At NAB 2016, I saw these LED relamp products by VisionSmith and was blown away! The idea of putting a daylight 5300K LED replacement bulb that simply drops into my ARRI 650 was exciting. Well, today is my lucky day!
I have the VisionSmith Arri 650 ReLamp in for review, and while this isn’t the full review, I wanted to wet your appetite a little. This is the new, improved model just released. VisionSmith has updated them since NAB is doing some fine-tuning on the lamps, so they work better.
While advertised as a 10-second upgrade, it was a little more complicated than that. Maybe this was the case with the older model. Let’s upgrade my Arri 650!
To get the ReLamp installed, I had to find a way to remove the reflector. I needed to figure out a way to get it out, or should I say the easiest. Two screws only hold it in, and I don’t have a short enough screwdriver to fit inside the fixture. I decided to try an angled screwdriver, but I didn’t have the right size to use. Being impatient and not wanting to take a trip to the hardware store, I decided to try another way or, should I say, a more complicated one 😀
You have to remove the reflector. The lamp has a fan attached to the back, and the reflector is in the way. Since the VisionSmith ReLamp is front-facing, the reflector isn’t used, so out it goes.
I ended up taking the front off to gain access to the reflector. It was pretty simple. Only 5 screws to remove, and the whole front comes off.
Once removed, the reflector was super easy to remove. If you do this upgrade, save yourself some time and pick up a small angled Philips screwdriver. All that was left to do is put it back together and pop in the new Arri 650 LED Relamp.
The lamp has a small fan attached that comes on only when needed. It’s fairly quiet. Now it’s time to start testing output, color, and overall performance. More coming soon as I use the light. I also have a 1K model for a real old Mole Richardson Type 407 Baby Solarspot.
This ReLamp LED fits the Arri 650-Plus Fresnel. It dims the same as a halogen lamp on an AC dimmer of your choice: even a $10 ‘lamp dimmer’ works great.
The LED Fresnel Specifications From VisionSmith
- Ultra-High Quality: 98CRI – matches Tungsten or Daylight without correction
- Full-range dimming on your existing AC Dimmers – without color shift!
- Flicker-Free at any frame-rate
- Safe: no burns, no gloves, no fire hazard, does not explode like Halogen
- No heat on subject or talent
- Green: Easiest way to make your business sustainable.
- Reliable: Fully self-protected for a very long life.
- ROI: A typical TV studio saves thousands in the first year!
- Only draw 75 watts
- Cast no heat on the subject
This is what the fresnel is all about. Being able to control spill and get a nice clean cut. It’s so nice to see my tried and true Arri 650 back in action, but now in daylight and running so cool, I won’t have to wear gloves to touch it. It is warm, but my digits are safe from burning, and the room won’t get hot either. A Lot of big advantages with the ReLamp product from VisioSmith. The Arri 650 model runs $595 and comes in Daylight 5300K and Tungsten 3200K. As for output ill have those ratings in the full review. For know my first imprecisions are positive. The ReLamps are not cheap, but it’s a bargain compared to buying a brand new fixture with the same Arri 650 quality. I love my Arri’s. I couldn’t sell the 650’s. They are a workhorse even though they have been pushed to the side for some time. I’m glad I kept them because now they will be back in the kit!
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Can’t wait for your full review. Thanks for living on the bleeding edge.