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Cheaper alternatives to the Arri Fresnel 300 or 650?


Max Field

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I picked up an LTM pepper 650 for $40 the other day on Ebay.

 

Someone recently said the LTM's are about 1/2 stop dimmer than the Arri's, and concluded that it came down to lens design.

I've measured real Arri's 300 and 650 and I can't find them to be any "better" than an LTM.

I have not experienced the As-Arri but I'm sure they're fine once some standards are built into them.

 

Picked up a crazy 1K from Italy that I'll have to gut and rebuild as no one can figure out what kind of socket is broken inside it - however it was $30!

Watch out for the worm gear on the flood/spot control of the LTMs, they are very cheaply made and will eventually stick and warp. I bought a 420w fresnel years ago new, and the damn thing fell apart after 2 years. In retrospect, I should have bought Mole or Arri. Those are made to last a lifetime.

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Yea Jay, a chap from Ken-tuk-ee (imagine Daniel Day-Lewis saying it) should be holding out for some old Moles (Mole Richardson). Cheap as when old, but still viable and fixable.

 

I think the secrets out as Mole's still seem to fetch high prices round these parts. I've love to have some tweeines and a couple of baby solarspots. 9-lights are unheard of here, and while I personally would love to try and work with a MoleArc one of these days, I can't even find accurate any color temperature information. The 10th edition ACS manual at least gives me some foot candle readings so that's nice but they can't even seem to get the PAGE number right. Kentucky is an interesting place to make films. There's a group from Iceland making some kind of picture, as they drove past my door in a pickup truck, just as I was leaving, with a fully loaded Alexa and a big 15:1 Optimo zoom mounted in the back.

 

Whenever I'm across the pond, British persons tend to put all (and too much) emphasis on the first syllable making it something like KHEN-took-ee. Always makes me smile.

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I think the secrets out as Mole's still seem to fetch high prices round these parts. ...... Kentucky is an interesting place to make films. There's a group from Iceland making some kind of picture.......KHEN-took-ee. Always makes me smile.

 

I often see old MR stuff cheap on eBay (650s and little Mini moles), and it's all in the States, so shipping should be OK. Start the Kentucky Alternative Film Co-op so you don't all have to own everything.

 

My Daniel Day-Lewis pronouncing Ken-tuck-ee joke was pointing to Last of the Mohecians. My curiosity re Kentucky came from my adoration of Justified. Are there any visiting film makers who have not seen Justified? Is this an ongoing joke when you bump into them?

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I have some first hand experiences with the Chinese tungsten fresnels and I would say it's too dangerous and frustrating to use them if you don't know how to repair them by yourself BEFORE USE.

 

You have to check every connection, insulations, strain reliefs etc.

The lights may be scratched or otherwise damaged in factory and may have for example bad quality, chipping ceramic parts, bent barn doors or low quality power cables (I have used my 300+300+650+1000 kit very lightly for a year now and have already had to replace the power cables because of the degrading rubber. I also had to do all the repairs before even trying to use them (repairing switches, connections, bent barn door, strain reliefs, etc.. One bulb base was so badly installed in factory that I couldn't repair it. did not even get all the money back)

 

It's not that the Chinese are not be ABLE to do good products, it's their quality control which is the problem <_<

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heavily used quality lights have to also be checked before use so you still have to know what you're doing. some 20-30 year old fresnels surely have at least some glitches and may have safety concerns because of the degrading parts (not out of the factory though like the Chinese counterparts) .

Old HMI lights may also contain asbestos.
So I'd suggest buying a new one or renting the stuff if you don't want to repair anything regularly

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heavily used quality lights have to also be checked before use so you still have to know what you're doing. some 20-30 year old fresnels surely have at least some glitches and may have safety concerns because of the degrading parts (not out of the factory though like the Chinese counterparts) .

 

 

Well yes, like the cracked ceramic holder in this thread but I find that if they were made well in the first place then it's easier to fix them up and have something decent and of high quality. Even worse, if you buy something new that's made in China then you might be forgiven for expecting it to be good to go from the get go whereas if you buy something older you will have your eye out more for possible issues.

 

Freya

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Looks like a socket for an FEL globe. Put a square of aluminum between the socket and the lamp carriage to elevate it and bring the filament center to the correct position in the reflector.

 

I wonder if some kind of old surplus heatsink might work for the square of aluminium. Might need to find the right one tho.

 

Freya

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There will be a solid or hollow extruded aluminum section that is about right, or one would just stack some layers. Hope Jay is gonna clean the contact surfaces for the carriage movement really carefully....If that had lubricant and it's attracted grit you need to clean it all off. Maybe JD has some advice on what the lubricant should be. I used high temp synthetic brake grease once, but maybe graphite is better.

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Teflon Tri-flow smokes a bit when first applied but works well. A small amount of high temperature grease (Martin moving light grease) would be okay well. My info comes from a guy who's been maintaining equipment for traveling concert and stage show his whole life.

Edited by JD Hartman
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  • 2 weeks later...

I just bought 3 Desisti Magis 650's (can use 300w, 500w or 650w bulbs!) off of eBay for $150 each! No piece of equipment is perfect, the Desisti lights aren't without their quirks but for an affordable light, its amazing and a great place to start!

 

Best of luck!

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usedmovielighting.com

 

Checking their tungsten stuff right now they have a pair of baby-baby 1Ks for $400 and and a pair of Strand Polaris 1K's for $350.

 

I believe their inventory changes every once in a while but they usually have a lot good stuff for sale.

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I just bought 3 Desisti Magis 650's (can use 300w, 500w or 650w bulbs!) off of eBay for $150 each! No piece of equipment is perfect, the Desisti lights aren't without their quirks but for an affordable light, its amazing and a great place to start!

 

Best of luck!

 

With barndoors and scrim sets?

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