What's the Best Choice for a Basic HMI Kit?

[Bruce Allen]

We've been working very hard here on HMIs and some other great stuff. Many of these solutions will cost half (or even less than half in some cases) of what current ones are thanks to my determination on the subject.
Backup indeed ;-)

Wow, looks really great.

What I meant that to say (but totally failed to) was if you take them onto a set and someone says "it's not a Mole, what if it breaks down?" then you can say "well, actually I have a tested spare one sitting right here, ready to go if the first one gives problems".

And of course, the first one won't give problems, so very soon you can take that second one out of your car and start using it too

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

 

[Manfred Lopez]

I guess I would use them enough to justify the purchase. I'm in an area where you simply can't rent. And using something for outside lighting is what really makes a production stand out IMHO. For example, there is nothing like having the talent bathed in HMI light shined through a big chimera in an otherwise bright day. I find that it really gives it a profesional look. Much better then trying to fiddle around with bounce boards.

 

[Richard Andrewski]

Wow, looks really great.

What I meant that to say (but totally failed to) was if you take them onto a set and someone says "it's not a Mole, what if it breaks down?" then you can say "well, actually I have a tested spare one sitting right here, ready to go if the first one gives problems".

And of course, the first one won't give problems, so very soon you can take that second one out of your car and start using it too

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

Any new company has a battle against established companies when they're coming on the market. I think you'll find though, there's very little to separate these things mechanically or electronically. All the same components are available to me as are to Arri, K5600, Kino Flo, etc. The very fact that you can use an original Osram HMI or a clone HMI bulb in our HMI fixtures or a Kino Flo bulb in our fluorescent fixtures means that we are following the normal standards for all those bulb types in our fixtures. And we only use very high quality, universal voltage input, lightweight and small electronic ballasts.

When you're paying double to four times more than you need to for for some of these other name brand solutions, many times it's a dealer network you're paying for rather than a factory direct solution like we offer. You're also paying for a larger corporate (and sometimes bloated) infrastructure too with lots of employees. Cool Lights is a small family run company with lots of partners and contractors so our overhead is lower and we don't have a dealer network either. I get lots of inquiries from dealers and I usually refuse them because it just means I need to mark things up even more to allow for their profit and support. We have the same spirit of independence that many "indies" have because I am one...

When deciding where to spend your product dollars it's a question of deciding if you like the dealer / middle man system with all the things, both good and bad that come with it.

 

[Richard Andrewski]

I guess I would use them enough to justify the purchase. I'm in an area where you simply can't rent. And using something for outside lighting is what really makes a production stand out IMHO. For example, there is nothing like having the talent bathed in HMI light shined through a big chimera in an otherwise bright day. I find that it really gives it a profesional look. Much better then trying to fiddle around with bounce boards.

Reasons I decided to offer an HMI solution:

1). Cost of existing solutions is out of whack with reality. 2). This created a rental market which is silly for those that may need to use a product on a regular basis. 3). I originally only thought to offer a fluorescent solution but quickly realized I wouldn't have a full, rounded product offering unless I offered a hard light too. I wasn't too keen on tungsten though and everyone offers it already. 4). Metal halide / HMI comes out to be the most efficient hard light (for now). 5). Thought it was interesting to expose what's been going on with HMIs and how the prices have been kept artificially inflated just like they have been in the past with fluorescent. ;-)

 

[Richard Andrewski]

I would not buy leds for the sake of LEDs they have to return something for the investment. better quality light, lower cost of ownership, more durable,
whatever....there has to be a good reason to switch. Daylight leds with punch for interiors would be awesome and worth the money I think.

With a combination of divas and an arri kit I have had very few instances where I would need anything else.


Now the HMIs on the other hand look pretty nice I would love to be able
to have on hand a 1.2 K and 575 for a reasonable price.

Exactly. That's why I put all LED projects on hold for the moment. I loved the idea of being the first with an LED fresnel but what good is it if it's too expensive and no one can afford it?

