what's the difference?

[techybabe]

ok what's the difference between a fresnel and a lee fresnel (not sure about spelling)?

[ship]

What's the options to choose from given a test question?

Try making it into some kind of a poll because besides the spelling is right except not capatalizing Fresnel or Lee as proper names. I'm not even sure what the question is and having answers to choose from which would help me understand it given it's some kind of question you already have the answer to. Otherwise, if you do not have the answer, can you put a little more explination into the question you seek an answer to?

Given it's a candy type question:
My guess, Fresnel being what a lighting instrument is called that uses that style of lens made by a French physicist, Augustin Jean Fresnel and probably brought to market and trade name status by either Colortran if that old as a company, Strand or Kliegl, but Lee somehow owns it now, perhaps than Fresnel would only be a propre name to a Lee Colortran product, the rest being slang names for similar lights - as a thought but probably not an accurate one. This would be similar to Leko being a trade name for a Century product as bought out by Strand, Strand ellipsoidals are the only fixtures now officially carrying the title and brand name of Leko.

Perhaps the question or answer is that if Colortran was the company that introduced fixtures with Fresnel lenses to which I am not aware of, than Lee would perhaps have trademark rights to it. Subsiquent to the question, if Lee retained the rights to calling their Fresnel lensed fixtures Fresnels, than that would be a difference between a fresnel and a lee fresnel, even though Lee as a company does not and has never made fixtures, and you did not make the second use of Fresnel following Lee proper names as a clue, much less proper use of the language. Are you confused yet???

Let me try more...
Lee as a company used to own Colortran, and Colortran has been known to make some darn good Fresnels. But Lee as a company apart from Colortran never did. Or Lee is not much responsible for the Fresnels that Colortran built while owned by Lee, but Lee if owning Colortran Fresnels at the same time as Lee owned Colortran, could gain the name of Lee Fresnels similar to how Strand took over the Century title of Leko and uses it for thier own. On the other hand, since Colortran has been owned by many companies and Colortran, assuming it ended it's existance such as Century did with Strand, Lee cannot take any more credit for a Colortran title Fresnel given they owned the trademark to it, or anything colortran manufactured, more than Strand would be able to take credit for or offer parts to Berkley Colortran Fresnels even though they both had the Colortran name. Also the fact that Strand never called their Fresnels anything different after they stopped owning Colortran thus it can't be a trademark specific to Lee such as Leko is to Strand. Colortran is now owned by NSI/Leviton, calling the Leviton help line most probably will not get me the answer to your question either by the way, nor will Lee as a gel and tool company have a clue about Fresnels.



I don't get it, much less what the main difference between a Fresnel from Lee Colortran - given that's the link and all other Fresnels would be if that's the question. The beam spread, shape and lamp type while unique certainly is certainly not unique to a instrument of that name.

It might also be a little too specific and vague a question for most people to know. Can you expand?
Perhaps it's in refrence to the fact that lee is a misspelling for "le" - thus your spelling question mark, a French "the" and the lens was invented by the French person responsible for it's name that is also responsible the collapse on Young's partical theory of light making way for the current Wave theory? Is that a part of the answer???

Got my brain a humping too hard, please explain with more than a "LOL".

[Les]

My best guess would be that a "Lee Fresnel" would be manufactured by Lee Colortran. Just like Lee Filters, etc... If you notice on some Colortran boards, clamps, etc... The brand name is "Lee Colortran". This is probably just their way of identifying their own product, just like SL Ellipsoidal; "SL" stands for Strand Leko. With "ETC Source Four", ETC is an acronym for Electronic Theatre Controls. Just a guess, probably no real difference between that and any other similar instrument from another company.

[ship]

Back in college, the Berkey Colortran Fresnels were more popular than the rest, but I have never heard of anyone calling a Colortran Fresnel a Lee Fresnel. They did call them Berkies, but I believe Berkey was a lighting company in it's own right or they did the design work for the fixture. Lee did not own the company that long nor did any real innovations to them by my memory. Might be wrong, could be as you say referring to a specific brand of Fresnel fixture, but normally people would call them by the manufacturer. Such as a NSI light board not a Leviton light board. Much less a Leviton Fresnel now that they own NSI who owns Colortran.

Never heard back from tech babe on the answer to the question however...

[mbenonis]

I'll ask techybabe to take a look at the thread again next time I talk to her.

[dj_illusions]

hey ship... whats a candy question?

[Nephilim]

I could swear it was 'Berkley Colortran'... then again, maybe I was seeing things.

I don't think you can trademark or copyright the word 'Fresnel' because it has fallen into common usage, just like Band-aid and Duct Tape etc.

[Les]

Well, then again, most of us today know of all ellipsoidals as Lekos, even though it was Strand that copyrighted this one...

[ship]

Exactually my thoughst on the "Fresnel" fixture. Could be a trade name/brand name but I don't think so. Too little about theater history - the nuts and bolts and story lines written these days. Altman started out as a company by purchasing a train wreck salvage worth of Kliegl gear. That’s the type of history and necessary to pass on info that is missed. Without some of us knowing about the Lekolight trade name, it would also be lost. Thus the chance that Fresnel was forgotten. Or at least the Altman history is what I'm told as opposed to what's on the Altman Website. What's true, don't know.

Anyway.. Candy Questions. I have a Halloween candy bucket hanging off my work table. To get a piece of candy, you needed to answer a question or at least learn about something. The big boss thought it a really good idea, but in the end it was more pain in the rear and literally force feeding knowledge to tech people than it was worth. It’s now the electrical tape dispenser. Candy Questions only lives here given the 600+ questions I have pre-typed for the above candy bar questions. That is or was until the point I became frustrated by it’s lack of interest and now only occasionally post a new question. At least than I could hold pogie bate over them even if I had to purchase it or go to the boss to fund it. Why is there no candy? There is no candy because you did not buy any... Anyway on Control Booth, it’s hard out of several hundred members just to get a dozen votes, much less for anyone to post a further question to keep it running.

Strand did not copywrite Leko, Century did. Strand just retained the name after they bought Century out than let the company die out or get bought out by another company to go away afterwards. Forget what ever happened to Century. That's given Kliegl was not the origional owner of the name see above.

[Les]

Yeah, Century/Strand....Same difference to me.
I wasn't alive thirty years ago like some people.
I'm only a senior in high school... Most people don't even know
how to properly spell Fresnel, or the French history behind it.lol.