The best in lighting

What is the best brand of lighting to use in the theatre?

It all depends on how much money you have to spend

Jared,

The best type is STRAND to me. ANCIENT TIMES!

Hey jared,

Look at patrick j and say you got my reply.

[BillESC]

Dollar for dollar, I'll vote Altman Stage lighting.

[Les]

Strand makes some good 'Iris' cyc lights, but other than that I really don't care for their products. I do wish more companies would adapt to 360 degree rotation of shutter gates like they did, though I don't particularly care for their design. Everything ETC makes is excellent, though every once in a while you have to deal with a tempermental lens in a Source Four Par, and I wouldn't think of a Parnel as a replacement for the Fresnel. Haven't seen their multi-cell striplights but I would imagine they are amazing. They should be for the price. I like pretty much all of Altman's products, but their cheaper cyc lights can be a hassle when it comes to gel frames (or atleast the sprung-in 2-piece metal frame in the older versions (10 yrs) did. Their 1k fresnels aren't exactly my favorite. I wish they had a different focusing mechanism rather than the lever on the back. A screw for this version would probably be great, and I've also experienced a lot of cracked lenses in this model as well. Their Shakespeares are nice. If I were doing an install, I would go with a mixture like most people do, such as ETC Control, Altman and/or ETC Ellipsoidals,Strand or Selecon Fresnels (?), Strand Cyc Lights, ETC Source Four Pars/Parnel's, and possibly a handful of 3-Cell MultiPar Strips. As for followspots I would take an Altman Voyager. Too bad you would have to keep in stock about 5 different lamp types...

[soundlight]

Altman cyc lights
ETC PARs and PARNELs
Strand fresnels
ETC dimming & control
Altman Followspots (the 1000Q is my personal favorite...i've got two of them)
ETC Ellipsoidals (Source 4s)
Altman stage booms, clamps, & sidearms
Rosco gels & gobos
Altman Distro

[sandals1621]

How much money do you have to spend........


Coemar Focsuing Cyc's
ETC or Selecon Ellipsoidals
ETC pars
Arri Fresnels
Altman Mini-strips
Lycian Followspots (whoever said Altman needs to be keelhauled )
Apollo or City Theatrical acessories (gobo holders, iris's etc )
Morpheus Color faders

[jonhirsh]

This may not be what you want to hear but here it goes. i think that there is no better brand, its all good now there are crappy products such as badly made fixtures but as it goes everything has a purpous.

if you have a big budget the stuff that to one person was awsome becomes crap and so on and so on.


etc
selcon
strand
altman
and yes even american dj all make fixtures and there are many more companies that do but depending on your budget which one you like will change.


personaly based on my budget level. i love etc, and selcon because of there unique designs so check them out.

JH

[Xzilenifo]

Strand makes decent lighting boards, in my opinion. But I have no experience with their instraments.

In my view, the best light's are altmans. They're sturdy, reliable, put out a good wattage, and last for centuries.