Gene Sung
Well-known member
For those with terrible experiences, did you guys order from Photolight on Ebay? I heard his lights are a bit better (which might not be saying much) than the average Chinese knock off.
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CAME HMI Lighting review?
- Thread starter Jay A. Kelley
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Daniel Stilling
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I learned my lesson. not worth trying with any of these knock offs IMHO.
Terry VerHaar
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Personally, I think it's too early to make much of these experiences and, for that matter, too early to buy these lights from anyone unless you must. IMO, the tech of LED lighting is changing very rapidly and only getting better at all levels.
Nick Gardner
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I think the discussion here is about HMIs. LEDs are a different story.
Nick
Nick
BRANDON JAMESON
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ooh, that's a great review..thanks
Les Hillis
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Here's a link to the CAME HMI group buy thread that happened a while back - http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?99925-CAME-HMI-GROUP-BUY
People start getting their lights and giving feedback around page 12 of that thread.
The 'official' e-Bay re-seller/distributor of the CAME-TV products is 'Photolight' (http://stores.ebay.com/PhotoLight), but you can buy direct from here too - http://www.came-tv.com/video-lights-c-19.html.
This package (http://www.ebay.com/itm/HMI-Fresnel...uminum-case-/111858169258?hash=item1a0b4435aa) is very similar to the 575W kit what was made available through the group-buy. The only differences I can see are that it doesn't show or explicitly state that the kit comes with a yoke for the lamp-head, and the ballast doesn't have '575/1200 EB Universal Ballast' written on the front of it (so maybe it's not the same inside either). Photolight/CAME do sell a ballast separately (http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAME-TV-Pro...-575W-1200W-/111858169268?hash=item1a0b4435b4), which does look the same (except the on-off button is different) as the ballast they included in the group-buy.
There's a video demonstrating the sound emitted by the older group-buy 575W lamp and ballast here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC169PJaD98
It looks like Photolight/CAME are also now selling a newer, more simplified ballast that uses a different ballast to lamp-head plug/cable (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-HMI-Fre...se-Lighting-/141860202255?hash=item210786e70f). Doesn't look like the ballast is available separately though. Don't know how noisy the new 575W version is, but you can see and hear the new 1200W version reviewed here - http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?140049-CAME-TV-Chinese-1200-Watt-HMI-Video-Review
Not sure whether the older or newer ballast would be better (in terms of reliability and noise), but there's about a $1000 price difference between the kits that have the older 'Pro' ballast and the newer ballast (and/or older style but unlabelled ballast). The older ARRI-clone style 'Pro' ballasts they sell separately are also about $1500 on their own too, which could mean something.
Re-reading the group-buy thread above, I also see 'Steven. Studio' (http://stores.ebay.com/steven-studi...8&_lns=1&_sid=113920538&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322) mentioned as another e-Bay seller of these kinds of lights.
They have yet another variation on the ballast with a 575/800/1200/1800W version - http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRO-High-Sp...z-M18-light-/221981297319?hash=item33af1dcaa7
Along with something almost identical to the Photolight/CAME 'Pro' 575/1200W ballast from the group-buy - http://www.ebay.com/itm/575W-1200W-...-Par-Lights-/271460756958?hash=item3f34526dde
They also have a similar 575W kit - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Daylight-Co...ast-Flycase-/221388202680?hash=item338bc3e2b8.
From what I can tell, all these ballasts are noisy, with a high potential for the lamp-heads to be buzzy as well.
I also think at the end of the day, all these ARRI-clone HMI's are a gamble in terms of reliability. You would definitely want to think twice before using them on an expensive or unrepeatable shoot.
And seeing as they are in effect potentially disposable items, you'd have to consider whether taking a risk on them will actually be cheaper than going for a more reliable alternative in the first place.
The 575W CAME HMI and ballast I got from the group buy has and continues to work well for me, as they have for others, so it's not all bad news. But, that could change at any moment, so...
Hope that helps in some way. Have been thinking about picking up a cheap 1200W Fresnel or PAR recently myself.
People start getting their lights and giving feedback around page 12 of that thread.
The 'official' e-Bay re-seller/distributor of the CAME-TV products is 'Photolight' (http://stores.ebay.com/PhotoLight), but you can buy direct from here too - http://www.came-tv.com/video-lights-c-19.html.
This package (http://www.ebay.com/itm/HMI-Fresnel...uminum-case-/111858169258?hash=item1a0b4435aa) is very similar to the 575W kit what was made available through the group-buy. The only differences I can see are that it doesn't show or explicitly state that the kit comes with a yoke for the lamp-head, and the ballast doesn't have '575/1200 EB Universal Ballast' written on the front of it (so maybe it's not the same inside either). Photolight/CAME do sell a ballast separately (http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAME-TV-Pro...-575W-1200W-/111858169268?hash=item1a0b4435b4), which does look the same (except the on-off button is different) as the ballast they included in the group-buy.
There's a video demonstrating the sound emitted by the older group-buy 575W lamp and ballast here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC169PJaD98
It looks like Photolight/CAME are also now selling a newer, more simplified ballast that uses a different ballast to lamp-head plug/cable (http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-HMI-Fre...se-Lighting-/141860202255?hash=item210786e70f). Doesn't look like the ballast is available separately though. Don't know how noisy the new 575W version is, but you can see and hear the new 1200W version reviewed here - http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?140049-CAME-TV-Chinese-1200-Watt-HMI-Video-Review
Not sure whether the older or newer ballast would be better (in terms of reliability and noise), but there's about a $1000 price difference between the kits that have the older 'Pro' ballast and the newer ballast (and/or older style but unlabelled ballast). The older ARRI-clone style 'Pro' ballasts they sell separately are also about $1500 on their own too, which could mean something.
Re-reading the group-buy thread above, I also see 'Steven. Studio' (http://stores.ebay.com/steven-studi...8&_lns=1&_sid=113920538&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322) mentioned as another e-Bay seller of these kinds of lights.
They have yet another variation on the ballast with a 575/800/1200/1800W version - http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRO-High-Sp...z-M18-light-/221981297319?hash=item33af1dcaa7
Along with something almost identical to the Photolight/CAME 'Pro' 575/1200W ballast from the group-buy - http://www.ebay.com/itm/575W-1200W-...-Par-Lights-/271460756958?hash=item3f34526dde
They also have a similar 575W kit - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Daylight-Co...ast-Flycase-/221388202680?hash=item338bc3e2b8.
From what I can tell, all these ballasts are noisy, with a high potential for the lamp-heads to be buzzy as well.
I also think at the end of the day, all these ARRI-clone HMI's are a gamble in terms of reliability. You would definitely want to think twice before using them on an expensive or unrepeatable shoot.
And seeing as they are in effect potentially disposable items, you'd have to consider whether taking a risk on them will actually be cheaper than going for a more reliable alternative in the first place.
The 575W CAME HMI and ballast I got from the group buy has and continues to work well for me, as they have for others, so it's not all bad news. But, that could change at any moment, so...
Hope that helps in some way. Have been thinking about picking up a cheap 1200W Fresnel or PAR recently myself.
Gene Sung
Well-known member
Ok... Wow... So I just watched The Visit. Pretty good horror movie, however, it was not nearly as scary as all the negative feedback in that thread. Thanks for the warnings as I will for sure be taking a pass on these lights. No thanks and sorry you guys had to go through all that.