Big difference with the Chimeras, in my opinion. I wouldn't light a person inside without them, unless you are bouncing them or otherwise shooting them through some other type of diffusion like a frame/silk. They are fairly harsh even with the diffusion panel they sale for them. We have used them without the Chimeras outside when we needed all the punch we could get(HMI wasn't practical because there was no power), but honestly we will still use them with Chimeras a lot even outside when we're using them for fill in conjunction with an HMI as the key for standup and LS's. They do make a soft version, but I prefer having the "regular" full power version and being able to add and remove the soft box as I need it. Versatility...
I was not aware of this. To the OP, I would listen to Run&Gun. He's one of the last few people around here who really knows his stuff. I made my purchase in the old days of LED when there was a sacrifice to be made.I recommend bi-color. 9 out of 10 times I'm running them in a 4300k-4700k environment. The huge advantage of a "bi-color" light is being able to quickly and easily adjust your lights to work with the ambient/environmental light without having to use gels. It's not the "old days". You're not sacrificing like you did five years ago for a bi-color unit vs. a fixed color temp one.
Regarding Vitec, their stuff is terrible since they have become a mega conglomerate. Quality control is abysmal. I've had nothing but problems with the redesigned Anton Bauer batteries and OConnor heads and legs. And another guy I worked with got a goofy looking Astra, and it didn't work right out of the box.Vitec has really screwed up the designs of a lot of the gear of the companies under their umbrella.
At the risk of sidetracking this thread...Regarding Vitec, their stuff is terrible since they have become a mega conglomerate. Quality control is abysmal. I've had nothing but problems with the redesigned Anton Bauer batteries and OConnor heads and legs. And another guy I worked with got a goofy looking Astra, and it didn't work right out of the box.