Tungsten head recommendations?

P

Pultzar

Member
Hello,

I am considering tungsten lights and am looking for suggestions on a head that will do well shooting into umbrellas (I currently have a collection of Paul-C-Buff PLM). This will be for use in a studio. Max price of $500/head is ideal but I'm flexible.

I'm also considering an Alzo 3000 or Skylux if I go the LED route, but I want to see what nice options there are for tungsten first.

Thanks!
 
Not sure the build on your PLM parabolics but you might be limited to a lower wattage Tungsten light to avoid burning up the diffusion if they are intended for flash photography.
 
I was going to use them without the diffusion for that reason. Even the 250w lamp can cause them to melt if the diffusion material gets in contact. If I end up needing something higher temperature then I'll buy a softbox or something that can handle the heat. But for now I'm pretty happy with the PLM options that I have.
 
Lowel DP or Omni lights are pretty standard for using with umbrellas. You could get 4 or 6 used ones for $500. Tota lights are good also.
 
forbyfiev said:
Lowel DP or Omni lights are pretty standard for using with umbrellas. You could get 4 or 6 used ones for $500. Tota lights are good also.
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I have a PLM and use totas with it. They are nice since they dont obscure the front of the umbrella much and you want a very broad throw so dp/omni might be less ideal and more expensive. Totas are harder to gel though, but they are very compact and cost effective.
 
David W. Jones said:
They make a gel holder specifically for the Tota. I have quite a few of them.
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Yes I know but it's not clear to me that it works if you also are using the umbrella mounting hole since they share the same hole. Also in a parabolic umbrella, ideally you want a 180+deg beam spread (for a tota, doors wide open at 90deg from beam center, 180 from each other) and those gel frames they make for totas definitely won't cover a 180deg beam spread, they are designed for a narrower beam spread such as with the barndoors at 45deg from beam center.
 
I've always been a fan of Arri lights. I've owned Lowels, and while they did the job, the Arris I use now are way better.

I've been seeing used "Arrilites" for great prices, which is their open faced light with no lens. These lights are great for punching into a soft box or umbrella, and you can get them anywhere from 500 to 1000 watts. The other good thing is you can use the regular arri Barndoors on them when you need some control.
 
Simply Cinema said:
I've always been a fan of Arri lights. I've owned Lowels, and while they did the job, the Arris I use now are way better.

I've been seeing used "Arrilites" for great prices, which is their open faced light with no lens. These lights are great for punching into a soft box or umbrella, and you can get them anywhere from 500 to 1000 watts. The other good thing is you can use the regular arri Barndoors on them when you need some control.
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I agree that Arri makes nice openface and fresnel lights, they are much more flexible than Totas in many ways and they are industry standard for that kind of lighting units. However, arrilites are 3x the price, and more than 3x the size/weight of Totas and they are not ideal for a parabolic umbrella like a PLM. Parabolic umbrellas have a focal point that is practically "inside" the umbrella so you need over a 180deg beam angle and very even beam throw to utilize the whole umbrella correctly. To achieve that effect with an arrilite, you may need barn doors and diffusion which will significantly reduce the output and efficiency of the system, and you will additionally need a way to mount the umbrella. Totas, like any type of light have a limited use, but their broad, relatively even throw is great for narrow profile soft sources like softboxes and parabolic umbrellas. Arrilites are great for throwing light further such as bouncing light of bead board or creating strong directional light, but not for applications that require a small, broad source. Of course if you want a light that you can do more things with they might be a good idea but it'll always be a stretch to use any one light for everything.
 
I'm an Arri lover, and not really keen (apart from necessity) on LED, but we're rapidly approaching the day when LED modules will be small enough to replace the 650W bubble in Fresnels. At the moment, the only way to get the brightness is a cluster of LEDs which means the output is not the same as the Fresnel with a TH lamp. However - it won't be long. This means that my future purchases of TH Fresnels are on hold. If I need more, I'll rent - any outlay on buying is wasted. I'd bet by the end of the year a genuine 650W Fresnel is available. Two years ago I hated LED, last year I figured some was ok, and now I'm buying lots - but for certain things.
 
My .02 - Tota's are freakishly overpriced for something with such lame little barn doors.

Hunt around for theatrical open face lights. Real barn doors, they usually take work light globes from 100 to 1k. Umbrellas are fine for some things, but you may want to bounce off larger sources, use big scrims, etc. I've got 5 or 6, paid anywhere from $30 - $60 for 'em.

I'm with Paul - I wouldn't sink a lot of cash into serious tungsten.

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Michael Carter said:
My .02 - Tota's are freakishly overpriced for something with such lame little barn doors.

Hunt around for theatrical open face lights. Real barn doors, they usually take work light globes from 100 to 1k. Umbrellas are fine for some things, but you may want to bounce off larger sources, use big scrims, etc. I've got 5 or 6, paid anywhere from $30 - $60 for 'em.

I'm with Paul - I wouldn't sink a lot of cash into serious tungsten.

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I dont know if they are overpriced, but they are useful and fairly unique in their size and quality if you are looking for a broad light that almost fits in your pocket... The theatrical openface light you pictured is pretty similar to a tota, so it's really just a matter of how important real barn doors are and how important compact size is. Totas are just nice because they are so small and have an umbrella mount built in so they are perfect for a parabolic umbrella or any umbrella modifier. The size is useful inside a softbox or bounce umbrella since smaller size is desirable to avoid obscuring the bounced light. I got my totas used for $75/each and they were easily worth the money since they are probably the first light I go to in my kit for bouncing or diffusing since they are so quick to set up and so broad they can make for a very compact very soft source.

I use them in these http://www.ebay.com/itm/281117967685 quite a bit lately. I don't think many other lights would work in there. Cheap and easy big softbox. You can turn the light toward the silver for a super soft softbox that is only bounced light through diffusion or toward the diffusion for a bit spottier punchier softbox.
 
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