Just what we need...

[derekleffew]

Until 1992, Strand, Colortran, and Kliegl/CCT made ERSs optically superior to Altman. But the rental houses stocked the 360Q, partially because of price, but also due to durability and familiarity.

Today, the SourceFour™ enjoys that distinction, having sold over 2,000,000+ units. No other manufacturer even comes close.

The Altman Shakespeare, Strand SL, Leviton Leo, and Lightronics may be acceptable, but in my opinion, do not compare to the SourceFour™. I haven't used Selecons enough to make an informed judgment, but have heard some negatives.

The Lightronics version says "glass reflector," not "dichroic reflector," and although the performance numbers are slightly higher than S4 for the 10° and 19°, the others are somewhat lower. Anyone can "peak" an ERS and make the numbers lie.

Also, I've found since the 1970s that the more information a manufacturer provides about the performance, the better. Things like candela, mf, beam angle, field angle, etc.

 

[Les]

I do like that Strand has some unique design features. I like the off-center focus knobs, 360 degree rotation, and I even like the "idea" of the quarter-turn lamp cap. I say idea, because it is a good idea however, in the real world it has it's issues. What's more, the Strand SL's lighter weight materials will probably surrender to abuse much sooner than the S-IV.

The Shakespeare is nice and rugged and they were the first to have the idea of the insulated rear handle. They were also first on the boat with the 750watt lamp and I like the idea of the removable shutter handles (probably learning their lesson from the nearly impossible to remove 360Q handles). Again, I say "idea" because they consistently pull completely out of the fixture when trying to get those difficult cuts. My other major complaint is the accessory slot. It's great, and big enough, but why couldn't they use captive screws and not short little brass thumb screws that always fall out and get lost? Also, the lamp cap sometimes gets jammed (you have to loosen the screw and turn it about 1/8 turn to the left to remove it. Sometimes it just won't turn. Lighting manufacturers need to learn that these things just don't work very smoothly when their temperature is constantly changing. Other than that the Shakespeare doesn't have any extreme downfalls (other than the seemingly 6' length between the lamp cap and the gel frame) and there isn't much more to rave about either...

Leviton Leo, Lightronics Clone and Selecon Pacific I can't comment on.

With the fact being there isn't much people complain about with the Source Four, no wonder it's industry standard.

 

[porkchop]

EDIT: poster was an idiot and answered his own question mods feel free to delete this post

 

[Les]

It's ok porkchop, I contradict myself.

 

[icewolf08]

Meanwhile, if that $20 you saved, multiplied against the 120 fixtures for your new theatre, totaling $2400 of savings, seems really that great. Consider this. The S4's come with lamps, which I don't believe the Lightronics ERS does, though I could be wrong. If that is accurate than you've truly only saved ~$4 per light, and your total savings is reduced to $480 for knockoffs with questionable quality. I don't know about anybody else, but I'd rather purchase two less instruments to cover the difference and have a high-quality inventory than settle for cheaper-but-not-cheap-enough-to-be-worth-it knockoffs.

Hate to break it to you, but the Source 4 does not come with a lamp. Some dealers will throw in a lamp for you, but that is in no way standard. Why? Everyone wants a different lamp, and it would also make it look like ETC supported one brand lamp over another (which may or may not be true, but there are still plenty of lamp manufacturers and different lamps).

 

[porkchop]

It's ok porkchop, I contradict myself.

It was a hijack that i was temporarily too lazy to research myself. If it had any value to the conversation at all I would have left it but it didn't.

 

[MNicolai]

Hate to break it to you, but the Source 4 does not come with a lamp. Some dealers will throw in a lamp for you, but that is in no way standard. Why? Everyone wants a different lamp, and it would also make it look like ETC supported one brand lamp over another (which may or may not be true, but there are still plenty of lamp manufacturers and different lamps).

Sorry for that mistake. However it still is valid, at least in the cases I've seen. I rarely see a S4 on sale that doesn't include a lamp. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but one way or another that same price hits the consumer, be it that ETC foots the bill or the dealer foots it.

 

[Hughesie]

Selecon, and from what I hear, with excellent results.

Selecon is a great company who offered to turn up to a bump in the first time we were using their pacifics. we said it was fine but i thought it was still nice of em. but they still sent us some shirts which i still wear.

Pacifcs are great and they have such a cool white beam fantastic to gel.