Hamilton 14K -vs- Phoenix 14K Pictures

[seandanekind]

Both 250W DE lamps in ReefOptixIII pendant on BlueWave 250W HQI ballast (M80). The Hamiltons have been in use for about 2 months - 9 hours a day. The Phoenix were literally fired up and warmed up for about 5 minutes.

The Camera is a Nikon 995 in Auto mode. I had previously set a white balace on 10K + actinic. Actinics are off in these pictures. The colors are pretty true to life, but the impact of the Phoenix is more impressive in person - the flourescing clors of the corals act as if the actinics were on - but without the purple cast to the sand and rock. It makes the hamilton look relatively flat (although they still look great compared to 10K). I'm actually going to remove my VHO actinics as soon as I convert all of my lamps to Phoenix 14K.

I'll try pics again this weekend after the Phoenix are "burned in" and also compare color on an IceCap HQI ballast.

Phoenix 14K


Hamilton 14K


Phoenix 14K


Hamilton 14K

[Horace]

So you are forgoing the Dusk til dawn effect by turning on Actinics before and after burn time of the halides??

Pheonix look sweet though, I must admit. I am seriously thinking of getting those myself.

[Horace]

DP.. oops!

[gliebig]

how about a full tank shot

[seandanekind]

With 4 Halides, you still get a pretty good dusk-dawn effect if you stagger them every 15-30 minutes. Not quite like VHO on a dimmer, but a lot less complicated.

I am considering putting in some NO flourescent for dusk/dawn and if I need to flip a light on at night to see, but don't want to fire up the halides.

[Horace]

[i]I am considering putting in some NO flourescent for dusk/dawn and if I need to flip a light on at night to see, but don't want to fire up the halides. [/B]

I dont know why I never really thought of NO florescents...They are a heck of a lot cheaper and lower wattage....Perhaps I should consider that instead of VHO/HQI combo.

NO Florescents are the basic bulbs you can buy in HD right?

[seandanekind]

Originally posted by gliebig
how about a full tank shot

I'll try that this weekend. I currently have from left to right:
Hamilton 14K
Ushio 10K (very old and yellow)
Phoenix 14K
Hamilton 14K

You want a shot of the whole tank just to see, or to compare the lamps?

Here's the whole tank a few motnhs ago under 4 x 250W 10K. I think the VHO's are off in this pic.

Sorry for the not perfectly clean glass...

The tank is 82x45x28. 6" euro bracing on front and sides + 9" across the back + 12" center brace. Dual trapezoidal overflows. 4 x Tunze 6100 streams in Deco Rock mounts.

[seandanekind]

Originally posted by Horace
NO Florescents are the basic bulbs you can buy in HD right?

Yep, but I'd probably get NO 50/50's from a pet store or online. Actually, the URI Actinic/White (60/40) are pretty good too... They come in NO as well as VHO.

[gliebig]

nice looking tank!
Yeah, I was interested in seeing the different color of the bulbs from a full tank perspective.

Thanks,
Greg

[swashbuckler]

seandanekind- great thread man! ive always wanted comparison pics b/t the 2 bulbs- i think pheonix is the way to go...

also- consider just the regular NO URI actinics- they are a little cheaper than VHO (as far as bulb price) and are great for dawn/dusk and highlighting your corals...

[seandanekind]

I actually couldn't find my camera last night. The tank is now setup this way:
14K Hamilton | 14K Phoenix | 14K Phoenix | 14K Hamilton
You can clearly tell the difference between the 2 lamps. I'll have to get a pic this weekend.

I know the NO actinics are cheaper, but IMO, they won't do much for the look of the tank... I've done the whole dawn/dusk thing before (have the VHO dimmer and everything), but I'm never home to see it. The way I have the lights cycling (and on light movers), it comes pretty close to a smooth increase and decrease in light levels across the tank. I'm planning to move all my VHO equipment to an all LPS tank and still use the dimmer.

I actually took pics that same day with and without the actinic VHO (8x95W), and the corals look no different. The colors are exactly the same, but the whole tank gets an actinic purple hue. I personally think the corals are contrasted better against the white sand and rock than when the rock and sand looks purpleish.

[seandanekind]

These pics are from the same day/time the earlier pics were with the same camera settings...

14K Phoenix + Actinic VHO




14K Hamilton + Actinic VHO

[seandanekind]

FYI:

A guy from my local club who had seen the pics on our club site ( www.cincyreef.com ) came by last night and was pretty awestruck with how much better the Phoenix bulbs looked compared to te Hamilton's.

You just have to trust when everyone on RC tells you that the pics don't do it justice. I was skeptical because Sanjay's spectral charts show only a few minor differences, but the Phoenix actually looks a lot better in person.

[reefdood]

Do they make the 14K Phoenix in 175w? I haven't liked my hamilton since the new look burned off.

[swashbuckler]

i wonder how it compares to an AB 20k bulb- the AB looks more like the hamilton photos you provided..

[seandanekind]

Originally posted by reefdood
Do they make the 14K Phoenix in 175w? I haven't liked my hamilton since the new look burned off.

Not that I know of. XM makes a 15K 175W. One guy in my club has them, but his pics look blue compared to mine. I'm guessing it's more a camear/white level issue than the lamp. I'm anxious to see those in person.

Originally posted by swashbuckler
i wonder how it compares to an AB 20k bulb- the AB looks more like the hamilton photos you provided..

I have the 70W BLV 20K on an AroMat 3eu e-ballast, but that's a huge strech to compare to a 250W anything.

I personally would only compare images taken by the same camera with the same white balance settings. Too much variation otherwise.

[spamin76]

Makes me wonder why anyone is buying Hamilton's...

[seandanekind]

Sorry the glass isn't totally clean. I'll be working on that this weekend...

The 1st pic tells you where the lamps are and you should be able to see the difference.

Full Tank Shot


In both side shots, the Hamilton is illuminating the foreground. They don't show you much, but I figured I'd include them anyway...

Viewing from the left side across the length


Viewing from the right side across the length

[samsfishnchips]

seandanekind,

have you try the phoenix 14k with an electronic ballast, right now have the ARO, do you think it looks better or worst, I know the electronics is a bit less light, but what about looks, thx

sam

[tampa-reefer]

I have the 250's on a IceCap and they are AWESOME......
Im still burning them in, they are getter "crisper" less blue. But they will be a little bit bluer on a electronic ballast. They have the same look as the AC's.

[seandanekind]

Well, I just tried checking IceCap vs BlueWave HQI after warming them both up for 5 minutes, and I can't tell the difference in color at all. Could be that I burned in both lamps on the BlueWaves. I dunno...

Nothing like the clear difference between the Phoenix and the Hamilton.

Telling the difference in brightness is pretty hard since according to Sanjay they should be within about 20% of each other. Consideriing that and aquascaping differences on the left and right sides of my tank, the human eye should be a bad judge. I really can't tell the difference, but I assume Sanjay's measurements are correct since his instruments are a lot more accurate than my eyes...

[tampa-reefer]

I dont know if it made a difference burning it in on the other ballast. Besides looking at the light, is there a differnce in fluescense in your corals or such difference?
Yea Sanjays stuff is better than the good ol eye.

[thrlride]

I love my phoenix 14k's!

[samsfishnchips]

cool, thx for the info

right now have 250w SE 10k XM, thinking on trying them on my next bulb change,

sam

[seandanekind]

Originally posted by tampa-reefer
Besides looking at the light, is there a differnce in fluescense in your corals or such difference?

Nope.