Creating (and possibly selling) cheap(ish) HMI fixtures
 

I've been working on a couple of designs for high quality (6000k 85+ CRI) metal halide and ceramic discharge retrofits for existing tungsten PAR and fresnel fixtures (possibly open face and lekos, too). In about a month I will begin to work on my own instruments, and if there's any interest I can install the systems in your lighting fixtures too (a specific list of fixtures only). What would your ideal price be? What are your needs in terms of the quality of light? Color temperature? Wattage? Thanks in advance for your input!

Henry

So I just received my first shipment of ceramic discharge bulbs and I'm impressed! I popped a 200W ceramic bulb in my Arri 650W fresnel and got output that was between the 650 and a studio 1k. The color temperature is true 3200k. I can put 5 of these instruments on a 20A circuit! Will post photos as soon as possible. More to come with metal halide bulbs arriving soon...

Henry

Thanks for doing this! Can you tell us a bit about the pricing? Can you calculate it a bit already?

Well, I'm not 100% sure whether I'll officially "sell" this or not, but assuming I do, it will depend on who provides the lighting instrument. Soup-to-nuts (parts and labor), I would sell this particular 200w fresnel unit with an electronic ballast and cable for $700 (ceramic - 3200k) or $750 (daylight). I may be able to cut that cost if I buy parts in bulk and find cheaper suppliers...I'd say I'm a month away from selling these, however.



Henry

Well get it together.. Everyone is waiting for a good cheap HMI
 

I think the Mole digi and K500 and Arri pocket par are are great and really how cheap can an hmi get when bulbs will still cost $350

Where are you at.. Make it work dude.
How much are the bulbs you use know and what are they

great idea.. it can be done.. look at

www.liteshaper.com
r

Hey there, Richard-

I'm looking at the Philips MSD and MSR ANSI-coded bulbs, as well as their CMH bulbs. They range from around $60 to $230. I can't tell you how many times I've needed daylight blinders for day exteriors on music video shoots. I'm also working on a retrofit for Source Four PARs (some gaffers hate'em, but I absolutely swear by them) and some sort of light ladder configuration in order to turn them into a "maxi-brute" type unit. Any additional insight on this project in general?

Henry

Henry, great idea! I was looking into this awhile ago, I think Alvizo or some name like that does something similar. The idea of sub-$1,000 daylight instruments is truly cool. It seemed like when I was looking at similar technology, I kept on running into underwater lights. Anyway, I'd love to hear how your doing as you go along. Good Luck!

Henry,
How goes the adaptation of a source 4 PAR unit to accept daylight (5500k) bulbs?