to buy a second one. It really produces one of the prettiest light patterns I've seen, and the instrument is compact and inexpensive. I've worked with a lot of tungsten fresnels over the years, mostly Moles, and in fact this is the smallest one (physically) I've ever had my hands on, but you wouldn't suspect that from the quantity and quality of light that comes out of it.

I like the flo as well, but I'm not quite as blown away by it, mainly because of the wacky barndoors. If they could fix that issue I would give it an unequivocal thumbs up; for now I'll just say it's a great deal for the price.

- Greg
 
I have two of the 150 CDMs and two 455 fluos. Love them all, great lights. Two complete 150s (with cords, ballasts, barn doors, and scrims) fit neatly into a small carry-on hard case I bought at WalMart for something like $40. The two 455s fit into a similar, full size suitcase along with a packing blanket to help dampen shock.

I'd love to have the LEDs next, and a 1200W HMI, but both are out of my budget for the time being.



My only real gripe with CL was shipping costs for four fluo bulbs and scrims, something like $30/35? Oh well...
 
I'm about to make a short with a $5,000 budget. We were planning on renting an Arri kit, but for the amount of time we'd need it, we might as well buy one. I was looking at the Arri 650w/ 2x 300w Softbox Fresnel kit, which is just over 2 grand on B&H. The cool light kit with a 650w and 2 300w fresnels is nearly half that price. I've worked with Arris many times, and I'm a firm believer in sticking with what is tried and true, but I think about what I could put that extra thousand dollars toward if I got the cool lights.http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?56864-Mike-H.

Mike H mentioned a high frequency buzz. Is this exclusive to the CDMs or will I hear the same on the Tungsten series?
 
I've also been reading about the benefits of shooting with daylight balanced lighting. I've been wrestling with that all day. Some scenes in this particular project it would benefit me, but on some scenes it would kill me. We're planning on using some practicals in scene, and it seems as though it'd be easier to control while shooting Tungsten, but what do I know.
 
Awesome, thanks for the info, all. I had been looking for an Arri-like set of fresnels for the past two weeks. I was almost sold on the person selling as the JieTu lights on ebay. I found this thread, and was impressed with everyone's reviews on the tungsten fresnels and by how accessible you were on this forum, Richard.

I just placed an order on a 150W and a 650W tungsten fresnel. I bought under the same username I am here.

I've got a couple of questions. Anyone feel free to answer if Richard doesn't first. 1-- the lights will come with ground plugs, right?

And 2-- I'm sure that it will, but I just wanted to be doubly sure that this stand will work. It's 1/4"-20 threaded top Impact.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/253067-REG/Impact_LS10AB_Air_Cushioned_Light_Stand.html

Thanks!!!
 
I had a few 1/4-20 thread-top stands, they must have come with a kit or something.

I finally took an angle grinder and chopped the threaded studs off 'em all. For a pro light with a 5/8 baby spud, they'll just get in the way, and in many cases make it impossible to seat the light all the way down.

I think those are made for guys using on-camera style flashes as a hobby or something.
 
Ah, ok. Should I have just went with CL's stands? Too late now. Don't want shipping twice. Can you point out the type I need on B&H?
 
Yes they come with a 3 prong grounded plug. The 1/4"-20 top type stands still have a 5/8" stud on them so yes they work.
 
Ok, that's what I thought. Can't wait to get the lights! Hopefully I'll have them in time for the first interviews on a project I start some time next week.
 
Cool Lights said:
Yes they come with a 3 prong grounded plug. The 1/4"-20 top type stands still have a 5/8" stud on them so yes they work.
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Just to clarify - some lights have a spud deep enough to work with 1/4-20 top stands - with others (and any grip-gear sort of thing that uses a closed-top spud type of baby connector) the 1/4-20 stud keeps the spud from seating all the way and it can be wobbly. It just takes a minute to hack 'em off though, with a hacksaw or (about 2 seconds) an angle grinder.

The only time I've needed the 1/4-20 is with background kits where a post screws on the threads and goes through a crossbar. But usually you just devote those 2 stands to your background crossbar.
 
TeresofBlood said:
I'm about to make a short with a $5,000 budget. We were planning on renting an Arri kit, but for the amount of time we'd need it, we might as well buy one. I was looking at the Arri 650w/ 2x 300w Softbox Fresnel kit, which is just over 2 grand on B&H. The cool light kit with a 650w and 2 300w fresnels is nearly half that price. I've worked with Arris many times, and I'm a firm believer in sticking with what is tried and true, but I think about what I could put that extra thousand dollars toward if I got the cool lights.

Mike H mentioned a high frequency buzz. Is this exclusive to the CDMs or will I hear the same on the Tungsten series?
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The buzz comes from the ballast, and since Tungstens don't have ballasts you won't have that problem. I should also mention that Cool Lights CDMs come with a lot of cable length, so you could run the ballast in another room if you need absolute quiet.

One thing that really sold me on these CDM lights is their ability to accept daylight rated lamps as well as Tungsten. You have to buy these lamps seperately from Cool Lights (not sure where else to find them) but they're not expensive, especially compared to HMI lamps. So, you could shoot during the day with your 5500k lamps, then switch them out to Tungsten for your night shoot.
 
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Mike H mentioned a high frequency buzz. Is this exclusive to the CDMs or will I hear the same on the Tungsten series?
I have the same high-frequency buzz on my CL CDM unit. In general Mike's answer is spot-on, but I would like to just point out that you can also get buzz on tungsten units, if you're using a dimmer. In general tungsten will be totally silent but some lights, when dimmed, can start making a buzzing or super-high-frequency ringing noise.
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