Quasar LED Kino Flo Conversion

StrobelPhotography

StrobelPhotography

Well-known member
Hi everybody, I'm so excited by my new lighting fixture I had to share. It's a 4' 6bank kino flo conversion kit.

I was reading through one of the threads about whether Fluorescent is dead. I believe after you see this light you will agree with me that it is. This is their website http://www.quasarscience.com/ and here is a link to a very unscientific super quick video I made showing the light.

https://youtu.be/BWLqzPf4U6U

I'm not affiliated with this company although I can't say enough about Steven Strong over at Quasar. He's been very accommodating and super amazing in helping me put this light together. Again, I just threw this together today but I love this light so much I had to share!!
 
I poked around their site - hard to tell, do you know if they make replacements for the common biax tubes? I wouldn't mind playing with one of my quads…

I assume you have to gut the thing, get their tube mounts in there vs. the standard biax mounts?
 
Michael Carter said:
I poked around their site - hard to tell, do you know if they make replacements for the common biax tubes? I wouldn't mind playing with one of my quads…

I assume you have to gut the thing, get their tube mounts in there vs. the standard biax mounts?
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Here's Charles papert's response from a different thread, same question.

Thanks for sharing. I'm with Charles... am looking into the dialable versions now after seeing your video ... and will contact QS myself - but wondering if these could also be retrofitted / used in the Diva 4 and 2 models...and if the dimming ballast on those units could be used.


Divas use biax tubes as opposed to the T12 straight tube form factor used with the Quasars. And because the ballast is built in, they wouldn't work with an external dimming ballast used with the biax tubes.
 
that's charles response. You would have to call steve at quasar and ask if he has any plans in the works for those systems. he may very well have some ideas regarding those lights. I know he's coming out with some par64's in the next couple weeks and I know he's got a lot of irons in the fire. I'm sure he's thought of it, maybe he has some ideas. I have to talk to him this week so I can mention it to him if you'd like and post the response. He also may be on this forum. I'll find out.
 
I'm somewhat in the same boat, having a couple of Gyoury light fixtures that used modified Biax tubes, but I've been planning to reuse the fixtures with custom fabricated LED assemblies for a while. That system was designed around a clever multi-function concept so the same tubes (or wands, as they called them) could be moved between a Diva 200-like housing to a china ball to bare with included screw mounts for the tubes. Bit of a project to build new LED wands but, may happen.
 
Cost of retrofitting the kino fixture? OMG I want so bad! Steven standing in front of the window closed the deal lol.
 
I see that their tubes include (far as I can tell) the wiring connector and mounting hardware. But nothing regarding cost.

Since these just plug right into the wall or a dimmer, you could retrofit or DIY all kinds of stuff. No biax, no problem, just tear a cheap chinese fixture apart and get out the pop riveter.

But where is the damn price list????
 
Michael Carter said:
I see that their tubes include (far as I can tell) the wiring connector and mounting hardware. But nothing regarding cost.

Since these just plug right into the wall or a dimmer, you could retrofit or DIY all kinds of stuff. No biax, no problem, just tear a cheap chinese fixture apart and get out the pop riveter.

But where is the damn price list????
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I hate when companies do that.
 
cinebuddy said:
I hate when companies do that.
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Hi guys, they used to have some prices on their site but you have to remember this is all very new. I really did just get the first kit he's ever done On Christmas Eve so im sure he doesn't have this all worked out yet. He's a very honest guy and he'll give you a great price I'm sure of it.
 
StrobelPhotography said:
Hi guys, they used to have some prices on their site but you have to remember this is all very new. I really did just get the first kit he's ever done On Christmas Eve so im sure he doesn't have this all worked out yet. He's a very honest guy and he'll give you a great price I'm sure of it.
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Gotcha Steven. I didn't mean to blast on him...sites in our business are famous for not putting up prices or ordering info. Didn't realize how small of a retailer he is. The kit looks incredible and i'm so tired of the ballast and fragile tube setup on my 4x4, his product really does look like the bees knees.
 
Michael Carter said:
I see that their tubes include (far as I can tell) the wiring connector and mounting hardware. But nothing regarding cost.

Since these just plug right into the wall or a dimmer, you could retrofit or DIY all kinds of stuff. No biax, no problem, just tear a cheap chinese fixture apart and get out the pop riveter.

