Let's back up, what is your goal in buying a follow spot? do you just want to make sure a performer is well lit as they move around or do you want the performer to have a bright circle of light around them that makes them really "POP"? The problem with "Pop" is in order to do that the light
fixture needs to be brighter and whiter than the rest of the lights in your
wash. The Chauvet DJ spot or the "
Source Four on a stick" are not going to stand out against the other lights in the rig because they are not brighter and are the same
color temperature. If your rig is full of Source Fours, how is another
Source Four going to stand out significantly?
I have three follow spots in my theater, two
Altman Comets and one
Lycian Midget HP. The Comets are very similar to the Luminator mentioned above. They are a great spot, but even at $1500 each they don't really Pop unless you are using two of them and have everything else on
stage turned down just a
bit. To get serious pop, you need a
fixture with a higher
color temperature and they cost more. I have a Midget HP with a
color temperature of 5,600k and it gives you a huge pop... but it also comes with a $5k price tag and the lamps are about $140 each to replace.
My recomendations:
-If you aren't looking for big pop, then the luminator is a good beginner
fixture.
-If you want "POP", the Chauvet Ovation SP-300 or the
Lycian Zot
LED both are a little over $3k, both are
LED (so they are cool to the touch, low energy, and you don't have expensive lamps to replace every year) , both come in a high
color temperature (Zot has a choice of color temperatures, Chauvet is just 5,600k). Both will really give you the pop you want. I played with both of them at
USITT and they were both excellent. My impression... 5 months later not having seen them side by side... is that the Chauvet was perhaps a little brighter but the
Lycian had a
bit better
zoom ability. Both seemed like great fixtures in the few minutes I played with them and my initial impression is I would be happy with either.
Call your local dealer and ask about getting a demo.
-Can't afford option two but you are hoping for some "Pop"? Try a Chauvet Ovation E260 CW "on a stick". That's a 260
Watt LED fixture with a 5,452k
Color Temperature, equivalent in output to a 750
Watt incandescent lamp... but much whiter so you get pop. Put a narrow
lens and a
City Theatrical follow spot kit on it and you've got an okay follow spot for around $1500. Not perfect but it would be pretty good.