HMI really offers more for the money. I do have some interesting and unique LED ideas for later though and for those times you have to film in a car at night, or need that extra fill light on a product shoot, or have to have a small nook light in a cramped corner--LEDs are really "it."

 

[Richard Andrewski]

I'm definitely interested....

I'm using whatever lights I can find in a pinch on most projects. Even contractor lights or whatever I can borrow. The local rental houses are typically rented out when I need lights on short notice. And if I add up all the money I've spent on light rentals in the past 2 years, I could have just bought some lights already.

Yes! And doesn't it make you mad? What a scam this whole HMI thing has been. I know it made me mad because I understand manufacturing, components, etc and know what things really cost. Amazing how long it took for someone to do what we're doing now. Someone really needed to be honest about these things and charge for a reasonable profit not the outlandish price structure that has been going on.

 

[Ken Willinger]

The dop who owns the set saved some money by getting the HMI ballasts from kobold instead of k5600.

I did the same thing but got the Power Gems ballast. I think it's better made than the K5600 ballast.

 

[Richard Andrewski]

Adrian can I ask you a quick tech question. why have you chosen to position
the cable in such a way a to potentionally cause strain? is it an internal
routing thing? seems to me it would be better left as a straight run up.
just wondering...

I'm Richard, not Adrian ;-)

The picture I have shown here is the original product as I found it. I'm making improvements to it and the cabling will be one of them. As I mentioned before, color will change from blue to dark green on front and back with anodized in the middle like in the picture. Other improvements will include a handle on the back of some of the units to allow you to position angle easier (and not burn your hand), smaller and very lightweight electronic ballast (I looked at magnetic but while they cost less, they're just not a portable solution), and feel free to offer other suggestions. We're still finishing this up so we have some flexibility in changes until manufacturing of the final solution begins. A few improvements to the tungsten models too which include the handle on the back, an IEC plug adapter so you can easily change the power plug to whatever is used in your country and front and back will be black, middle anodized silver. Power plugs on all units will be 15 feet long and have the IEC adapter on one end and an American plug on the other end--but as I stated earlier, with the IEC solution, it's easy to change this out.

HMI Par Pricing

As for prices, the 575w par I showed will be in the $1999 range but $1699 in our pre-offer. Will include the items shown in the picture: electronic HR ballast, 1 HR bulb, barndoors, set of 3 removable lenses and 30 foot lamp cable. Back of the unit is removable and could be used in a lantern configuration when we get a glass protection beaker option built for it.

The 1200w will be in the $2900 range but $2400 in our pre-offer. Will include safety lens, 1 extra removable par lens, barndoors, electronic hot restrike ballast, 30 foot lamp cable and 1 HR bulb. The extra lenses available for this model are pricey at around $350 each but use "imported" glass from Europe so it's more expensive from the Chinese point of view ;-)

We also will have a less expensive 575w model without HR for about $699 in the preoffer. $899 later. Includes a set of 3 lenses, barndoors, electronic non-HR ballast, 1 bulb and long lamp cable.

HMI Compact Fresnel Pricing

150w (comes in a 650w compact size fresnel body) with non-HR electronic ballast, barndoors and 1 bulb (in choice of 3000K or 5400K). $399 pre-offer price. $549 later.

575w (comes in 1000w compact size fresnel body) with electronic HR ballast, 30 foot lamp cable, barndoors and 1 HR bulb (only 5600K/6000K). $699 pre-offer price. $899 later.

We can also do a 1200w fresnel but interest isn't so high in it at this point.

Tungsten Compact Fresnel Pricing

150w Pre-offer $149 - later $199
300w Pre-offer $169 - later $230
650w Pre-offer $199 - later $265
1000w Pre-offer $250 - later $335

All those include barndoors of course. We're not making too much on the tungsten models and just offering them mostly in the pre-offer with a few as stock later. I'm only carrying them at all for reasons I've talked about before in my blog or on DVXUser which I think are very logical reasons and a win/win for us and you.