Fresnel choice

smelni

smelni

Veteran
I am about to get about 4 200W fresnels and am deciding between the following - any opinions?

1- Arri
2- Peppers
3 - lowell prolite - not really fresnel but will save a lot of money.

any reason to not get the prolite? How about the other 2 - which is better?
 
No reason to go 4 the prolite! arri's my choice ! but to my knowledge 200w are hmi ! 4 a fresnel tungsten there can only be the 150,300,650,1k and 2k! if hmi 200w i'm not kinda sure bout arri coz for 200w i've used desiti and koboldlite and kobold 200w are pretty amazing !
 
The Arris are nice. I like 'em and use 'em. Plus, all Arri Fresnels have REALLY long stingers on 'em--far less need for bringing extra stingers (extension cords) to location. Good accessories too (Arri snoot sets are great). I think the LTM Peppers have a slightly wider/softer beam pattern at full-flood than the Arris (which is a good thing), but are cosmetically less attrative than the Arris, and perhaps, a bit less robust. The cast iron barn door retaining spring-clip holder has broken off on several of our Peppers. All of our Arris are still completely functional. And we beat the crap outta our light kits!
 
Also, I've found that although I use the Arri 150W (and I usually do lamp them at 200W) Fresnels the most, I use the Arri 300W Fresnel the second most. Maybe you could buy three 150W Arris and one 300W Arri instead? That 300W is damned handy. Also, instead of the LowelPros, you could buy a pile of PAR20 (spot or flood) 50W globes from your local hardware store for about $8 each. I have a TON of the "spot" PAR20 globes, and I put 'em in those black decorator floor lamps to use as uplights on interview sets. They're terrific, cheap lights that throw a pretty good beam (you need something to screw them into). You have to be careful with them, though--don't ever move the PARs while they're turned on--the filiment will blow pretty easily that way.
 
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sorry man didn't know of a 200w lamp! ok to me arri's the 1 talk about durability it's the best! my 300w had been wif me 4 more than 10 years or u could try desiti they aren't that bad either a colleague of mine had it 4 more than 10 years!
 
I just picked up a used Altman 650L fresnel in mint condition. It came with a 300w lamp in it. After playing around with it, I don't know that'll I use it as a 650w much (or at all).
 
I've just started assembling my ARRI kit. They are solid and have excellent re-sale value. Not that you'd ever want to sell them:)
 
Excellent re-sale value indeed. I've seen Arri's go on e-bay in "like new" condition for the same price as they would be NEW from B&H! Bonkers.
 
That's because Arri lights are the only ones I know that actually Appreciate in value :)

How? By the time they lose 10% of their value in 5 years, the cost of new instruments has gone up 20%... A lot of my customers got their kits right before the price hike of Feb 05 (Growing Euro value), and the next day their kits were worth $300 more.

I second the Arri choices. Beautiful light.
 
Mix some different wattages, though. 150W is a specific light, I can't see why have 4 of them. one 650, one 150 and two 300 would make me happier...
 
Taubkin - good point generally - but for this project I need to light very small areas and am worried that the higher powered ones will just be more of a headache to control.

maybe ill get 2 150s and 2 300s just in case
 
I had Mole Richardsons... and they sold pretty quick too... but in person I like the look of the Arris better. The MRs were a little cooler to the touch though (the shell I mean)... and they cooled off really quick because of the construction. Still... all things considered I'd go Arri.

For anybody considering a 1K fresnel, that can be lamped down to 500... Locally I played with an odd-ball brand, Colortran... and I was surprised at how nice they are. I was so impressed with it that I plan to get at least one of them. I know it was cheap... and the internal reflector moved back and forth like butter... much nicer feel then even the MR lights.
 
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