WTB: portable HIDlight for movie

[ethereal]

Hi. I don't want to waste your time, so i'll make this short:

I'm helping with a shoot for a movie, and there's one fairly important scene where a kid grabs a torch:

the sort with an over head handle and all...

and he grabs it out of a drawer. he goes into a dark alley to check something, we see a nice taut beam coming from the torch, and that's what we need this for.

basicly, i'm running into trouble finding a high power light that'd meet that requirement. we need something that hasn't got too much of a spill, and with a nice super-ultra-frigging bright beam coming out of it. it should be able to produce enough light to illuminate the corners where its used, because otherwise we'll have to use our more powerful lights to to light the scene, and the effect will drown out. those requirements are a MUST.

apart from that... i'd LIKE it to be small enough to be pulled out of a drawer, and not clunky or expensive looking enough that it looks like a kid couldn't find it in a home. and i'd like it to be like the one in the picture... just the same type, with the overhead handle, doesn't have to be the exact same thing...

so far, the only solution i can see that i can get fairly fast, is this instructable:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Night-Vision-Headlamp---500+-lumens-with-/?ALLSTEPS

it'll allow me to choose the brightness, and since you build it yourself, you can choose the spread of the lens you get for the LED (there are 5 degree and 15 degree varieties available):

3) use the latest optics custom-designed for the Luxeon LED's. several companies are now making low-cost lenses for LED's based on the TIR (total internal reflection) principal. These lenses do not have a reflective mirror, and achieve 85%-90% transmission. non-LED lamps lose much more of the light because some of the light shines backwards where it can't be used, and because mirror reflectors are less efficient. typical transmission for reflector-based systems is only 65%.

i'm going about this totally blind. and i need to make a decision soon, today, or max tomorrow.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I apologize. This probably should have been in the questions section, which i did not notice before.

 

[Burgess]

Hello ethereal --


Welcome to CandlePowerForums !

:welcome:



Check out a few similar lights at BrightGuy.

He's an Excellent dealer, located in Ohio.


Here's a link you may find helpful:


http://www.brightguy.com/results.php?Search=lumens&LightOutput=5


Hope this is helpful.


Regardless of what you decide, please let us know what
you went with, and if you were happy with the results.


Good Luck in your quest for the perfect light !

:candle:
_

 

[ethereal]

what about Gatlight? or any other HID light. again i'm flying blind here... Don't know what to get.

 

[Timson]

Ethereal,

Most movies I've seen where they go for the piercing pencil beam use the Maxabeam from Peak Beam Systems. It's a wonderful HID type Xenon short arc lamp that has adjustable focus to boot and easily bright enough not to get washed out when filming.....Only problem is - its Very Expensive.

Here's a link to a HID lantern that's reasonably compact, yet still has a very powerful and piercing beam that ought to do the job admirably. Best bit...Its a GREAT PRICE. :thumbsup:

Follow the links in the thread for reviews / beamshots etc etc.


What do you recon....


Tim.

 

[ethereal]

both of them look really promising... my concerns with the Maxabeam are that there seems to be a seperate battery pack the spotlight has to connect to... and my concern with the AmandoTech light is that it might be too large for me to use... would look amazingly out of place in a 12 year old's hands if its the size i think it is. any chance you might have looked at the the instructable link?

 

[glockboy]

How about the Light Cannon HID with Lantern Grip, small enough for the 12 year old's hands.
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Light_Cannon_HID_Dive_Light.php

 

[M@elstrom]

I'm helping with a shoot for a movie, and there's one fairly important scene where a kid grabs a torch the sort with an over head handle and all, he grabs it out of a drawer goes into a dark alley to check something, we see a nice taut beam coming from the torch...

Oh that sounds like the lead up to a pretty climactic scene... then BOOM! :twothumbs

I don't suppose you could give us a little hint as to the movie's genre?


Those Power On Board 35w HID lights have an over than top handle, are relatively inexpensive and thus not out of place in a everyday home/workshop (might be too big for a regular sized drawer though)... but not owning one I couldn't personally vouch for it's beam tightness/spread or throw

Alternatively... if it's absolutely, positively gotta' fit in a drawer, then you may need to look into those 10/24w HID flashlights though their inherent design won't allow for that 'over handle' look you stated you required earlier

BTW thanks for the link, what an interesting site!

 

[DM51]

ethereal, welcome to CPF!

I'm going to move your thread into the 'Spotlights & HID' section, where you will find there is more discussion of lights of the type you are looking for.

I think you'll need something pretty powerful, or it won't look very impressive in the finished movie. Sounds interesting!

 

[Kremer]

N30? overhead handle, small enough not to look too out of place with a 12yo wielding it.

 

[ethereal]

N30? overhead handle, small enough not to look too out of place with a 12yo wielding it.

are you sure though? i didn't count that really... its 9 and a half inches long apparently:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/n30-3161.html

 

[BVH]

Good choice, Kremer. Top row, in the middle, the green one.

As with any HID, (except Maxa beam) there is a warm-up period to full brightness. In the case of the N30, 25-30 seconds would get you to 85% brightness. You may have to break your shot in two pieces or be sure to have the light turned on and warming up between the time the 12 year old pulls it out of the drawer and when he reaches the point where you want to make the shoot.

I don't think it would look too big in a 12 year olds hands.

http://www.batteryjunction.com/titanium.html

 

[ethereal]

pah!!! the maxabeam's WAY out of my budget. dang. i'd LOVE to have the motion picture package though.

 

[BVH]

Can't tell where you're at but if you're near the L.A. area, you could take a look at one of mine and use it if you want.

 

[BVH]

I also happen to have another pre-production 28 Watt HID that is 8" long and on camera, I believe, look a bit smaller than the N30.

 

[ethereal]

I also happen to have another pre-production 28 Watt HID that is 8" long and on camera, I believe, look a bit smaller than the N30.

ah nuts.. i'm halfway across the world, otherwise i would have loved to take you up on it. pre-production you say? any chance i could get a picture, possibly buy it off you?

 

[BVH]

It doesn't belong to me. I'm borrowing it thanks to "Lips" for an upcoming shoot-out of a bunch of lights.

Here's a link

http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php/topic,5917.60.html

post 61, the silver one.

 

[ethereal]

also, did anyone happen to look at the instructables link? would that do the job you think?

 

[ethereal]

It doesn't belong to me. I'm borrowing it thanks to "Lips" for an upcoming shoot-out of a bunch of lights.

Here's a link

http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php/topic,5917.60.html

post 61, the silver one.

that looks promising BVH. any chance you could relay my interest to Lips?

 

[BVH]

The link you provide is for a cyan colored headlight. Going further, there are led-converted Mags on other pages. To give you an idea of brightness and strength of beam, single LED lights are approaching 200 Lumens +-. The N30 is about 2800 to 3000 Lumens. I would think, based on your initial post, that you want a strong beam presence which I believe will be best done by a high-power HID like the N30.

The light may or may not see the light of day. Lips is the Guru on it. Feel free to post your interest over there. They don't bite!

 

[Timson]

Looked at the indestructables link and I recon it aint gonna cut it for film work.:mecry:

You say the Maxa beam is way over budget - so my next suggestion is probably going to be too much too....but here goes.

The smallest HID light I can think of with the kind of power needed is the Polarion Helios PH50.

Not quite as expensive as Maxa Beam ... but close.


Tim.