Just like an HMI, the Bee uses an external ballast that generally sits on the floor. The on switch is shown in the photo below. The procedure to turn on the light is just to flick the switch on and wait about 90 seconds for the light to come up to full brightness.
By controlling the frequency of the ballast Hive was able to slightly modify the color temperature of the light. You can see a range of 4500K to 14000K (i.e. moonlight). No more CTB gels for night scenes! The transitions between color temperatures takes about 1-2 minutes, so don't expect to dial in the color with immediate feedback. No, the light doesn't go down into the tungsten range (2700K-3200K) but we have already established that these plasma lights are primarily daylight fixtures. You can add 3/4 or full CTO if you want tungsten balance...or just use a tungsten lamp if you have the power available. This light only consumes 276W. Tungsten is going to be a lot less efficient and much more power hungry, but offers a higher CRI.
Our Bee rental kit comes with a set of scrims and barn doors. These items are compatible with standard Arri 6.5" modifiers.
There is a slight trick to plugging the ballast into the back side of the fixture. The plug is a twist lock. So first plug in the silver/blue plug, then twist it until you hear the snap of the locking mechanism. You'll need to use the button on the top of the plug to release the cable when packing the light back up.
Finally, here it is in action at a recent shoot I did. Exciting...maybe not. But the light worked great as a general front area fill and ran all day without issue.
As I mentioned before, if you have any questions please call Jeff or Michael at the shop. We'll be glad to walk you through out new toys.
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