Anybody used the HMI, HID lights from Alzo? Do they work? Do they hold up? Thanks.

Try a search, been addressed here and on DVXuser.com

And then there's these.... interesting:

http://imagewest.tv/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=36

Thanks. I looked at those from image west as well. The search did yield some good information.

IMO the advantage to using Alzo is lower power draw and less heat in controlled studio environments. They will not mix with real daylight the way HMI do.

John has a point about the difference between purpose-built cine/video lights and lower-end solutions. While we would all love a magic bullet of lighting, the truth is in many ways that you get what you pay for.

In the world of home-movies, you can accept a lot of compromises in exchange for a low price. The Alzos may make great daylight for the most part, and you may be able to gel everything to match and work around their shortcomings. And if that works for your needs, then congrats, you found a great low-cost solution. But, if time is of the essence, and you need an accurate daylight-balance source to mix with other HMIs and natural daylight - then real industry HMI's are the answer. Another reason that a lot of people choose Jokers or Arris is that you could hand such a light to anyone in the world who's worked with HMI's before, and they'll be instantly familiar with their operation and accessories. Convenience and quality cost money. That's not to say you can't make excellent images using lower-end gear, but you'll probably have to work harder and longer to achieve the same basic effect.