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Chimera Lantern vs JEM Ball vs Lantern Lock

Michael Panfeld

Michael Panfeld

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So, I was looking at these three products. There is a wide variation in price, not to mention apparent customer support and options.

Wondering what thoughts were on industry standards, plusses and minuses, with respect to these three lantern options.

Thanks
 
I've been using the Chimera Pancakes with compact daylight fluorescents. Great combo. I fly them on booms - lovely light, solves many problems at once. You can tilt them to make them directional. The roll up skirts are great for control.

China balls are nice for smaller spaces, and the lantern locks work well. They get chewed up pretty fast as they are made of paper so get a bunch. Also work great for traveling shots when you put them on poles and move them like you would a microphone. I use lowel 12V lights inside them plugged into DeWalt batteries.

Great cheap pole can be found a pool supply stores.
 
I have one Chimera lantern that gets used a lot, if you're only going to be buying one or two then the Chimera makes sense, if you have to buy 20 for a ball room scene I'd probably go with the lantern locks or maybe just regular ol' china balls. The big advantage to the Chimera's is being able to use higher wattage bulbs/HMIs as well as being able to cover 1/2 or skirt them.

They all have the same light quality IMHO so the Jem balls seem overpriced.
 
I have an ongoing job (over a year now) where I use Alzo HMI's in a Lanternlock… super inexpensive solution that's been working great. Chose this solution because I had to leave the set 'lit' between shoots and the client didn't have the cash for something better. In the end the light quality is great.

G.
 
I have the Chimera 20", 30", and Med Pancake. In fact, I have like 3 or 4 of each. I also have the Chimera Mogul/medium socket speed rings. But wanted to check out the competition. Wanted a nice arsenal, if the JEM or lantern lock added additional functionality.

I was going to use some high wattage CFLs in the Chimera socket speed ring, inside a 20" lantern on a painters pole (with a baby pin adapter) for travelling shots, like Douglas noted, but was looking at all options. Of course, I was going to use a SLA battery and a small inverter to get 120v for the CFLs or small Joker. The 12v Lowel sounds interesting for interior travelling shots with tungsten lighting.

Come to think of it, has anybody tried using a Joker 200 or 400 with the Softube on a pole instead of a lantern? The light pattern on the Softtube, held horizontal, would seem to be ideal for lighting the faces on a a walking shot with 2 or 3 actors side-by-side.

The Medium pancake and 30" lantern are pretty large to be booming. Doug, are you using the small or the medum pancake on a pole?

I do agree that the skirts on the Chimeras are a nice way to control spill and add directionality.

Interesting on the Alzo. What specific products are you using? I had previously purchased a used Alzo "HMI" 800 Par head but it crapped out on my after running a few hours. I never figured out why and tossed them in the trash (along with any intention of buying their stuff again). But its good to hear that you had success. I assume that you are using the separate ballast and lamp in the lantern lock. How is shooting with the slightly off the color temp and CRI? More importantly, it seems that their lamps are no different than the metal halide lamps I can buy at Home Despot. Have you tried those, they are much cheaper?

Thanks
 
I am using the separate Alzo bulbs and ballasts - the quality of the build is deplorable. However I knew that going in and had the production company buy spares, and a year later 3 of the ballast's have stopped working. Still for a job that's budget challenged, I was able to light the sets in a way that made the client happy. Colour temp / CRI hasn't been a problem. The Alzo stuff is cheap enough to almost be considered disposable at the end of any job with a decent budget...

No so sure I would buy / use the Alzo lights for my kit or offer them as a solution unless budget was a major concern. The Lantern-lock's however are something that I would purchase without thinking twice about - solid and do exactly what they are supposed to.

G.
 
Chimera lantern comes with a velcro skirt--no ordering, cutting, attaching duvetyne. This is the biggest plus for me. Also it's cheap and readily available.

The Jem ball has a "nicer" looking output. Hard to describe--a bit softer definitely, but it's more about the glowing, will o the wisp energy this thing gives off. It's all about shape and parabola with soft sources like this, and the Jem ball just nailed it. Haven't compared it to a Chimera side by side but just vague experience over the last few years. Here in NY I don't see these that often. Easier to break if handled with incompetence.

Lantern lock looks cool, but I've never seen on set. Genius idea.
 
Ryan: that's the kind of feedback I'd like to hear. I have only seen the JEM ball on a set in some BTS footage from the Downton Abbey series (which BTW is beautifully shot). Perhaps JEM balls are the secret to that, I wish I could describe it, "look" I see in high-end British productions. It is a "glow" so t speak. Thanks
 
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