American Cinematographer - July 2005 - 92

New Prodicts & Services
by Jay Holben
bottom half is the fixture. With four barn
doors that

can be easily pulled from their
tension-clip hinges and reversed (offer¬
ing the choice of silver stipple or flat
black), the light is very user-friendly and
versatile. The two larger barn doors have
integrated gel clips that are slightly
usable, though I suspect nearly every
user will forgo them for the tried-and-

true C-47 method.

The

Pampalite is a four-lamp
utilizing four-pin 55W 20" U-bend

fixture

Osram Dulux tubes. The tubes

can

be

removed and

A Case for Fluorescents

year's

2'2"xT51/2"x11" (655mm x
270mm) - and can easily be
carried by one person. The case is made
of a composite plastic coated in highunwieldy

While

wandering the floor at this
National Association of

Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las

440mm

-

x

Vegas, I came across an interesting-look¬
ing fluorescent fixture with an odd hous¬
ing. It's the Photon Beard Ltd./Cinemills
Pampalite 4, a traveling fluoro fixture
that is the case and the light all in one.
The Pampalite weighs about 25
pounds. The case's handle, made of plas¬
tic-coated metal coil, is sturdy and

friction textured rubber

comfortable to hold. The

rates into

case

is not

so

that it will not

slide around in the back of the truck.
The two latches that seal the
case

to

open

easily but

re-latch; I

had

are a

bit awkward

replaced with a single
push-button system. The ballast is inte¬
grated into the head so that only a single
supplied power cord (the universal threepin power cord, which is used for nearly
every computer component) is necessary
to power the fixture. The head also
features

firmly closed and had to re-check

much

Once you open

the

case,

it

sepa¬

top and bottom halves. The

runs

the output

a

tion from

easily

them each time.

dimmer that

head
three-pin socket to power two
or more fixtures in daisy-chain configura¬

features

often not sure that they

was

a

from 1-100 percent very smoothly.
The opposite side of the

one

gang

master

fixture,

so you can

fixtures together to create

a

larger source.
The top half of the case is a stor¬
age area. There are spaces for up to six
spare tubes, and they can safely ride in
foam caps held by Velcro straps. Below
the spares - and accessible even with
full load of tubes - is a storage
compartment. The little butterfly nut that
unlocks the compartment is flimsy and
curiously dysfunctional, and it is hard to
a

find the

right position for lock and
Unlocking is a bit easier, but it
always took four or five tries to lock the
compartment. There is plenty of room
inside for extra supplies, jumpers to
daisy-chain the fixtures together, a
stinger or two, gels and so on.
The Pampalite travels well. Even
with two of them firmly locked together
with luggage straps, the total weight is
unlock.
American Cinematographer - July 2005

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