Fresnel 150's

Yeah man, those Arri 150s are key, They are THE backlight, and they also are great for lighting interiers. Take a mafer or a cardellini, clamp on to any other lightstand in the room, and you can highlight or slash little things like paintings or sculptures.
 
Boy do I love the Arri 150 W Fresnels. With cameras like the DVX and HVX I'm now using the 150s where I used to use 300s religiously. What's nice is that now I can travel with a relatively small case. I do think it's good to have a mix of Frenels (150s, 300s and 650s) as needed per your style and situation in addition to other units.
mcgeedigital said:
Make sure to get a few dimmers as well.
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I've been using Lutron Nova 600W and 1000W dimmers (rugged and reliable), what are other people using out there?
 
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KHendrix2 said:
The "router speed control" from Harbor Freight will handle 1500 watts and it works great as a light dimmer. I have 3 of them and use them all the time with my Arri kits. It looks like they are on sale right now. You can't beat the price.

http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=router+speed+control&Submit=Go
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The router speed control was indeed a nice find. I bought 5 at my local store in Des Moines..Bought them out....Told all my film and video buddies, and I bet I'm personally responsible for at least 15 sales of those babies. I can't remeber who originally posted this suggestion, but thank you.....you saved me hundreds of dollars, and made me a local hero to my co-workers in video....Too bad my 15 minutes are almost gone..
 
I've seen those "router speed controls" touted so many times on this list, that I finally went and ordered 3 for myself.

For $9.99, it's hard to go wrong.
 
As far as I know VIDLED is the guy to give original props to... and yeah, I'm gonna' order 3 of them right now also.
 
bcheong said:
I would go for the 2 300's over 2 150's myself. I find them just a little more versatile all around than the 150's.
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Exactly I picked up 4 300s and 1 650
Throw the 300s on a dimmer and add some ctb to bring back the color change. Buck for buck at that point (IMHO) you have a much more versatile kit. You can pull down a light but not boost up (easily at least). You don't always know how your scenario is going to change so with a wattage like 150 I think rule of thumb is to carry a few dimmers a ctb/cto kit some full double scrims some black wrap (to control the large fresnel output (although I think adjusted the 300s have the same spread that 150s have at medium length)) and fully outfit yourself with 300s.
An analogy escapes me :-\
 
hmm, dimmer's, CTO, black wrap. that's a lot of time. 150s are cheap and take up just a teeny bit of space. It really doesn't hurt to have one on hand for a back light. Lowell pro=lights work pretty good too.
 
NewYorkLion-
I don't know what type of stuff you normally shoot, and I'm really not trying to chew you out here, but c'mon, blackwrap and gels is really too much work?? In my experience, there have been very few set-ups (at least ones that I cared about even a little) where I didn't find it necessary to control the light with bounce, dimmers, gels, blackwrap, flags (okay, foamcore for now, but same idea) etc. And I'm not talking about Home depot worklights or anything, I'm using Lowel and Arri film lights. Film lighting needs control...it's just the nature of the beast. As much as I love my little 150, I think I'd have to go with JwrFord and say that the 300 in the end will be much more versatile, if only for the fact that it's twice as bright. Anyway, I apologize if this seemed like a rant, it just didn't seem fair to me to compare these lights with the assumption that no control would be used.
Peace,

-Harry
 
NewYorkLion said:
hmm, dimmer's, CTO, black wrap. that's a lot of time.
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The devil is in the details. Each artist chooses their tools, techniques, with certain goals in mind. It all really depends on the aesthetics and sensibilities that are appropriate for the project in the end, is it not? Some shoots call for tweaking, other shoots call for fast and furious. It's good to develop the skill and habit to do as much as you can given the time you have. I always take blackwrap and gels and other such stuff with me on a shoot... often I don't use them... but the option is there. I like options. For example, if I could deal with the space, yes, I'd use more 300W Fresnels, they are more versatile, however, if space is a constraint, then the little 150W Fresnels are gems!
 
Dudeguy,

I'm not saying never to use gels or wrap. I just love 150s. I'm all about efficiently streamlining my workflow, and I've dimmed down 300s before. The kit I've been using recently has a 1k a 650, a 300 and 2 150s, and ever since I've started using those little 150s I've found them rediculously useful. I'm not knocking 300s, I'm just saying, once you have that little 150 in your kit (and it takes up pretty much no space) you'll realize what I mean.
 
NewYorkLion said:
[...] I've started using those little 150s I've found them rediculously useful [...]
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I think we all agree, those little 150W Fresnels are ridiculously useful! This thread is making me think about selling off some larger Moles I hardly ever use and buying more little Arris, thanks all!
 
Hey NYLion-
Sorry for jumping down your throat earlier...it was uncalled for. I think I just got so sick of people assuming that just because a light is a film light it doesn't need anything else that it triggered my comment. Anyway, I do heart my lil' 150 :) I think I just perfer the extra punch from a 300. But to each their own, that's the beauty of this stuff. Take it easy guys,

-Harry
 
I came from a BetaSP background where I use a 1k as my key. You could imagine my surprise when I started shooting with the DVX and realized that I could use a 200-300w key and get the same (if not better looking) results.:thumbsup:

I need to pick up a few 150s. I've got an Altman 650L that I lamp down to 300w for most things (though I have the 650w lamp sitting on the shelf if I need it).
 
NewYorkLion said:
hmm, dimmer's, CTO, black wrap. that's a lot of time. 150s are cheap and take up just a teeny bit of space. It really doesn't hurt to have one on hand for a back light. Lowell pro=lights work pretty good too.
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I guess it really comes down to each scenarios end goal. I almost ALWAYS use gels to make things much more seemless and practical. It just REALLY depends on each productions intentions as alot of folks already mentioned. I just find having 150w of variance on each light to leave my style more responsive to adjustment.
Besides the wattage debate, I think black wrap is one of the more powerful tools. It allows you to EXACTLY shape your light spot.

So it seems yes, we're all winners! hahaha
 
Don't also forget that lens diameter is equally if not more important. Comparing a 150 and 300 even when dimmed/globed to the same level are still not the the same thing. Beam spread is vitally imporant to consider when choosing a unit. There is still much need for broader lights just as narrower lights can play their part.
 
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