LED Lanterns with smooth dimmer curves...

[Ynot]

Right - this is a bit of a time critical appeal at this stage.

I have a source of funding available to me (pending a successful bid) which is based on the funds being used to reduce energy used in our venue. We had an energy audit a couple of weeks back and we were praised for the work we've done so far and encouraged to make an application.

Unfortunately, a large part of the initial application has been rejected in the pre-assessment phase as it involves secondary glazing to the rehearsal rooms, and as we don't own the building it's not classed as a viable option. So we need to build up the bid details as there is a minimum amount we can apply for and losing that part took us below.

 

Now - a key part of the bid included money for LED lanterns to replace the 4 upright bars of 5 S4 Pars we use as side lights on stage. We'd been recommended to the LEDJ Omni fixture, and after first sight of one of them a couple of weeks ago, and despite the 'DJ' bit of the name badge, I was impressed with the output. I had one on loan from one of my usual suppliers but only got round to giving it a shoot-out test alongside a standard 650W fresnel and a S4 Par. As I expected the light output was a LOT brighter than the incandescents with gel in front of the latter, and the white mix was actually very good and again much brighter than the others.

 

The problem comes with the dimming curve of the LEDs - this is fine at the top end, but as we've found with other LED kit (and has been posted here before) at the bottom end of the curve, dimming is very stepped, and switch on/off is a marked snap to the lowest level.

 

So - whilst I know we've discussed this before, what I'm after now is any feedback from those of you who've used decent quality LED kit in anger - what LED fixtures would you suggest I look at next? Time is crucial as the revised application must be in by tomorrow (Tuesday 2nd Nov) so no time to get one on trial now. Within reason I hope to be able to tailor the bid a little but there won't be too much wiggle room.

 

Budget isn't tight as such though we won't afford kit that costs many hundreds each unit, but I can certainly now go well over the £180 or so that the LEDJ would have cost us.

 

Ideas then chaps??

[JDLX]

You will find that any of the top end stuff such as pixelrange, studio due stuff and ETC Selador range have much more acceptable dimming curves. Most of the budget led ranges are notorious for having poor dimming curves at the bottom end :D Personally in this kind of scenario and budget I wouldn't consider LED stuff and would stick with the S4 Pars.

[Ynot]

I fully appreciate that may very well be the case but as I risk losing the opportunity to apply for this funding today, it doesn't hurt to ask if anyone does have any direct experience of alternate products that may suit...

[spantax]

Hi Tony,

 

Please have a look at our Chroma-Q ColorForce 12 fixtures here.

 

The RGBA color mixing will give you a very broad colour pallet along with a high CRI of 92!

Color temperature can be varied from 1000 to 10000 Kelvin and it has a really smooth theatrical dimming curve.

Output is 2400 hot Lumen so nice and bright. and absolutely comparable to what you already have in your venue, but with more than 80% power saving.

 

Feel free to get in touch with me to discuss it further.

 

Best regards

[ImagineerTom]

Speak to the Tech Director @ Arcola Theatre - David Salter, he's got 4+ years full time experience using LED to replace traditional generics in real theatrical situations so can give you some practical advice on what really works.

[J Henshaw]

Why not get prices for the MAC301 and the GLP Zoom

Yes they are pricey but 10 or either of these fixtures will be more than enough for you.

 

I have installed 10 in a venue, 6 overhead, 2 FOH and 2 floating and this is spot on, and power consumption has been reduced.

 

And whilst the price is high it will tick all the boxes of the application

 

James

[Ynot]

Why not get prices for the MAC301 and the GLP Zoom

Yes they are pricey but 10 or either of these fixtures will be more than enough for you.

 

I have installed 10 in a venue, 6 overhead, 2 FOH and 2 floating and this is spot on, and power consumption has been reduced.

 

And whilst the price is high it will tick all the boxes of the application

Er, maybe because I didn't ask about movers?

