Moving head Beams Recommendations

[HTSL]

Hello CB, I was at LDI 2014 in Vegas last year and I saw some Beam Moving head fixtures, Really liked the effect they put out with gobos, color, ext. Our company is thinking about purchasing a few. There are a lot out there on the market. Can I get some recommendations and advise. I've been looking at the Martin MH3 beam, Platinum Beam 5r, Clay Paky Sharpy (a little over our budget). We are on a budget (1800-2500) for each light with road case and brackets. Fixture has to be under 600 watts.

 

[JohnD]

A lot depends on how you are going to use them, what throw distance will you be using? How bright a stage will they need to cut thru?
Sharpy's are nice but they do need a long throw. There is the story of someone who left one focused on the lid of the Steinway D and damaged the finish.
Do they need to be lamp type or have you considered LED units. @Pie4Weebl has the Chauvet Rogue R1 spots and seems happy with them. Whatever you decide on get a demo. By the way, @Ford from Chauvet Professional posts to this board so he might be able to help with a demo.

 

[Ford]

Honestly, as much as I'd like to recommend our Rogue R1 & R2 spots, if you're really looking for a clean looking beam, on a budget, take a hard look at the R1 Beam. It has an extremely efficient optical system (Glass, not microfresnel) that puts out a nearly parallel beam of light and over 78,000 lux at 15 meters, it is plenty bright for most applications. Street price is around $1500... So is well within your budget.
It only uses a132w Osram Sirius lamp (6000 hr rated lamp life...really long), it has an 8 facet prism which is stackable with a 5 facet linear prism for some incredibly trippy effects, you can get flightcases, and the fixtures only draw 1.2 amps at 208v.

If you want a demo, PM me, and I'll try to coordinate something with your local dealer.

 

[HTSL]

What about Clay Paky alpha 300?

http://www.claypaky.it/en/products/alpha-beam-300

 

[JohnD]

Are you considering used, if so the CP alpha beam 300 might be a possibility if you have a good maintenance team.
4wall/usedlighting.com only shows one, out of your price range:
http://www.usedlighting.com/21179/clay-paky-alpha-beam-300
However gearsource.com has quite a few, cases available:
http://www.gearsource.com/catalog/stockitem/clay-paky-alpha-beam-300
It should be noted that fixture has been around quite a while and newer items are possibly much better.

 

[HTSL]

Yeah I'm thinking that too. Is there any brands I should stay away from and brands that are most popular for moving fixtures?

 

[avkid]

Clay Paky, Martin, Vari-Lite and Robe are the ones I see the most on touring shows and coming through the shop.

 

[Heather Michaelson]

They're a newer company, but the Mega-Lite Axis Prime 10R's that I got this year are great for the price and features. More colors than other lights, more gobos than others, but for me it was the zoom that did it. I love them.