Kino Flo fluorescent lights launched

Kino Flo has announced two new fluorescent lights for studio and location use: the Imara and Tegra.

The Kino Flo Imara S10 and S6 fixtures are designed for studio and film set use. The fluorescent cool lights have a concentrated spread of light along both horizontal and vertical axes. The ten-tube S10 has the same light output as a VistaBeam 600, but draws only 3.2 amps at 230vAC.

"It has a new reflector, new optical design, is very lightweight, very thin, and very efficient," explained its UK distributor, David Morphy, director of Cirro Lite (pictured above with a prototype S10).

They are dimmable and switchable (2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 tubes lit up – depending on the model), with DMX as standard. They should be available in May.

"We've already sold a lot of these, for TV studios doing sitcoms and soaps, as well as commercials and films," said Morphy, who has been demonstrating a prototype to potential customers.

Both models use Kino Flo’s True Match high colour rendering 55W compact lamps (CRI 95) at 2900K, 3200K and 5500K.

Also new is the Kino Flo Tegra, a 4ft (120cm), four-bank lamp with integral dimmer. "It's like a big Diva-Lite, except you can switch each bulb and dim it," he explained. This 100W unit is claimed to output as much light as a 1,000W tungsten softlight.

It is aimed at the likes of Canon 5D Mark II users, who are trying to shoot in a filmic style, but who don't have a big crew and perhaps want to have a couple of lights around the camera. "It's quicker and easier to use and very lightweight." It will also be available in May.

By David Fox