Lamp Types

[FaithlessRock]

Hi,

 

I am considering buying some new moving heads for use outdoors and am somewhat confused by the variety available. I pretty much have everything sorted out except the bulb type. I have used halogen 250W lamps in the past and have found these ok. However, when outdoors the beams are nowhere near bright enough. I then moved on to some 250W discharge lamps and found these were better, however these are the only types I have expereince with.

 

Can anyone advise what sort would be best overall for outdoor use, and also if there is a link anywhere to a page which gives definitions of all the types and their uses it would be much appreciated. I recently found something called 250W HMI - what does that mean?

 

If I were to use a particular type at a particular wattage, does anyone know what the comparitive wattage would be of a different bulb type?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Mark

[david.elsbury]

Seasonal, obviously, but my preference (seeing as how you specified outdoor bulbs) would probably be daffodils. Colourful, easy, and they smell nice.

 

Oh, sorry, you mean lamps... :)

 

Daytime or nighttime use? (and summer, where there is still light out, even late)

 

Competing against any other lighting (e.g 60k PAR rig, or Pixelline LED strips)?

[Russ83]

More of a Tulip man myself, they come in so many more colours :)

 

Are we talking about lighting a band on a covered/open stage or architectural lighting..?

 

I'd probably be looking more around the 575W MSR range for outside use.

[Bryson]

I'm going to put the thread title out of its misery before it spirals out of control.

 

Have a read of this which should help. There's a link at the bottom of that page that explains HMI as well.

[FaithlessRock]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for your responses. Sorry, I should have thought of that before I posted - I do prefer daffodils though!

 

I am intending to use them outdoors at any time of year, at nightime when it is dark enough. They are to be used during firework shows, so are not lighting a stage as such but lighting up the sky. I also have some 40mW green lasers, a 3kW strobe and intend to use some LED bars soon too although I haven't decided which yet.

 

Hope this helps, thanks Bryson for the link.

 

Mark

[niclights]

Regarding lamp types this thread is useful.

 

On a more basic note the key difference between tungsten halogen and gas discharge is colour temperature (low/warm for tungsten and high/cold for discharge). Discharge more expensive but last longer.

 

For lighting sky outdoors I would look towards dedicated units - skytracker/synchrolite etc. depending on budget and power availability. Otherwise, highest power discharge source moving spot but you have to worry about suitability for outdoor. LED great for illuminating things outside but not beams into the sky.

[FaithlessRock]

Great, thanks for that link it is really useful.

 

I have one more question, I am looking at something at the minute which has a 300W HMI lamp. How does this compare to a 250W MSD lamp - is the beam as bright and sharp? Ideally I am looking to create beam movement in the sky rather than illuminate objects.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mark

[niclights]

There's not going to be much between the two. 'Sharpness' will all depend on fixture optics and not on lamp.

 

I can't see it being particularly effective at this power though.