affordable hmi between 150 and 575w?
 

I am curious is there any HMI fresnel in the 200-250 watt range? That would be like a 1k of light which seems to be perfect for what I am looking for, ideally a daylight/tungsten balanced 1k-1.2k. The 150 seems to be about a 650 which just falls short of output for the distance needed, the 575 is way to much for what I need by 300watts worth about. I am very interested in the coolbiz lights but they go from 150 to 575 with no middle ground. Not sure if there are any other viable affordable options.

To be safe, you can always get the 575w and throw some ND or scrims on to adjust. That way you're covered if you need the higher wattage sometime (like that scenario you recently posted about needing an on-camera daylight source - did you ever get that resolved?).

Good luck.

~~Dave

BTW - Never said this before, but I love the stuff on your site. Really beautiful work.

I've got a 575 and it kicks #$!!. you never have too much light, only too little. I'd get a 575 and not think twice as you can always cut it.

Thank you, yes the 20million candle power lights flaired almost too much, the color was nice and warm compared to the available, so I will likely get a few more to have for a project I am working on.

problem is generator use, I need more lights rather than more power per light often, and bringing larger generators or more generators is not always the ideal solution, so I am looking to fill a void in the spot if its available. I have a few large 1200 HMI's they were OK for stills but they are way too big for video. :(

A 250w HMI fresnel is on the list for early next year. I call it the 1000w killer like the CDM 150w fresnel I'm coming out with now is a 650w killer.

One obstacle is finding a reasonable high CRI bulb for it. The Osram 250w is actually more expensive than the 575w bulb:

http://www.bulbman.com/index.php?mai...ducts_id=10849

Some of the clone bulbs I've found have a low CRI in the 70 range. So, I'm searching for a suitable alternative to keep it a low cost solution. We may go with this if nothing better turns up:

http://www.bulbman.com/index.php?mai...ducts_id=10944

The life is decent at 2000 hours but its not a hot restrike and probably won't be one in this wattage range.

We've got the ballast and fixture--just need the darn bulb!

OK, so what, and I know this is always the killer question, is the output in a number that gives it meaning? an fstop at a given iso at a given distance of either the 150, or 575? and if I were to say I will take the expensive 200w or 250w bulb are these available if not how long before they could be available? I will even take a fc or lux at distance. For example I know a lowel 650 fren-l is at 10 feet = 64fc @ flood, 500fc @ spot, or at 10feet 690 lux @ flood, 5450 lux @ spot.

What that gives me is a number to convert to an EV which can than translate into a shutter/iso/fstop/distance value, since the EV chart directly correlates to a lux/footcandle chart and the EV also directly correlates to a number of equivalent combinations shutter speeds and apertures at iso, which means they are all useful. I finally figured out a method of going from footcandles to fstops making it all useful to my still photo mentality. :)

Hi Stephen,

Seems like every time you ask me to check with a light meter I'm not near the meter or my demo units. When I get back to home base I'll see what I can do.

Affordable HMI is an oxymoron.

Arri makes a small light weight 200w hmi fresnel. Whether it is affordable or not is open to your own situation.