hmi fluoresent question

Jason Miller

Jason Miller

Veteran
I've been looking at the posts about these, and doing some searching on the net. haven't found what I'm looking for

a 2.5k hmi puts out 240,000 lumens

so by most figures it would to get 240,000 lumens from a fluoresent it would only need to be about 1k to 1.25k, does this even exist?, it would be nice to be about to toss 240,000 lumens without the cost of hmi, or the heat if its 1k then you could plug it into a standard outlet, no huge ballast to deal with, would be perfect for outdoor night shooting.

Jason Miller
 
Hi Jason,

Your a bit off on your lumen calculations. Its more like 4000w for what you want. These 200w bulbs that I'm famous for:

http://www.servicelighting.com/catalog_product.cfm?prod=MX35871

put out about 12,000 lumens each so it would take an array of about 20 of them to get you to what you want. It would be one huge fixture and would take up a lot of space. A more probable configuration would be 20 individual fixtures and would let you be more surgical about placement of the lights anyway.

If you built it with 55w biax lamps it would take 82 lamps (at 2900 lumens each roughly) to get 240,000 lumens. That would take 41 ballasts.

If you build it though I'd love to post pictures of that on my site. I had one guy in Hawaii that wanted to make an array of 6 of these 200w bulbs and I don't think he finished it yet.

Don't be too afraid of metal halide. Yes they run hotter but not as hot as tungsten and are roughly at least 3 times as efficient and will get you a hard light if you need it too which we haven't got a way to offer with fluorescent.
 
a 2.5k hmi puts out 240,000 lumens I looked it up, on several different sites,

perhaps hmis put our more lums under less watts, but a 2.5k hmi puts out 240,000 lumens. I need a light that will cast lums far off, I want to cast light over a parking lot, it's been suggested that one 2.5 hmi will give me the effect I want, then I can light important objects as well. and toss in a few floods for good messure in the back ground.

is it possible to use fluoresents to toss light 25 to 30 yards or so such as with an hmi spot?

Jason Miller
 
Yes you're right about the HMI. I mean your calculations about a fluorescent replacement. It's not a 1K or 1.25K--its more like a 4K fluorescent equivalent to do what you want. I don't think its possible to go that far without some serious lens and mirror considerations. It's probably not doable for a simple DIY project. The size of the mirror and lens for a 200w fluorescent bulb would be huge and I'm not sure that would still be enough to do it. You can't beat a point light source in front of a great mirror followed by a super lens for throw. That's why HMI's are more useful for throw and fluorescent makes a great softbox for closer work.
 
so what else out there can throw that many lumes? I have access to an arri 3k and maybe a 5k, but I doubt I'll be able to power a 5 k on location, I'm looking to get as many lumes for as little wattage as possible. right now my setup is using, 5000w, and I'll probably add another 200 in 250watt lights, figure 250 daylight lamps in auto drop lights, as well as some china balls hanging around, I figure for this set up I'm already looking at at least 5 different breakers, maybe 6.

Jason Miller
 
>I figure for this set up I'm already looking at at least
>5 different breakers, maybe 6.

Are you running a generator, or plugging in?
 
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