moving lights

[Lampie78]

hi guys a friend of mine is looking for some moving head profile fixtures that have a prizm in them we are talking disco fixtures not the mac 250-500 ect

[marktownend]

Well that's jolly nice to know.

 

Is that just a statement or a question? If it's a question, are you asking for recommendations or is it a 'wanted' advert? Budget etc please...

[Lampie78]

hi I am looking for some recomendations

[Shez]

That's a bit like saying you want to buy a car and asking for recommendations. Without some more details - features / size / rigging options / weight / brightness / budget etc, you'll not get many helpful answers.

[Lampie78]

ideally led but not that important

will need to be truss mounted

DMX controllable

if not led 250w

must have prism thats the main thing

most likely have to be second hand as he does not have a huge budget if he did I would sell him a pair of mac 250s

[marktownend]

OK, you're getting the hang of this! Thanks for the further information.

 

So as MAC250s are only worth roughly £200 each nowadays can we assume his budget won't stretch to that? I don't know if you can even get unbranded Chinese cheapies with a prism new for that price let alone something with a warranty that you could actually claim on, so yes it looks like he's stuck with used kit.

 

Depending on numbers required (you mention potentially selling him a pair of MAC250s but for all we know he might require 40 fixtures!), there are always plenty of 250w discharge units available secondhand but of course an awful lot of those are ropey.

 

I happen to have some Coemar Prospot 250LX lights for sale which would be a little cheaper than MACs just because they're not such a well known brand, but they are getting a bit long in the tooth and will need some TLC to keep them working properly. But I'm not trying to push these here, I'd have thought he'd be better off getting some better condition MAC250s if he can track down some decent ones at a sensible price.

[maxjones2000]

Im not too sure on the reasoning behind the rude and sarcastic replies above... :-(

 

Anyway back to business - I can't recommend these highly enough:

 

https://m.thomann.de/gb/stairville_mhx25_led_spot_moving_head.htm?o=6&ref=mal_a_6&search=1456954062

 

I installed some into a universities drama studio 3 years ago now, and we were blown away by how bright they were for what it was, and how many features they had. Great little bits of kit and an incredibly reasonable price too. They're still going strong 3 years later with no maintenance at all too!

 

Hope this helps,

Max

[Lampie78]

Thanks for the suggestion reading the info they are not fitted with a prism which is the main feature that is required

[maxjones2000]

Maybe look at the MH X50... I swear that one has a prism. The ones we installed did. Sorry I thought they were the 25's

 

Just checked and the X50+ has the rotating prism. My mistake sorry! :-)

[marktownend]

Well at least a little bit of sarcasm has helped prise some more info from the OP. But we still don't know how many fixtures are required. And what exactly is 'not a huge budget'? It's really annoying on forums when you're trying to help people out to have to ask loads of questions to find out what's actually required - a bit of effort on the part of the people posting the question makes it far easier all round.

 

I've got a load of the MH-X25s myself and am also very happy with them.

 

I'd imagine the MH-X50+ may well suit the OP's friend, but surely they're more expensive than secondhand MAC250s?

[niclights]

Have a look at the Prolights LED spot range:

 

http://www.musiclights.it/prodotti.php?page=categorie&id_mcat=2

 

Specifically the Moonstone/Crystal/Pixiespot where the main difference between them is just power vs. cost with the Moonstone being the most powerful/expensive of the three.

Very impressive. The Moonstone (and I would say Crystal) are way brighter than the old 250W discharge lamps like the Martin MAC 250. Also more features, smaller, lighter, no lamp that gets dull (techically perhaps it will reduce output eventually but it's not something I'd worry about) and no heat to break everything. I don't have any experience of the Pixiespot.

 

I think they are excellent value for money although it obviously depends on what your budget is. However, when looking at budget don't forget the running costs of a typical discharge source fixture (expensive lamps, replacement parts and repair labour etc.), especially if it is second hand. The new purchase price for one of these might not be much different to the cost of a second hand discharge and its associated running costs for a year or two, after which that old discharge unit is actually going to be costing more. Personally there's no way I would consider buying a 250W discharge unit now (new or used).

 

AC are UK distributors.

[Ynot]

Im not too sure on the reasoning behind the rude and sarcastic replies above... :-(

Some of the sarcasm (if indeed it WAS sarcasm and not gentle probing to get more info) is due to the fact that it's not REALLY the bag of this forum which is by design primarily THEATRE and LIVE ENT based, and not really a DJ discussion group.

 

Yes, there are DJs here and many who might use some budget kit or have experience thereof, but in essence we'd be more likely to have a wider range of suggestions for kit that you might see on stages or arenas. The chirpy-cheap DJ market is a whole other ballgame and there are literally dozens of choices out there that theatre guys wouldn't touch with a bargepole, but would be fine when used in a low-rent disco outfit. But we as a whole woul;dn't have a great deal of direct experience to lean on to give recommendations - that would be best coming from a DJ type forum instead.

 

However, in the interests of NOT being negative, the OP should really try some of the popular suppliers out there for ideas.

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?bf=&sw=moving+light

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/ - search for moving head

 

Even Amazon

 

 

Or just Google 'Moving Head light (as I just did) and look at each offering and the spec and judge for yourself.

[Lampie78]

They are for the drama dept at the school he works at

So when I say not a huge budget the school gets very little

Funding they raise money through the year so basically they need to be as cheap as possible

He is looking for 1 pair of fixtures

 

Hope this helps

 

I don't know any thing about dj lighting as I work in the touring side of the music industry so it all parcans and Mac 2000s

[MrBoomal]

They are for the drama dept at the school he works at

 

 

I would imagine if they are for drama, then to be genuinely useful, they need to be CMY/RGB. Which increases the cost considerably.

 

I am puzzled as to why having a prism is so important.

[Ynot]

They are for the drama dept at the school he works at

So when I say not a huge budget the school gets very little

 

Soooo.... When you said

hi guys a friend of mine is looking for some moving head profile fixtures that have a prizm in them we are talking disco fixtures not the mac 250-500 ect

I trust you can see why several people have asked for qualification of what you're ACTUALLY asking about here...?

 

And that then begs the next question which is a common one here, why is the school looking to buy moving lights? Because if they don't have the budget to buy decent quality kit then they certainly won't have further budget with which to have them repaired when (not 'if') they go wrong or even a simple re-lamp. So there's a high likelihood that these will work for a short while and then be consigned to the pile of other stuff the school doesn't know how to/can't afford to maintain...

 

Seriously - I'd challenge, in a diplomatic way, why movers in this instance are a requirement.

I'd also challenge the thought process that says 'cheap is better' because it just isn't - no matter how you look at it from a school's point of view.

If they MUST have a couple of movers then they need to go for the best quality kit they can muster funds for. But if they can't afford them (or the PTA can't raise the money for them) thsn that's a fact of life and they don't get them.

 

 

 

 

I am puzzled as to why having a prism is so important.

Me too, as it happens...