10 Bulb CFL Brute (Sample Video)

[Ryan E. Walters]

So I just modified a 16 bulb CFL light to make it fit 10 65w CFL's for an equivalent 2,750w of light output at a draw of only 650w!

My full write up is here:
http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/The_CFL_Brutte.html

1080p video can be found here:
http://www.vimeo.com/6369658

Still frames (compressed JPGs):

 

[Brandon Fraley]

cool, can we see a pic of the fixture?

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

I'm working on it- I hope to have a blog post up tomorrow showing how I modified the light.

 

[Frank Martin]

Looks like a pretty strong green spike
I guess your planning on using it in
environments with existing CFL
lighting.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

I personally liked the look for that shoot (music video), so I did not add any correction. However, a minus green gel (Probably around 1/4 to 1/2) should bring these back into alignment. I'm also still looking for a higher CRI bulb. Right now most of what I am finding is in the 80 - 84 range. I would prefer to get up to 90 - 95 range.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

How is the flicker? I have noticed some CFLs flicker at unexpected frequencies - ie. you would expect 60Hz and be able to dial it our with a 144degree (1/60) shutter.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

I haven't gone through every frame rate combo yet, but so far flicker free at 180 degrees and 24, 48, 60, & 120.

 

[Charles Angus]

Cool, I've been thinking about doing something similar myself.

A few niggling points I would make:

CFL's are not inherently soft. Those spiral bulbs are diffuse by nature, but softness is a combination of diffuseness and large source size compared to subject size.

Also, when I think of a Brute, I think PARs - would be cool to see some CFL PARs in action in that rig - if I make one, it would be for PARs.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Cool, I've been thinking about doing something similar myself.

A few niggling points I would make:

CFL's are not inherently soft. Those spiral bulbs are diffuse by nature, but softness is a combination of diffuseness and large source size compared to subject size.

Also, when I think of a Brute, I think PARs - would be cool to see some CFL PARs in action in that rig - if I make one, it would be for PARs.

Yep, you are correct- source and subject size do effect the softness. But it has been my experience that CFLs are notably softer then their tungsten counter part. (A 23w CFL being much softer then the 100w bulb for example.)

A CFL PAR? That would be great. Having a light like that would be very helpful- but I am skeptical of how well it would work. As the fall off of CFL's is pretty steep- it would have to be a pretty efficient housing. If you are able to do it I would LOVE to see it and know how you did it.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

The how to modify the light can be found here:
http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/Modifying_C-1600.html

Here are pictures of the final light:

 

[Raul Gonzo]

Hey Ryan, what sort of throw are you getting from these lights?

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

All of the details / specifics are in the write up I did:
http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/The_CFL_Brutte.html

The quick answer:

Distance: - Foot Candles: - T-Stop (@ ISO 320):
3’ - 1500 - 16 8/10
6’ - 270 - 8 2/10
9’ - 97 - 4 8/10
12’ - 55 - 4
15’ - 37 - 2.8 4/10
18’ - 26 - 2.0 9/10

(I ran out of garage space at 18')

 

[Raul Gonzo]

Excellent- and I will take a look at it.
Thanks for the post Ryan- I've been thinking about getting a setup like this for awhile.

 

[Joe G.]

Ryan, other than higher CRI bulbs, can you use higher wattage bulbs to pump up the output? What's the limit?

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Higher CRI will not yield a higher output- it will only yield a more accurate color reproduction.

To get more output higher wattage bulbs can be used. However, for this particular light the sockets are E26 (Standard base). And from what I was able to find the 65w bulbs were the highest wattage in the base size. To move up to a higher wattage would require a mogul base.

With that said- building this type of light from scratch would not be very hard, so to get more output it would only take building one with the proper base.

 

[Dustin Cross]

I have been thinking of making something like this with 10 mogul base sockets. Then use ten 200w mogul base CFLs. That should put out about 8k worth of light from one 20 amp circuit.


Dusty

 

[Charles Angus]

A CFL PAR? That would be great. Having a light like that would be very helpful- but I am skeptical of how well it would work. As the fall off of CFL's is pretty steep- it would have to be a pretty efficient housing. If you are able to do it I would LOVE to see it and know how you did it.

I've seen CFL PARs at my local hardware store. Falloff should be similar to a tungsten PAR.

Falloff should be a function mainly of source size, shouldn't it?

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

I have been thinking of making something like this with 10 mogul base sockets. Then use ten 200w mogul base CFLs. That should put out about 8k worth of light from one 20 amp circuit.


Dusty

Now that would be a killer light! Do you know of where to buy the mogul base? I have checked at my local hardware stores and the big box stores but no one seems to carry just the base ...

 

[Charles Angus]

You could always just put a mogul adapter in an edison base... With these low-current CFLs, it should be fine.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

I've seen CFL PARs at my local hardware store. Falloff should be similar to a tungsten PAR.

Falloff should be a function mainly of source size, shouldn't it?

I'll have to go back to my hardware store to see if they have any of these- I did not see any the last time I was there. (but I was not looking for them either.)

As far as I am aware of fall off is effected by both the source size and the type of light that is being used. A fresnel has less of a fall off then a Keno. A par should also have less of a fall off as it is focusing the light more through its' reflector. I'm still skeptical of a CFL performing well in a par as they tend to fall off pretty quickly. (See my numbers above.) Although I'll be VERY happy if I am wrong, as it would be great to have a CFL par.