Never thought a light could be sexy!

LennyLevy said:
Are you guys using these so-called fresnels with batteries or need bicolor?
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Yes - I often need the flexibility of both batts & bi-color for a lot of my work. Never tried the Cool light & I no longer have an Arri kit to directly compare...
While I agree I often wish the output of my 100-C's was higher - I would argue that putting 1/2 or full CTB on Arri 1k or 650 - and then having to back it off in some situations because of the heat, certainly makes output quite respectable for the size/weight/price & versatility. YRMV
 
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Bern Caughey said:
Interesting lamp. Hate the plastic lens on the L10-C as it produces a mushy beam.

Wonder how it stacks up against Mole’s 300W Vari-Studio Junior LED Fresnel?

http://mole.com/products/view/variable-color-LED/300W_Vari-Junior_LED
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I've been bouncing around trying to find an LED fresnel that seems practical. The trade offs relative to an HMI or tungsten fresnel just don't seem to make an LED fresnel make sense, especially when you can get used Tungsten and HMI quite cheap.

The first fresnels that have interested me are the Moles, but I haven't read anything about them and information is scarce. I actually ordered up a couple of the 200W as they seem to fit what I want for a quick way to cast a controlled beam in corporate work. We'll see if they actually hit the right check marks.
 
I did a little bit of testing with the 200 watt variable focusable LED mole fresnel. I was not impressed. I've come to a realization that a bicolor LED fresnel may just not work the way I want it to. I want a light with a hard cut at the barn doors. The problem with the mole is that it uses an array of LED's. It isn't a point source behind the fresnel lens. In addition, Mole added a diffuser in front of the lens to help get rid of color fringing. It doesn't really focus and it doesn't really spot. It throws light better than a panel and it is slightly easier to flag, but it isn't a tungsten or HMI fresnel replacement.
 
Jumping back on this thread to see if you (Pure) have been able to use this thing on a gig yet - or to test further - or have any new info from Fiilex. I too would love to hear how it stacks up to the 300w Rayzr or Mole LED fresnels. Or where you might find yourself using it the most?
 
markfpv said:
Jumping back on this thread to see if you (Pure) have been able to use this thing on a gig yet - or to test further - or have any new info from Fiilex. I too would love to hear how it stacks up to the 300w Rayzr or Mole LED fresnels. Or where you might find yourself using it the most?
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Unfortunately had a couple of projects re-schedule that I was planning on using this on. I may end up just shooting some fun shoots and tests if nothing comes up soon. This light will probably be introduced at NAB I suspect. I will get there, just need to take it out and use it.
 
I'm on the list to demo this thing myself... fixture is 16lb (7.25kg) and it appears that the power supply is very similar to the one for the Matrix ( which comes with a super clamp to keep it attached to C-stand leg or the stand itself) - never been a problem with the Matrix. I've been very pleased with the Matrix's soft output & colors... looking forward to seeing the output for this
 
Okay guys, just finished my tests, photographing it and turned in my article first draft. I can't go into great detail because my editor would be bummed but here are a few highs and lows.

-Beautifully built, a mechanical work of art
-damn heavy, really heavy, yes, about 23lbs with the head and power supply, 50lbs in case
-Lots of output, I don't have a light meter that reads in FC but I used it on a shoot that I did the first part of four months ago, some talking heads, some table top of some swag. This thing easily beats my Arri 1K 7" fresnel in output. I used it to shoot black box interviews using it as a key, C200, ISO dialed down to 400 for noise reduction, 17-55 2.8 at F3.5, the light punched through a 42" diffusion disc, Flexfill as a key, Arri 300 frensel for a hair light and I only dialed the Q8 in at 44% power to match the previous round, same exposure, same everything where I used the Arri 1K with only a single scrim.
-Color accuracy seems excellent, took some measurements with a color meter and their claimed overall TLCI of 93 seems even conservative.
-It has a fan, I hate fans in lights. Was fine for my real world interviews but in a quiet small room, not good. We should NOT have fans in lights, find a better solution manufacturers.
-The focusing system is insane, gives the lens like 10" of extension, it let's you vary from a 12 degree spot to 60 degree flood. It's the only light that reminds of a Canon still lens like the 100-400 IS USM II at 400mm extension, it's kind of funny because we aren't used to Fresnels that "extend".
-Barndoor retaining clip is not good, flimsy and would not be easy with gloves
-Plastic (acrylic) fresnel lens is decent, there is no way the focusing mechanism could extend as far as it does with an 8" Borosilicate glass fresnel lens
-Light quality is very pleasing, nice "Hurrel" type of quality, defined yet soft edged and pleasing. If you want hard edged cuts, that's what open faced lights are for.
-Comes with a Mafer for attaching power supply to leg, sweet!
-Output and color control knobs are REALLY touchy, way too fine adjustment yet too responsive. Takes some work to easily and quickly dial in a precise color temp.
-The hue adjust is cool, kind mimics plus green and minus green gels, useful for matching other types of lights, great feature.

After using on a full day shoot for a web promo, and letting my gaffer play with it, we both liked it but it's a very mixed bag light. Some really cool stuff but some ineffective design for certain things. $3K too! Not cheap but a lot less than some of it's competitors. Personally, I don't buy $3,000.00 lights, the cheaper stuff is 85% as good but it's a nice instrument that I would love to own if I had the means.

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The light has a 340W power draw. At a glance:

- Shouldn't it have much more output?
- The tungsten K is far less bright?
- just under 10kg - so heavy.

Still, I don't mind it. We know LEDs can make big soft bright light. It's good to see some hard lights coming in. I think most LEDs need to keep working towards a narrower beam angle. A greater spot to flood angle difference doesn't matter if the spot is already nearly a flood compared to lights people are used to using for hard light.
 
rob norton said:
The light has a 340W power draw. At a glance:

- Shouldn't it have much more output?
- The tungsten K is far less bright?
- just under 10kg - so heavy.

Still, I don't mind it. We know LEDs can make big soft bright light. It's good to see some hard lights coming in. I think most LEDs need to keep working towards a narrower beam angle. A greater spot to flood angle difference doesn't matter if the spot is already nearly a flood compared to lights people are used to using for hard light.
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300 watt DC draw, 340 watt AC.
-Not sure if it should have much more output. I wish I had a meter that read FCs but anectdotally, it seemed to have plenty of output for small scale production.
-Comparing them myself, yes, my Arri 1K fresnel had considerbaly less output
-Yes, ridiculously heavy, that's why I am shooting with my Kamerar Brightcast these days, they weigh almost nothing, can be powered by battery and have enough output to supplement ambient environments I am shooting documentaries in. This Q8 is a totally different type of light.

For hard light, I use open faced lights like my Arri 1K open face or a Redhead. This light had pretty soft edges and had much more 1940s glamour type of a light quality. Which is good. I would place it halfway between a true softlight and an open face, which to me is exactly where a Fresnel should be. Still, $3,000.00 is not a cheap light or even a moderately priced light for what I do.
 
Pure - I finally got to demo this light myself. It just came in on Friday and I think your review is pretty spot on. While I really like the quality & output of this unit - I'm not sure where it would find a place in the majority of my work. I already own the Fiilex Matrix - which doesn't quite put out the same amount of light as this Q8 - but is smaller / lighter & also easier to make it a soft source. But this Q8 is a beast. Definitely the brightest, spottiest (with adjustable beam) LED I've seen.
My other concern with it - especially if using with bigger / rough crews - would be that "zoom shroud" looks like it would easily get torn or abused allowing light to stray out the sides.
 
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