HMI vs. LED

[Todd Terry]

The Aadyntech instruments are the only ones that I really KNOW of that have comparable firepower to an HMI.

I haven’t used them on a shoot, but the Aadyntech guy Phil did come to our place for a demo about a year ago. He demo’d their JAB instrument and it looked pretty good (although fairly huge and a bit unwieldy). I didn’t put a meter to it, but I did put up a 1200w HMI beside it and I’d say at least to my bare eyeballs the output was quite similar.

I didn’t notice any green spike, but I did not shoot any footage, and the eyes can lie.

If anyone else in here is familiar with any LED instruments (especially battery powered ones like the Aadyntechs) that are HMI comparable I’d sure love to know about them as well.

We shoot almost all LEDs now (at least when on location and not on stage), with the exception of HMIs when needed. Very rarely use tungsten or flos anymore, and almost never have to run a stringer (LOVE that).

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Mark Suszko]

Did you see that Government Video Magazine new product award for the LED-powered Ellipsoidal? That looked like you could use it in all the same ways as a Source Four Junior, but without the heat and power draw. I’m wondering how it would stack up against a Joker bug?

[Todd Terry]

I’m not sure how they would stack up… Jokers are pretty bright. I’d almost compare a JokerBug800 to a 1200w Fresnel HMI.

But a LED version of something like a Source4 would certainly have plenty of great, albeit very different, applications.

I looked it up and notice that they call it the “Force 4,” which is pretty borderline clever.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Kurt Schuette]

Thanks. So far, the Aaydn Tech lights are the ones I’ve come up with too. We are definitely considering them, especially given the power circuit restraints we sometimes run into.

[Todd Terry]

They’re neat… I just wish they were smaller… and cheaper. Oh, and focusable (and cuttable) like a real Fresnel, but you’re not going to get that from any LED instrument. Barn doors are darn near useless on them, even Phil from Aadyntech said he wondered why they even sell them.

And as I said, they’re pretty darn pricey. But I don’t think any more so than a JokerBug800, which are also darn expensive. Worth it, though.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Paul Kim]

Hope you don’t mind me resurrecting this thread, but I’m considering the same issue now. I’ve been comparing the Litepanels Hilio (marketed as a 575w HMI replacement), but I also noticed Aadyntech now has a Punch Plus fixture that they market as being brighter than a 2.5k HMi, costing maybe 10k.

Anybody here have any experience with these two fixtures? The times they are a changin’…real fast.

[John Sharaf]

HI Paul,

If you’re going to spend that kind of money, you should seriously consider the Cineo XS TruColor LED lights. The color and quality of light the Cineos produce is of great quality, because of the unique Remote Phosphor technology, and the build quality of the lights is nothing short of spectacular.

Very high CRI’s (actually approaching tungsten light) are produced and remain consistent throughout the life of the unit (30K hours), because the color correction is embedded in a very stable panel away from the heat of the LED elements, and does not change by dimming from 100-20%.

Most if not all other LED lights have the Color Correction painted on the elements themselves, which both change color as they heat up on the day and also over time, not so with Cineo. Panels are available in colors from 2700K, 3200K, 4300K. 5600K, 6500K, Chroma Green and Chroma Blue.

Furthermore Cineo makes a complete line of instruments, like a conventional baby, junior and senior so all your lights can be the same color and quality. They are the 1×1″LS”(150W), the 2×1 “HS”(500W) and the 2×2 “XS”(1000W). In fact the XS is made of two “HS” units with a optional mounting bracket. The HS is said to put out as much light as a 4K Softlight, so one could extrapolate to say that the “XS” would put out as much light as a 8K Softlite at 1K watts.

There’s even a vattery version of the 1×1 known as a “Maverick” and mineature “Matchstix” in 3″, 6″ and 12″ 1×1″ models, conveniently packaged as kits.

Furthermore, another optional mounting system allow you to mount two “HS” units into a “Spacelight” from which a silk skirt can be mounted.

This very versatile and high quality “system” can be seen on their website at https://www.cineolighting.com/

Although I’ve owned and operated these for several years now (I was an early customer) and am total enamored by them, full disclosure requires that I say that I’m now also a dealer. If what I’ve said makes you interested in a demo or purchase, please feel free to contact me off list at john at sharaf dot net.

I still have many Jokers, but really only use them as PARs on backgrounds now.

John Sharaf
Atlanta, Ga.

[Brent Siebenaler]

Have you looked at the Fiilex Lights, the kits design is amazing small portable, and the new bigger Q500 is the first in the larger designed fresnels. By far the most compact powerful design you can find. With the ability to change color temperature(3000K-5600K). They have the best color rendition of any color changing light source.

Aadyen tech is massive in size, and the color is pretty bad. Cineo is a great soft light with nice color. they have a nice system, good quality product.

For light compared to HMI it is really difficult to find one that compares to it in size and output, typically LEDs are larger in size, but you don’t have to deal with expensive large ballasts.

[Paul Kim]

Thanks, yes I tested them out a few weeks ago and they were brilliant. But we’re still talking about whether or not they can compete with HMIs, and it doesn’t sound like they’re anywhere close to matching the performance or color. I don’t frequently need HMI output, but in some setups, definitely.