BUYERS GUIDE By RichardCadena
M
oving mirrors fixtures have been around
for at least 40 years, and they have been
tried in the theatre, on concert tours,
and in nightclubs. George Izenour undertook a
project to build a remote followspot in a moving
mirror form factor in 1969. The water-cooled fixture had heat problems and never found much
commercial success, but a couple of them were
installed in the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. In
1971, Jim Fackert and Stefan Graf were touring
with the band Grand Funk Railroad when they
grew increasingly tired of dealing with followspot operators. As a result, they built a set of remotely controlled followspots and dubbed them
the Cyklops. Those fixtures remained actively
touring for many years.
Manufacturer
Web address
Clay Paky
www.claypaky.it
Martin Professional
www.martin.com
Then in 1986, the Italian lighting manufacturer Coemar built a small 350-watt moving
mirror fixture around the GE Marc 350 lamp and
called it the Robot. That was the beginning of the
modern day moving mirror fixture. It was simple
by today’s standards — it had pan, tilt, four colors, and four gobos — but it was one of the first
moving light fixtures offered for sale rather than
for rental only. It was a sensation in nightclubs
around the world.
Many other moving mirror fixtures soon followed from various manufacturers, and before
long, they were available in a wide range of sizes.
The feature set was eventually expanded to include just about every feature found in today’s
automated luminaires — high-resolution step-
Distributors
PRG Distribution (U.S.)
Martin Professional, Inc.
(U.S.)
PR Lighting, Ltd.
www.pr-lighting.com
OmniSistem
(U.S.); omni
sistem.com
PRG Distribution,
SAP Events
(Canada)
Martin Canada
Erikson Pro
(Canada); erik
sonpro.com
ping, color mixing, high-resolution glass gobos
with rotation and indexing, mechanical dimming, electronic strobing, remote focus and iris
and more.
But the same technological advances that
brought these developments also enabled
the production of affordable moving yoke fixtures, which precipitated the decline in sales
of moving mirror fixtures. Today, most automated lights in use are moving yoke fixtures,
but moving mirror fixtures still offer many advantages over moving yokes. They can move
the beam faster, which makes for more high
energy cues, and they have a lower profile,
which allows them to make more effective
use of the available ceiling height. In some
Model
Vector 10,
Teletec (Mexico)
Lamp Source
Stage Scan
HMI 1200
Astroscan
HMI 1200W
cases, they fit where moving yoke fixtures
do not. They also have fewer parts, so they
are less expensive and they can produce less
noise related to moving yoke parts.
Many lighting designers who remember the old days of the Golden Scan, Intellabeam, Telescan and other moving mirror
fixtures lament the decline of the moving
mirror era of automated lighting. Perhaps
they don’t know just how many of these
fixtures are still available today. That’s the
underlying purpose of this month’s Buyers
Guide. We’ve solicited every theatrical lighting manufacturer asking for listings of their
moving mirror fixtures. The results may surprise you.
Color Mixing
Color Wheel/No. of Slots
Non-rotating Gobos/Type
Ro
RGB
7 dichroic colors incl.
2 concentric colors,
4-color beam, UV, CTO,
CTB
4 interchangeable M-size
metal gobos
4 inte
NA
NA
Mini Scan HP3
HTI 300W/DX
11 dichroic colors
MX-10 Extreme
250 W
discharge
12 interchangeable
colors
Audioacústica y
Electrónica S.A.
(Mexico)
4 int
7 dichroic colors
NA
8 int
a
NA
Mania SCX-700
150 W
discharge
9 interchangeable
colors
7 int
a
PR Moon
MSD 250/2
9 dichroic colors + white
incl. rainbow effect
7 inte
m
Hermes Music
(Mexico);
her mesmusic.
com.mx
NA
PR Moon - H
NA
EVC 24V/250W
10 dichroic colors +
white incl. rainbow
effect
5 fixed metal gobos
7 inte
m
PSL Italy
www.psl.it
OmniSistem (omnisistem.com)
OmniScan 250
MSD 250/2
NA
7 dichroic colors + white
incl. 4-speed rainbow
effect - twin filter color
conversion creating 24
colors
Strong
www.strong-lighting.
