Lupolux Continuous HMI Daylights

Features of Lupolux HMI lights

When you plug these lights into the mains and switch them on you need to wait for about three minutes for the arc to become at its peak brightness, just like a data projector. During this warm up phase the colour of the light will vary slightly. Once lit, the light will continue to burn for as long as you need. Once switched off, the 400 and 800 will not 're-strike' for about four or five minutes until the bulb is once again cold. The lamplife of these lights is over 12,000 hours and are so resilient, you need not fear about the bulb blowing if switched on while still hot. Unlike other continuous lamps, the outer shell will get no hotter than an average household radiator and the light created will stay as cool as your subject.

The new 1200 model has a hot restrike capability which is a fantastic feature only previously found on much more expensive units. This means that when you switch the 1200 back on, it will return to its optimum colour temperature within seconds.

Plugs
Lupolux lights now come fully fitted with a UK 3-pin plug.

Bulbs
To ensure the safe delivery of bulbs they will not be fitted inside the lamp but wrapped up separately. They are very easy to fit however by simply unscrewing the front casing and inserting the bulb.

Delivery
We ship the lamps directly from Italy so delivery to the UK can take about 1 week.

Who are Lupolux?

Lupolux is one of the best known Italian manufacturing firms in the field of photography. Founded in 1932 by Carlo Lupo it immediately made its mark with its renowned "studio cameras" for portraiture and enlargers for the darkroom.

Lupolux fresnel lights offer low power consumption, high efficiency, lightweight construction and a beautiful cool daylight balanced light output. The fresnel lenses are a full 150mm and offer a wide range between spot and flood modes. The lightweight metal barn doors do a great job in controlling the light into crisp clean rectangles when used in flood mode. All in all, these lights are great value for money.
 

Feedback from customers
 
Stephen said: Lupo arrived today, thanks for great service and advise, can't wait to get creative with it now.
 
Nick said: Great to see more images using the Lupo, so pleased with that light, it goes to every shoot now.

Andrew said: Having great fun with the Lupo’s bought from you at Focus, used at recent wedding for backlighting in the dark, great fun.

The Fresnel Spot Daylight 400 (5600°K)

The new 400 spot daylight utilises an HMI discharge bulb and is fitted with its own integral electronic power supply. It has a very low power consumption (75w) and a high luminous efficiency. The 400 has a light output roughly equivalent to an 400w tungsten light fitted with full CTB gel.

The Fresnel Spot Daylight 800 (5600°K)

The 800 is the same as the 400 but has a power consumption of 150w. The 800 has a light output roughly equivalent to an 800w tungsten light fitted with full CTB gel, hence the 800 in it's name. The Lupo 800 is super lightweight at just 2.5Kg and is a perfect match for the Arri 050 MKA stand.

The '800' is the photographers subtle light of choice to be used where an Arri 300w might have been chosen. It has a super wide even light pattern in full flood mode and can zoom into a football sized spot of light at 3m distance. It is silent in operation and perfect for movie making too. You can gel this lamp with a full CTO (colour temperature orange) gel to match a tungsten lit interior and still get the same light output as the Arri 300w unit. Temperature correction gels are available here. The bulbs last a great deal longer too, so in the long term the running cost of this light will be lower than the Arri.

The Fresnel Spot Daylight 1200 (6000°K)

Features:
• Hot re-strike - ability to switch light back-on when bulb is still hot
• Faster warm up time - immediate lighting up
• Improved colour rendering
• Dimming control (up to 50%)

The 1200 Spotlight also has a high luminous efficiency and low consumption (250W). It features a daylight lamp 6000° and can be used as a key light or back light and also features flood or spot light positioning.

The 1200 is the photographer's general purpose light of choice to be used where an Arri 650w might have been chosen or a 1k pup. It is a perfect soft key when used with Lee tough spun gels clipped onto the barn doors, or as a fill light when bounced into a wall or reflector. Used directly it will be perfect for a longer throw, say 5m, or when used to light an interior on sunny days. It is one stop brighter than the 800 but has a built-in dimmer that can cut the light output by 1 stop too. This dimmer makes the 1200 a perfect partner to the 800, able to match the light outputs where needed plus provide that bit of extra light on demand.

The 1200 has a moderate wide even light pattern in full flood mode, and can zoom into a football sized spot of light at 3m distance. It is very quiet in operation although there is a small internal fan that gives off a similar sound to a regular desktop computer. This might be a consideration if you are capturing sound for movies in very quiet interiors. This is a very versatile light and will make the difference between ISO 800 and ISO 400 use.

Lupolux Quadlight 1500

Learn more about the Lupolux Quadlight.

Notes
We highly recommend buying a 'Lastolite Tilt Head' bracket with every Lupolux Quadlight 1500 order. This enables the light to be positioned downwards at more acute angles, which is ideal when the light is positioned high on a stand. The 'Tilthead bracket' will be posted from the UK and will arrive separately to your Lupolux light.   

Please note:  The Quadlight 1500 does NOT come with a diffuser cap as shown in the images.

A guide to exposure values when using Lupolux spotlights

The output of the Lupolux spotlights depends upon the size of your subject. Unlike a flash head, the Lupolux spotlights have a flood and spot control. This means at a given distance, the amount of light can vary enormously depending upon where you set that control. For example, a Lupolux 1200 on full spot could easily give ISO 200, 1,125th at f/4 at about 25m distance but it would still only light the same area as the same lamp on full flood from 3m. An example of some commercial shots taken with the Lupolux 1200 and 800 together, then mixed with a splash of flash can be seen here.

I can shoot headshots using the Lupolux 400 spotted in and work at ISO 200, 1/125th at f/4. If I want to shoot full length I can use the Lupolux 800 and work at ISO 400, 1/60th at f/4. If I want to reflect the light or use a gobo I tend to use the Lupolux 1200 and then I'm shooting at ISO 800, 1/60th at f/4. If I shoot with the Lupolux 1200 direct at full length then I can work at ISO 200, 1/60th at f/4 or 1/125th at f/2.8. For my hand held work lit with Lupolux lights, I usually end up on ISO 800 and I regularly shoot at f/2.8 because I love the look at that aperture.

I rarely light my subjects conventionally so I often use my Lupolux spotlights from beyond my subject pointing back towards the camera. I also select the power of the light needed by the amount of ambient light in the room rather than the exposure values that I want to shoot at. If I'm in a dark room and I want to keep the low key look I'll go for the Lupolux 400 every time. If I'm in a big bright space I'll use the 1200.

Here is another shoot using Lupolux spotlights.