Help finding a Spotlight

[The_Tempo_Golem]

I am looking for a spot light (3 actually) for a high school auditorium, the throw distance is about 75 feet. I would love to find one that is led with full rgb support, however price is more important, the budget is $500-700 a fixture. Any advice on this is appreciated

 

[Nic]

Wow, I’m not sure that you’re going to find anything with that sort of functionality in that price range. The closest thing that I could find is the Chauvet DJ 120st. It’s a white LED source with 8 color options. It appears to have some sort of DMX support, but I didn’t dive too deeply into that. That said, the photometrics are underwhelming and it really doesn’t appear to be appropriate for theatrical use.
Given your budget, you might want to look at the used market. An old incandescent or arc source followspot, despite not having quite the perfect feature set, would be a solid workhorse with which to train new operators. Plus, you can throw any colors you want in the boomerang anyway.

Alternatively, you could look at renting during productions/events.

 

[dbaxter]

We are quite happy with our 2 120ST spots. Our throw, however, is closer to 50 feet. The inverse square law being what it is, those extra 25 ft. may be an issue. I can confirm it does have full dmx dimming ability. We don't use the colors much - not found a real need based on what shows we've been doing. Normally we just use the 'warm white' setting. If you adjust it for a sharp edge, the iris edges are visible at smaller openings. Usually we're soft edge, so not a problem. Hope this helps.

 

[microstar]

The Mega-lite Drama series of LED followspots might be a consideration, but your budget would buy only one. My figures (but I'm not known for my math skills) show a calculated 103 lux for the Chauvet 120ST (120 watt LED w/14º beam) at 25 meters versus the Drama 700 (350w LED w/10º beam is 637 lux at 25m and the Drama 800 (350w LED at 13º beam) is 535 lux at 25m. The Mega-lite fixtures are about $2000 and $2200 respectively versus about $750 for the 120ST. Depending on how bright your stage lighting is, these may not be adequate.
In my opinion, a big consideration for followspots is also their mechanical operation..... finish (no rough edges), balance, smooth operation of controls, etc.
I think your budget figures are quite a bit low for the task at hand. Probably a better idea to figure out what will do the job and base the budget on that.

 

[TimMc]

My admittedly limited experience with LED followspots is that in your budget range, they all suck and you're wasting your limited budget on them for at least the next couple of years.

Look for used Lycian midgets or similar... and you'll only be able to buy 1... but don't buy a new LED follow spot. Did I mention the suck? Not just the photometrics, but the operational aspects that @microstar mentions plus the balance, ease of movement, and the ability to operate iris and dowser while moving the light.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

My admittedly limited experience with LED followspots is they all suck and you're wasting your limited budget on them for at least the next couple of years.

Look for used Lycian midgets or similar... and you'll only be able to buy 1... but don't buy a new LED follow spot. Did I mention the suck? Not just the photometrics, but the operational aspects that @microstar mentions plus the balance, ease of movement, and the ability to operate iris and dowser while moving the light.

Just curious if you've tried the Robert Juliat Roxie or Oz? I've found them quite nice in trying them, but not in a show.

 

[TimMc]

Just curious if you've tried the Robert Juliat Roxie or Oz? I've found them quite nice in trying them, but not in a show.

Nope, and from RJ I'm sure they're both nice products and well out of the OP's budget. But since you mentioned them I went back and qualified my statement with "in your budget range".

 

[gafftaper]

Sorry, It simply can't be done at that price without compromise to the point of it being worthless.