Ultimate Portable Spotlight?

xenons are amazing lights. I have not had the chance to work with one yet, but from my understanding, and form the pix they can throw a narrow beam very far. The only trick is that you have to have special mirrors to do anything with the light. The beam is so intense that it can crack a window.

Great find! Thanks for sharing. :)

Now to find one on ebay, and then figure out how to use it .....
 
You wouldn't just annoy your wife with one of these, you'd cook her with it ;-)

I want to know more about the power supply though. 60 amp / 28v. That's capable of 1600w or so. This is a military thing but what do they use to drive that DC power supply out in the field? A DC Generator? Or some kind of current out of the generator of a tank perhaps.

The other thing that's interesting to me is that an HMI is actually more efficient but these things seem to be far more capable of throwing an impressive beam of concentrated light than an HMI. They're both used in spotlights nowadays with HMI far more common than the Xenon variety for use in stage spots. Probably because of cost.

So how could you leverage this into a usable light out in the woods? What could be done to turn the beam into a big broad source? This thing would cut right through silk so I think bouncing it off something that's a bit dull might make the most sense.
 
If you ever have a shoot in Florida, you could save time on set and rig up your keylight from home in Portland before you leave. :)


- Mikko
 
Cool Lights said:
So how could you leverage this into a usable light out in the woods? What could be done to turn the beam into a big broad source? This thing would cut right through silk so I think bouncing it off something that's a bit dull might make the most sense.
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Usually these lights are used for special effects- if you remember the shafts of light that came through the set of Bladerunner- these were created with these lights. If you wanted to bounce the light, you will need to get a specialized mirror developed by Matthews Studio Equipment. If you use a regular mirror / gladd the light will literally shatter it. This is definately not a light to use carelessly as you could cause some real damage.

Another draw back of this light is that it has a hole in the center of the beam, due to the reflector it uses. The hole can be minimized, but never gotten rid of. Any time you need a strong shaft of light that is strong, and will carry a long distance- this is your light. :)
 
Cool Lights said:
So how could you leverage this into a usable light out in the woods? What could be done to turn the beam into a big broad source? This thing would cut right through silk so I think bouncing it off something that's a bit dull might make the most sense.
Click to expand...

how about a large convex mirror...say 36" or greater...like a shop-lifting mirror one sees in the convenient store.
 
The reason I didn't think a mirror was a good idea was the intensity of the light. My thought was you'd need to tone it down so a dull, huge bounce board of some kind would be interesting. A mirror would just reflect the beam back out at the subjects and blind them probably.
 
a flat mirror would suck!
my convex mirror throw's a beautiful soft light in a huge pattern. I use it for outdoor shoots between 10:00am to 2:00pm June 21st shoots, with a canopy over my talents heads. Man, the light from it is beautiful! Though, I got to admit, your tank beam is intimidating! Maybe you need two convexes?
One can buy these mirrors in plastic too! These anti-shoplift mirrors are a little flater than say a truck's spot mirror, but they are wide-angle enough. Ever play with one? lol
 
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No, i never got one of those and didn't even think of it, but i bet they'd be fine for HMI's and other conventional lighting. the tank spot may need something more like a hammered mirror to break it up some into speculars. it's just too concentrated for normal use.
 
I have one of those 6" xenon flashlights and that thing can throw a beam ridiculously far so I can only imagine what that spotlight can do!
 
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