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The Good, the Bad and the Evil!!!


LXbydesign

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I mentioned mine somewhere else but most hated are

 

Mini-macs - for being the most unreliable and pointless moving head conceived and the PALS for simply being too big, heavy and not really doing a lot for the size of them , aside from the framing system constantly breaking down

 

Most loved are

 

Birdies!! - just so usefull for so many applications and I love the way they fit neatly between the framework on steel-deck and GS3 HPE. Yes a bit big on the scanner front but still an almost unbeatable beam output which slices through anything.

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If just lanterns then:

Worst - Anything by Furse (Because there is NO point)!

Best - 743, Old, cheap, reliable and goes really wide (Tied with the Selecon Pacific).

Evil - Minicitys (architectural colour changer), reliability.

 

If lighting generally, then:

Evil - Electrosonic ES6000 dimmers (As of last week they are in the trash pile, I have hardwood stakes, garlic and the local priest is going to pop over to finish the job).

Bad - Tempus manual boards (Especially the knackered fader or three that they all had).

Best - HT Gel, finally a deep blue that doesn't need replacing every night.

 

Regards, Dan.

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Lanterns,

 

Good / Best: Selecon Pacifics (GKV)

 

Bad: Strand Quartet (Just can't stand the bu***s)

 

Evil: Furse IWB's & Lamps

 

 

Electrical,

 

Evil: Strand Mini 2+ Racks (Incoming terminal blocks broken) & AVO Touring Racks (Had three go up in flames)

 

Bad: Green Ginger Racks (Can't get the fuse holders anymore)

 

Good / Best: ETC Smart Racks & ETC Sensor Racks.

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Good: Source 4 PAR - not a replacement in any way for a PAR 64, but wonderful lanterns in their own right.

 

Bad: Strand Quartet - I really don't get on with them. Especially the 'removable shutters' on the profiles.

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Good

-Source Four 750 Ellipsoidal: a reliable workhorse

-VL2000 Wash: good color mixing in a small, sexy housing

 

Bad

-PAR 56 Striplights: too large and heavy for their output

-Altman Shakespeare: decent output, crappy shutters and lenses

 

Evil

-Altman 360Q: especially the 3.5" line

 

-w

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Good: VL3k spot - wide,wide,wide

Bad: Strand Pirouettes - poor reliablity, having to re-do focus positions when swapping the units out due to calibration

Evil - VL7 - (do I need to say?)

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Good: Patt 743, for the aforementioned spread, but also just the "quality" of light. Can't explain it really!

 

Bad: Anything that is a blatant reverse-engineered copy of someone else's hard work. The numerous copies of E\T\C's labours spring to mind...

 

Evil: Ground rows. Nothing wrong with them per se, but I have very bad memories of crawling around under dark stages, on floors strewn with cast-off screws, swapping out one shade of medium-blue for another that looked suspiciously similar! Fat bloke in confined spaces... someone had a sense of humour.

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Evil

-Altman 360Q: especially the 3.5" line

 

Here bloody here. You don't see these too often in the UK, or at least I haven't. But they are the worst lanterns I've ever worked with, and sadly in all too common use still...

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Lanterns

 

Good - Strand Cantata 26/44 - good for gobos

Source 4 19 +26 - good for nearly everything

Strand Cool beam GKV 600 - nearly as good as the S4

 

Bad - Furse 'patt23' - what was going on there?

- Strand Minim 23 - replacement for the Patt23, but not as good

 

Electrical

 

Bad - All 5amp dimmers espec. strand mini II

- Alcora/Elara desks

 

Good - Chiili dimmers

- Leap frog/bull frog control desks

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Evil

-Altman 360Q: especially the 3.5" line

 

Here bloody here. You don't see these too often in the UK, or at least I haven't. But they are the worst lanterns I've ever worked with, and sadly in all too common use still...

 

 

I agree, they're horrid, but I thought to myself - "that's not fair, they're rather old technology" - toddled along to the Altman site to be 100% sure...and they still make them! Ouch!

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Good - Strand Cool beam GKV 600 - nearly as good as the S4

Except for the fact that Source4 reflectors don't turn green and crack into two pieces. Oh, and their colour frame runners don't snap off if you so much as look at them. Neither do their lens lock-off knobs. Oh, and when a Source4 needs rewiring you can do it without having to drill out and re-tap every single screw holding the badly-made lamp burner together. :angry:

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Good - Source 4 Zooms for FOH washes and specials

 

Bad - Strand SL's, just for the annoying habit of cracking reflectors, sticking shutters, and the annoying fill knobs on the back which you have to turn when changing a bubble.

 

Evil- Anything made by Teatro, stupidly heavy with the light output of a Maglite

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Good- Source 4 junior's, JB Varyscan p4's (still the best large high o/put scanner), Goldenscans, Mac 500's (reliabilty/ease of service)

Bad- I-spots (servicing) Stairville led pars

Evil- Mac 1200's, Pal 1200's

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