Peter Daffarn

Eurolight do them apparently - https://www.eurolight-system.com/index.php?id_product=4950&controller=product&id_lang=2

Lighting gels are subtractive meaning that they filter out the spectrum that is not needed so it is not so much the colour temp of the light that is important as the actual source. Tungsten is full spectrum and will give the best results. HMI is also full spectrum but with spikes. LED has missing spectrum and this cannot be filled with gels.

Hi Tiago,

Let me state up front this is a sales pitch - we manufacture the light I am about to recommend.

Have a look at our PB80, LED Redhead.

Whilst it is not focusable it does produce a nice sharp shadow and the quality of the light is very high in both tungsten or daylight.

You cannot dial in whatever colour temp you need but then that function does come with a price in terms of light output.

The PB80 can be 3200K or 5600k, mains or battery powered.

Is dimmable using the knob on the back.

Check it out here http://www.photonbeard.com/led-redhead.html and watch the demo that was done for us by a customer who bought one of the early ones.

If you need any more info just get in touch.

Thanks

Peter

Hi Alexander - Sales Pitch Warning.....

Check out out 2K open face.

http://www.photonbeard.com/open-face.html

We have local support in North California or even more local via MACCAM in Van Nuys.

We also offer an HMI version which gives more light but is only 1200W.

If you have any questions get in touch.

Hi Everyone,

If anyone is planning to attend NAB in Las Vegas next week and is looking for new lighting instruments then please do visit Photon Beard in Central Hall C7650. We will be launching our new LED soft light for use in studios.

I have attached a picture of the large light which is a 360W (8 tube fluorescent equivalent).

The range starts at 90W and goes to 180W, 270W and 360W.

All units come with 5 year warranty on light output and quality.

We will also have our LED Redhead, mains or battery powered and the very powerful Platinum Blonde 1200W HMI.

I don't want to fill this post with sales blurb so if you need more info please email me or visit www.photonbeard.com

Thanks

Peter

Jay,

Have you tried contacting these people - http://www.planetbulb.com/lampholders/

Peter

Freya - as an ex Strand employee who has sold and installed Quartzcolor all over the world I would agree to a large extent that they were very good products.

Although the HMI range was never quite as good as it should have been.....

Quartzcolor is still around and is now owned by Cosmolight.

I have limited experience of the current range but it is mostly LED now.

Peter

If anyone is interested I do have some used Quartzcolor 2kW P/O fresnels for sale in very condition for used.

They can be found here - https://projectsdepartment.wazala.com/products/2kw-castor/

The photo is one that is actually for sale and the other 4 are in similar condition.

Peter

Sales Pitch Alert - We manufacture the products I am going to recommend below

Please check out our web site and in particular this page - http://www.photonbeard.com/frensel.html

As we probably were the last manufacturer to make a new range of tungsten heads we were able to use the most modern techniques so for example the bodies are all made from laser cut aluminium which means they are lighter than most whilst still being strong. Similarly we used the best reflector material we could find so the light output is higher than our competitors.

We also have open face options (Redheads and Blondes) which are available as single heads or in kits with stands.

In the US please contact :

Pete Challinger

PM Tech - US Operations for Photon Beard

4096 Rowles Rd

Vina, CA, 96092

T: (+1) 530-267-0822

M: (+1) 530-200-0295

LA (+1) 818-237-4257

Contact e-mail: petec@photonbeard.com

Contact e-mail: petec@pmtech.com

Website: http://pmtech.com

Webshop https://pmtech.myshopify.com/

End of pitch.....

Useful further reading can be found here - http://photo.net/learn/optics/edscott/vis00010.htm

A point to bear in mind on light sources is spectrum spikes and gaps.

Spikes are not desirable as they will colour the subject - HMI, fluorescent and LED for example can have a large green spike and hence the subject looks green on screen.

This is often added by the source manufacturer as the human eye is very sensitive to green and hence the lights appear brighter.

Spikes are not so bad as you can add some gel and take out (subtract) the spike.

There is a gel called "Full minus Green" for example - full spectrum but take out green or "Quarter minus green" - full spectrum but leave some green in etc.

However some light sources have holes or missing sections of the spectrum and this is more of a problem.

You cannot add a gel and put the colour back.

Gels only work on subtraction so to get blue you remove all other light - hence the remaining blue light is low level and you find the gel burns out quickly because it is adsorbing all the other energy.

If the Blue section is not in the light source then adding gel will not produce it.

Tungsten is the ideal source as far as the spectrum goes as it is a black body radiator and emits visible light in all colours.

Plasma is also very near ideal and emits visible light in all colours

HMI and Fluorescent have spikes which can be controlled using gels.

LED often has missing sections and this is what makes it hard to work with.

Peter Daffarn

MD

Photon Beard Ltd

www.photonbeard.com

Hi Phil,

We are always open to ideas from those who actually use the products. The Platinum Blonde was conceived in just this way by our dealer in LA saying to us one day "I'm sure you could put a 1.2kW lamp in that housing".

