Ok, so I go to the Mole Richardson site, and under the accessories for their Baby 1K fresnel (type 407), they have listed several different 1000W bulbs, all different brands, all different prices.

What are the actual differences with these? I remember Ushio, GE, Sylvania. . .

Link?

Josh,

The rating of a lighting instrument is usually just the maximum lamp rating. The three lamps (bulbs) available for the 1 kW Mole are the EGN (500 W), EGR (750 W) and EGT (1 kW). The other variable is the manufacturer.

Best,
Helen

http://extranet.mole.com/public/index.cgi?cmd=view_item&parent=-1899-1900-1905-1914-1931&id=9492

That should be the link. I was curious as to whether there were any significant differences between the manufactureres.

The best way to check out the differences between lamps is to navigate
your way to the company's photometric chart. There you should be
able to find the differences between lamp makes and models.

For instance, for a Source 4 instrument, they take an HPL lamp.
There are several models. HPL lamps differ in wattage and also in
intensity between lamps of similar wattage. This is a give and take.

For high lamp life, you get lower lumen output. For higher output,
sometimes 40%(!) you get much lower life. Personally, I like high
output, so I buy the high power lamps, but instead of lasting 2000
hours, they only last 200.

You should also be able to find color temperature and other details as well.

Finding out this information is IMPORTANT, because sometimes a
500W lamp will actually have a higher lumen output than a 750.
This matters when you are shooting outside using a generator and
want to keep your power draw down and your lumens high as possible.

Arrrghghgg--research. Oh well, thanks for the info.


Ok, here's one more: disregarding lumens and power draw, will a 1k Arri take the same bulb as a 1k Mole, and vice versa for all wattages across the different brands? As long as you're speaking of fresnels, that is.

Hi Josh,

try this URL for info. I didn't dive too deep, but the answer may be here.
http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/t.pl/bulbdatasearch.html

Thanks again.

Most bulbs from major companies are about the same.
Ushio. Osram, GE. ect.

There may be some differnce in the color temp rating between bulbs of the same wattage.
Lower color temp will mean the bulb will last longer and with digital white balance using bulbs at 2900 kelvin can have no real dissadvantage.



As far as the cross over of bulb use by differnent light manufactures-

sometimes yes.. sometimes no.

Many times similar instruments may use the same bulb however

If you really want to get all into it you can get catalogs or contact
www.thebulbman. www.bulbtronics. ect.