I was wondering if anyone on this website has considered using kino flo lamps for their projectors. I know that multiple lights have not been able to be used effectively but here is what I was thinking. Because they tube designed you can put 6-8 of them right next to each other. Mabey even stager and overlap them a little is the "side" of the light don't have as much output as the "center". I have never noticed this to be a problem though.
If you were to use the 15" lights use 6 of them you would have a light output of 8448 lumens. I am not sure but I am guessing this is total in all directions so this would be halfed. 4224 lumens is not bad though especialy when you have a light that is rated at 2000-4000 hours (over 10,000 by architectural standards). All this and the lights are incredably white. What do you guys think?
If you were to use the 15" lights use 6 of them you would have a light output of 8448 lumens. I am not sure but I am guessing this is total in all directions so this would be halfed. 4224 lumens is not bad though especialy when you have a light that is rated at 2000-4000 hours (over 10,000 by architectural standards). All this and the lights are incredably white. What do you guys think?
Could you popst a link to the fixture you are talking about?
In general fluorescents are not good for projecting because they give a 100% diffuse light: Light can travel in any random direction from any point on the bulb. This makes them pretty much impossible to direct into a strong beam, which is what we need for projection.
The bulbs being used here (MH, HQ, Halogen etc...) emminate light from any point on the arc outward in the shape of a sphere...You can more or less draw theoretical straight lines of light path pointing out like a sphere from the lightsource. With a fluorescent you have to draw straight lines from the lightsource willy-nilly in all directions.... If you put a, for instance MH, point light at the focal point of a fresnel, the fresnel can turn that light into a straight beam very effectively.
The difference between a diffuse light source and the kind used here can be thought of as combed hair vs messy hair.
I looked at the Kino-Flo website though and noticed that they have a fixture "Para-Beam" which tries to direct light but i don't think it turns it into enough of a beam.
In general fluorescents are not good for projecting because they give a 100% diffuse light: Light can travel in any random direction from any point on the bulb. This makes them pretty much impossible to direct into a strong beam, which is what we need for projection.
The bulbs being used here (MH, HQ, Halogen etc...) emminate light from any point on the arc outward in the shape of a sphere...You can more or less draw theoretical straight lines of light path pointing out like a sphere from the lightsource. With a fluorescent you have to draw straight lines from the lightsource willy-nilly in all directions.... If you put a, for instance MH, point light at the focal point of a fresnel, the fresnel can turn that light into a straight beam very effectively.
The difference between a diffuse light source and the kind used here can be thought of as combed hair vs messy hair.
I looked at the Kino-Flo website though and noticed that they have a fixture "Para-Beam" which tries to direct light but i don't think it turns it into enough of a beam.
Well you would have to make the fixture yourself like I suggested. IT would be about 6-8 15" lights next to each other. This would make a "pannel" light to use. I figgured that the fresnel wouldn't have a problem dealing with that. IF the fresnal wasn't able to make a beam could you use 2 fresnals (one just above the lights) and the original one to make a beam?
The problem is something like this:
(Diffuse light just ends up coming out diffuse on the other side of the fresnel, while "directed" light ends up coming out of the fresnel directed --- same thing with reflector...Diffuse light hitting it will come out diffuse, while directed light hitting it will come out nice and directed)
(Diffuse light just ends up coming out diffuse on the other side of the fresnel, while "directed" light ends up coming out of the fresnel directed --- same thing with reflector...Diffuse light hitting it will come out diffuse, while directed light hitting it will come out nice and directed)
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OK I see what you are saying. Is there any way to correct the diffuse light? I also wonder if the Kino lights are diffuse (I don't know for sure) but because they are based on florecent light I am guessing they are.
That's the million dollar question...
I haven't been able to come up with any ideas on directing the fluorescent into a beam...it would be great if we could...Look at this Lights of America Fluorescent worklight (click on products then worklights)
LOA
There have been a few attempts at using them in this forum...You can do a Forum search on "LOA" or "Fluorex".
I haven't been able to come up with any ideas on directing the fluorescent into a beam...it would be great if we could...Look at this Lights of America Fluorescent worklight (click on products then worklights)
LOA
There have been a few attempts at using them in this forum...You can do a Forum search on "LOA" or "Fluorex".
As a person who makes part of his living from dealing with Kino Flo lights, I can tell you that if a regular fluorescent lamp would not work, than neither will a Kino Flo.
Kino Flo fixtures are used in the film industry because they differ from regular florescent fixtures in a few ways, none of which would help out DIY projectors. The diffused "soft" light they give off is very popular in movies and music videos these days. The lamp itself is not all that different other than being color balanced to 32K or 55K without a green spike, which is perfect for film. The special high-output, square wave ballasts will not flicker at any frame rate like HMIs can. So other than a low power consumption, relatively cool operation, and long bulb life that any fluorescent will provide, they don't really do much for projecting.
Also, they are EXPENSIVE. List price on the 15" bulbs alone is $25 each.
I thought self-ballasted compact fluorescents would be the way to go, but they are just not bright enough.
Kino Flo fixtures are used in the film industry because they differ from regular florescent fixtures in a few ways, none of which would help out DIY projectors. The diffused "soft" light they give off is very popular in movies and music videos these days. The lamp itself is not all that different other than being color balanced to 32K or 55K without a green spike, which is perfect for film. The special high-output, square wave ballasts will not flicker at any frame rate like HMIs can. So other than a low power consumption, relatively cool operation, and long bulb life that any fluorescent will provide, they don't really do much for projecting.
Also, they are EXPENSIVE. List price on the 15" bulbs alone is $25 each.
I thought self-ballasted compact fluorescents would be the way to go, but they are just not bright enough.
I can justify $25 a light when the light they put out looks very good (no green band = good to me) and they do last a long time. You also don't have to use their balasts if you don't want to (florecent ones will work but with flicker and lower light output).
Yes, you can use the Kino bulbs with a regular ballast, it will behave as a regular bulb. You could probably find a vita-lite or another high CRI bulb that would be cheaper and do roughly the same thing. I think Osram or Phillips make some. I still don't think it will work very well for the cost, maybe some testing is needed to find out for sure.
BTW the flicker is not a problem for projectors- it only shows up at frame rates higher than about 60, and has to do with the way a shutter works in a motion picture camera. No need to buy Kino Flo's high price ballast at all...
BTW the flicker is not a problem for projectors- it only shows up at frame rates higher than about 60, and has to do with the way a shutter works in a motion picture camera. No need to buy Kino Flo's high price ballast at all...
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