60w LED Scanners Vs 575w HMI Scanners ? Which one to buy ?

[plainman007]

Chris,

These are basically scanners and im planning to buy them locally. I plan to buy 10 nos. For my own use. They will be used only once a month. At the most. This is for a theatrical play and i need this to create some fx thats it. There might be just 3 pars on each side of the stage front for general lighting. But they will be kept very subdued in brightness.

All these will be mounted as rim lights. The lights are rated as 60w LED. The other option is 575w HMI. The beam angles are 12 deg for the LED fixtures and 13 deg for the HMI based scanners.

Also i dont need too many features, no prisms, iris etc not doing any disco shows etc. All i need is simple scenes and color fades and once the show is programmed it will never be changed. Ever. Maybe only when theres any major change in the show scene or flow. But that wont be for 2-3 years.

Ive provided what i could think up to the best of my knowledge. Anything else please ask and i will provide info. Ill be buying and using these in Sri Lanka, where 240v is the defacto standard the electricty dept provides at homes etc.

[plainman007]

Hey it wasnt me but him who came here throwing insults that this question has been already asked there etc. Then if you know that its not against the rules then why is he whining about that ?

Climb down. I again repeat i dont know much about lighting, not to your extent at least because its not my profession as i think he assumes. Because on the other forum too he asked me why my age was 37 and i yet have no experience in this line. That was pretty assumptive and uneccessary. I didnt do anything against forum rules and i respect the forum rules.

If you feel its not worthy helping also. You can just leave it or courteously say you cant help and ill just leave it.

At the end of the day i cant believe we are arguing so much because i asked is LED brighter than HMI for which your asking me for security clearance and which agency i belong to . And 'sanctions'. Its a forum, not the secret service. And you say my question is silly.

If you feel my post or OP is rude, feel free to cancel my membership, if your the moderator and can take such a decison that is.

[Chris1984]

Any links to either of the two units you have in mind?
This would really help in answering you original question

[Corabar Entertainment]

Hey it wasnt me but him who came here throwing insults that this question has been already asked there etc. Then if you know that its not against the rules then why is he whining about that ?

Climb down. I again repeat i dont know much about lighting, not to your extent at least because its not my profession as i think he assumes. Because on the other forum too he asked me why my age was 37 and i yet have no experience in this line. That was pretty assumptive and uneccessary. I didnt do anything against forum rules and i respect the forum rules.

If you feel its not worthy helping also. You can just leave it or courteously say you cant help and ill just leave it.

At the end of the day i cant believe we are arguing so much because i asked is LED brighter than HMI for which your asking me for security clearance and which agency i belong to . And 'sanctions'. Its a forum, not the secret service. And you say my question is silly.

If you feel my post or OP is rude, feel free to cancel my membership, if your the moderator and can take such a decison that is.

I am the co-owner, and you're the only one arguing!

Now, please, no more on this subject or I'll close the thread.

[plainman007]

Oh thanks.

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Chris,

Really there are no links to the items. They are available locally. And they are imported from China ofcourse. Im not in the rental business or anything where we will recover the money soon so i am forced to buy a no name brand as the top of the line models are very expensive for this purpose. Because we will be using these for about 5-10 times a year. We are buying these exclusively for one show. And to use them wherever the show takes place.

We are forced to do this because each time we hire, there are time problems, lighting hirer showing up late, because he doesnt care about the perfection of the show. Secondly, each time the programming has to be done by the lights guy. So we decided to buy. Because its the exact same show repeated everytime.

[DJ Jules]

Oh thanks.

---------

Chris,

Really there are no links to the items. They are available locally. And they are imported from China ofcourse. Im not in the rental business or anything where we will recover the money soon so i am forced to buy a no name brand as the top of the line models are very expensive for this purpose. Because we will be using these for about 5-10 times a year. We are buying these exclusively for one show. And to use them wherever the show takes place.

We are forced to do this because each time we hire, there are time problems, lighting hirer showing up late, because he doesnt care about the perfection of the show. Secondly, each time the programming has to be done by the lights guy. So we decided to buy. Because its the exact same show repeated everytime.

If you're buying unbranded, go with the HMI units. LED technology is still pretty new and it seems that the copy shops in China generally have issues getting newer technology right. Case in point, I've been buying GU10 LED lamps (3 x 1W LED) from a variety of sources and I've found the unbranded knockoffs to have a failure rate of about 4 in 10 within the first month! I've had similar experiences before with DJ lighting fixtures with very high lamp failure rates or machining errors which have rendered them useless. You'll also probably find that claims about the brightness of LED units will be very suspect as getting decent light output out of an LED (and then focusing that properly) is quite tricky.

A perfectly viable 3rd option might be to establish a long term relationship with a stage lighting supplier and get a set of units on lease or long term hire. I don't know if the commercial culture in Sri Lanka is likely to give you that option?

Colour temperature is going to be the big difference between the units, ELC does give you quite a yellow light, HMI will give you a much whiter light, but you'll find LED units are likely to give you an even cooler, whiter light - I don't know if that's desirable or not?

Otherwise the usual advice stands, if at all possible, try before you buy ad don't part with your cash until you're sure about the quality of the units you're buying.

Julian

[plainman007]

Thank you very much Julian.

Then i will try to organize a demo where i can see one of each pitted against each other. But i dont know if the quality and reliability can be judged by just seeing it. Or will i be just safe going with the HMI scanners then ?

[Shaun]

plainman007

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[DJ Jules]

Then i will try to organize a demo where i can see one of each pitted against each other. But i dont know if the quality and reliability can be judged by just seeing it.

This is where experience normally comes in - you can gauge build quality to some extent from getting hands on with them and seeing them in operation. At the very least you'll be able to gauge the brightness and focus of the light output which I imagine is one of your key requirements.

Or will i be just safe going with the HMI scanners then ?

You're safer going for the HMI scanners as they're more established technology so more likely to be copied well than with an LED fixture!

Julian

[stormproductions]

Oops, it looks like I touched a nerve...

@plainman007 - I don't like taking threads 'off-topic' but feel I must briefly first comment about your responses in posts 9&12 to my 3 sentences in post 8. A little harsh I feel, but thankfully I am not easily offended so will ignore the unjustified personal comments. Please note that I have not posted in the thread on the other forum, where my user name is marktownend.

Now the reason I've not posted in the thread on the other forum is that there are clearly other posters there with more experience and knowledge than me who will be better able to help you.

In response to your OP here I don't know the answer. I could have said that at a guess the 575w HMI fixtures would be brighter, but having no personal experience of 60w LED fixtures it would have only been a guess which would have been no use to you. We can only make educated guesses without knowing the fixtures involved. Technical information is really helpful for technical forums like these! Good luck with your hunt.