Lowel Rifa 66

[Daniel Schultz]

I have the Rifa 88 and love it as well. Haven’t used it much, so I hope I don’t have the same problem.

Has anyone tried the flouresent attachment? Seems like an easy way to get soft daylight.

Dan S.

[Ralph Chaney]

Gents,

I’m very interested in this discussion. I’ve been considering a switch to Rifa, from Photoflex softboxes.

I too am especially interested in how the flourescents work in Rifa’s. Enough light output?

• With egg crate added, are the Rifa’s very front-heavy?
• How quickly can you wrap up the unit, after shooting? I see a cage over the lamp. Does this prevent burning the fabric while the lamp is hot?
• What negatives do you see in the Rifa’s… improvements?
• Any sources of used Rifa’s that you can suggest?
• If I buy used, anything to look for… typical weak spots?

Thanks much. Hoping to join your “club”…

-> Ralph

[Charles Mercer]

Responding to Ralph’s points, I haven’t tried the fluors in the Rifa yet. I see no reason why they shouldn’t work but you will lose the abilty to fold up the shell of the instrument as the internal fitting is bigger than the bayonet holder.
In Tungsten mode the Rifa does get hot, as you would expect with 650 watts, and you have to wait for a cool-down period before you can strike. This can be a nuisance if you have a janitor breathing down your neck to clear you out of the location. But I wait for the lamp to cool a bit, and then cover the metal protecting cage with a plumber’s mat (bought from B&Q Home Depot equivalent in UK). Use a glove if you decide to do this. I stitched this into a cylinder and it fits perfectly without touching the lamp. Without this shield you would burn the umbrella fabric. A sales opportunity for Lowel here I think?
I’m going to try a small personal fan tied onto the umbrella next time out – a bit Heath Robinson but it should help.
I have the egg-crate attachment and this helps keep light off the background. But the price you pay is 1 1/2 EV stops in light loss, not the end of the world but you have to allow for it on your exposure settings.
All this being said, for mobile work, this is the instrument. You can set up quickly and the light is beautifully soft. It’s good enough to use on it’s own and I wish I had bought my Rifa as my first instrument. But we live and learn.

Regards

Charles

Charles Mercer
Pearldrop Video Productions

[Ralph Chaney]

Thanks for your take on the Rifa. As for egg crate, I own a large photoflex softbox with louvers instead of egg crate. It cuts light on one axis only. It weighs less, cuts out less subject light, and I don’t care if light spills onto the floor or ceiling. I think I’ll fabricate something like this for whatever Rifas I end up with. At $189 per crate, for just the Rifa55 size, I could come up with something that should work out just fine as an alternative. I hope my “inner-McGyver” is awake.

And thank you much for the bulb-shield solution! Nice.

If you run across anyone selling a Rifa, please let me/us know.

Thanks again,
R.

[Charles Mercer]

Hi Ralph. I like making things and I’ll use anything off camera to achieve the result I want to keep the costs down. I think the advantage of the Rifa egg-crate fitting is that it folds down to a very small package. It’s a bit like a magician’s piece of kit and goes into a very small bag. This is a consideration for me as most of my work is mobile. I note you quote dollar prices so I can’t recommend suppliers as I’m UK based. Actually, we have to pay in UK pounds what you guys are quoted in dollars, so US products are quite expensive for us in the UK. I buy my Rifa gear from Production Gear at Borehamwood, but the stock comes through a distributor to them, so we are hit with a double whammy as the chain adds in profit for each handler.
Regards
Charles

Charles Mercer
Pearldrop Video Productions

[Ralph Chaney]

Yes, that’s great to be able to magically fold them up. I think I’ll try to come up with something that collapses down to the width of the box, say 32″ for an 88. I’m assuming, hoping, that it will be shorter than the length of the other collapsed parts of the kit. (Will measure ahead of time, of course.)
If I come up with something I’ll surely post it here.

*It may be in March when I can get to it.

Onward,
Ralph

[Mark Suszko]

I think Lowel should pay me for being the COW’s semi-official Rifa fanboy:-)

They are very easy to put up and take down fast. Like opening an umbrella. The fabric used is nomex, same as race car driver’s fireproof suits. They will char a little if they touch a very hot bulb, but this is rare. I yank the diffuser off the instrument the second we call a wrap, and I go put away the camera and tripod first: by that time, the Rifa has cooled enough to safely fold: warm, but not burning. The cage does protect the bulb from contacting the sides, as well as keeping skin oils from your hand from touching the cold bulb during deployment. Rifas give a lovely Vermeer-like wrap-around light that is flattering to everyone, and though we use them in more or less ENG fast and furious news interviews in the field, they improve the lighting very much over traditional ENG lighting. And when you have the time to light a nice sit-down interview, well, that looks good too. But we initially got them to get away from the harsh look of “sun gun” news lighting.

We have the Rifa in three sizes, and I much prefer the larger ones. We found the egg crates too expensive to buy up front, and it is impossible to get our money people to pay for one now, so we just flag our lights using extra stands and foam core sheets, if we need to control spill. In the field we generally don’t need to do this too often, particularly if using a smaller Rifa in close for one person in medium to tight shots.

One other area where Rifa’s could stand improvement is the chrome tips on the ends on the ribs should be stitched on tighter. Also, it is IMPORTANT to always ROLL UP the diffuser, NEVER fold it. Folding makes the diffuser fabric spilt and tear.

[Dennis Size]

Gee Mark, I thought you WERE on Ross’ payroll! I’ve never heard anyone extoll the virtues of his products as much as you!

I have stopped voicing my opinion about Lowel gear, but I feel compelled to point out that the instrumentation itself is not necessarily what determines the look of the end product. The important thing is how any gear is used — and the skill of the lighting designer, shooter, DP, using the gear.

DS

[Mark Suszko]

See, Dennis, we can always agree on *something* 🙂

[Ralph Chaney]

Thanks, Mark. More than a fan, you’re part of the appendix to whatever Manuals they may include. Your ways of working with the gear and noting points of weakness are a great help.

And Dennis, not sure what Lowell’s overall negatives are… from my experience they could use a little more beef. The Rifa’s provide time, which is is often the most valuable “piece of equipment” on the set.

I think Rifa is the only quick setup softbox being sold…? I wonder if there are others.

-R.

-> Ralph