com
See Web site
Technobeam w/
Iris
MSD 250
NA
11 dichroic colors, CTO
and open
NA
7 dichroic colors + open
plus CTB effect produces 16 colors, 2 color
beam splits
3 of 7 interchangeable
gobos fixed/ 33.9mm
4o
rota
NA
8 int
ab
each
su
Victory II 250
SGM
www.sgm.it
Techni-Lux, Inc /
www.techni-lux.com
NA
Galileo IV 1200
24 PLSN JULY 2009
EVC 250w/24v
HMI 1200
3 colors wheels w/ 18
dichroics total, 75 color
combinations with UV,
CTB & CTO filters
5 in
able
7 int
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S
Strong Technobeam MSD 250
Martin Mania SCX-700
SGM Galileo IV 1200
OmniSistem OmniScan 250
Clay Paky Astroscan HMI 1200
Type
Rotating Gobos/Type
Effects
Pan/Tilt Range
Size/Weight
Comments
size
4 interchangeable rotating
glass gobos
4 rotating prisms, 1 fixed
prism, dimmer, strobe, iris,
stepped frost
150°/110°
48.4”L x 17.1”W x
11.6”H/95 lbs
Optional accessories: static or wheel-mounted vertical floor stand, flight case,
fan cover. Max. mirror speed - 0.4s/150 degrees pan; 0.3s/110 degrees tilt.
4 interchangeable M-size
metal gobos
Dimmer/stop/strobe
± 12°/± 12°
45.86”L x 12.99”W x
8.86”H/86 lbs
Patended head, rotating and oscillating as programmed at the variable
speeds and inclinations desired.
6 gobos
3-facet prism, 2 frost filters,
dimmer, stop/strobe, electronic linear zoom, iris
150°/110°
22.91”L x 9.37”W x
11.81”/13 kg (200-240V);
16 Kg (100-120V)
Lens units: standard: 1:2.2 / 135 mm (19°) - Optional wide angle lens:
1:1.6/100 mm (25°)
8 interchangeable indexable rotating gobos
Interchangeable 3-facet
rotating prism; separate
shutter; focus
230°/75°
735mmL x 340mmW x
315mmH/22 kg (48.4 lb)
3000 hours lamp life; continuous operation, no cool down time needed;
8 prism/gobo pre-programmed macros.
7 interchangeable indexable rotating gobos
Separate shutter; manual
focus
198°/72°
525mmL x 240mmW x
203mmH/13 kg (28.6 lb)
Continuous operation - no cool down time needed; 12 effect plus 12 pan/tilt
pre-programmed macros; 6000 hours lamp life.
7 interchangeable rotating
metal gobos + open
Adjustable strobe, 1 -7
F.P.S.
175°/80°
20.6”L x 11.8”W x
13.2”H/22 lbs
Control: DMX-512 (Ch. 6), stand-alone, M/S Synchro Mode; 13.6° beam angle;
auto thermal cut-off; manual adjustable focus.
7 interchangeable rotating
metal gobos + open
Mechanical shutter for
blackout and strobe effect,
1 -8 F.P.S.
175°/80°
26”L x 13.2”W x 10.6”H/
21 lbs
Control: DMX-512 (Ch. 7), sound active (programs included), stand-alone, M/S
Synchro Mode; 13.6° beam angle; auto thermal cut-off; manual adjustable
focus; adjustable lamp brightness; electronic dimming.
5 interchangeable variable speed rotating metal
gobos
Frost effect, UV simulator,
variable speed strobe effect, black-out
180°/80°
24”L x 10.4”W x 14.4”H/
47 lbs
Control: DMX-512 (Ch. 8), 12 built-in programs, stand-alone, M/S Synchro
Mode; adjustable beam focus; forced veltilation via axial fan; auto thermal
cut-off.
7 interchangeble rotating
glass gobos
4 rotating effects
180°/115°
34”L x 13”H x 16”W/
41 lbs
Built-in presets, programable presets, optional wide beam 30 degrees, optional narrow beam 8 - 12 degrees, optional white housing.
4 of 7 interchangeable
rotating gobos / 33.9mm
4-facet rotating prism,
dimmer 0-100%, frost
wash effect, CTB, strobing
shutter
180°/90°
10.25” x 25.6” x 13.78”/
31 lbs
ETL approved; audio microphone for stepping color wheel; shutter or gobo
wheel.
8 interchangeable, indexable rotating gobos (4
each on 2 wheels that can
superimpose)/49 mm
Iris, 3D rotating prism,
4-facet rotating prism,
9-facet prism, dimmer
0-100%, strobing shutters,
2 frost wash effects, CTB,
CTO, UV, mechanical focus
180°/90°
8.3” x 45.1” x 11.4”/97 lbs
Includes 4 glass and 4 metal gobos; positionable mirror scan head; audio mic
for color wheel or gobo wheel stepping, and shutter strobing to music.
s
ble
m
2009 JULY PLSN 25