I doubt that any of these are as narrow as 19degs. They are probably mostly 6x9's.

Will,
Coming from a local playhouse, these will probably have the long life lamps in them that are 2700K. You will need to change the lamps out. Not a big deal. These will be 500W, 750W or 1000W. That is a lot of power in your small space.

If the shutters are good, these are excellent controllable fixtures for texture lighting and popping up areas in a set or background. Your small studio should have a couple of these in stock if you have the power. You will use them for creating highlights and projecting patterns.

For remote locations, an ESPN style interview shooter will have two in his truck. If these have pattern slots in them, they are great for projecting patterns on the backdrop and creating texture slashes.

Most of the time we do their job with more general purpose instruments because these are heavy and pricey. Since price is not an issue here, picking up a couple if they have pattern slots would not be a bad idea.

In most situations these are not talent lights in TV. There are easier solutions. There are specific techniques that need to be employed when the situation requires Ellipsodials for talent light. When employed, they do the job well, but your space is WAY too small to need them for that and to make them work properly for talent light.

In my 1600sqft studio, I keep 12 of various focal lengths in the stable.

KK

I don,t know if you do weddings, but a hot thing would be a custom made gobo with the bride an grooms' names projected on the dance floor. They can also be used for custom background lights and possibly modified to take a strobe for still work

Ralph

For a fixed location they could be useful. If you want to light the talent with them, they need to be high enough to achieve a 45 degree angle, or they will blind the actors. A room with a high ceiling is just about manditory.

They are heavy and need good solid mountings. 2 inch steel pipe is ideal. Don't forget a pair of heavy, heat resistant gloves.

and if mounting high, safety chain!!!!

Having done a decade of work where ellipsoidals are the talent lights (meaning theatrical productions), I can imagine little practical value in studio videography except for special effects as mentioned above. By nature, condenser lighting just isn't kind to talent or practical in a confined area, except for creating sunburns.

MusicVid,

I have to ask with a smile, what is "By nature, condenser lighting "? I have been a professional lighting designer for theatre since the 70's and added TV to it in the late 80's. That is a term I haven't heard. It sounds like an audio guy got loose in the arbors.

Nice curtain warmers in the pic you posted.

KK

Sorry, it's a still photography reference dating way back, and is essentially synonymous with ellipsoidal or leko in theater lingo. Many conventional A/V projectors and enlargers use condensers to concentrate and focus the light beam before it reaches the film plane and front elements. More complex systems used a dichroic mirror (to pass heat) and color correction filters in the light path as well. Condenser light sources create a sharper projected image, while diffusion systems soften the image and contrast, such as to reduce grain or smooth the skin in portraits.

A refugee from commercial still photography, I tend to stick with comfortable terminology, sometimes at the cost of bewildering others . . .
;?)



A condenser (in this case double condenser) consists of two thick 'single convex' glass lenses with the flat surfaces facing outward. In the case of theater lights or follow spots the condenser lenses are racked to permit sharp focus of the beam. The direct linear beam is what makes it so unforgiving as a light source for photographing three dimensional subjects, as I'm sure you already know from having read your previous post. We would use slide projectors to create a "spotlight effect" for commercial still shoots.

To be clearer, I should have said, "By its nature, . . ."

BTW, that curtain shot was from the Overture of "South Pacific" that I produced and also directed a 28 piece pit orchestra. I've got the best hobby in the world!