world's best profile

[indyld]

Possibly because maybe others feel as I do about them: The Source Four is a market leader, revolutionary, value, ubiquitous etc etc. But I would never describe them as the best at anything ( except being everywhere ), certainly not THE best of everything. Right now, the Pacifics or sommat RJ are contenders in modern ranges.

 

The variants of Canned Tomatas, AKA Tarts, certainly seemed a whole lot better than the Harmony they replaced but now the thought of hoiking an 11/26 about the place for it to shuffle a dim yellow blob of light onto stage doesn't fill me with the same enthusiasm as it once did.

[GR1]

I always liked the old Emil Niethammer Profiles. great big lumps but beautifully engineered and with excellent optics. So good that you didn't need fresnels as the profiles could be focussed to do that job too. The Enispot follow spot looked a bit weird with the pivot in the stand under the lantern but they balanced well and gave a good light.

[Munro]

+1 for the Pacifics

 

-1 for the Acclaim Axial Zoomspot. NOSE DIVE.

 

Interesting to see how the apparent "flagship" from Selecon, the SPX, isn't getting much of a mention.

[indyld]

 

Interesting to see how the apparent "flagship" from Selecon, the SPX, isn't getting much of a mention.

Interesting though hardly surprising given that it is fairly shocking . :D

[top-cat]

Possibly because maybe others feel as I do about them: The Source Four is a market leader, revolutionary, value, ubiquitous etc etc. But I would never describe them as the best at anything ( except being everywhere ), certainly not THE best of everything. Right now, the Pacifics or sommat RJ are contenders in modern ranges.

 

To be honest I first used a S4 LED Lustr+ about 14 months ago and haven't since felt any desire to find something else I liked.

 

But I do get your point. It's not the best of any category, but does probably offer the best mix of them.

[lincolnlx]

Has to be the Source 4 but would be happy to work with a rig of strand cantatas if I had to

[the kid]

I think most people will agree that s4 zooms are good, infact they are very good, but a total ###### to deal with when they are always so nose heavy. Sure provide an after market balancer but maybe just make them with it!!

[lincolnlx]

true, the S4 are very front heavy, I feel can be a pain to good tilt lock of sometimes

[gibbothegreat]

Have to register a general astonishment at the inclusion of Selecon's offerings here. Both Pacific and Acclaims have, in my opinion, some glaring weakenesses which should rule them out of contention for this:

 

Pacifics:

-awkward shape makes them costly in terms of storage space

-I think there's a big safety issue, in that the lenses don't have an automatic failsafe in the way they're installed: the lens holder is strong plastic, but this is brittle, and there's nothing in the design of the holder that will retain a front lens in the event of failure. The lens guard is an optional extra, not integral (and suffers from the next point too) and if it's not there the lens will fall out. Given that these will often be found directly overhead FOH and stage, I can't see that this is acceptable. The holder should be redesigned, and/or the lens guard should be part of the lantern, not an option, and fastened in place. I raised the point with Selecon when we had just such a failure: they didn't ackowledge the point.

-the colour frame runners are pretty insecure: it's a doddle to miss when putting in a new gel.

-the fastening off of the lens adjustments is pretty wooly and insecure

-they're a pain to manage in that the different lens ranges take different size gobos and color frames.

 

Acclaims:

-the yoke balance and lock off is abysmal: we rectified this by fitting lock-off mechanisms from CCT minuettes, and that works fine, but why are we doing this, rather than Selecon?

-likewise the lens fastening off is as poor as that on the Pacific.

 

Robert Juliat are, IMO, way the best, but price does somewhat reflect that. But beyond that, Source Four fixed beam all the way. They just work, they're safe, and reliable, and the light quality is as good as any of the Selecon stuff. Zooms? Well the balance is an issue, but beyond that, again, they work, are reliable and predictable - and all take the same gobo size (and colour frame?)

[mark_s]

But beyond that, Source Four fixed beam all the way...all take the same gobo size (and colour frame?)

 

Mostly. The 19/26/36/50 all take the standard size frame, and the 14/70/90 take the same size frame as the zooms and PARs. The 5 and 10 have unique, large frames.

[Roderick]

Emil Niethammer all the way, any day.

Never found anything as even and easy to focus as the Enispot HPS 100

[OllieDuff]

If we're looking at design (as opposed to price, ease of getting spares etc) it's the RJ Tibo for me, all the way. I'm using a whole bunch of them for an opera this week, and my impression is that every aspect of them is very slightly better thought out than anything else I've used. The optics are excellent (it's a 600W spotlight which pops against a 1kW front wash!), it locks off really firmly and can do between 15 and 45 degrees in one fixture. The cons are that they're expensive, and to my knowledge the only company in the UK that hires them out is Light Motif in SW London, but in terms of usability they can't be beat.

[delicolor]

I also remember the Niethammers with affection, although the only place I ever saw any outside of Europe and CCT's showroom was a pair being used as followspots at the Plaza Stockport.

 

Someone once described the Niethammer Profiles as an optical bench surrounded by German heavy engineering.

[xllx]

the only place I ever saw any outside of Europe and CCT's showroom was a pair being used as followspots at the Plaza Stockport.

 

The Barbican Concert Hall had a pair of Niethammer followspots back in the 80's, they were built like tanks so it wouldn't surprise me if they were still in use. Lovely things to operate, very solid and with excellent stands that allowed you to balance the spot just to your liking.