"In my opinion, the Source four zoom is one of the most unwieldy instruments that we have in our inventory. They are huge and heavy. If you want to hang them on an electric over the stage you have to totally adjust trim heights for sight lines which often throws off other units.
They were purchased before my time at the theatre because at the time they were the only instrument that had a 15˚ beam angle."
Agreed about the 15/30 unit. Both the ETC and Altman units are huge beasts. The 25/50 is not as long and much easier to deal with, even with a C/F extender.
"If you set one up with perfectly clean optics and a brand new lamp next to a fixed focus unit the fixed focus will win for intensity any day. We just purchased a bunch of 14˚ lenses and they out shoot the zooms. (I was going to say "like it's their job" but it is!)"
Haven't seen that. I use fixed units in my coves, with and without gobo's and see just as crisp an image in my zooms as I do out of my coves. NO visiting designer (maybe 20-25 all told) has ever commented - in 3 years of use that the zoom optics don't look the same. Ditto intensity. The 750w unit is as punchy as my 1kw WFL Pars when zoomed out to 50 degrees.
"It is true, the zoom has caught on more in Europe. Seems to me that would have something to do with designers not wanting to do math. "
This is incorrect and an opinion without any basis in fact.
What is fact is that European companies have been using assorted brands of zooms - ADB, CCT and others, for 30 plus years in many (if not all) of the major performance spaces throughout Europe. I vividly recall the articles detailing the opening of the National Theater in London, what - 25 years or more ago, with it's assortment of CCT zooms. They have been regular fixtures for the same reasons I use them, the ability to maintain a rep hang without excess labor changing lens types - a feature on all those vintage ADB/s and CCT way back when as well.
Part of the reason for such widespread use, and it ain't lazy designers, is that the theaters are heavily funded thru public monies and can afford the more expensive equipment. This is the opposite of the US, where public funding is not at the level common in many Euro companies and you tend to see less extravagant facilities.
In reality, the Euro choice to use zooms is as much a matter as style, where the theaters HAVE the equipment in-house, as opposed to the hire-as-needed US method, where the US designers are forced to use what the shops carry - and that's fixed lens as they are cheaper and easier to rent.
FWIW, I have never had a designer complain about encountering a zoom. Most are perfectly happy with the concept of being able to tailor the beam size to the situation. Even though their tour plot called for 26's and 36's, due to varying conditions in the theater, with different trim heights, having a zoom has always been an advantage - except that it takes a bit longer as they adjust the image to correct size.
"Sure, it's great if you need to line up templates, but you can't get the same crisp imaging out of them."
See above and as stated, I have never had a complaint - well with my older Altman 4.5" zooms - Yes, but the S4's solve that.
"No offense to our ETC friends here, but if you want a zoom instrument pick up the Selecon Pacific Zooms. They are smaller, lighter, and have better optics (in the zoom category, I actually have never worked with the fixed focus Selecons). They handle image projection better, and they tend not to cook gel, as they are designed not to.
Look at the Prices below (From BMI):
ETC 15/30 - $462.90
Selecon 14/35 - $509
ETC Fixed w/ 19˚, 26˚ & 36˚ - $465"
I would love to have the Selecons, but desire continuity in the inventory in terms of parts, lamps and learning curve for the crew using them.
"Also, you have spare lens tubes and you don't have to mess around with big clunky instruments. "
Swapping lenses is disadvantage in a rep house when paying union labor. I also do not need to be paying the crew to be learning the in's and out's of lens swapping. They do that everyday in the industry and even though I'm at a college - the road house does not use student labor and it is not a paid learning experience.
Bottom line on all this is I believe that there is a stigma to using and owning zooms in this country that I never really understood. Certainly each and every facility is different and should purchase what works for them. Folks should also keep an open mind about the equipment they use.
As a closing, do you remember the good old days of fixed lenses on Intellibeams ?. The Cyberlight images out of the zoom lens were not quite as crisp, yet folks still used them (for a lot of other reasons as well). The manufacturers have since learned how to incorporate zoom optics in every ML in use and you would be hard pressed to find a moving head ML with a fixed lens (outside of a Studio Spot).
