online lamp store?

[John Sharaf]

Mort,

These guys are the bomb:

https://www.multi-lite.com/

Best prices I’ve found.

JS

[Rich Rosen]

John:

My 12 year old daughter has made me stop saying “the bomb” because it is no longer cool. Just a heads-up.

[Bob Cole]

[rich rosen] “stop saying “the bomb” because it is no longer cool.”

Mainly at airports, railroad stations, and container ports.

More-experienced shooters, a related question: for the run of typical lamps that we use in our Peppers, small fresnels, and 1K or less open faces: are there lamp manufacturers that you avoid?

— Bob C

[Frank Otto]

I had a brief run of bad globes from Ushio in 2003. Supplier (4Wall) noted some other users also had issues and accepted them back, re-shipped Osram/Sylvania.

I’ve orderd Ushio since then and have had no issues – their rep assured me the globes I’d gotten in 2003 had problems with the borosillicate base they made the glass from and they since changed vendors.

Cheers,

Frank Otto

[Walter Graff]

It seem over the years that many different Ushio lamps have had problems. Anyone notice this?

[Bob Cole]

Maybe..[Walter Graff] “t seem over the years that many different Ushio lamps have had problems. Anyone notice this?”

I think I had one bad run a while ago, and I think they were Ushio, but I’ve had many Ushio since that were fine. But I think “bad runs” must be common, because the lamp supplier agreed with no argument to replace them all.

Related question: that one “bad lot” of bulbs still is in the back of my mind whenever I shoot out of town, so I take 3-4 replacement bulbs for every fixture, usually not needing any. I don’t want to pack any fewer, but I’m just curious: how many replacement bulbs (tungsten/fluorescent/HMI) do most people pack for, say, a three-day shoot?

The biggest danger to my bulbs has been people who invert a lit fixture or knock into a light.

— Bob C

[Frank Otto]

I usually keep a hard case (ex pro-makeup case with tiered drawers – think upscale tackle box) on a job site with four of each type:

FEV – 150w
FKW – 300w
DYS – 600w
FAD – 650w
FRK – 650w
EGT – 1000w
DXW – 1000w
FCH – 1000w
FHM – 1000w frosted
CYX – 2000w
FEY – 2000w

I had the case available so it worked – I wouldn’t go with a case that has a lot of divided space – the case I use has six 2″x12″x8″ drawers-no partitions.

The worst case scenario for me was losing three FAD’s and five FHM’s on one shoot – combination of wind, rain and sfx.

Cheers,

Frank Otto

[Mitch Gross]

I find that the smaller the bulb (lower the wattage), the flimsier and more prone to filiament breaking in transport or with a jostle. Anyone who owns Lowel Pro lights should have scads of spare bulbs around – they pop way too easily.

My worst day for bulbs was when I had a string of Inkies running off a small un-regulated generator and the helpful PA plugged an old magnetic ballasted 1200w HMI inline. I saw the colors of the rainbow from the HMI for a brief moment and then a rather brilliant paprazzi effect as all those Inkies blew.

Mitch