Thirdtap Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 'loThis is me wondering out loud about spending money and upgrading kit. At the moment the lighting hire kit consists of source four Pars, Parnels, zooms and profiles and minuette fresnels and profiles. Now the minutette kit seems to have been around for a fair time and is starting to take a lot of time in maintenance and repair, maybe time to change? Changing the profiles to source 4 profiles or jr profiles is easy, but what to replace the fresnels with? I have thought about S4 pars but they won't give enough control over beam size. The alternative must be - around the 500 - 650w range, light output to roughly match the source 4 kit (white with a hint of blue not yellow ish white). Oh and very durable they will have to be handled by those who have limited focusing experience.Any ideas please? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Well, I faced this very issue a few weeks back, and after looking at all the options, I decided that a source 4 fresnel probably won't be forthcoming in the near future. As my stage is particularly small, wide angle on these lanterns is important, so we looked at cost, robust build, and spare part availability and cost. We finally decided that Selecon Acclaim 650w Fresnel were the boys for us and we ordered 8 to replace some minuettes and furse JFRs(!). They are spot on! (Excuse the pun!) Lightweight, very bright, excellent wide angle, very well built, and I got a great deal from AC for them. I wish I could afford a few more. So that would be my advice. I hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Strand Quartet Fs might be a goer. They are 650w (T26s) and from what I can remember they do give off a nice smooth white beam. Plus sides is they also have a insulated handle at the back which means you won't get a bit hot when focussing! The only slight downside is their beam angle is 10 - 40º which isn't exactly big. Perhaps Prelude Fs might be a bit better in this respect. What about the small Robert Juilat 650w fresnels? Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Quartet F's also let the rear handle be used as a floor mount, which is handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Buffham Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 We finally decided that Selecon Acclaim 650w Fresnel were the boys for us and we ordered 8 to replace some minuettes and furse JFRs(!). These are great little lights - definately bright and white. In one venue where I have a choice between Preludes and Selecon Acclaims, I choose the Acclaims first because they have a better light output and are wider beam angle range (6 to 60, though they spill quite a lot at narrow angle). They are also more robust. The only thing I've found with them is that they run very hot, and colour doesn't last long in them. They have a mesh lens guard between the lens and the colour frame, and you end up with the mesh burning into the colour filter, even with very pale colours. It can also be tricky to rotate the barndoors (which get hot) with the mesh guard and colour frame and barndoor in the front runners. There are also bits of the metal work that get extremely hot and tend to burn flesh, in particular the point of the sprung clip that you need to pull back to get the colour frame in or out. Having said that the ones I have experience with are probably 4 or 5 years old now and its possible that the design has been refined since then to reduce these problems? There's a spec sheet for them here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Go with the selecon they are much better engineered than the quartet which is so anoying as:-It doesn't open quite far enough to make it easy to change the lampOver time there can be problems with the connector block in the handle which causes quite nasty arcing in the lampholderIts made by strand who also made the action lighting desk ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Go with the selecon they are much better engineered than the quartet which is so anoying as:-It doesn't open quite far enough to make it easy to change the lampOver time there can be problems with the connector block in the handle which causes quite nasty arcing in the lampholder The main problem with Quartets is if you ever need to take them apart to re-wire them - they're an absolute bugger to take to pieces. Its made by strand who also made the action lighting desk !<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Don't hold it against them - we've all f*cked up at some time or another! B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 If you've got enough money, have a look at Robert Juliats - very beautiful, although I have heard stories of lenses cracking - possibly a bad batch?? but they do definitely have the best barndoors. given that source 4 profiles are competing with and beating "conventional" 1kWplus profiles like the cantatas, etc, you might want to think about some 1kW or even 2kW fresnels or PCs if you have the budget. On a smaller budget, I like the Selecon kit I've seen recently. I personally have as little as possible to do with s4PARs, except as space-saving devices. relighting a show on tour recently using house kit I found that where the venue offered s4PARs instead of conventional PAR64s, I was adding 25 -35% to the original levels. It is easier to change a lens than put in an alternative head, though - I'll give you that. Never seen the PARnels in action during a show, only on a trade show stand - sounds a bit of a "sofa-bed" concept to me. Anyone like them? also I wouldn't worry overmuch about matching colour temperature - what's the point of buying different units if they all look the same? A lot of LDs I've met like stuff precisely because it doesn't match...(unless of course you're designing for the camera). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 In defence of the minuette, there's not much to go wrong, you can still buy all the bits so does it make economic sense to upgrade? Granted, the fresnel barndoors are awful...If you need a 1/2k fresnel then I'd also go for an acclaim. For something a bit bigger and bulletproof, what about some Cantata fresnels?If it's hire you need to also consider what's in fashion (see Stage et. al. selling off perfectly good Cantatas and Preludes as they're old models). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinT Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 For something a bit bigger and bulletproof, what about some Cantata fresnels? For someting bigger I'd reccomend the Selecon 1200 over the Cantata - being a cynic and a Cantata user I got my hands on some at the Selecon road show and was able to do a side by side comparison between both - the 1200 wins hands down especially the HP (7inch) version There PC is excellent too - infact I'm going to invest in a dozen (funds allowing) You can get improved barndoors for the minuette which actually work and rotate now,. Not before time, what were CCT thinking of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 6 CCT Starlettes on ebay £85 each, 6 avalible not my sale, not connected, just thought you might like to know! :** laughs out loud **: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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