ETC Announces the ColorSource PAR, a low(er) budget LED

They are a standard frame size, same as all S4 Pars. ETC will happily sell you frames, clamps and safety cables are good 'add-on' choices as well.

I've not liked the way standard diffusion works with LEDs. ETC and many others are selling diffusion material in some interesting degrees of spread. From what I can tell it's all made by Luminit.
 
It didn't come with the frame to hold the gel. The face is built to accommodate one.

That's a big difference. I haven't seen any documentation that says it includes one, and it isn't that hard to get one if you need one. Not including it is probably another cost saving measure, especially when a lot of people who buy them will never use it. Now if it took a weird size frame then I would really like to see it included.
 
The frame holders are likely intended to hold holographic lenses, which include the frame. Standard diffusion is less optically efficient.
 
I am just pointing out that it does not come with the gel frame as a matter of fact. I have bought other conventional fixtures, lense tubes and such from ETC and a frame was always included, so I was surprised when this fixture was lacking one. I am only offering my observations/experiences for others to do with as they please. No slight intended.
 
I am just pointing out that it does not come with the gel frame as a matter of fact. I have bought other conventional fixtures, lense tubes and such from ETC and a frame was always included, so I was surprised when this fixture was lacking one. I am only offering my observations/experiences for others to do with as they please. No slight intended.

No problem, it read like there was no slot to put a color frame, not that a color frame didn't come with the fixture.
 
It is actually a really nice product. They are built nicely and have a hell of a punch for what they are. Great buy for universities looking for cheap led's.
 
I am just pointing out that it does not come with the gel frame as a matter of fact. I have bought other conventional fixtures, lense tubes and such from ETC and a frame was always included, so I was surprised when this fixture was lacking one. I am only offering my observations/experiences for others to do with as they please. No slight intended.

I think that ETC's thought on this would be why provide a gel frame for a fixture that you would not be putting gel in front of. The purpose of the frame holder is to hold the accessory lenses as well as barn doors, high hats etc... But probably not a color filter on an inherent color changing fixture.

As well, 7.5" color frames are a standard inventory in most theaters.
 
Sorry for the long delay, but I put together a little video and it is finally up.

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I have to say that after seeing the units in person, as a fan of the deep blue range I personally wouldn't go for these units at all. I've seen Martin, Chroma Q, Color Kinetics, Elation, Chauvet, &c. that can all do a fantastic deep blue, while still getting a great color gamut (especially with a nice amber, like the Chroma Q stuff has). Having seen dozens of current-generation LED fixtures, I just don't see what all the hype is about the Color Source par. I can mix a warm white on any of my other fixtures that looks really good (well, except those older units that have only RGB or aren't homogenized lensing), and I've got a great cool white from those too, in part thanks to how the blue fills out that part of the spectrum. I understand that for completely inexperienced users turning the light on and getting a useable warm white out is great, but what about all the range that is lost because of that? I would say that those looking at this unit should also consider the Chroma Q Color One 100, which is similar in price and also does not have 7 circles on the front - you've got one, single, homogenized lens on the front. It's also got some of the best color mixing I've used on an LED unit.
 
@ccrews - I noticed that the CSP profile is not 'calibrated' (black line showing color range) so color selection will be off. Not that color pickers are all that reliable anyway.

I finally got to spend a too brief time with some CSPs. The white is quite nice and far brighter than I would expect from generic RGB or RGBA units. I agree that the blues could be a bit deeper and that the whole gamut could be wider. So I guess there is still a market for the Selador family. ;) My conclusion is that they are best suited for the small market - churches, schools and such that aren't doing 'high art' but want a solid LED with no excuses. Don't put them on your cyc and expect to match the full range of a gel book. Don't expect them to sell for $250. Do buy a diffuser set and some top hats.
 
I too would like deeper blues control of the lime emitter, but do like the confidence/comfort of having the ETC name on the instrument. I just aimed them at the cyc for a nice reference of the fixture out of the box.
 
