Today I’m reviewing a quirky little tool that’s found its way into my bag. As I’ve fine-tuned my work as a cinematographer, I’ve increasingly explored the importance of texture in an image. Most of the time I’m just trying to get the basics of the shot. You want it in focus, and well exposed without blown highlights or depthless blacks. You’re making sure the white balance is correct, and if you have the bandwidth, maybe you’re playing with that color on set, adding gels and changing color temperatures to bring more visual interest to the scene.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ve experimented with haze or fog to give dimensionality to your background. But the problem with fog machines are they’re big and cumbersome, slow to operate and fog is challenging to control. Machines typically typically use 400 watts of power or more, so you need a wall socket to plug in the unit. You can buy it in a can, but that’s expensive, and if you use too much surfaces become wet and glossy. And everything starts to feel a bit ick.
And then I discovered the MicroFogger 2 by Workshopscience.com. It’s tiny. At 5 inches, by one and a half, by two, it’s the smallest fogger I’ve seen anywhere. And it’s battery powered. It’s also fairly well made.
You never really want to drop any piece of electronic equipment, but it’s nice when it feels like it won’t shatter if tipped over.
The Microfogger is easy to operate. It heats up quicker that a traditional fogger, and is ready to produce smoke roughly 30 seconds after you switch it on. It produces a surprising amount of fog for its size; the amount is much less than a full sized fogger, but similar to the haze in a can products. It’s not silent, but it’s quiet compared to full sized units. You can hold it in your hand; the tip gets warm but won’t burn you, and casing doesn’t heat up at all. And the fogger 2 comes with a remote so you can put it somewhere on set and fire it up from a distance.
Operation is simple yet mysterious. It’s really important that you read the manual to understand how to use it safely and not destroy the unit. They also have a useful video on their website. The Power button switches it on and off, but unlike most technology, you press it five times quickly. That’s because the Power button also starts the smoke, so a long press will produce smoke. There are two smaller buttons for adjusting the volume and flow of smoke through a rather confusing system.
I’m not sure how volume and flow are two DIFFERENT things here, but the remote helps simplify things to three power settings that range from an unattended cigarette to a gushing pipe. The two LED lights change color, flash, and can tell you a whopping 14 different things about the unit, from battery level to heating coil problems… which just brings me back to the importance of reading the manual and maybe saving a copy of it on your phone.
The big question I know everyone has at this point is price… and it’s not inexpensive.
The MicroFogger 2 comes in at about $150 bucks. If you’re used to the cheap, forty dollar foggers that are made for Halloween effects, the amount seems crazy. I’ll admit I anguished over this purchase. But when I compared it to the haze in a can products that can cost anywhere from 12 to $30 bucks a pop, it’s suddenly seemed like a reasonable investment. Especially considering it’s a quarter of the size, and you can refill it for about fifty cents a charge. Then I came across the Tiny S, a battery powered fog machine… for $800, and I thought maybe I should bite the bullet on the MicroFogger 2. You’ve also got professional systems like the Antari for roughly a grand. These will produce volumes of smoke that you can use both indoors and outside to create a foggy forest, but that’s really something you’d want to rent, not buy.
The unit does have a couple of downsides beyond the cost. Due to the small size, you can only run the fogger in 10 second increments. It pauses automatically after that. The heating coil is burning off the fog juice, so it needs time to recoat the coil. After 10 more seconds, you can fire it up again. At this size, it’s not going to fill a ballroom with haze, or create a giant billow of smoke for your talent’s entrance. But it will create a nice haze in a small room, and it’s great for interesting product shots.
According to the manufacturer, you need to put some care into the unit when it’s not in use. First, you need to empty out the fogger if you’re not going to use it for a couple of weeks—no leaving the juice inside until the next shoot—and you should charge it every three weeks or so to protect the battery.
The makers also recommend using their fog juice because the liquid is thicker, and I’ve yet to experiment with other brands that are cheaper or more convenient to buy.
And the unit came with an extra heating coil… so I guess I can expect that to wear out after some amount of use. We’ll see.
The bottom line? Well, the size is incredibly attractive. If you shoot products, music videos, or narrative films, the convenience factor may make it a great creative tool. Even if haze isn’t something you normally use, you can throw it into your bag for the odd occasions when it IS useful (just don’t forget to charge it regularly). It’s not cheap, but it’s comparatively a great deal, especially if you value a battery powered system. So while I’ve never felt a huge need for fog or haze in my shoots, I did decide to take the plunge and shell out a significant amount of cash for this unit. I’m hoping it makes itself useful.
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