But where is the damn price list????
Click to expand...

theyre also a kino distributer, which is why I went with the kit. I was at first going to build my own like you're thinking Michael but when I got Stevens quote for the whole kit it seemed to make sense for me just to get everything through him. Send him what you want and see for your self what makes more sense for you.
 
cinebuddy said:
Gotcha Steven. I didn't mean to blast on him...sites in our business are famous for not putting up prices or ordering info. Didn't realize how small of a retailer he is. The kit looks incredible and i'm so tired of the ballast and fragile tube setup on my 4x4, his product really does look like the bees knees.
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no worries, I totally understand. That's my thoughts exactly. I wanted to jump on board with the mactechs but didn't see the benefits having to use all their gear especially still having the ballast. For me this stuff is the answer.

Just a little more on my experience: imagine if you would Santas workshop is full of lights, it's a playground of huge soft bank fixtures. Have you seen some of the huge frames with a million lights in them? It's insane. This was one of the coolest christmas' ever.
 
StrobelPhotography said:
Just a little more on my experience: imagine if you would Santas workshop is full of lights, it's a playground of huge soft bank fixtures. Have you seen some of the huge frames with a million lights in them? It's insane. This was one of the coolest christmas' ever.
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Single tear falls down cheek, splashes on keyboard. Wife looks over and promptly cancels all access to bank accounts and credit cards.
 
I was looking at quasar science last month and the prices were there. the switchable 4ft tubes were $299 each. plus $150 wiring harness. So if you were to replace your 4bank kino bulbs with this, it would cost around $1350....this is assuming they didn't change prices.
 
Notfamous said:
I was looking at quasar science last month and the prices were there. the switchable 4ft tubes were $299 each. plus $150 wiring harness. So if you were to replace your 4bank kino bulbs with this, it would cost around $1350....this is assuming they didn't change prices.
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What I gathered from seeing Steve's warehouse/shop is that up until this point he's dealt mostly with large productions, studios and rental houses. I believe he's new to selling to people like me who only want one or two units. Hence, him taking the prices off the website. I know he's sold a good amount of the 4' 4bank kits in bulk and he has a s*%t ton of the gaffer cases on pallets (which I wanted to lay on and fall asleep) but as far as the 4' 6bank I was the first to buy one. He actually built it himself.

When I was first looking, his prices on the site were 300 a tube for the 4' ers, that's correct. He may be able to give you a better price on a kit because that's what he did for me but that may be on a case by case basis until he establishes a set price for small orders. I'm also local so he didn't have to ship etc.

In all honesty when I went out to his shop my intention was only to look but after seeing the light in action I was sold. I could not believe how bright that thing was. All these company's claim their light has amazing output but most of that seems to be a load or crap. I guess you have to decide whether or not it's worth it for you. I know it may be different for people who have a business. I do mostly my own work tho, sometimes I get I hired to do a corp video or webseries etc but most of my work is for my own youtube channel "AreYouChoking". So, it made sense to me. I've been searching for something like this forever, you know. I almost bought the astra panel, but after seeing how cumbersome the snapbox was I backed away. Then I looked at mactech but each bulb was like 250 and then I still had to buy their ballast and get a fixture shell/mounting plate. And with mactech I didn't get a feeling like I was covered if something happened after seeing their setup/talking to dennis. That may not be true but that was my feeling. I looked at litegear and was really close to getting one of their panels but after going out to their showroom and seeing the lights in person, they just didn't seem they had the output that I wanted AND they were super expensive AND you had to hang a dimmer/power supply on the back. There was a million people out there tho so maybe I'm crazy, i don't know. Wait, I do know. I am crazy. Anyway...

