Here's a peek at what I've been working on...

That depends on whether or not everybody who says they want one pays for it... don't worry, your spot is held for the time being... when I get down to the last two I'll let you know.
 
I just got one of Matt's flo today and i just have to say that for starters the build quality is excellent.and as someone posted earlier it is damn sexy. i had to work all day so i only got to assemble the light and turn it on and man does it put out some light. i have never really worked with flos before and the only other experience ive had with lightinfg is on a DV feature i helped out on last year where we were using an Arri kit and a Mole hmi. I know we are speaking about two different styles and budgets of lighting but this thing is really sweet and definitley sturdy! I should be putting it to good use in the next week or two with a project im working on so i hope to post some stills. Keep in mind i will only be using one of his lights and the rest will be practicals and or daylight. so hopefully if all goes well i will be able to show what just a single light can do with some already exisiting light and maybe a bounce card.I dont personally own any type of pro lighting and up until now ive been using paper lanterns and just lamps in rooms etc.Im excited to experiment on my day off! . Im using the manfrotto 8' stacker with the light and its a sweet combo especially for those on a budget. the whole package breaks down to a more than transportable size. Thanks again Matt for all the hard work and looking out for us with little to no budget to offer high quality products such as this!
 
Last edited:
I just got 2 of Matt's lights in the mail today. Woah! He really cares about his product.

First off, his packaging for shipment was neat and organized. All the accessory parts and spare parts had their own little plastic bags. The shipping box was even taped on the INSIDE to ensure the bottom wouldn't fall out.

Then there's the lights...

Great craftsmanship and attention to every little detail. The design is very clever too, from the barn doors, to the gel clips, and the mounting options. It seems like a ton of work and well worth his asking price.

The light output is excellent. The reflective surface really makes the one tube seem a lot brighter than it is. It's hard to look at the light it's so bright.

2 thumbs up!

I can't wait to enlist Matt's services for other DIY projects. Matt, THANKS for a great product! Keep up the good work, man!

Peace
 
Hey Matt, congratulations man!

You should do a photometrics chart from your light, so we can compare it to what already is out there!

Neat looking stuff though!

Cheers!
 
Just received one of Matt's lights today and was blown away. Incredible craftsmanship; the pictures and video really don't do it justice. Once you're holding the light in your hand, you feel as if this is something you ordered from B&H or EVS, the quality is that good. I will most likely order another light in the next batch that is made.

Matt's also been really helpful in clarifying what other products I need to make everything work perfect in regards to ordering stands, arms, tubes, ect. I'm gonna be using the light for a shoot in about two or three weeks with the HVX, I'll post some grabs if I can in the footage section. Matt, Thanks for a terrific light!
 
Geoff_R said:
Just received one of Matt's lights today and was blown away. Incredible craftsmanship; the pictures and video really don't do it justice. Once you're holding the light in your hand, you feel as if this is something you ordered from B&H or EVS, the quality is that good.

ditto
 
Thanks guys! That is what keeps me pushing forward...

I did a few videos (charity work) for the Saint Charles Boy and Girls Club and I didn't realize that they'd be shown to a huge crowd on a big screen TV... it was super-freaky... people were crying and freaking out. I had goosebumps and I was getting choked up myself... it was a really insane feeling night.

That was over 5 years ago now and on THAT night I knew that video is what I wanted to do with my life. The positive feedback was so good that I thrived on it. At one point somebody (from a different project) complimented the sound and you know where that sent me...

My point is that I really appreciate the positive input... there are actually a LOT of buyers who had ZERO posts. Most of them in fact! I hope they eventually decide to join the public community and relay their experiences as well. It's been the support of you guys that has pushed this project forward for me and I have a relentless desire to further impress everybody with the stuff I'm working on. There's nothing more satisfying then creating something with my own hands and having people lke you guys using it to create your videos.
 
Geoff_R said:
Just received one of Matt's lights today and was blown away. Incredible craftsmanship; the pictures and video really don't do it justice. Once you're holding the light in your hand, you feel as if this is something you ordered from B&H or EVS, the quality is that good. I will most likely order another light in the next batch that is made.

Matt's also been really helpful in clarifying what other products I need to make everything work perfect in regards to ordering stands, arms, tubes, ect. I'm gonna be using the light for a shoot in about two or three weeks with the HVX, I'll post some grabs if I can in the footage section. Matt, Thanks for a terrific light!

