Follow spots

[DorsetGuy]

I'm looking to replace our 2 ancient halogen bulb 300Watt follow spots for our local AmDram group. Obviously want LED, not bothered about DMX control. There's a wide range of prices and types and I want to ensure I get spots that meet my requirements, but at the same time not overspend. (Limited budget).   

The distance between spots and stage is approx 20 metres. I've seen spots with 200W LED bulb - would this be powerful enough and how does that compare to my current 300W halogen spots? 

Ideally I don't want to spend more than £300 per spot - Am I being realistic ? The prices I've seen online vary so much and it's difficult with my limited knowledge to know what the differences are.

[sandall]

300W sounds incredibly low power for a follow-spot. What are they? 

[DorsetGuy]

The 300W refers to my existing halogen bulb Chauvet ones which I want to replace.

The 200W LED spots I've seen on eBay. On closer inspection they are all from China and when you compare them to other spots from UK suppliers the price difference is astronomical. I think that speaks volumes.

I just need a couple of LED follow spots that can throw a decent light over 20 metres equivalent to my Chavet 300W halogen ones that cost approx £200 - £300 each. Maybe that's not achievable?  

[Robin D]

Are you certain that the current units are halogen? I don't recollect Chauvet ever doing a halogen follow-spot but may have missed it. Metal halide yes. If halogen, I would expect a minimum of 1000w and that wouldn't be great. To be truthful, I don't recollect ever seeing a halogen source of any make. Tungsten filament, arc or discharge. 

Can I suggest you check carefully the model number you have so folks here can better advise. If need be, take some photos and provide a link to them here. 

[sandall]

4 hours ago, Robin D said:

 If halogen, I would expect a minimum of 1000w and that wouldn't be great.

Probably adequate for 20m - I'd be using a 2kW for anything much greater.

[sunray]

12 hours ago, DorsetGuy said:

The 300W refers to my existing halogen bulb Chauvet ones which I want to replace.

The 200W LED spots I've seen on eBay. On closer inspection they are all from China and when you compare them to other spots from UK suppliers the price difference is astronomical. I think that speaks volumes.

I just need a couple of LED follow spots that can throw a decent light over 20 metres equivalent to my Chavet 300W halogen ones that cost approx £200 - £300 each. Maybe that's not achievable?  

I looked at some LED PARs just yesterday, advertised as 120W at £29 on Alibaba. They contain a 5V 2.2Ah (13Wh) battery and claim 6 hours run time.

[kgallen]

I googled Chauvet Follow Spot and this came up:

https://cpc.farnell.com/chauvet/led-followspot-120st/120w-led-followspot-with-stand/dp/dp35388

It's £650.

However it won't work for you because the beam angle is too wide and will probably be too dim anyway. For a 2m spread at 20m throw you need a beam angle about 5-6 degrees ( angle = 2 * tan(-1) [spread/(2x throw)] ). The product above is 14-20 degrees so you'll need something with some stronger lenses in to get down to 5 degrees.

There seems to be a mismatch between your budget and stated requirements at the moment. As others have said, a 300W halogen lamp in a follow spot for 20m throw doesn't add up (or it's incredibly dim). If you can let us know the exact make/model of the followspot you have, which presumably is working for you regards light output and spread size (it's just "ancient"), then we can have a bash at suggesting replacement products.

I'm guessing you need at least 800 Lux at that 20m throw in a 2m spot for it to have any chance of cutting through the other stage lighting. Anyone else have an idea for a suitable figure (considering this is for an amateur setting, not the West End!).

Edited August 24 by kgallen

[kgallen]

Just trying to drop back to Robert Juliat as a "standard" for Follow Spots to get a feel for the photometrics here.

The closest (spec below) I can get is with a Roxie2, which is a 300W LED and 11-20deg optics. This gives a 4.2m spot at 20m throw at 520 lux. This looks a little under-powered at that throw because of the too-large spread.

Looking at the other RJ offerings, then the Oz, which is a 600W LED and 7-14.5deg optics. This gives a 2.5m spot but at an excessive 3450 lux at 20m.

So it seems from these that an LED in the order of 400W would be required, with optics that can get you somewhere below 10 degrees to avoid an excessively large spot and consequent loss of luminous intensity at the talent.

The Robert Juliat page is here, with a large range of follow spot products if it helps clarify the requirements. I realise these products are well out of the budget range of the OP so I'm not proposing them as options, just as a mechanism to get a handle on suitable specifications.

https://www.robertjuliat.com/followspots/followspots.html

ETA:

Interestingly the tungsten-based Cricket is the closest match to the requirements, giving a 3.7m spot at 20m with 710 lux. It uses a 1000W/1200W tungsten lamp which is in line with what other contributors are expecting for tungsten lamp power (compared to the 300W from the OP). Is the throw really 20m for the application? That's a long way in an amateur setting, so worth confirming the 20m is right. The baby of the RJ range, the 115W Sully, would be perfect in my own venue, with a throw of around 14m (3.2m spot of 880 lux at 15m). So that throw requirement of 20m is really having a large impact on required LED power and strength of optics.

Edited August 24 by kgallen

[Robin D]

Yes, the Sully is $4,100 in the States so about £3,000 here each so only about ten times what the OP wants to pay. And that's for the baby in the range. 

[richard_cooper]

Chauvet did do a 300W LED follow spot now discontinued. Never seen one link below. 300W cool white LED 9-17deg with manual dimming.

https://www.chauvetprofessional.com/products/ovation-sp-300cw/

 

[J Pearce]

You're probably better off with something from the used market. £300 might just get you a 10deg or 14deg 750W S4, an iris, a stand, and a single channel dimmer. 
I doubt you'll get anything you want to own in a new LED spot for £300.

Or look out for a used RJ Buxie or similar - good spots that with care should last years, but I'd expect to be paying around £1200 a unit really.

[sunray]

Follow spot is something a little unusual in AmDram these days, very likely due to lack of volunteers but it strikes me the deepest of the 5 'village halls' I tend to work in is 47ft from proc to rear wall, take off the 6ft for the spot and op to 41ft or 12.5m and for that we used a 650W Showtec multi with 10' lens which needed some taming by iris but I guess a 3m+ spot, certainly negligable tilt to avoid valance/border and stage front of 3.6m. The 5' lens was too tight to completely light an actor.