4FT 2 BANK KINO FLO KIT (INCL.3200 & 5500 LAMP, ELECTRONIC BALLAST, MOUNTING PLATE)

• 4-Lamp remote fixture w/ built-in barndoors
• Fixture includes removable Lamp Harness, Reflector and Louver
• Same fixture takes daylight and tungsten lamps
• Mounts to stand, light enough to be hand-held or taped to a wall
• Removable center mount
• High output, flicker-free ballasts
• Universal input voltage from 100-240VAC can be used anywhere in the world
• Instant-on, dead quiet
• Individual lamp switching – no color shift
• HO/Std switching
• Low amperage draw at 2.6A/120VAC
• Same ballast runs 4ft and 2ft lamps
• Operates at 1/3 the power of conventional tungsten softlights
• High color rendering (CRI 95) True Match® lamps in 3200K and 5500K
• UL listed, CE approved

4Bank System

The 4Bank System was designed as a softlight source that could be plugged into the wall on location. With its narrow profile and size,
the 4Bank could approximate the quality of light from bounced sources without losing set space.

The first thing to note about the 4Bank System is that it consists of four components: 4Bank Fixture (fig. 1), Mounting Plate (fig. 2),
Ballast (fig. 3) and Extension Cable (fig. 4). It was designed in this manner to allow the greatest flexibility when working on film production
where the gaffer and DP are constantly being challenged to light unique locations and problem solve at a moment’s notice.

From lighting close-ups in a restaurant location to lighting large blue and green screens, the 4ft 4Bank is the most versatile product in the Kino Flo product range and was the first product developed by Kino Flo more than 25 years ago.

The 4Bank Fixture houses the lamps and is comprised of a removable Louver, Reflector, and Lamp Harness. The Louver and Reflector are held in place with Velcro fasteners. There is a strain relief on the Lamp Harness to ensure the connectors don’t pull off the lamps during operation. To get the harness away from the fixture, turn the ¼ turn fastener and rotate counter-clockwise to release.

Fixture can be used in several configurations:

1) Complete fixture with all components combined.
2) “Harness Only” – The wiring harness is removed from the fixture so that the user can build a softbox, hide behind Plexiglass or rig into
tight locations. The wiring harness uses Kino Flo designed lamp connectors that grab the lamp pins so lamps can be operated
independently of the fixture.
3) “Harness + Reflector” – Same as above, but may want to use the reflector to give more punch and direction to the light.
4) Can use Louver to give direction to the light or remove louver to give broad coverage over an area, such as lighting blue and
green screens etc.

The fixtures can take a variety of lamps. They can be used as a daylight source by using Kino Flo KF55 lamps or a tungsten source using
Kino Flo KF32 lamps.

Kino Flo lamps are color-correct and safety-sleeved. The lamps are safety-sleeved because they can operate inside the fixture or
independently with only the wiring harness. Additionally, on a production set the lamps are often changed out. The safety-sleeving offers protection during lamp changes for the user as well as the talent on the set.

Fixture Accessories

Besides the plastic louvers, other light control options include 4Bank Flozier available in full or half f-stop and the new BatWing Louver.
The Flozier attaches to the barndoors and can be adjusted to various configurations. The BatWing Louver attaches directly to the lamps
and gives direction to the light with minimal light loss.

One of the design features that makes the fixture so popular is the twist-on removable Center Mount. When it’s on, the fixture mounts easily to a light stand; when it’s off, the fixture is flat and can be hand-held, or hidden in a space too small to place a stand-mounting fixture. When the mount is removed, the grommet holes along the edge of the fixture are designed to allow the fixture to be screwed
to a wall or ceiling through its eyelets.

The Kino Flo 4Bank is a high output, high frequency electronic ballast with universal input voltage from 100-240VAC, that can operate
four lamps (4ft or 2ft) up to 75 feet between ballast and fixture. The ballast sends a high output current to the lamps to drive the light as brightly as possible. Its high frequency electronics prevent any type of flicker as well. Custom electronic engineering ensures stable operation without magnetic hum or cooling fans to interfere with the sound recording on set.

Notice we haven’t used the word “dimming” to describe lighting control.  The reason is that dimming changes a lamp’s color temperature and color balance.  The 4Bank ballast has individual switches so that each lamp can be turned on/off.  Additionally, the lamps can be operated in a high output/standard output mode.  This combination controls light levels without the color shift issues you have with dimming.

