Alzo HMI lights

[VideoSmithy]

I just got back from NAB and saw the Alzo HMI lights and was quite impressed on price and value. I did some internet research and found the same lights on www.videolighting.com even cheaper and sold under the manufacturers name rather than the Alzo name. I called the Video Lighting Inc. guys and they told me they are the same lights as Alzo and they have been direct importers for several years selling them for photography lighting but recently with improvement in the lights and bulbs have they have begun selling them specifically for video lighting with excellent experience for video, dv film etc. I've been researching the internet and many positive reviews of the old version of the lights but nothing lately as to improvements in the light head and bulb making them an even better value for video. They seem perfect for my budget and situation and I want to buy them and get the best deal. Any info on the new version?

 

[Eric S.]

Some of those prices are unreal. I'm going to have to look into this as well. Thanks for the info. I look forward to hear if anyone else has experience with these kits.

Eric

 

[Martin Weiss]

Anyone got experience with their Flolights Microbeam 128LED?

 

[Paul Hazlett]

Just remember these are HID hmi's and don't have nearly the punch of a true HMI.
I tried these same lights from another vendor who claimed they were as strong as a 800HMI and they not even come close to a real 400. they are bare bulb so you need a chimera or bounce always which cut your usable light even more.

 

[Mitch Gross]

That vendor got it wrong. They are as strong as an 800w tungsten light that is then gelled to daylight balance with full CTO. There's quite a difference.

These are nice, inexpensive softlights. Early reports had a lot of flicker but that has supposedly been fixed. I have seen them in person and even had numerous conversations with Drew the designer. I think they are fine for an enduser but not rugged enough to be a rental item (ever hear "don't be gentle; it's a rental"?).

 

[Paul Hazlett]

They might not be the same lights but look similar. do they have a fan on them?
I believe the ones I tried had a fan that ran constantly. fine for stills but not for shooting with sound

 

[Erik Bien]

I've used an older one: it started up very dim, green and flickery but eventually settled down (warm up time is advertised as five minutes, but this one needed more like three times that). They also need to cool for five-plus minutes before you can restrike. They have no fan.