I spent an hour with them doing a comparison to my Chinese LED's. My feeling is that the goal was to produce a fixture that is highly accurate in white and pastels. We mixed some beautiful amber, pink, and light blue. They sacrificed some depth of color, especially in the dark blue range to get it. As I find myself saying over and over around here, choose the tool for the job. This is not a Vivid fixture... It also isn't a Vivid price. You get an extremely well made fixture at an extremely competitive price with the best service in the industry. In order to get that you will have to sacrifice some deep saturated blue and purple.

There is no perfect fixture. But for the money, this is about as good as it gets.
 
I spent an hour with them doing a comparison to my Chinese LED's. My feeling is that the goal was to produce a fixture that is highly accurate in white and pastels. We mixed some beautiful amber, pink, and light blue. They sacrificed some depth of color, especially in the dark blue range to get it. As I find myself saying over and over around here, choose the tool for the job. This is not a Vivid fixture... It also isn't a Vivid price. You get an extremely well made fixture at an extremely competitive price with the best service in the industry. In order to get that you will have to sacrifice some deep saturated blue and purple.

There is no perfect fixture. But for the money, this is about as good as it gets.

Thank you so much for doing the comparison and giving us the low down you derived on this fixture Gafftaper! Did you happen to take any photos during the process (that would be really neat to see the comparison, etc).

Sounds like a good fixture for general light for theatre, I always agree "the right tool for the job".
 
Sorry I didn't take any pictures. We were using the Strand Palette VL gel match function and colors like R02, R33, R60/61 were very close. With a slight manual tweak to the mix, we decided that they absolutely nailed the Gel. We noticed that the Red, Yellow, Orange, Amber, Green... were all much better than those in my "K9 Lighting Bull Dog 2 LED PARS". Deep blue and purple was lacking in the CSP's, but lighter saturated blue and lavenders were great. I think it's a VERY good choice for places that do a lot of straight theater and I'm considering buying about a dozen of them for down light on stage. If I did more concert and music stuff in my space, then I would be less excited about them, but I do mostly straight theater, so it's a great fit for my needs.

My biggest problem is those Chauvet ColorDash Par-Hex 12's are really intriguing. Having UV in the fixture and saving about $100 each is very tempting. I would be giving up on ETC's gold standard support, but I'm also confident that my friends at Chauvet would take good care of me. I wish I could do a side by side shoot out. If I can I'll let you know how it works out.

By the way @Ford you might want to have someone proof read the Colordash Par-Hex 12 page . I don't know about you, but I'm a little concerned about buying a fixture which is "brilliant ultra-violent" o_O. Any device that is both brilliant and ultra-violent, is only a short step away from becoming self aware, which we all know leads to Skynet, Judgment Day, and terrible sequels decades later. Are ultra-violent fixtures safe for use around humans? What about actors? :D
 
By the way @Ford you might want to have someone proof read the Colordash Par-Hex 12 page . I don't know about you, but I'm a little concerned about buying a fixture which is "brilliant ultra-violent" o_O. Any device that is both brilliant and ultra-violent, is only a short step away from becoming self aware, which we all know leads to Skynet, Judgment Day, and terrible sequels decades later. Are ultra-violent fixtures safe for use around humans? What about actors? :D

Hey Gaff!!
with all of these "intelligent lights" out there, our marketing department wanted make sure that people know that ours are at the head of the class...
GRIN.
-Ford
 
..with all of these "intelligent lights" out there, our marketing department wanted make sure that people know that ours are at the head of the class...

Head of da class... and if you have to break a few heads to get dhere dis is not my concern. Badda Bing Badda Boom.
 
I was pretty pleased with the red and green performance and the amber can pop. I really like R127 cyc silk amber and the CSP can get really really close. I agree with gafftaper's assessment, but would add that they work well for dance; in our venue at least. As a school we do everything from theatre to talent shows, dance shows, lectures, etc.

I even put six fixtures in my catwalk to wash the front of the stage at about a 50' throw they are covering a 60' proscenium ranging from about 10' deep to 20' or so at down center of the apron. Good value in my opinion for what they are at the moment. I am interested in the longevity of these fixtures. Currently we are just using them for color, not as general down lighting.
 

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