New followspot needed - advice please

[Radders]

Hello,

 

I wish to purchase a new manual followspot for a school hall.

 

I need a decent quality light with a throw of about 30-40m.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[Jevans]

Budget? If you've got it, just buy whatever model fits you best from the Robert Juliet range. For 30-40m throw (that's a big school hall!) I suspect you'd find the Buxie might be a little large beam angle and have to go up into the mid range ones.

 

 

 

If you can't stretch to RJ then there's the S4 conversion kit from City Theatrical - paired with a 5 degree lens. Selecon also offer the Pacific in a followspot version though I've never actually seen one. There's also a multitude of "no-brand" ones from China that you can find online much cheaper, but obviously you're probably going to get what you pay for - though this may be what you want for a school to be honest if you're not into big budget production.

 

One thing to think about is tungsten vs. discharge vs. LED source - LED is now a very viable option for followspots and when we renewed ours last year we went for the Roxies, which are the LED Buxie. Quality of light and dimming is great - but if you're going cheaper it might be best to stick to tungsten or discharge rather than chance it on LED, as high power LEDs do require good heat management and a bit of thought to the design.

[Radders]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Yes, we wouldn't have the budget for that particular model.

 

Ideally, we need to keep under £1500 if that's possible.

[Junior8]

Hire unless it is in regular use.

[vinntec]

Hire unless it is in regular use.

Seconded - a quick look on Google shows Hawthorn rent Buxies and Roxies for £75 per week (£90 with VAT plus something for transport). I am not recommending them, just the first one I looked at. You can get a lot of weeks out of your budget and can switch to a different or newer model whenever it suits you. Just hire them in for the show - usually a renting week is Friday to Monday week, but you would need to check with your supplier.

[paulears]

A 30m plus throw means that you also have to find people to work them. Follow spots are one of the things schools buy that they really waste money on, because the angle is often very low, the people being lit with them are not actors, so squint and complain about the glare, they constantly get left out of the beam by the people working them havering few skills, or usually patience, and they get used for a few total hours a year. If the spot is for somebody who constantly moves about, then it might be necessary, but if it's for people standing relatively still, buying say three lights that can be put up and semi permanently focused can be more effective. A centre, plus left and right might work so much better. 30m also means a huge space. What's the plan?

[philis]

Hire unless it is in regular use.

Seconded - a quick look on Google shows Hawthorn rent Buxies and Roxies for £75 per week (£90 with VAT plus something for transport). I am not recommending them, just the first one I looked at. You can get a lot of weeks out of your budget and can switch to a different or newer model whenever it suits you. Just hire them in for the show - usually a renting week is Friday to Monday week, but you would need to check with your supplier.

Sometimes Schools have money now to buy something now but if they ask for £200 to spend on a production even just twice a year, this is not forthcoming

 

also at 30m throw I would be looking at Super Korrigan rather than Buxies does take the price tag up a fair bit though

[Junior8]

Then they just have to see sense I'm afraid. Sadly schools often use follows because of limitations in the basic rig and what Paul says is good advice. But imho hiring is almost always the right thing. Years ago hiring a 293 for a week was about the same as the cost of a replacement lamp, which always came with the hire anyway so it was a no brainer. These days it's probably cheaper...

[gareth]

Sometimes Schools have money now to buy something now but if they ask for £200 to spend on a production even just twice a year, this is not forthcoming

 

I'm sure you wouldn't have much trouble getting them to understand the difference in price between the purchase of a decent RJ (or similar) quality lantern, along with associated ongoing costs (PAT test and maintenance every year, replacement lamps) and the hassle of finding somewhere safe to keep it when not in use, against the cost of hiring one for a week and then sending it away to become someone else's problem for the rest of the year!

[timsabre]

Sometimes Schools have money now to buy something now but if they ask for £200 to spend on a production even just twice a year, this is not forthcoming

I'm sure you wouldn't have much trouble getting them to understand the difference in price between the purchase of a decent RJ (or similar) quality lantern, along with associated ongoing costs (PAT test and maintenance every year, replacement lamps) and the hassle of finding somewhere safe to keep it when not in use, against the cost of hiring one for a week and then sending it away to become someone else's problem for the rest of the year!

 

You have clearly not dealt with many school finance departments!! They do not think like a business (maybe that will change with academies?) Money is often put into specific pots and can only be used for that purpose. They often spend ridiculous amounts on seemingly trivial things (e.g. they will buy ipads for a whole school year which spend most of the time in the cupboard) but have nothing allocated to spend on important things (they put on a show involving 60 kids but there is no money available for costume, lighting, set etc). Mostly you have to grab the money while it is available and spend it quickly, because when you want to spend £100 to hire a followspot there will be no money available then. This is why schools always seem to have cupboards full of stuff they hardly ever use, ordered on the whim of a teacher with a budget to spend. (Speaking as a slightly annoyed parent who has to get involved in zero budget school productions by begging and borrowing stuff to actually allow them to happen)

[paulears]

As I mentioned in another topic - I've had quite a few Chinese followspotsj. The problems I have had relates to damp and salty storage, and the unavailability of spares, but a cheap Chinese one could well do the job. Not brilliantly as we've said, but the price of a real one is out of all proportion. However, I guess buying from china might be a problem with the accounts people too?