The problem is in order to make a commercial product it then took 2 years of testing, modifying and retesting. It is OK if your home made kit has an issue - you can make do and mend but if we sell it to the other side of the world and it fails mid shoot we get a lot of stick, quite rightly too. Then we have to add the cost of warranty, CE approval, Safety testing, factory overheads etc etc.

Very quickly your US$500 become US$1000 unless we can make hundreds of them and then it can go back to US$500. This is all before we make any profit to fund advertising, dealers margin, future design etc etc.

Then factor in the likely sales. Most US networks will not use HMI anymore due to some idiot using one without the safety glass in and having it close to the presenter who ended up badly burnt from the UV. So they are not buying.

Independent guys are looking for LED as they see it as a perfect solution - but of course it is not.

Having said all that I would like to talk to you about your design.

The platinum Blonde can take a 575W lamp but the issue is not all ballasts will auto sense the lamp fitted so we cannot promote this feature. There is, on most ballasts, a dimmer as well so you can go down to 50%. So the Platinum Blonde housing can effectively take you from 287W to 1200W with a lamp change or 575w to 1200W without changing lamp.

You have hit what I see as the current problem within our industry.

As a manufacturer who makes, or has tried, all light sources from Tungsten to Plasma I see the problem as this.

I don't want Tungsten or HMI as they are old technology and get hot.

I do want LED as that is new and will last forever and cost nothing to run.

However LED does not have the quality I need at an affordable price.

You can get very punchy LED - expensive.

You can get very cheap LED - generally useless in most cases.

You have done some good research and your results makes sense to me.

OK so here is the sales pitch and please stop now if you don't like it.

Please look at our Platinum Blonde.

1.2kW HMI open face (UV Safety glass of course)

Give you similar amount of light as an ARRI M18 (1.8kW)

Can be focused to some extent - spot or flood.

Will work with any ballast that has an ARRI connector - so getting a spare is easy.

The lamp is inexpensive so you can put a fresh one in before an important shoot.

http://www.photonbeard.com/hmi-lighting.html

If you need more info please contact me.

Thanks

Peter Daffarn

Photon Beard

Let me preface my reply by mentioning that I am not an end user I am a manufacturer so all my information is based on theory not real world practice.

Your problem is not colour balance - it is the amount of the visible spectrum that is present in the light from the fluorescents referred to as CRI (Colour Rendering Index) or TLCI )Television Lighting Consistency Index). Lighting for image capture needs a CRI of 90 or above and/or a TLCI of 85 and above. This means that you should not need to do anything in post.

Retail and domestic lighting can have as little 70% of the visible spectrum (CRI 70) and this is why it is not suitable for image capture. The human eye is very sensitive to green and so lamp manufacturers often increase the green spectrum as that makes the light source appear brighter.

However the camera simply records what it sees and will notice the higher green content of the light.

This is what causes skin tones to look bad - no one likes to be slightly green.

In my opinion adding +green to your other fixtures will simply make this worse.

You could add -Green to the fluorescents but if you want them in shot this is not an option.

Swapping them out for broadcast quality tubes is the answer - not only Kino but GE Cinema+ or Osram Lumilux Deluxe would be suitable.

Regards

Pete

We have recently taken over the distribution for a range of very high quality 14.8V V or Gold mount batteries.

DSM Broadcast Power have been making batteries for over 35 years and are the only ones to our knowledge who can use factory fresh matched Panasonic cells direct from Japan.

All batteries are assembled in UK and fully tested before sale and come with a 2 year warranty.

They have an excellent reputation around Europe and are used by many broadcasters such as ZDF in Germany and Swiss TV.

98Wh V or Gold mount normally £190.00 - 20% discount for this forum means £152.00 Ex VAT

160Wh V mount only normally £270.00 - 20% discount for this forum means £216.00 Ex VAT

Of course we have chargers as well if you need them. Single, Dual or Quad

PBV1 - Single output automatic fast 2A charger for DSM Li-ion UV series V-Lock batteries £165.00 less 20% = £132.00 Ex VAT

PBV2S - Simultaneous twin output fast 2A charger for DSM UV series 14.8V Li-ion V-Lock Batteries £290.00 less 20% = £232.00 Ex VAT

PBV4S - Simultaneous 4 way 1.6A charger For DSMUV-98 and UV-160 Li-ion V-Lock Batteries with AC PSU £390.00 less 20% = £312.00 Ex VAT

You can buy online from the Photon Beard web shop at Photonbeard.wazala.com and use "Cineforum" as the discount code at check out.

The discount code will actually work for anything on the web shop.

Shipping can be worldwide but for more than one battery it may need to go sea freight so will take a little longer.

Peter Daffarn

Photon Beard Ltd

K3 Cherrycourt Way

Leighton Buzzard

Bedfordshire

LU7 4UH

UK

Tel +44(0)1525 850911

email info@photonbeard.com

Ed Barger is not on this forum so I sent the question to him.