The applications are as described in my OP - fixed side lighting and fixed cyc lights...

So how do you see the moving head LED as a viable option for either??

 

Anyway as a valid update I'm now looking at the ETC Selador Paletta units for the cyc bar and the Chauvet Colorado 2 Tour Tri for the side spots. Anyone have any comments on these?

I appreciate that nominally the Chauvet kit does sound like a DJ Dave choice BUT I have it on authority that their Pro range (ie these and others) are well improved options that should fit the bill...

 

I did look at the Chroma range but at this stage these may well take us over budget.

I'll be having a bench test of the two above lanterns very soon, but for now they've given me the scope I need for the bid.

[dmoffat]

I have had some minor use of the ETC Seledor stuff, and from what I remember the colour mixing was fantastic and the dimming curves were very impressive,

 

but then again, it was a gig/band night, so it was for a little more flashy flashy than the subtle fades of cyc-lighting, so I wasn't putting it quite as much through its paces.

[madorangepanda]

Have a look at the ADB alc4 for cyc lighting, have worked on a show with them and they where rather stunning.

 

For wash lighting the Selador stuff is very nice, I've had a few demos of it though never used it in anger as you say.

[Albatross]

We recently purchased 8 LED PAR cans for side lighting.

They are amazing for Dance work, and all our clients have been blown away by the brightness & colour range.

Dimming is very smooth down to about 5% when they snap off ( eliminating any low level flicker).

 

I know being in OZ that this supplier may not be useful for you, but I am sure these are available elsewhere in the world.

 

http://www.showtech.com.au/products/genpro...oduct=LEDPAR643

 

There are links to the products manual on that page as well.

Basically they are 20 x 3w tricolour LED's in a short PAR fitting. Intensity? A subjective opinion is that they are close to a 575 W MultiPAR (not a 500w PAR 56...they are brighter than that !) in any colour, and very close to a 1000w 110v PAR!!

They do not do a very good skin colour white, but it's not bad.

price was around $700 AUD about 6 months ago.

[Ben Couch]

The ETC Selador stuff is fantastic, great colours, and the dimming is very good, aimed at the theatre market aswell, and of course the ETC customer support is one of the best around. I mean if you did happen to find more budget, the Chroma Q units, are outstanding, extremely bright, nice colours, including a very nice white, and good dimming.

[spantax]

The ETC Selador stuff is fantastic, great colours, and the dimming is very good, aimed at the theatre market aswell, and of course the ETC customer support is one of the best around. I mean if you did happen to find more budget, the Chroma Q units, are outstanding, extremely bright, nice colours, including a very nice white, and good dimming.

 

Hi Ben,

 

 

The Chroma-Q ColorForce fixtures are very comparable, in fact almost identically priced to the Selador fixtures.

 

Feel free to get in touch if you would like to have a look at them, or get some exact pricing.

 

 

 

 

Best regards 

[Nick LX]

Having used both the Chauvet and LEDJ products and having seen the Selador series in use, I can say that the dimming curves on the first two are pretty similar. The Chavuet Colorado units are almost matching to what you'd expect of a normal tungsten dimming curve, but do have a slight snap off right at the lower end of the curve. The Selador units seemed to have much better dimming curves when I saw them at ETC last year. Personally, I would have those over the LEDJ products, and if budget didn't stretch, would choose the Chauvet products.

[Paul J Need]

ETC Selador is probably the best on the market for the mid range unit at the moment - we've just added the Chauvet Colorado Tri=colour 3w to our hire stock mainly due to the build quality, 2 year warranty and very nice colour mixing and dimmer curve ( choice of 5).

[MrBoomal]

I too have a chance of an enviromental grant. I like the look of the Chauvet Colorado 1 tri tour, but trying to get 3 seperate quotes is proving to be difficult.

 

Other then 10 out of 10 does anybody know of any UK dealers that definitely stock this fixture.