on camera light...

Re: on camera light...

Yes, I'm serious. I will have to finance them. But that's how I've gotten most of the gear I own... with a loan.

Thanks for the tip on the 200W Joker-Bugs. I will keep that in mind as the time gets nearer.

However, I really want the punch of the 400W Jokers. I realize that HMIs are something like 2 to 3 times the output of their tungsten wattage equivalent, etc. but...

I eventually want to have (2) 400W joker-bug PARs, (1) 1200W ArriSun fresnel, and (2) Kino Flo banks... not sure which ones yet.

I get to work on 5 or 6 film shoots a year for TV commercials and the above listed equipment (along with C-stands, gel frames, sandbags, etc.)... seems to be standard fare for most any medium-sized location.

Currently I have (2) Arri 300W fresnels, (2) Arri 650W fresnels, (1) Arri 2K softlight w/eggcrate, (1) Lowell DP w/Chimera bank, (2) Lowell Totas, (1) 300W B&M fresnel, (2) 1K B&M floods, (1) Chimera lantern w/mogul socket, (3) C-stands, EZ FX jib w/remote controlled head, several homemade fuorescent fixtures, etc.

Man, I got a ton of stuff... I've even got (3) Beaulieu Super 8 cameras, 4x5" View Camera on monorail w/geared head, Medium Format still camera with (2) 120cm backs, (1) Polaroid back, (3) Novatron Strobe Power Packs, (2) Photoflex lightbanks, (3) umbrellas, (6) Novatron strobe heads...

Man, I need to have a garage sale... then I'll have a few more $$ for my precious Joker-Bugs.
 
Re: on camera light...

Okay, I'll PM you with the guy's info then.

As for buying HMI's, I've picked up a few off of ebay for surprisingly little. 400W HMI's have an okay punch, about equivalent to, or a stronger than, a 1K tungsten light. I have a 575 and a 1200 right now, and looking for a couple more. For a while they were all over ebay, you could get 575's for $500 or so (granted they're used, and have a magnetic ballast, but with the DVX that's not a problem because you have synchro-scan). I got a 1200 for under $700, which is an absolutely massive light -- you'll need a junior stand to support it, but then again you need junior stands for the 575 and the 2K juniors anyway.

A 1200-watt HMI is the most powerful light fixture you can plug into a household circuit -- anything stronger and you start needing Bates connectors, etc. A 1200-watt HMI puts out about the equivalent of 4,000 watts of tungsten light, since an HMI puts out around 3x as many lumens per watt as compared to tungsten. Of course, to match the color, you'd either be talking about 15,000 watts of tungsten gelled with blue, or the 1200-watt HMI with orange on it would be equivalent (roughly) to a 2k tungsten light (but still drawing only half the power).

HMI lamps are not cheap either: figure on $100 to $200 per lamp or so.

As for Kino's, keep your eyes on the Diva lights -- I think that's the best series Kino is making right now. They use 2' tubes so they're infinitely more portable than the 4' banks, and they use 55w bulbs so they put out more light (most kino's use 40w lamps). The tubes are u-shaped, they have a 98 CRI, and the lights are dimmable. Hard to beat. But they're expensive, around $1100 or so for a full Diva400 set. But they are *sweet*. I've got a couple of LightTech CFL455's, which use the same lamps and are the same basic 4-lamp x 2' configuration, but they're not designed to be portable and they're not dimmable. I'm not arguing, I got both of 'em for less than half the cost of one Diva, but... well, if I ever get any money and I need more fluo's, the Diva 400 is what I would get.

Sounds like you've got a reasonably well-rounded package already. I'd put a fluo as #1 on your list of things to get, there's just no comparison when doing interviews, etc. That soft, smooth, *cool* light is heavenly for doing interviews. I've got a 2k ziplight, and the difference between using it and using a fluo is like the difference between positioning someone in front of an open oven or in front of the refrigerator!

You shouldn't have listed all your gear though -- now DVX'ers are going to be all over you! ;D
 
Re: on camera light...

Dang, so nobody makes a cheapo on-camera light that takes Panasonic camcorder batteries? Seems like Sony and Canon both make them...
 
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