I find it amusing that the founder of this company got his inspiration from seeing Chinese knockoffs of fluorescent / HMI lighting kit. I suspect his company simply sources from China to market in the US!
Anyway, my issue with fluoro lighting has always been that most bulbs arent full-spectrum. The website actually posts some independent lighting tests that show his bulbs to be slightly warmer than true 5600K (5400K they say), which seems about right because most commercial bulbs I see are a little warm. I just dont know how to read his chart, whether these bulbs exhibit the "green spike" or not - anyone care to interpret for us?
Here is the link to the test chart on the coollights blog:
Anyway, in closing, this site actually sells a DVD that teaches you how to make the fixture. What the site REALLY tells me is that its alright to just go ahead and buy the Chinese knockoffs I've seen in Shenzhen - probably just as good, but not much cheaper (at least if my Chinese contact is to be believed).
The 4x36 watt version costs about US$190, undiscounted. I've got a contact in the factory now, maybe I can swing a better price. Coollights USA sells their cheapest fluoro at about US$275 and stands by their product - if you're based in the US, might not be worth the uncertainties of the China connection. The add cost seems to be a reasonable markup considering.
The founder of Coollights is quite active on Dvxuser.com. He's originally American, and is now living in China to facilitate the production of his lights. He doesn't try to hide the fact that they're source in China, but he's very active in the design and manufacturing, and is quite tight about his quality control. I've heard nothing but good things about his products.
Angus
On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Randy Quimpo <randy.qui...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I find it amusing that the founder of this company got his inspiration > from seeing Chinese knockoffs of fluorescent / HMI lighting kit. I > suspect his company simply sources from China to market in the US!
> Anyway, my issue with fluoro lighting has always been that most bulbs > arent full-spectrum. The website actually posts some independent > lighting tests that show his bulbs to be slightly warmer than true > 5600K (5400K they say), which seems about right because most > commercial bulbs I see are a little warm. I just dont know how to read > his chart, whether these bulbs exhibit the "green spike" or not - > anyone care to interpret for us?
> Here is the link to the test chart on the coollights blog:
> Anyway, in closing, this site actually sells a DVD that teaches you > how to make the fixture. What the site REALLY tells me is that its > alright to just go ahead and buy the Chinese knockoffs I've seen in > Shenzhen - probably just as good, but not much cheaper (at least if my > Chinese contact is to be believed).
> The 4x36 watt version costs about US$190, undiscounted. I've got a > contact in the factory now, maybe I can swing a better price. > Coollights USA sells their cheapest fluoro at about US$275 and stands > by their product - if you're based in the US, might not be worth the > uncertainties of the China connection. The add cost seems to be a > reasonable markup considering.
Hi Angus, I'd like to clarify that I'm not bashing him, and I think this is a great thing he's doing. Yes, thats what I meant when I wrote that he stands by his product. For an additional US75, its worth it - as I wrote, this is a reasonable markup considering all his efforts (would WE live in Shenzhen just to ensure quality of lighting fixtures? heck, no)
My point is that the coollights site tells me its possible to do credible work with all the Chinese lights I've seen. Will probably take the plunge and buy me a kit next time I am there (good grief, I didn't realize "next time I am there" is two days away from now).
One thing I miss in China is that an often times with an American businesses you can actually phone in your order and get them to drop ship the goods right on location. I could be using that Chinese lighting kit two days from now if only they could drop ship it. Ah yes, thats why America works, no?
>> The 4x36 watt version costs about US$190, undiscounted. I've got a >> contact in the factory now, maybe I can swing a better price. >> Coollights USA sells their cheapest fluoro at about US$275 and stands >> by their product - if you're based in the US, might not be worth the >> uncertainties of the China connection. The add cost seems to be a >> reasonable markup considering.
No fluoro lighting is 'full-spectrum' in the same sense as a 'black-body' source like tungsten. That it works at all is down to an optical illusion. It would be (theoretically) possible to construct a fluoro lamp with a 'perfect' set of phosphors that have the exact individual wavelength spikes to match our eyes, except that as individuals we are all slightly different! Likewise with a CCD or CMOS sensor. In particular, the sensors (particularly the human ones) cross over the 3 colours so the exact wavelength of the spikes could be quite critical on perceived color rendering. In practice, compromise phosphors need to be used based upon available materials and a need to get a good lighting efficiency.
A professional TV camera is reverse engineered to give accurate colors with black body illumination, displaying onto a 'Grade 1' crt monitor with SMPTE or EBU phosphors. (The 'Color Matrix' is the main fiddle factor.) Any other circumstances need to be judged on the merits of the results - a notoriously subjective exercise!
In my VERY general experience, the top broadcast cameras produce more accurate color but are more critical of the lighting. FWIW Perry Mitchell
Anyway, my issue with fluoro lighting has always been that most bulbs arent full-spectrum. The website actually posts some independent lighting tests that show his bulbs to be slightly warmer than true 5600K (5400K they say), which seems about right because most commercial bulbs I see are a little warm. I just dont know how to read his chart, whether these bulbs exhibit the "green spike" or not - anyone care to interpret for us?
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BTW, Angus, I wrote Richard just shortly after making this post. He replied about two hours after and said that he can ship direct to wherever I want it in China (of course, once he has received payment).
He's a good guy, and depending on his responce I just might end up with a fluoro softlight by Wednesday.
rgds/ RandyQ
On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 11:04 AM, Angus Findlay <angus.find...@gmail.com> wrote: > The founder of Coollights is quite active on Dvxuser.com. He's originally > American, and is now living in China to facilitate the production of his > lights. He doesn't try to hide the fact that they're source in China, but > he's very active in the design and manufacturing, and is quite tight about > his quality control. I've heard nothing but good things about his products.
