Did a shootout last week with the S4wrd Color, Colorsource spot Jr(Deep Blue), colorsource spot(Not Deep Blue), and solaframe 750. The purpose of this setup was as a
console demo, so we didn't go too far into the various fixtures, but some thoughts:
Using 19 degree lenses(and the Jr. zoomed to be roughly the same size circle on the wall), here's what we found:
Brightness on the S4wrd is comparable to the CS Spot Jr DB, when mixed to approximately 4500k(Note that I did not have a
profile in the
console for S4wrdC, but used generic RGBA), and both of these are roughly half the brighness of the full-size CS Spot. The Solaframe 750, when zoomed to the same size with a sharp
edge, appeared roughly twice as bright as the CS Spot.
The field on the S4wrdC was not nearly as even as any of the other options - there was some mottling of color, even after testing with a S4
LED Homogenizer(borrowed from our
stock of Lustrs) in the
template slot, and R119 in the color frame.
Color
rendering was different than the CS Spot units - this will probably be closer with an ETC-calibrated
profile in the
console. As-is, red in particular seemed slightly duller/deeper.
Gobos went sharp(especially with an
EDLT lens), but there was a small but noticable amount of
LED rainbow along the edges. This was completely eliminated with the addition of the homogenizer.
Overall seems like a decent option for retrofit of existing inventories on a low budget. Given a choice, I would always pick a CS Spot JR or full size CS Spot over this
unit.
)
