The only company that comes close to the ubiquity of Arri lights on professional sets is Mole Richardson, and at NAB this year, the company showed off several new powerful LED fixtures. Joe Marine went to investigate:
The most exciting announcement here is the Vari-Mole, which, as the Mole Richardson representative in the video mentions, is aimed largely as a "starter" light or a kit light for independent filmmakers. Coming in at $800 (and available for pre-order here), the Vari-Mole is 100 watt LED hard light fixture that is bi-color (tunable between 2700K-5600K) and has the equivalent output of a 650 watt tungsten head. Though it does not have an integrated fresnel lens, the Vari-Mole does have easily interchangeable lenses so that you can spot and flood the light. The Vari-Mole also has a CRI of between 93 and 95.
Obviously, $800 is far from a budget solution for many of us, especially for a single fixture, but considering the costs of color-tunable LEDs from top manufactures like Arri and Mole, that price point is a nice entryway into higher-end light fixtures from a manufacturer whose lights have a reputation for lasting a lifetime.
To learn more about the Vari-Mole and Mole Richardson's entire line of LEDs check out this handy pdf document that lays out all of the specs and photometrics.
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Source: Mole Richardson LED Fixtures
