Coollights smaller hmi

T

tomk358

Well-known member
Richard, any plans for a pepper or smaller (150-300W tungsten equivalent)
HMI to fit with your other hot cool lights?

-Tom
 
that would be golden. would that pump out around 650 watts to 1K of daylight?
 
He's asking about a 150-300W tungsten equivalent -- don't know what that would be in HMI watts.
 
Your not going to find a HMI that only outputs 150-300 watts of light unless you go to a theater fixture. The reason behind that (I am guessing) is that HMI's in the cine/video world are normally used for outdoor work, and 650-1000 watts tungsten is the min for actually being able to see a difference when working outside, etc. Considering the most popular HMI is a 1200 PAR (AKA 5k watts tung.) and you can always scrim the light down, I just don't see the need for a 50 watt HMI--but that's just me.

Matthew
 
I know what you mean. What he wants is really the 70w CDM HCI/HQI which is the little brother of the 150 HQI / HCI types that are being used in the CL-MF0150. It's not in HMI class its in the CDM class which I prefer anyway. By the way, there are small 150w and 200w HMI bulbs.

Its funny because I was just thinking about this today wondering how much interest there would be in something like that. The way it would manifest itself is to take the 300w fresnel body and add a G12 base to it and use the 70w CDM bulb and 70w ballast. So, yes its doable and yes I have thought about it. I even thought about using the 150w body for something but that is really tiny and we're talking pretty hard to put a serious bulb in there. There is a midget bulb but I'm not so sure about its CRI--I believe it was 70 CRI which wouldn't be so great. So, anyway, the 300w body with a 70w bulb would be roughly the equivalent of the 300w tungsten. A very small, relatively cool running pepper fresnel. I think its a great idea. Spartacus of course also had the idea for the RIFA like 150w fixture too which would be your best direct metal halide interface into a softbox. Of course, its only prudent to put a UV / heat glass protection on that whereas the RIFA today does not have one (I believe). That solution would use the same ballast we use today in the MF0150.
 
I simply like the low weight and ease of setup of the Rifas.
A Rifa-like fixture with a daylight bulb and a small ballast would be just perfect for ENG and doc work - and those people buy lamps rather than rent...
 
And you want it to fit the Rifa softbox too as I understood rather than make it for a normal round speedring softbox.
 
Actually,
I was looking for daylight Tota-style fixtures, thinking they could be in the same lower price segment like the originals (not as cheap of course...) but most of all small and very portable...
One could add a softbox just like with the Totas and its special speedring for SB attachement...
A Rifa design though, fixture and softbox in one, would be the best solution - but I still think the Rifa design is patented (Lowel bought the Rifa design from some other company if i recal)
I don´t know if the Rifa is popular with film folks, but for ENG/EFP/small crew work it´s just perfect...

Lowel has just adapted to daylight demand by offering a CLF adapter for the Rifa lights...
 
Sorry I meant Tota. I remember now, it was Tota you were mostly interested in. Of course, its always possible we could come up with our own idea for a softbox too. I've had some ideas in that area which I think could improve on the softbox and hopefully make it easier to setup. For instance, what's to keep someone from making a softbox that collapses like a chinese lantern? Has a collapsible skeleton inside and then a rigid harp inserted to keep it "inflated". Shaped just like a round or square softbox with a flat front and reflective and heat resistant material on the back. Just need to figure out how the harp would work in that kind of setup.
 
Cool Lights said:
I know what you mean. What he wants is really the 70w CDM HCI/HQI which is the little brother of the 150 HQI / HCI types that are being used in the CL-MF0150. It's not in HMI class its in the CDM class which I prefer anyway. By the way, there are small 150w and 200w HMI bulbs.

Its funny because I was just thinking about this today wondering how much interest there would be in something like that. The way it would manifest itself is to take the 300w fresnel body and add a G12 base to it and use the 70w CDM bulb and 70w ballast. So, yes its doable and yes I have thought about it. I even thought about using the 150w body for something but that is really tiny and we're talking pretty hard to put a serious bulb in there. There is a midget bulb but I'm not so sure about its CRI--I believe it was 70 CRI which wouldn't be so great. So, anyway, the 300w body with a 70w bulb would be roughly the equivalent of the 300w tungsten. A very small, relatively cool running pepper fresnel. I think its a great idea. Spartacus of course also had the idea for the RIFA like 150w fixture too which would be your best direct metal halide interface into a softbox. Of course, its only prudent to put a UV / heat glass protection on that whereas the RIFA today does not have one (I believe). That solution would use the same ballast we use today in the MF0150.
Click to expand...

Don't know about anyone else, but I would be interested in the CDM 300w equivalent.
 
Definitely not a bad idea. I looked at it once and remember being struck by the space (as in not too much left) in the 300w fixture for the longer 70w bulb (which is the same exact size as our 150w). I think it can be done though. Its just a question of which is more interesting to do first: the 70w CDM pepper or a 250w CDM that should be like a 1000w tungsten? I was thinking more might be interested in the 250w first especially if it had a half-intensity switch on the ballast which it could.
 
My goal is to some day have a small, portable, daylight balanced ENG type kit. In tungsten terms, that would mean a few 650's, a 300, a softbox of some sort to use on either, and a 150 for a hairlight. Seems like you've got the 650 and 300 covered in your current line, but are missing the 150 pepper.

I've been using a home-built 4x4' flouro for my key, 2x4' for fill, and an old lowel 500w omni for a hair light. Once I gel it to match my daylight flouros, it's dim enough to work fine. Moving those crummy flouros around sucks, they are heavy and breakable. The rifa seems like a much better idea for a soft, it's quick to set up, and small and light. For interviews I pretty much always need a soft for the key. For me, to start investing in more tungsten gear when down the road I know I'll want to be using daylight just doesn't make as much sense. This is why I haven't bought a rifa, though the more shoots I drag the flouros to, the more I think about it.

So I'd like both a pepper, and a rifa that are daylight HMI or CDM, or I guess just a pepper, then a quick setup softbox for one of the 300 or 650 hmi's.

Hmm, I wonder how hard it would be to make a DIY rifa w/ CDM bulb? Wouldn't the fabric stop the UV burn potential?
 
That's a lot of people's goal now. It's a very common request to be able to move over entirely to daylight.

I don't know the answer to the fabric stopping UV question--I have thought about that before but an answer has never presented itself. My intuition says yes it would stop it, but in any case that's why I would put a UV protected safety glass in front of that fixture so there's no guess work about it.

As for a 150w pepper fresnel equivalent. That's a bit more tough because of the super small package we're working with--I didn't say impossible though. You would need a 35 to 40w small bulb for that solution and I'm not totally sure about finding high CRI for those (at this time). Perhaps at some point in the future though. I think the better solution is to either just use the 150w tungsten fresnel as your hair light or use the 70w CDM (in the 300w tungsten fixture package) when we have time to do it and put a scrim on it if necessary to reduce the light output. Maybe we'll luck out too and get our ballast supplier to put a half intensity function on the ballast which would allow you to dim the bulb by 50%.
 
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