Here is his reply...

Hi Everyone,

We recently went into production with our LED Redhead which has been reviewed by, amongst others, Phil Rhodes.

Here is a video that was prepared for us, without our knowledge until it was complete, https://youtu.be/umyunJd7JM8

More details can be found here - http://www.photonbeard.com/led-lighting.html

I am pleased to offer members of this forum 10% discount when you order from our web shop - http://www.photonbeard.com/shop.htmljust use the discount code "Cine Market" when you get to the checkout stage.

The above code gives 10% discount on all items, not just the new LED Redhead.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

Thanks

Peter Daffarn

MD

Photon Beard Ltd

UK

 

Stands made by Manfrotto??

Kudos to you and your company for maintaining your manufacturing facility in the UK and not farming it all out just to save a penny.

Thanks JD,

Almost made by Manfrotto.

We used to make our own for a long time but it became obvious that this was never going to be our main focus so we bought in from others.

The company we use was started by the current guys father and did indeed make stands for Manfrotto for many many years.

Then a few years ago Manfrotto moved the stand manufacture elsewhere - I could guess where but perhaps I don't need to.

So Silvio was left with a factory full of machinery to build stands and no customer (s).

He approached us at IBC and asked to quote for our stands.

In all respects they are, or were (I have not seen a recent Manfrotto stand for a few years) a Manfrotto stand just without the name.

We try and support similar operations when we can.

Regards

Peter

Photon Beard, youre too expensive for what you are!

Hi Andrew,

I don't know what you think we are but here is what I think we are.

We are a UK manufacturer.

This means we source almost all our raw material from the UK. Power cables, Universal PSU's and ballasts for fluorescents are the only parts I can think of that we import. Oh Lighting stands from Italy is another. But only because there are not UK manufacturers of these items.

We use quality material so our products last many years. As an example Vietnam TV is about to upgrade their 9 year old local control fluorescents to DMX at a fraction of the cost of new lights.

Our factory is in the UK and our lowest paid member is paid above the living wage, significantly more than minimum wage.

Our highest paid member, who is not the MD, I.E Me, is paid less than he could get in other companies.

We have no company cars, we fly economy when we have to travel and stay in 3* hotels generally.

We are a family owned business but even so we have not paid dividends to shareholders since before I got involved in 2002.

Profits, which are never huge, are reinvested into the business.

We conform to all European, UK and American safety standards and operate in an environmentally responsible manner.

We pay our taxes to HMRC to help fund schools, roads, hospitals etc

We could not charge less and still manufacture in this country.

The pull of the far east for manufacturing is massive and perhaps inevitable - rather like the pull of LED for image capture.

However just because every one else is doing it doesn't make it right.

So I make no apology for our prices.

Thank you

Peter Daffarn

MD and Owner

Photon Beard Ltd

Making Light Work Since 1882

Sales pitch warning

We just had this video released to us for our own use. It was not made by us, in fact we only knew about it when it was complete and ready for publication.

It does cover many of the questions raised in this thread so I thought it appropriate to link it here.

Sorry if this is wrong but I did clearly start the answer with a warning.

Peter Daffarn

MD

Photon Beard UK

I don't disagree with anything Guy has said there.

But our LED is a remote phosphor unit which scores very high on the TLCI (Television Lighting Consistency Index).

See here for more details - http://www.gtc.org.uk/tlci-results.aspx

TLCI in a much better way of checking for colour consistency that CRI which is faked to give a high reading

Peter Daffarn

MD

Photon Beard

We did have a complete range of CDM that we were working on......

Then Osram and GE sent out a message saying they would be discontinuing the CDM lamps.

So we cut that development short and moved onto Plasma.

Here we are many years later and CDM is still available...Grrrr

Maybe we should dig out those prototypes and look at getting them into production.

Hi Phil,

Have you tried asking the good folks at Lee Filters?

They have always been happy to help me when I have asked such things.

Regards

Pete

Great news,

Happy to host you at the showroom in Leighton Buzzard anytime you want to check out the range.

Just drop us an email or give us a call.

if the DoP brings his camera along he can check out the image quality.

Regards

Pete

Hi Josie,

Heat filters or Dichroic mirrors as they are sometimes called just divert the heat from the beam to not from the beam....

But you still get the heat in the room unless you have some clever extraction system.

The only answer is to use as few conventional tungsten as you can get away with and use fluorescent or LED for the bulk of the lighting.

These are far more efficient and generate much less heat than tungsten.

Sales Pitch Warning - visit www.photonbeard.com for a full choice of lighting instruments.

If you are looking to buy there are plenty of dealers in the UK and if you are looking to rent then we also have a good selection all within the buy/rent section.

Depending on what you are shooting you could get away with a small of our LED Redheds or you may need something bigger like our fluorescent Highlight range. If you need lots of light coming through a window then our Platinum Blonde HMI is the answer.

Regards

Pete