Automated Fixtures Anyone familiar with the Vari-Lite 440?

[emoreth]

I work for a pretty big church and have finally convinced them to replace our busted old Martin scanners with moving head lights. I don't have a big budget but would like new, solidly reliable fixtures, since (judging by our track record) we won't be given funds to replace them for at least a decade.

So the big question is: How bright can I expect a VL 440 to be at a throw distance of about 35-40 feet? I've tried to find photometric data for them, but the info I've run across is not particularly helpful.

Also, anyone have an opinion on how well these lights perform in general? Any similar products that are worth looking at?

 

[AdamHVLS]

I just saw these fixtures for the first time in person this weekend at LDI. The series looks very nice. Great optics and good light output. The 440 seems to be a little bit of a stretch for 40'. If you could afford the difference, I would look to step up to the 770 as it's output would be a better solution.

 

[emoreth]

The 440 seems to be a little bit of a stretch for 40'. If you could afford the difference, I would look to step up to the 770

Well, "a little bit of a stretch" pretty much describes our whole lighting system. . .
The fixtures will be about 28' off the floor (just measured it since my last post), so it looks like our throw distances will generally be in the 28-35' range.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure 770s are out of my price range. We were gonna buy Elations until my boss had an epiphany about reliability last week, and our budget was based off the price I was quoted for those.

 

[Goph704]

Just to be inquisitive, was that for new or used Elation? If you are looking at Vari-lite you might want to call a local dealer, who can give you a better sense of price range for any of the fixtures you are interested in. If your looking for used gear, Used lighting. com or Gear source are probably the two best out there. As for the 440, I took a look at them myself at LDI, and I'm pretty impressed, even though honestly I'm not sure they're going to hit at the distance you want them to. Here's the speck sheet, but your going to have to do the math.

View attachment VL440_Spot_Spec_031011NA-1.pdf

 

[Kelite]

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure 770s are out of my price range. We were gonna buy Elations until my boss had an epiphany about reliability last week, and our budget was based off the price I was quoted for those.

Ah yes, you've gotten a quote for a juicy burger and someone else in the restaurant would like a T-bone steak for the same money. I certainly feel your pain, emoreth. I'm afraid this happens more often than we would like.

Are there other moving lights that may better fit (budget and reliability wise) between those you've mentioned?

 

[emoreth]

I'm not sure what else out there would work for us. I'm also looking at the Clay Paky Alpha 300 HPE (the guys we buy from are supposed to be getting me a quote on that and the VL 440s), but I haven't really found much else that catches my eye.

Zoom and CMY color mixing are the two things I'm really looking for in a light; one of our "values" as a church is to not make a huge production of our services (we're not even allowed to use the hazer except on special occasions), so we don't really need features like gobo shake and strobe. Just colored patterns that spin and can be redirected at will.

 

[SteveB]

Sorry to say, but at +28 ft AFL, you really want a 1200 watt or equiv. unit. I use 700w MAC700's at +20ft because I needed more punch then my 575w Studio Spots provided. The issue becomes trying to punch past the conventional washes and trying to do color with a gobo requires intensity that a 440 is not going to have.

One idea is to maybe not buy the latest and greatest from a particular company - I.E. maybe look at the VL 2500 series instead of the 440/770/880 as they will certainly be priced higher, while the older models you might get a great deal on.

The other issue is do you have 208 volts to power a brighter unit, or 120v (assuming a US install) , which dictates fixture choices.

 

[emoreth]

Steve - Much as I would love to have MAC700s or VL2500s, they cost 50-100% more than the VL440. Yeah, punching through the wash is gonna be an issue with low wattage, but I'd have to get my boss to talk our CFO into shifting some money around to buy anything with more power. I'm not sure they're willing to do that.

This is my first year dealing with all this budget crap, and it's got that lovely "gee, thanks Aunt Mabel, I really wanted a sequin-covered Christmas sweater" feeling to it. I mean, at least I got something, but still...

 

[Aflounder4u]

Have you already made your decisions? I have recently completed the purchase of a number of movers and under many of the same budget issues.

What is your budget, under 50,75,100k? How many units are looking to replace. I understand the function your looking for and I am fairly sure you understand that the new stuff may change people's wishes in regards to how the movers are used, but does the budget person understand?

I am tending to agree with the other posters in as much as a VL 2500 which is used maybe your best bet. It is a proven fixture with a good repair track record. If you purchase the units from used lighting.com or something like that than they have a repair history that you could request.

Also, going with a unit with a 700w lamp means you can still run them off of the 120v power that is supplying the MAC scanners, in other words you can still replace apples for apples where power is concerned.

Hope this helps.

 

[emoreth]

We ended up ordering new High End Technospots, which will hopefully arrive soon. I've heard good things about them, and they have the best combination of price and specs out of anything I looked at. Four of them ate up as much of the budget as I could use on fixtures this time around, but we intend to add more over the next couple years.

We decided to buy new because these lights are gonna be in our building for a very, very long time and we'd rather not find out 2 years in that there was a problem no one listed on the repair record. Our lighting contractor said he's found High End fixtures easy to maintain, and I trust his judgment on that.

We just got the power at the mount points downconverted to 120v in preparation for the new lights, because someone thought it'd be better to run the old RoboScans on 230v. I'm happy to have that done, because it means the RoboScans are officially history. After 2 years of using half-busted scanners and almost 8 months with nothing but white conventionals and RGB cyc lights, we're finally making progress!

 

[derekleffew]

We ended up ordering new High End Technospots, ...

Once you've driven them for a while, post your observations in this thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/24292-hes-technospot.html .

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Just got to play with some technospots and their big brother today at a concert venue I just got hired at, and they are BANGING fixtures, I wasn't really expecting to be that impressed(especially with the larger of the two)!