Elation's New Opti 30 RGB

[SerraAva]

Opti 30 RGB

I was looking for something small, cost efficient, and not a power hog for up lighting for a black tie party I am doing next week. So I was looking through Elation's new catalog, and this caught my eye.

It is very small, about the 1/3 of the size of a Source Four Par on a base. Despite its size however, I was very impressed with its ability to throw light for the purpose of up lighting. The LED's aren't as powerful as a Source Four lamped at 575w, but they are more powerful then say a 90w or 150w par 36. It also only uses about 20w, much less then a par 36 and a 575w HPL.

The next great thing about this light is its cost. 12 1w LED's for a list price of $399.95, which can be had for $300. Thanks to the cost, I can afford to rent them out a few dollars more then a S4 Par on a base and still make some money. There is also no upkeep cost, and the unit feels solid. It comes with the hanging/floor bracket attached right out of the box as well a gel frame. So no need to go buy more accessories for the light, because it comes with them. I will probably never hang them, so any need for clamps and safeties.

Another great thing about this light is it has great internal programs. The Design LED 36 internal programs are horrible compared to this light. Also, no dip switches, it’s a menu, up, and down button and a small LCD screen. The programs have different menus. There is a menu for each of the channel modes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7. Then you have internal programs: sound; 35 different solid colors; 3 different white pulses 1 color scroll and 2 color bumps; the next menu controls the speed of the last menu, 15 different speeds total.

All and all, it’s a great light. No heat, powerful, low cost, easy menus, nice internal programs. It will be great for what I need it for, up lighting at corperate events. This is the direction LED lighting needs to go to become more mainstream. For the cost, I would say it is a much better then the bigger Opti RGB and the Design LED 36. They still have there place however when you need more power. I wouldn't try using these as wash lights, just not that powerful. I will post some pictures soon.

[derekleffew]

Looks like a sweet fixture. I particularly like the double yoke, wish more fixtures came that way. And a real color frame holder, for diffusion. Try R104 in it and let us know how that works. Seems perfect for your application. One question: if you set it to DMX, and then remove data, will it "hold last look"? I'm thinking of a situation, where they are all around a room uplighting "things" and you don't want to run data. Just plug them into wall power, go around to each fixture with a Pocket Console and set each's color. At the end of the night, just unplug them and pack them.

Please let us know how these work out for you.

[SerraAva]

It's supose to hold the last command. The Design LED 36s I have hold the last command. With how much better the internal programs on this thing are, I would be surprised if it didn't. I'll try the frost when I take pictures.

[len]

Anymore, you can't swing a dead cat without finding a new led fixture. And 90% of what is out now will be gone in a year. So if you're going to put something in rental inventory, either do a LOT of research, or get enough so that you never run out. Because if you do by the time you want to buy more they'll be gone.

[len]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Looks like a sweet fixture. I particularly like the double yoke, wish more fixtures came that way. And a real color frame holder, for diffusion. Try R104 in it and let us know how that works. Seems perfect for your application. One question: if you set it to DMX, and then remove data, will it "hold last look"? I'm thinking of a situation, where they are all around a room uplighting "things" and you don't want to run data. Just plug them into wall power, go around to each fixture with a Pocket Console and set each's color. At the end of the night, just unplug them and pack them.
Please let us know how these work out for you.

A good idea about saving the last scene. I wish more units did that.

As for diffusion, I've tried a couple different Rosco ones and none seem to impact any of the led I have (3 - 4 different products from dif. mfg.). I have some led bricks (similar to colorblast 12), and I'm going to try that diffusion you can buy at the hardware store for drop tile ceilings. Maybe that will give me the wide beam I want.

And no, the mfg. doesn't have any wider lenses.

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by SerraAva

The next great thing about this light is its cost. 24 1w LED's for a list price of $399.95, which can be had for $300.

Where did you get the 24 LED count? The website says 12, and you said that power consumtion was 20W, but the LEDs are 1W. Something doesn't seem right there...

However, I looked at these fixtures when Centerstage first started carrying them (Centerstage always has things before the manufacturers put them on their websites), and it looks like they'll do a good job. Make sure to take pix and let us know how they work!

[SerraAva]

Sorry. Count should be 12, not 24. Will edit it when I get home. Just got out of a meeting for said event actually.

There is power loss with the conversion from ac to dc. In the grand scheme of things, 8 more watts means 110 instead of 180 per 20 amp roughly. Not a big deal seeing as I will never have even 50 running off of a 20 amp.

[SerraAva]

Here are some quick images. Sorry about the quality, taken with a camera phone.





I will post more with them in action during next week's event. Anything specific anyone would like to see?

[PadawanGeek]

on the fivture in the corner, is that one light or 2?

[len]

Last picture: Is the fixture creating the halo effect (common with led) or is that just the camera?