American Cinematographer - February 2008 - (Page 76) out 10' perpendicular to the fixture’s centerline and then walked along that line, parallel to the centerline of the beam, and took measurements with my Sekonic L508c with the dome ball attached and faced toward the light beam, not the light. (I devised this method when considering how I might measure output from a hanging space light during a shoot.) I also measured more “classic” photometrics by walking straight down the centerline of the fixture. Here are both findings: Reading a 10' perpendicular distance to the light’s centerline (see figure): 10' 55 fc 15' 100 fc 20' 97 fc 25' 73 fc 30' 65 fc “Classic” photometrics: 10' 770 fc 12' 550 fc 14' 410 fc 16' 340 fc 18' 270 fc 20' 220 fc 22' 180 fc 24' 160 fc 26' 140 fc 28' 120 fc 30' 97 fc At a distance of 16', I measured a beam angle (to 50 percent drop off in light) with an 18' diameter. At a height of 20', I measured a beam angle with a 23' diameter. With six closely gathered stipple lenses, at a distance of 15' or more, the light softened more than I expected, and I had trouble differentiating multiple shadows unless I was looking directly at the “ground,” which in this instance was the cyc wall because the fixture was mounted horizontally. It certainly wasn’t a shadowless soft light, but the shadows weren’t nearly as offensive as I thought they would be. If you wanted a space-light feel in a low-ceiling stage, this might be an excellent solution. desired. (I tried the Mac Tech with all five lens varieties but only worked with the Space Light with the stipple lenses, as any other configuration seemed far too specialized to include in this review — perhaps a beam of light from a “spaceship” above, with six VNS lenses?) Comparing the two new fixtures, I was most intrigued by the skirtless Space Light, though I struggled to find a way to satisfactorily review one unit. Normally, I would use a number of space lights to create a single, large, soft, overhead source, so this felt a bit like trying to judge the performance of a new car engine by reviewing a single cylinder. I also couldn’t imagine working with a space light without a skirt — isn’t the whole idea to have a soft, shadowless source? I developed a methodology for testing the Space Light on the fly. First, I elected to mount it horizontally rather than hang it from the grid. That way, I could move various distances from the fixture to measure the photometrics without needing a ladder or man-lift to raise and lower me. Next, considering that most gaffers and cinematographers use space lights for the sides of the skirts rather than the bottom, I needed to find a way to measure the fixture’s beam angles to better determine how it might integrate with multiple skirtless space lights. To that end, I measured 76 February 2008 There is no yoke, bail, junior socket or any other mounting option other than the typical three chains that link to a solid ring. Usually, for a skirted space light, this is sufficient because you’re usually working with them in a straight-down configuration. However, this fixture offers a bit more flexibility, and you could tilt and angle the light if it had a better mounting configuration. I could easily imagine using this fixture horizontally behind a TransLite or backdrop, or even at a 45 degree angle to frontlight a drop or cyc. Working with the Mac Tech 6Light was much more straightforward. It’s essentially a six-light Maxi-Brute with HPL bulbs and interchangeable lenses. (It also comes with a set of accessory arms that attach to the fixture to support a wire screen for diffusion or colored gels.) Because you’re changing out your beam spread with just glass lenses, it creates a lot less waste when you’re replacing globes. Given the low power consumption of the compact-filament HPL globes, Bardwell & McAlister touts this as a “green,” environmentally friendly fixture. The unit is divided into two vertical banks of three lamps each; each bank has a bit of a panning range, left-to-right, locked with a single knob at the top of the fixture. This allowed me to focus the light spread with precision, something I certainly appreciate in a Maxi. A large leverage handle locks and unlocks the bail, and positivelock teeth in the metal firmly secure it in whatever position you desire. With 12 measurements in 2' increments from 8' to 30', five lens choices and up to six different lamp configurations, there was potential for 360 different photometric variations. Obviously, a comprehensive photometric session was beyond the scope of this review, so I elected to do three different lamp configurations — all six on, four on and two on — with the stipple and wide lenses only, then measure photometrics with medium, narrow and VNS lenses with all six bulbs on.
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