spotlights?
- Thread starter igor
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Noiz2
Sound Ninja
You are talking about one type of light, an ellipsoidal. There are other "spot lights" A Fresnel uses a Fresnel lens and a spherical reflector, PAR's use Parabolic reflectors and no lens. All can give a hard edge. The cheapest by far is the PAR. They are Rock and Roll standards and often used in theatre for fill lights (with de-fusion bulbs).
However the original poster is working under a misconception. It doesn't matter how sharp the light is it will defuse some what in the air and there is always bounce light so you don't get the kind of total lack of light where the spot is not. You can get a large difference in brightness and with the limited sensitivity of cameras you may be able to achieve the look you are after. But light bounces, even off black walls.
Cool Lights
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Thanks for the correction but it's not quite so simple. You took one part of my quote and didn't show the second part where I mentioned that a fresnel would work too ;-)
In fact all theatrical/studio lighting instruments fall into two classes: spot or flood. Yes a fresnel is considered a spotlight too but there's a wide variation in diffusion in the lenses so some cut a sharper image than others. That's not what video people are typically thinking when they say they want a "spot". The mirror/lens combo is so weak that you simply don't get the kind of focus you do with a classical insturment that's called a "spot." As long as its not too far away though it would work. And an HMI/metal halide type will help with intensity and throw.
You can find pars with ellipsoidal reflectors and lots of pars have lenses too as well as the more classic parabolic type. Par stands for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector in fact. Source 4 Pars which are an abbreviated version of the Source 4 ERS and all come with a set of lenses. A flashlight or a headlight is a par for that matter. A par is really nothing more than a reflector with a bulb peaking through the middle of it. Even high power LEDs can be found in a par config now with the little MR16 type bulbs. The rock and roll par can is not by far the only par in the world; especially in the world of video and film.
I gave the answer I gave because most video/film people that demand a spot are thinking in terms of the hardest light version that has the sharpest edges possible, longest throw and creates the most well-defined shadows. HMI is really best at that with tungsten following up a close second.
The instrument known as "spot" today has such a great throw and power thanks to the HMI bulb/mirror/lens combo that the diffusion in the air is negligible. Yes, the tungsten versions will have a tendency to deteriorate in the air. HMI versions won't.
But I didn't think any of that was the point of the original posting here and not sure why we're going there.
In fact all theatrical/studio lighting instruments fall into two classes: spot or flood. Yes a fresnel is considered a spotlight too but there's a wide variation in diffusion in the lenses so some cut a sharper image than others. That's not what video people are typically thinking when they say they want a "spot". The mirror/lens combo is so weak that you simply don't get the kind of focus you do with a classical insturment that's called a "spot." As long as its not too far away though it would work. And an HMI/metal halide type will help with intensity and throw.
You can find pars with ellipsoidal reflectors and lots of pars have lenses too as well as the more classic parabolic type. Par stands for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector in fact. Source 4 Pars which are an abbreviated version of the Source 4 ERS and all come with a set of lenses. A flashlight or a headlight is a par for that matter. A par is really nothing more than a reflector with a bulb peaking through the middle of it. Even high power LEDs can be found in a par config now with the little MR16 type bulbs. The rock and roll par can is not by far the only par in the world; especially in the world of video and film.
I gave the answer I gave because most video/film people that demand a spot are thinking in terms of the hardest light version that has the sharpest edges possible, longest throw and creates the most well-defined shadows. HMI is really best at that with tungsten following up a close second.
The instrument known as "spot" today has such a great throw and power thanks to the HMI bulb/mirror/lens combo that the diffusion in the air is negligible. Yes, the tungsten versions will have a tendency to deteriorate in the air. HMI versions won't.
But I didn't think any of that was the point of the original posting here and not sure why we're going there.
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