In extremely cold temperatures, the ballast may not strike the lamp(s) initially because the lamp may need to warm up. Switch the ballast
to Off, wait seven seconds and try again. If the ballast does not strike after two or three attempts, turn off the ballast, check that the extension and harness connections are secure and re-strike. Once operating for a few minutes, the lamps should re-strike instantly.

Smaller source fluorescents, such as the compact 55Watt lamps used in the Kino Flo Diva-Lites , can be brighter, but they are a bit
hotter and create denser shadows as well. Kino Flo compensates for the lower light level associated with T-12 tubes by overdriving each one with the ballast as described above. A discussion of the various lamps available for use in the 4Bank System in the lamp section provides more information on the types of lamps available from Kino Flo. It’s important to know that the True Match daylight and tungsten 4ft tubes and 2ft tubes common on sets around the world are unique to Kino Flo because they display broad, even, color-correct light that cinematographers have come to depend on. These are the only high color rendering fluorescent lamps made for the professional film and video production.

The 4Bank System will operate any 4ft and 2ft T-12 tube but the color will not be true and the life span will be shorter. All True Match lamps used in the 4Bank fixture are available safety-coated. Safety-coating protects the user from broken glass if the tube breaks. The lamps can operate independent of the fixture allowing them to be built into sets or custom soft boxes or hand-held.

The 4ft 4Bank produces more lumens than a 1000W tungsten softlight, yet uses only 2.6A (120VAC).  This is especially important
when shooting on location or in a TV studio and power availability is an issue.  The low power draw is also an advantage when operating on battery inverter power sources.

The 4Bank fixture’s lightweight, modular design includes built-in barndoors, removable lamp harness, louver and reflector. The fixture can be used complete with all components combined. The wiring harness can be removed so that the user can build a softbox behind Plexiglass in tight locations. The removable reflector can be used with the harness to give more punch to the light. The Louver can give direction to the light or be removed to give broad coverage over an area, such as lighting blue and green screens, etc. The twist-on removable center mount can mount the fixture easily to a stand. When the mount is removed, the fixture is flat and can be hand-held or hidden in a place too small to place a stand-mounting fixture.  When the mount is removed, the fixture can be screwed to the wall or ceiling through its eyelets.

The 4Bank ballast features individual lamp control, HO/Standard switching and universal input voltage from 100VAC-240VAC which allows the ballast to be used anywhere in the world.  It runs high output at a high frequency and operates four lamps (4ft or 2ft) up to 75 feet between ballast and fixture.  Its high frequency electronics drive the light as brightly as possible while preventing any type of flicker as well. With custom engineering, the ballast operates instant-on and dead quiet. Together with the modular fixture, the portability and versatility of the 4Bank system with universal input voltage, makes it the perfect tool for lighting in the studio or on location.

Lamp life of a fluorescent for the television and motion picture industry is determined more by its lumen maintenance than by its actual burn time.  All fluorescent lamps display a lumen depreciation curve.  This means that over time the light output gradually drops and lowers in color temperature.

True Match® lamps are formulated to correspond to the spectral distribution curves of film and video cameras as well as look correct to the eye.  They are designed to match the colors from quartz units or daylight sources such as HMIs.  This gives the camera operator the option of mixing quartz hard light sources with fluorescent soft sources.  Most lighting designers want the ability to use both qualities of light to enhance the set.

Architectural lamps are designed to optimize government-mandated standards for lumens per watt efficiencies (energy savings targets).
In order to achieve these standards, the lamps contain high levels of light in the green spectrum, which our eyes don’t perceive as inaccurate.  Film and television cameras do record this added green.  For example, green renders Caucasian skin tone as grayish and unattractive.  The architectural lamps do not match with other studio lamps.  They render colors inaccurately and make correction in post almost impossible.

In 1995 Kino Flo received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the development of the first color-correct lamps for film.  Kino Flo continues to be a leader in their field introducing new developments and constantly improving the efficiencies and formulations of its lamp technology.

Cost savings attributed to fluorescents cover a broad range of concerns:

• Lower energy costs
• Less heat so lower air conditioning expenses
• No gel replacements because of low heat
• Fewer lamp replacements due to longer lamp life
• Lamp replacement labor reduced by a factor of 10