PAR 56 beam angles

[timtheenchanteruk]

Hi, I have searched, and tried the wiki, so apologies if it is there, but I cant find it.

I have found angles relating to PAR64, but not 56.

 

so, are they the same in relation to wide flood, spot etc, or different, I need to order a few, and the ones we had were too narrow, but there are no markings on them to give a clue, they came with the no-name short cans

 

many thanks

[RichardFoster]

A PAR 56 NSP is about the same as a CP61

A PAR 56 MFL is about the same as a CP62

A PAR 56 WFL is really wide!

PAR 56s are much more yellow than CPs so remember this when selecting colour filters!

 

If you look on www.draxlighting.com the beam angles are shown under both sales-lamps and hire-lighting-PARS & Raylights

 

Hope this helps!

 

Richard

[timtheenchanteruk]

magic, cheers.

 

thanks for the info on the colour temp, in the this case, it doesnt matter, its a social club with a few for a `bit o light` on the "stage" but useful for future referance.

[boatman]

There are only three beam angles in the PAR56 range; Wide Flood (WFL), Medium Flood (MFL) and Narrow Spot (NSP). The lamp type should be screen printed on the back of the reflector. The front glass of each type has a different appearance. WFL is prismatic, MFL is pebbled and NSP is clear. I think I have those in the correct order, but if not I'm sure someone will correct it.

 

This catalogue from GE Lighting contains all the data you'll ever need (and more) on any studio or theatre lamp.

[timtheenchanteruk]

Ive looked on the existing lamps, and theres no printing, or embossing on these anywhere, but as I said they came with the el-cheepo PAR56 cans, plus one of the lamps has only done about 50-70 hrs, on constant, not flashing or anything so the quality is doubtful.

[RichardFoster]

Boatman has the right lens descriptions for PAR 64s but the PAR 56 lenses are slightly different:

PAR 56's don't go as narrow as PAR 64s so there isn't a clear lens option (CP60 or VNSP PAR 64)

NSP has a textured fuzzy finish (same as a PAR 64 CP61 or NSP)

MFL has a lenticular lens - rows of long rectangles (same as PAR 64 CP62 or MFL)

WFL has a lenticular lens too but with more rows or shorter rectangles (don't know how this compares to the rather rare extra wide PAR 64).

 

A good branded PAR 56 lamp will be rated at 2000 hours so they go on for a long time even when flashed.

 

The printing on PAR lamps can be on the back of the glass or on the ceramic. Either way, it gets hot so the ink fades. If you want to have a better chance of identifying them next time, try writing on the ceramic with a good marker pen - it still fades but it's bigger so is easier to work out then faded.

[Modge]

WFL has a lenticular lens too but with more rows or shorter rectangles (don't know how this compares to the rather rare extra wide PAR 64).

Wide par 64's have a short of "dotted" effect. Not the same as the frosting on the also-no-that-common cp61's but kind of like a grid of inward facing dimples. They are I might add remarkably useful, both for short throw distances and as crowd blinders. They do however need short nose cans to be any use.