Vintage Lighting The end of an era: Altman retires the 360Q.
- Thread startergafftapegreenia
- Start date
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
It was time. I'm honestly surprised that they stuck with it this long.
20 years to 3 million...
Maybe it's just bad wording. They never said it was in production for 25 years, just that they sold 1 million in a 25 year period.
The official email from Altman states a production life of over 40 years. http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ad27f2b1465818af32dc01802&id=14d4571816&e=a5d50ef3b5
Les
Well-Known Member
I think the difference between Altman's sales and those of ETC's could have something to do with how the Source 4 was a huge leap in lighting technology and efficiency. The 360Q changed the game enough for it to become "the standard", but the optics and efficiency probably weren't enough of an improvement for a theatre to go throwing out all their Century and Kliegl gear. The Source 4, in many cases, was enough of an improvement. It also came in at a time when people started using projections more heavily in their designs.
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
The Altman 360Q was a game changer, to be certain, but it was introduced during the 1970s recession and at the end of the great building boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s. By then, many educational institutions and community theaters had brand new Kliegl or Century (Rank) Strand inventories and there was NO money to explore this new technology. I really think it was the Broadway rental houses that championed this instrument first.
I'm not sure if it was the first axial ERS that took advantage of the then "new-ish" EHx series of lamps, but it was certainly the most successful at its price point. It would be at least 5 years before Strand & Kliegl would "catch up" with an axial ERS using this lamp.
And, Les, you are also correct that the S4 represented such a drastic leap forward in so many ways, especially in terms of gobo projections.
Also, at the point of its introduction, the US was experiencing almost unprecedented economic prosperity. This mean that school districts, universities and other arts organizations had resources to throw at the new technology. Many had aging inventories of Strand, Kliegl and Altman lights from the 1970s and this new technology clearly represented the future.
Last edited:
Les
Well-Known Member
I wonder if this means that the Altman 3.5Q isn't far behind. The 3.5 fills a niche largely taken over by the Source Four Jr (and at a comparable price point).
I would imagine the 65Q will remain for quite some time. It still has a fair bit of market share and aside from ETC's unit, it's difficult to improve a tungsten fresnel. I have a feeling that Altman is gearing up to put more resources in to their line of LEDs. They've had great successes with the Phoenix LED and SpectraCyc which is pleasantly surprising seeing that Altman is known as a bit of an old-school company.
I would imagine the 65Q will remain for quite some time. It still has a fair bit of market share and aside from ETC's unit, it's difficult to improve a tungsten fresnel. I have a feeling that Altman is gearing up to put more resources in to their line of LEDs. They've had great successes with the Phoenix LED and SpectraCyc which is pleasantly surprising seeing that Altman is known as a bit of an old-school company.
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
Hard to say. The 3.5 still has a bit of a niche in the architectural market that MAY keep it around a bit longer.
The 65Q is here to stay says my crystal ball. Between the fact that you can now get them WITH an HPL socket OR use the BTH mpf lamp it will be hard to beat that fact that you can get a 6" fresnel for $120 from Altman that performs ALMOST as well as the ETC fresnel.
The 65Q is here to stay says my crystal ball. Between the fact that you can now get them WITH an HPL socket OR use the BTH mpf lamp it will be hard to beat that fact that you can get a 6" fresnel for $120 from Altman that performs ALMOST as well as the ETC fresnel.
techieman33
Well-Known Member
Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
Well, I was giving the ETC fresnel the benefit of the doubt. I have never seen or used one. At the price I assumed it offered something superior other than an invoice total.
I will say that I have experimented with the HPL socket in the 65Q and will share that I very much prefer the results that I got from a traditional BTL/BTN/BTH lamp over what I got from the HPL in the 65Q.
I will say that I have experimented with the HPL socket in the 65Q and will share that I very much prefer the results that I got from a traditional BTL/BTN/BTH lamp over what I got from the HPL in the 65Q.
Les
Well-Known Member
I've seen a bit of negative too, or at least a mixed bag. Based on my experience working with the Altman 1KAF, hopefully it is better in the tooling department. But whether or not the optics or output is worth the premium on price... Let's just say if I had a set budget to spend on fresnels, I'd probably sooner buy twice as many "economy" fresnels.
At least the Source Four Par came with the convenience of interchangeable lenses and consolidating lamp types (plus being a smaller unit).
I do wish the 65Q had the fourth clip on the gel frame. Maybe they can make some from all that sheet metal they will be saving.
Last edited:
I was fact checking myself and my memory and was going through the random copies of Theatre Crafts magazine I have and couldn't find a single ad from Altman! I also kept getting distracted by all the mid 70's ads for memory controllers. I do remember first seeing the 360Q at Ed West/KJEM lighting in Tulsa. It may be time for a road trip to Stillwater to go through the bound back issues of TC at OSU.
microstar
Well-Known Member
From testing a S4 Fresnel against an ancient Colortran 213-202 6" Fresnel, I'm not sure it's really much of an improvement. The S4 is amazingly heavy, the quarter-turn fasteners that secure the gel clip are a pain, removing the lamp socket assembly from the body to change a lamp would be a lot of fun on a ladder, etc. etc. etc. I'll take the 65Q. My all-time favorite is the Electro-Controls 6" fresnel.
