Brian McCann

Hi I'm looking for a high school gym and athletic field to use for a film shoot near NYC. Looking for something not too expensive. Anyone have any leads or ideas on how to find this? thanks -Brian

here is the picture

Hi I'm thinking about picking up a power gems eb 125 used. This is not the slim most recent model but the bulkier one that I believe came right before. Does anyone know if this model has power factor correction? Sometimes I need to be able to plug into a 15a circuit which is why I want this. I've attached a picture thanks

Hi I just bought a used joker 1200 par. They don't make the light anymore. For now I'm going to look into its compatibility with a ballast I already own or the possibility of having an adapter cable made to work with its pin configuration. I called Joker and they were nice enough to tell me that it has the strand/ltm pin configuration and that power gems made a ballast for the light at one point. Does anyone have advice on where to find a ballast to run this light and what I should be looking for? I'd like to find a used electronic ballast. I was checking out the arri knockoffs sold by photolight on ebay they seem ok or is that a bad idea? Anyone have experience with those?

I would like to get peoples opinions on the drawbacks and advantages of using two cameras rather than one. I am dping a low budget comedy pilot in a few weeks and the director and producer like the idea of shooting on two cameras. I have reservations about it and don't have much experience doing it myself. Part of the reason they want to do it is to save time. I think that two cameras doesn't necessarily save time. Another reason, which I think is more valid, is that they think it works better for comedy when an actor doesn't have to do a take too many times so it doesn't sound canned. I am worried about the challenges that will come up with trying to light for two cameras. They've said that it's comedy and while they want a filmic look they are ok with the lighting not being too intricate. I also feel like their is a right place and a wrong place for the camera to go and when you shoot with two one or both end up in the wrong place because they get in each others way. I wonder if maybe I am wrong and in fact shooting with two will help us make our days and be good for performance. Will it just create more hassle and not save time? They are taking my opinion seriously so I don't want to take us in the wrong direction if I'm wrong. I'd appreciate if you all could share your experience. Have you made 2 cameras work?

Yeah I talked with one repair guy here on the east coast and he said he won't even touch them.

So a while back I bought a used desisti 1.2 hmi fresnel paired with a lightmaker electronic ballast off ebay. I asked around before buying to see if it was a good idea and people I trust seemed to think so. Not long after buying I learned that these lightmaker ballasts have a really bad reputation. I've been using the light and so far no problems. I'm paranoid that it will die on a shoot. This would be really bad because often this is the kind of light that creates the ambiance of the scene and it's impossible to replace with a different light if it dies and could screw up a production. I am thinking of getting a magnetic ballast as a cheap and reliable alternative. Does this make sense? Also will I have to re-fit the header cable in order for it to work or is it possible the connector will be the same? I'll include pictures of the ballast I own and one I would potentially buy. one I own is on bottom

I'm glad this was brought up. The Kino from 15 feet away, I might have tried that once or twice.... I really want to try the two fresnels to create soft light. Could someone elaborate more on that? Maybe that's for a separate thread. I own a quite a few lights and I get people asking about Kinos pretty frequently. I think I'm going to break down and buy my frist one any day now. I do think they are good and versatile lights but not necessarily worth the price you pay for them. If I got them it would really just be for marketing. Like it or not I feel like people see your gear list and if you have kino flo's they are like "this guy knows what he's doing". I've found that to be true not just for clients but for DPs as well. I am still using super cheap Chinese fluorescent soft boxes that were the first lights I ever owned in college. I sometimes feel self conscious taking them out of my van but people are always impressed with what they can do. They have certain limitations where Kino flos would probably be better but there are perks too. For example they always advertise kinos as being "lightweight" . Lightweight compared to what? rocks? Arming out a Kino turns into such a production, especially in a tight space. My cheap softboxes are probably half the weight and offer the same amount of punch. If I'm gonna arm out a light I'd rather use these.

very helpful thanks!

Hi Boring question, I know its important to keep ballasts dry but will a little moisture in the air damage them over time? I keep all my gear in a storage locker and I just picked up two older hmis one with magnetic and one with electronic ballast. My locker is dry but not well ventilated. I can tell because pieces of cardboard left in there feel a little soft rather than crisp. I couldn't find this topic covered in another thread so if someone has already answered it can you direct me to it? thanks

Hi I am definitely not a seasoned pro but I recently did day for night in a power limited location and was pretty successful I think. The room I was in had two normal sized windows. From the top of the window frame I hung two daylight fluorescent bulbs a piece. They were cheap daylight photo bulbs from china. They draw 45w a piece and are advertised as having a 250w tungsten equivalent output. I don't know if that's really true but they are bright. They just hung from a cord like the one you put in a china ball. Behind them on the window itself I put white seamless to reflect and even out the source. I put a big piece of light diffusion in front of both bulbs and had sheer curtains in front of that. This whole technique only works if you are ok with using shear curtains which means not really seeing out the window. For hard light coming through the window I had a 650 fresnel in the room with full ctb. Its output balanced nicely with what the fluorescent bulbs were doing. If I remember right we shot mostly at f4 iso 800. I was able to get the most from the lights since the camera was basically looking straight at them. I wanted the windows a little blown out but you could probably not blow them and it would still work. I had the idea and wasn't confident it would work but I was pretty pleased with the results. I'm not saying do this exactly but I think you'd be surprised how little you really need to do day for night. You save a lot of power by having the camera look right at the light rather than a bounce.