I concur. I ordered and received one last week (along with some kickin' cables) and hes right, this is a fantastic light. I was incredibly impressed by the craftsmanship as well as the function of this light. I mean, the design of it, its just balls on...
 
Matt I'll just like to say keep up the good work. Anything you build and if you think I might be able to use it, I want it. And if I can do anything for you...

And to everyone that like doing business with nice folks, Matt is one of the best. I'm in the STL and both times I've met Matt to buy lights and cables he threw in something else. So I 'threw' in a couple extra dollars. I get a call saying that I overpaid and don't leave yet. Matt drives back to me and throw in an extra cable. I was speechless.

Then on a phone call I ask his rate for a four hour shoot and he thought I was asking for a friend wanting a freebe. And he seemed uncomfortable. I said to myself, what kind of person would even consider doing something free like that. That spoke more about his character than anything. By the way, I would never, ever ask anybody to work for someone they don't know for free. And his day rate was the same as my half day rate.

I'm writing a feature now and Matt told me he'll do anything to help. PA, grip, whatever. By the way Matt has more experience than I do, so I told Matt as I'm telling everyone else that if Matt is availble he will be a producer or dp because he know his stuff and he listens and he is down to earth.
 
Thanks man... as long as everybody else is happy I'm happy. When you need me I'll be there.

Lately I've been fortunate enough to work on some pretty serious stuff... so I've had to put the lights on the back burner... for those waiting it should be THIS week (this only applies to a couple people and you know who you are).

For anybody else who's PM'ed me with questions... I'll get back with you eventually... I'm pretty busy with other stuff and the lights are more time consuming to make then you (or I) realize... when I have real video work to do it gets obvious just how long it really takes to make one.

This week (and next) has been very unusual for me... serious steady rigs and varicams and all sorts of super high-end production stuff. The lens on this varicam costs more then any car I've owned in my entire life! Did you know that you can low-mode a Varicam by flipping a master arm upside down and then just push a button on the cam to reverse scan? What that means is the 15 minutes to build the rig isn't wasted to do a low mode... the cam will actually film upside down if you tell it to when you turn it upside down! It feels pretty crazy hanging all that gear like that though... nutty week for sure.

I don't usually get to be a part of things like this so my other projects have to take a back seat.
 
Just had my first opportunity to use Matt's lights for a paid corporate gig. I shot 3 scripted skits over 12 hours in a tiny boardroom.

I wanted to post this just to show what you can do with only 2 of Matt's lights. I have lots of other lights, but I didn't pull any of them out. There was no need. Matt's lights are amazing!

Shot with the DVX100B and color corrected in real time using Premiere Pro and Matrox RT.X100 Xtreme Pro system:

skit1-pic1.jpg


skit3-pic1.jpg


skit4-pic1.jpg


skit2-pic1.jpg
 
Last edited:
FYI... I've been doing a lot of higher-end work lately and we've been using TRUCKLOADS of lights... I mean truckloads... and I've got to really check out GE Biax and Osram Dulux tubes... they both seem to be decent. I think I still prefer the actual output from the Kino tubes, but I want you guys to know that you DO have options. One thing I like about the GE Biax tubes is that they offer a true 3200k Tungsten... and on a Sekonic meter it seems to be right on the money. Of course you may put a 1/4 straw on it to enhance natural skin tones... and then you're at a Kino 2900k anyway. I'm just saying that after using an absolute TON of lights I no longer think Kino tubes are the only option. The GE Biax tubes seem to be a little more heavy-duty in construction too... I'm going to buy a full set and see how they perform over the next couple months.

Initially the super-high lumens and class leading CRI of the Kino kept me from even considering any other brand... but in practical use I don't know if it's as critical as I thought it was. I do still think that Kino tubes ARE better then the others... but the size of that margin is what's in question.
 
Your light output is very impressive...


I just bought super high ouput bulbs. 2 T12 48" are VERY bright. (My 4 bulb setup is next on my list.)

Here are the stats on the ones I bought. (The average fluorescent puts out 2200 lumens or less.)

Length: 48 inches
Diameter: 1.5 inch
Wattage: 40 watts
CRI: 91
Kelvin: 5000
Lumens: 3600
Pin Configuration: Bi-Pin
Hour Rating: 33,000 hours

The brightest they have: (For EACH bulb!)

