Joker-Bug 400W HMI

M

markyf

Well-known member
I'm going to take a stab at renting one of these from William F. White in Toronto and see if they're willing to cut me a really good deal. Apparently rentals are slow right now. It seems like a wicked all-purpose light. Anyone used one of these?

The other thing that looks really cool about it is you can hang it over a table like a lantern or even in a china ball. My question, though, is I would be using it for a tungsten-lit interior. Any ideas how I would match it to tungsten. Is there a tungsten-coated chimera or anything like that, or could I colour a china ball? Or gel the inside of the china ball? Anyone done anything like this?
 
It seems like you are swimming upstream.

A joker 400 is a great light, but I wouldn't choose it for that application. If you are in a tungsten environment, I'd just continue to use tungsten. Use a tungsten chimera, or tungsten kino.
 
Yep. Definitely follow what J said.

The Joker is a great little compact HMI, but really I wouldnt use it in this situation either. You will save yourself money and hassle just shooting with Tungsten. On the other hand, if you are wanting to fill a larger space, then the Joker can be utilized if it is bounced off an elvis rag, or other large source.
 
Thanks guys. I should have explained myself a little better. I am going mainly tungsten with lights, but will be shooting some daylight interiors and outdoors with the sun setting, etc... I thought having one powerful HMI might be very handy, that is if I can negotiate it for a steal. There is one long dinner table scene where I will need to simulate a chandelier. I was going to rent a chimera lantern for this one scene, but if it's possible to do it with the Joker then it would make renting it for the whole week make sense. Seems to me like it could be too much light for this, though. I don't think it's dimmable, is it?
 
No, it's not dimmable, but you can just use scrims and flags...No big deal. So you know, the Joker 400 is a spot, so it has an incredibly lengthy throw, but would work great in a diffused setup...Depends how far from the table you will be rigging.
 
The Joker bug 400 light I use most is a PAR. With it you should get the lenses that make it a spot ,a medium, medium wide, wide and fresnel type lenses.
This light is perfect in a pancake lantern over tables. Watch any gambling TV show in the wide shots.
Gelling this tungsten with CTO is no big deal. It's a great light in a small package and can RIVAL a 1200 FRESNEL HMI.....If you can get a great rental price, go for it. Just pick up CTO in various strenghts. ie. 1/4,1/2, and full.
 
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