Tungsten Fresnel Power Consumption

[ewsmith89]

So, I'm debating between a used ARRI Tungsten Fresnel Kit or picking up some ARRI LEDs . One of the concerns is the film I'm currently shooting will be a lot of on location stuff without a generator so will need to be using 15/20 apartment circuits. I know there's lots of variables and no hard answer but can someone give me some testimony for a rough idea of the cost to run say 3 x 650 watt fresnels vs. something with lower power consumption like an LED. I'll be shooting a lot with these over the next few years and want to make sure the initial + running costs of the fresnels are worth all the drawbacks of tungsten for actors and production i.e. comfort, fire hazard, blowing breakers etc. Thanks for any insight.

 

[puredrifting]

With tungsten, you'll be using significantly more amperage. Remember, the actual light output efficiency with traditional lights is extremely low. You are essentially lighting with a heater that happens to throw off some residual light is how a lot DPs describe tungsten instruments. These days, tungsten is great for beauty, fashion and shooting glamor looks, it still has visual qualities that even the most expensive LEDs lack. Most of my LED sources consume something like 100 watts to equal the output of a 650 fresnel. So you could say that the typical LED panel is 5-7 times more energy efficient than a tungsten instrument with similar output. I actually did a shoot just an hour ago where our keys were the Arri Skypanel 60Cs but I still used a couple of Arri 150 fresnels because I wanted the nice, golden glow it gave as my hairlights. since were shooting daylight. In my mind, there is still a place for tungsten, I still put my Arri kit to work. But if all I had was my Arri kit, that wouldn't work for me. It is too heavy to make the airlines 50lb weight limit, going overseas I have buy expensive 240v bulbs and when used in a small room, it's like a sauna, way too hot. You might want to look into buying both, they each have their uses.