1200 Watt HMI

Brad Skiles · February 4, 2007

Does a 1200 watt HMI throw out enough light to be discernable on a sunny day in the shadows of a porch or tree?

My guess would be that it does not.

The largest HMIs I've used are the 575 watt versions (which I understand are small). I turned them on and didn't really see a difference. The bounce was much stronger.

Thanks,

Brad

Frank Barrera · February 4, 2007

Well, that depends on how close you get the 1.2 to your subject. If your shot doesn't get very wide you can have the 1.2 just outside of the fame. But in general it would not be enough to really fill in a large shadowed area such as a porch. You can also figure that from a 575 to a 1.2 in the same position you only gain a little over 1 stop of exposure. Of course if you are using a PAR instead of a Fresnel then you can get much more light out of the unit but you get the idea. That's why 12K's and 18K's are the norm for this type of situation.

Kevin Zanit · February 4, 2007

A 1.2k PAR will do something on a small area in this situation. Not much, but a bit of fill.

Here is an example of what they can do under an overhang.

Kevin Zanit

Brad Skiles · February 4, 2007

Kevin,

Are there two lights in this shot? One reflecting off the basketball net and another underneath the overhang?

Kevin Zanit · February 5, 2007

If I remember correctly, there was 1.2k PAR behind the Chimera, but the light coming through the Chimera is also a 1.2k PAR

Matt Sandstrom · February 5, 2007

Does a 1200 watt HMI throw out enough light to be discernable on a sunny day in the shadows of a porch or tree?

for a face or two, absolutely, for the entire porch, no.

/matt

Matt Workman · February 5, 2007

In my experience with 1200w HMI Fresnels they are really only useful on medium/close shots. On a wide where you need to put the light farther back to get an even exposure it does very little, in direct sunlight.

On the wide you might be better off with a 12'x12' silk and reflectors if you can't afford a 12k or 18k.

These are two MS/two shots with the HMI filling in. Though now that I think of it these are 575w, my 1200w was down that week.

Brad Skiles · February 9, 2007

I just wanted to thank everyone who replied. The pictures are especially useful when you are trying to get an idea how things might look.

Does anyone know of a good rental house in Los Angeles that caters to the indie crowd? I will be renting a lens from Alan Gordon so I may pick up a couple lights there, but if anyone has suggestions I'm listening.

Brad

Kevin Zanit · February 9, 2007

Wooden Nickel Lighting is probably your best bet. I believe a 1.2k PAR rents for $90 a day/ weekend and $180 a week.

Kevin Zanit

Brad Skiles · February 10, 2007

Kevin,

I jumped on Wooden Nickel. Thanks for the suggestion I'll probably rent a few lights from these guys.

The Wooden Nickel Site listed:

1200 PAR (LTM) (ARRIFLEX) for $90

1200 PAR W/ ELECTRONIC BALLAST for $130

Am I missing something here? Don't all HMIs run off a ballast? Is the $90 version the lamp only?

Matt Irwin CSC · February 10, 2007

The $90 version probably comes with a magnetic ballast.

Kevin Zanit · February 11, 2007

Thanks Matt, I should have added that, $90 for magnetic. I recommend Wooden Nickel, Brian is a real good guy who has helped a lot of small shows over the years, he has helped me out a lot.

Kevin Zanit

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · February 11, 2007

I use 1200's under porches and on the shadow side of buildings all the time for boosting the general fill or just to pop people out a bit. It helps if you have a few so you can line them up to cover a long area.