SB
They were purchased before my time at the theatre because at the time they were the only instrument that had a 15˚ beam angle."
Agreed about the 15/30 unit. Both the ETC and Altman units are huge beasts. The 25/50 is not as long and much easier to deal with, even with a C/F extender.
"If you set one up with perfectly clean optics and a brand new lamp next to a fixed focus unit the fixed focus will win for intensity any day. We just purchased a bunch of 14˚ lenses and they out shoot the zooms. (I was going to say "like it's their job" but it is!)"
Haven't seen that. I use fixed units in my coves, with and without gobo's and see just as crisp an image in my zooms as I do out of my coves. NO visiting designer (maybe 20-25 all told) has ever commented - in 3 years of use that the zoom optics don't look the same. Ditto intensity. The 750w unit is as punchy as my 1kw WFL Pars when zoomed out to 50 degrees.
"It is true, the zoom has caught on more in Europe. Seems to me that would have something to do with designers not wanting to do math. "
This is incorrect and an opinion without any basis in fact.
What is fact is that European companies have been using assorted brands of zooms - ADB, CCT and others, for 30 plus years in many (if not all) of the major performance spaces throughout Europe. I vividly recall the articles detailing the opening of the National Theater in London, what - 25 years or more ago, with it's assortment of CCT zooms. They have been regular fixtures for the same reasons I use them, the ability to maintain a rep hang without excess labor changing lens types - a feature on all those vintage ADB/s and CCT way back when as well.
Part of the reason for such widespread use, and it ain't lazy designers, is that the theaters are heavily funded thru public monies and can afford the more expensive equipment. This is the opposite of the US, where public funding is not at the level common in many Euro companies and you tend to see less extravagant facilities.
In reality, the Euro choice to use zooms is as much a matter as style, where the theaters HAVE the equipment in-house, as opposed to the hire-as-needed US method, where the US designers are forced to use what the shops carry - and that's fixed lens as they are cheaper and easier to rent.
FWIW, I have never had a designer complain about encountering a zoom. Most are perfectly happy with the concept of being able to tailor the beam size to the situation. Even though their tour plot called for 26's and 36's, due to varying conditions in the theater, with different trim heights, having a zoom has always been an advantage - except that it takes a bit longer as they adjust the image to correct size.
"Sure, it's great if you need to line up templates, but you can't get the same crisp imaging out of them."
See above and as stated, I have never had a complaint - well with my older Altman 4.5" zooms - Yes, but the S4's solve that.
"No offense to our ETC friends here, but if you want a zoom instrument pick up the Selecon Pacific Zooms. They are smaller, lighter, and have better optics (in the zoom category, I actually have never worked with the fixed focus Selecons). They handle image projection better, and they tend not to cook gel, as they are designed not to.
Look at the Prices below (From BMI):
ETC 15/30 - $462.90
Selecon 14/35 - $509
ETC Fixed w/ 19˚, 26˚ & 36˚ - $465"
I would love to have the Selecons, but desire continuity in the inventory in terms of parts, lamps and learning curve for the crew using them.
"Also, you have spare lens tubes and you don't have to mess around with big clunky instruments. "
Swapping lenses is disadvantage in a rep house when paying union labor. I also do not need to be paying the crew to be learning the in's and out's of lens swapping. They do that everyday in the industry and even though I'm at a college - the road house does not use student labor and it is not a paid learning experience.
Bottom line on all this is I believe that there is a stigma to using and owning zooms in this country that I never really understood. Certainly each and every facility is different and should purchase what works for them. Folks should also keep an open mind about the equipment they use.
As a closing, do you remember the good old days of fixed lenses on Intellibeams ?. The Cyberlight images out of the zoom lens were not quite as crisp, yet folks still used them (for a lot of other reasons as well). The manufacturers have since learned how to incorporate zoom optics in every ML in use and you would be hard pressed to find a moving head ML with a fixed lens (outside of a Studio Spot).
SB
