HMI's/HMI look...

[DVX100Shooter]

Today I was in Lancaster County covering the Amish school shooting and I saw a crew from NBC NEWS there with some huge Arri HMI lights which produced this real soft look but the shot looked awesome! I know those lights cost a fortune and would be out of my budget! With that said, are there any REASONABLY priced HMI's out there and also is there a way I could take some other lights and/techniques to get a similar look? Most of the crews out there were using HMI's. I do have a on camera HMI Ultralight but I want to get some to go on stands. My diffused Tungsten lights looked a bit harsh on my talent's face compared to the other crews with the HMI's that had them inside of softboxes. Now I was shooting with a Betacam SX camera and not the DVX100 at the time if that should matter. Would a light like a Kino Flo 4 bank or Litepanels 1X1 be okay in terms of producing that soft light I am looking for? I know it won't replace the look of an HMI, I just don't have the cash flow to purchase a set of HMI's unless I can locate some used ones.

 

[taubkin]

It's not the HMI actually, it's the softbox. Unfortunately, only a larger HMI would be strong enough to work inside a softbox in an externat shoot. Yes, a kino could have the same soft light, but wouldn't have much punch for an outside use.

Cheers!

 

[NewYorkLion]

yeah, kino's are really an inside light, they just arent powerful enough to be outside.

 

[DVX100Shooter]

I was afraid you all were going to say that! LOL!

 

[Eric Papa]

If you can locate a rental house in your area, you can rent a 1200w arri for $150

 

[FiddlerMD]

not to hijack the thread, but isnt HMI same thing as automotive HID headlamps? Those are on ebay in various quality but overall, a ballast / bulb set can be bought around $400 (they run off 12 volts but that's not necessarily a bad thing).. I guess the trouble woudl be getting it into some sort of a reflector but i can see this working quite well in a softbox kind of enclosure - anyone have an idea of how much light (Relatively) these put out?

 

[DVX100Shooter]

I have those headlights in my car and let me just say that if one of those bulbs blows out, its gonna run me around $500 to replace! Not sure what the wattage is on them but they do brighten up the road though!