So it was either keep my old kino gear which took forever to setup and was super low output or invest in one of the new technologies like the celeb, skypanel, or area 48 but I couldn't justify the cost. Feeling like I had no options with led's I started looking at hmi's. They didn't really fit into the way I shot but if that was the only way to get the output I wanted so I could start learning how to shape the light, then so be it. I found a used 1200 ltm fixture at pyramid films and was ready to buy but david took the fixture in to get looked at and there must've been a huge problem with it because I haven't heard from him since. That scared the crap out of me. I couldn't afford to drop 2 grand on a light that may suddenly just stop working. So after all that!!! When I met Steve he seemed open to small guys like me. He took time to explain the technology and basically said that he had my back, no questions if something went wrong. That was enough for me...besides the output...and the versatility...and the bi color...haha
 
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StrobelPhotography said:
What I gathered from seeing Steve's warehouse/shop is that up until this point he's dealt mostly with large productions, studios and rental houses. I believe he's new to selling to people like me who only want one or two units. Hence, him taking the prices off the website. I know he's sold a good amount of the 4' 4bank kits in bulk and he has a s*%t ton of the gaffer cases on pallets (which I wanted to lay on and fall asleep) but as far as the 4' 6bank I was the first to buy one. He actually built it himself.

When I was first looking, his prices on the site were 300 a tube for the 4' ers, that's correct. He may be able to give you a better price on a kit because that's what he did for me but that may be on a case by case basis until he establishes a set price for small orders. I'm also local so he didn't have to ship etc.

In all honesty when I went out to his shop my intention was only to look but after seeing the light in action I was sold. I could not believe how bright that thing was. All these company's claim their light has amazing output but most of that seems to be a load or crap. I guess you have to decide whether or not it's worth it for you. I know it may be different for people who have a business. I do mostly my own work tho, sometimes I get I hired to do a corp video or webseries etc but most of my work is for my own youtube channel "AreYouChoking". So, it made sense to me. I've been searching for something like this forever, you know. I almost bought the astra panel, but after seeing how cumbersome the snapbox was I backed away. Then I looked at mactech but each bulb was like 250 and then I still had to buy their ballast and get a fixture shell/mounting plate. And with mactech I didn't get a feeling like I was covered if something happened after seeing their setup/talking to dennis. That may not be true but that was my feeling. I looked at litegear and was really close to getting one of their panels but after going out to their showroom and seeing the lights in person, they just didn't seem they had the output that I wanted AND they were super expensive AND you had to hang a dimmer/power supply on the back. There was a million people out there tho so maybe I'm crazy, i don't know. Wait, I do know. I am crazy. Anyway...

So it was either keep my old kino gear which took forever to setup and was super low output or invest in one of the new technologies like the celeb, skypanel, or area 48 but I couldn't justify the cost. Feeling like I had no options with led's I started looking at hmi's. They didn't really fit into the way I shot but if that was the only way to get the output I wanted so I could start learning how to shape the light, then so be it. I found a used 1200 ltm fixture at pyramid films and was ready to buy but david took the fixture in to get looked at and there must've been a huge problem with it because I haven't heard from him since. That scared the crap out of me. I couldn't afford to drop 2 grand on a light that may suddenly just stop working. So after all that!!! When I met Steve he seemed open to small guys like me. He took time to explain the technology and basically said that he had my back, no questions if something went wrong. That was enough for me...besides the output...and the versatility...and the bi color...haha
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I sent an email a while back but I don't think I got a response. I'll be in the market again this January. Currently I own a couple Dracasts and rent the kinos. I saw the youtube video and the light looks great. def well worth the $2k for the 6 bulb setup. Since I don't own any kinds, I guess I could just go buy the housing and then order some q tubes.
 
^ I agree. Wondering about DIY type set up - but also would be interested in the 6 bulb set up and have already sent email via QS web site. I own Dracast LED's as well as Kino Diva's and have been looking for at least one fixture with extra punch. Had been researching AadynTech & Nila... this might give softer, wrap light...
 
I think someone said 40% brighter than Kino bulbs, and there's 50% more bulbs, so if my math is correct that would make it 2.1 times as bright as a four bank Kino?

The bulbs are a 50 watt power draw, so at 200 watts for six bulbs, I'd guess that to be a 1500-2000 watt tungsten equivalent.
 
I found that the kit was cheaper buying the whole thing through quasar. I would def check my options first before I bought anything to diy. I actually owned some fixtures but found that i could make more money selling them as complete lights as opposed to stripping them and then doing the install myself. Def check with steve first on the price.

How much brighter they are then kino's still eludes me. Numberically, that is. If anyone in LA has a 4' 4bank and wants to do a test I'd be down. Just let me know, I think it would be interesting to compare the two in the flesh.
 
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