Foto-Flo 400 System

The Foto-Flo 400 system was designed as a an alternative to the 4ft 4Bank with some unique features and
a lower price point. The Foto-Flo 400 has the same narrow profile, size and light output as the 4ft 4Bank but
runs on a smaller ballast.

This size advantage to the Foto-Flo 400 Ballast allows the unit to be run remotely or strapped to the back of
the Foto-Flo fixture. The minor drawback is that the switching is done two lamps at a time vs individually and the
Foto-Flo 400 runs only 4ft lamps. Also there is no HO/Std option found on the Foto-Flo 400 Ballast.

The first thing to note about the Foto-Flo 400 System is that it consists of four components: Foto-Flo 400 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.

The Foto-Flo 400 was intended for still photographers that wanted the light output of the 4ft 4Bank, but did not need the additional controls as required on film sets. It is also an ideal light for lighting small virtual blue/green screen sets.

Foto-Flo Fixture

The Foto-Flo Fixture houses the lamps and includes 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.

The Harness wiring is color-coded. The same color-code must match at each end of the lamp for proper operation.

Black/Red
White/Yellow
White/Black
Black/Blue

Fixture can be used in several configurations:

The fixtures can take a variety of lamps. They can be a daylight source by using Kino Flo KF55 lamps or a tungsten source using Kino Flo KF32 or KF29 lamps. A variety of visual effects for blue and green screen as well as designer colors are available.

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

Because the Foto-Flo 400 fixture is the same size as a 4ft 4Bank, all 4ft 4Bank accessories are compatible with the Foto-Flo 400.

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 sizes.
The BatWing Louver attaches directly to the lamps and gives direction to the light with minimal light loss.

Mounting

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. The grommet holes along the edge of the fixture are designed to allow the fixture to be screwed to a wall or ceiling. When the mounts are removed, the fixture has a flat surface so that it can be screwed to the wall through its eyelets.

The standard mount comes with a baby reciever that mounts directly onto a light stand. The ball and socket mount allows the fixture to be oriented in a broad range of angles. There is also a shorter baby-stand mount and
a 3/8" lollipop pin option (see below). The yellow wire loops are there to provide attachment points for a safety chain.

MTP-LT     
MTP-L       
MTP-LJ     
MTP-LB      

Baby Lollipop Straight w/ handle (16mm)
Lollipop 3/8" Pin (10mm)
Lollipop Japan Pin
Baby Lollipop w/ handle (16mm)

All the features of the Foto-Flo fixture would be useless if Kino Flo had not developed its own ballasts that could
run the fixture heads remotely. Unlike conventional architectural ballasts than need to operate three to six feet from the fixture head, Kino Flo ballasts can operate the fixture heads from up to 75 feet (3 x 25ft) extension cables.
      
The Foto-Flo ballast is a high output, high frequency electronic ballast that can operate four 4ft lamps up to
75 feet between ballast and fixture. The Foto-Flo ballast runs the lamps in pairs (unlike the 4Bank Select that runs lamps individualy). 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. A special heat-sink design and custom electronic engineering ensure stable operation without magnetic hum or cooling fans to interfere with the sound recording on set.

There is no delay when switching lamps: the ballast operates the lights on/off instantly.

The Foto-Flo 400 Ballast accomplishes all this and still out performs tungsten lighting instruments 10 to 1
when it comes to energy efficiency. In other words, the ballast uses 1/10th as much power to produce the same amount of soft light as incandescents. The ballast works reliably under most normal conditions, but it's also trustworthy in more harsh conditions, such as extreme cold. The Foto-Flo ballast is designed to operate at temperatures from 14F to 122F (-10C to +50C).

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.

Since the Foto-Flo ballast can mount directly to the fixture, the 4bank Extension Cable is optional.
Up to 75 feet (3 x 25ft) of extension cable can be used between the fixture and the ballast.

So, if the Foto-Flo ballast is the brains, then the lamps would have to be the beauty of the Foto-Flo System.
The vaunted T-12 tube offers a large surface area of soft light. The wide design creates a nearly shadowless display that drops off evenly.

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 Foto-Flo ballast as described above.

A discussion of the various lamps available for use in the Foto-Flo 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 the
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 community by a
lighting manufacturer working in that community.

The Foto-Flo System will operate any 4ft 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 in Safety-coated and Non-Safety coated versions. 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.