Robert C. FIsher

It really depends, if you are pluging into the wall then you need a wall circuit that can handle the current the lamp will draw. In the case of a 1200W HMI I would say it draws 12-14 amps under normal conditions. The reason the current may be more than the calculated current is the inefficency of the ballast and power factor of the ballast. Now when using this same 1200W HMI on a generator it changes things especially if the generator is a small one. Large generators don't have a problem but if you are running the 1200 off a 2500W generator then the inrush current of the lamp comes into play. A 1200W HMI will draw 2-5 times the running lamp current for the second after you hit the go button on the unit, so this would kill the 2500W genny. I would use a 5500-6500W genny and then you could run 2 1200's if started one at a time. Also the larger the generator the more inertia the armiture has so it can take larger loads momentarily. Incadescent lamps also have large inrush currents a 5k will draw 2-4 times that when you switch it on so now that can be 200 amps for about 1/2-1 second until the filament heats up, after that it's only 43 amps. Lamps up to 1000 watts have less inrush current for less time because the filament resistance is less.

Well there are technical issues when choosing Blue and Green for matting. When pulling mattes these days most effex houses prefer green because there is less noise in the green channel and you can pull a better matte (electronicaly) the blue channel tends to be rather noisy. Back when effects were composited on optical printers blue was prefferable since it is the farthest from skin tones and provided much better seperations. When transfering on either a scanner or a telecine the blue channel is less sensitive and has more noise than the green channel. With more noise it's much more difficult to pull a clean matte. If you know the post will be done electronicaly or you are shooting digitaly I would go with green unless you have green wardrobe or props. My general rule is to set the exposure for the foreground then light the green (evenly of course, within 2 tenths of a stop using a spot meter) to about 1/2 stop under the the exposure of the foreground. If you feel squemish about that then light it to exposure. This should get you a good matte in post.

The hot strike problem has more to do with using old bulbs, larger HMIs don't last as long as the under 1200 watt bulbs. As the bulb gets older the anode and cathode (it is an arc light so there is no filament) wear and get farther a part so when you switch off hot it takes more voltage to start the lamp again. Typical hot restrike voltages are 20-35,000 volts. To start a cold lamp the voltages aren't as high. A lot of this also has to do with lamphead design in which interior cooling makes a big difference. The cooler the lamp operates at the longer the bulb lasts. I hope this helps.

I shot TV News for a while and a few years ago I shot for a dotcom news organization and my favorite kit was a couple of peppers, the Dedos are better lights, and a 2ft 4 tube Kino. If I was inside I used all 2900 tube and in a mixed situation, window light or moslty daylight, I used half 5500 and half 2900 tubes. I then just added blue to the kicker if it looked too warm. I got really good results even in places where the producer thought I was crazy. Just having the ability to shoot in daylight with minimum hassels was great. I now work for Booster Lighting doing the marketing and I think the Booster fluorescents are a better choice but if you would like more info contact me off list. But this is my experience.

The last time I priced Dedo heads (just head no transformer or built in supply) they were around $200-250, that's just the head. You can easily make a 12v or 24v power supply, if you are handy with tools, using electronic transformers for MR-16 fixtures. The 100 watt bulb is a 12v and the 150 watt is 24v. But if you are set on Arri or LTM Pepper I would go with the Arri also, they are much better built. But if you want a great light go with the Dedo.

Yes there is a slight shift. We also supply HMI Lighting to car manufacturers like BMW for Auto shows and they demand excellent color rendition which is why most car companies choose Booster units when they purchase new units. This color shift can be countered by purchasing cooler (color temp wise) HMI bulbs, and I didn't know there were HMI bulbs with different color temps either. I have been shooting a lot of the photos (for Booster) using the Booster units (both HMI and Flos) and the color temp seems very good. The color temp seems to be bettween 5400 and 6000 kelvin. I will take my color meter in and double check today.

Jason If you are considering buying an HMI Par consider a Booster 1200 Par. Less expensive than LTM, ARRI, K5600 and very well built. Globes last a long time in Booster fixtures due to better cooling and the 1200 wat Par is as bright as a 2500 watt Par, better optical design and boosting of the lamp current. The one thing no one talks much about is that HMIs are full spectrum light sources, if you need accurate color reproduction with either film or Digital HMIs provide that. Tungsten lamps are really heavy in red and light in blue and green so getting really accurate color is sometimes difficult. I do work for Booster Lighting but I was floored by the first demo I saw of their lights 4 months ago. I just started there last week as the marketing director so if you have any questions please contact me off list. I think the Booster HMI Pars are really good products and in 30 years of shooting and lighting I can't say that about most lights. Cheers Robert C. Fisher www.rcfisher.com bob@rcfisher.com

Hello I wanted to introduce myself, I am Bob Fisher and I am the new marketing director for Booster Lighting. To answer your questions our lights have a superior oprical design which makes our lights, unboosted, brighter than our competition. We do boost them to produce even more light, we also have an improved design that improves cooling so globes last longer boosted or not. Our ballasts are high frequency electronic with power factor correction and auto range from 120-240VAC. The light output is very smooth. Our designer has been designing HMI lights for the TV/movie industry since the early 70's. Some of his early units are still in use in Germany today. If you have any questions about our lights please contact me at rcfisher@boosterlighting.com. Sorry if this sounds like a plug but I'm just trying to answer everyones questions. Cheers Robert C. Fisher www.rcfisher.com