Length: 46.5 inches
Diameter: .75 inch
Wattage: 54 watts
CRI: 95+
Kelvin: 5900
Lumens: 5250 <------------------ BLINDED BY THE LIGHT!
Pin Configuration: Mini Bi-Pin
Hour Rating: 20,000 hours

These are T6's and need special ballast, which are cheap... but the shorter housing is not. The prices will drop as they become more in use.

Nice project! Hope you sell tons!

Coder68
 
Thanks Coder... yeah those are BlueMax tubes... I may have to get some of those just to try them out.

I used to have a bunch of the "DIY Kino" style lights like in Jarred's thread. I actually started that concept over at DVinfo years ago... but I found the 4' fixtures to be very annoying for location work. I still have a few that I use to light greenscreen in my garage, but recently I worked on a music vid where we used a truckload of lights... and that made me realize that you can never have too many lights... so, just for the heck of it, I will probably get some of the tubes that you mentioned and see what they look like and what it would take to effectively house them.

One thing you should never underestimate is the reflector... a Kino 21" tube is 2800 lumens and you can double that with a high quality parabolic... So the thing I need to decide is if I need more light output then I get now... and how I'd want to go about it... I really like the convenience of using fixtures that are only 22" long.

Thanks for the heads up on those new tubes.
 
NP.

They have shorter tubes too.(T12 and T8, and dual tubes and some other shapes too.) The T6 tubes only come in that odd length though.

I have a parabolic housing. It's a special housing that is designed to reflect more light then a standard housing. I'm sure that if they used the same metal you are using, the % would be even higher.

These lights are very bright... I have some more testing to do though. The 4' length is a bit of a pain, but when it comes to bang for the buck, its a good deal. I have about $90 in a single 2 position light. Daylight, high CRI and good output. It's good for a newbe! :)

What is one of your lights going for?

Coder
 
They were selling for $199 w/o a tube... and I'm sold out right now... but the next batch will be different. I've been using diamond plate aluminum in a .05 thickness... then doing a brushed finish... and the contruction is TIG welded. I also have a 3/8" nut plate inside of the light on 4 sides... plus fuse protection and protected heavy-duty switch. The entire light is overkill to the max. You can set my light on the floor, face down... and STAND ON IT! I weigh 210 lbs... and the best part is that the light itself (w/o cord) is about 6 lbs... so it's in the neighborhood of the lightest fixture like this that you can get.

If you add up everything that I include with my lights they are a total bargain at $199... they cost me close to $150 to build. I include complete spare hardware, fuse, the 3102 Manfrotto stud mount, and complete gel set... the newest lights will be more because they will incorporate detachable cords and daisy-chain use via an optional "jumper cable". Since I've already got them so that multiple lights can be used on a single stand I decided to make it easy to power multiple lights from one main cord. Naturally this added to my cost... by about $20... so the next batch will have to go up $20 so far.

That makes it look something like this:

908lightbacksideb.jpg


This particular light is on it's way to a member in NJ... and while I have two more like this... they are also sold. I'm just giving you a preview of what's coming next. Features like this sure add up... and I think some members understand this and some don't. Some of the people on these boards compare what I'm selling to dirt cheap DIY options and don't see the difference... I find that discouraging because these are a crazy amount of work to produce and I hope that to most people the care and quality is obvious.

A location fixture is first about quantity of light, quality of light, and control of that light. Those three parameters are exponentially more challenging from first to last... and when you factor in reliability, performance, and durability... not to mention convenience you begin to understand how location lighting can really add up.

It's my goal to really help people in all those areas until I either get burned out... or can evolve this product into something really great. I don't ever expect this to be a significant source of income for me... but if it evolves into something that will pay my rent each month I'll be happy. As long as the people who are getting these from me are thrilled with their purchase I won't get burned out... and if I can continue to implement improvements and continue to sell each batch I the evolution will also continue.

It should be fun to see where this all goes. If other people such as yourself come up with location lights that also serve the community in the same way then I'd be just as excited as everybody else to check them out. I can sure see the potential in a tube that puts out that many lumens! Now you just gotta' house that and make it positionable and controllable. :thumbsup:
 
hmm, maybe i should invest as well?? im too lazy to search through all the pages for info tho... right now at least.
 
Hey Matt! I was all ready to buy me up a set of your lights and then one of my cameras went out on me, so that spoiled my plans to get me a nice field monitor and a set of flouros, but I will want a set soonish. Any pplans on dimmability? (is that a word)
 
I don't think even Matt can dim fluoros...

Man, I already have a few of these on my xmas list. Matt, you are the MAN!
 
Back
Top