Hive 1000w WASP Plasma PAR

[James Jetel]

Anyone have some real life experience with these? I can't seem to get my hands on one in my regions (midwest and Asia). I've called rental houses, gaffers, people on their dealer list. I tried calling/emailing Hive as well, but their response amounted to "buy one to find out."
The rental houses I talked to had the same cart before the horse experience, where Hive wants them to buy 40k worth of lights and hope people start asking. Maybe it's small business for Hive, but it'd be nice to see a few demo units in the midwest being put on productions.

With that, can someone give some real life experience, and comparison? There's precious little info out there - a little chatter, a cursory review/comparison done by a rental house, some promo vids, and talking heads at a convention.

2.5k HMI for 1000w with low heat would be great for my work, but I want to know how accurate that is in reality (beyond the sales pitch). How well do these things hold up to production wear? Do the plastic lenses get messed up easily? What happens when the unit goes down, if it has to go back to manufacturer, how long does that process take and what does it cost? Is there something that breaks before everything else. I have more questions, and would love to hear from anyone on it. I'd be keen to invest in the light, but I've never seen the unit, can't get one to rent, and hear very little. Maybe that's answer enough then...

Thanks!

 

[Dan Kanes]

After My brief (very brief) hands ons at various tradeshows - about equivalent to an Arri M18 with less power consumption... I want to like it, but I also want to spend more time in real life with it.

 

[James Jetel]

Thanks, Dan! Good to hear about output, is the head a similar size to an m18 as well?

 

[Nick Morrison]

We've used the smaller Hive units and rest assured they are the real deal.

 

[Dan Kanes]

seemed physically smaller than m18

 

[James Jetel]

Thanks, Nick, I've heard good things about those, and there seem to be more out in the wild. The 1k is hard to pin down.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Thanks, Nick, I've heard good things about those, and there seem to be more out in the wild. The 1k is hard to pin down.

I saw it NAB, and it looked impressive. Haven't heard anything sense.

All anyone seems to talk about in our neck of the woods are Skypanels.

 

[Phil Holland]

Anyone have some real life experience with these? I can't seem to get my hands on one in my regions (midwest and Asia). I've called rental houses, gaffers, people on their dealer list. I tried calling/emailing Hive as well, but their response amounted to "buy one to find out."
The rental houses I talked to had the same cart before the horse experience, where Hive wants them to buy 40k worth of lights and hope people start asking. Maybe it's small business for Hive, but it'd be nice to see a few demo units in the midwest being put on productions.

With that, can someone give some real life experience, and comparison? There's precious little info out there - a little chatter, a cursory review/comparison done by a rental house, some promo vids, and talking heads at a convention.

2.5k HMI for 1000w with low heat would be great for my work, but I want to know how accurate that is in reality (beyond the sales pitch). How well do these things hold up to production wear? Do the plastic lenses get messed up easily? What happens when the unit goes down, if it has to go back to manufacturer, how long does that process take and what does it cost? Is there something that breaks before everything else. I have more questions, and would love to hear from anyone on it. I'd be keen to invest in the light, but I've never seen the unit, can't get one to rent, and hear very little. Maybe that's answer enough then...

They are relatively new, so long term maintenance and wear I have no real thoughts on, though it's a pretty rugged kit.

The key to the bulbs is never getting your fingers on them. Much like a halogen or whatever, oils can ruin your day. The bulbs themselves are situated in a Faraday cage and decently protected from accidental chaos.

My overall experience with Hive lights has been positive. And yep, the output and draw from this thing is impressive.