Lamp Vs Led Reversal

[sparklingdiscos 0]

A few years ago i switched all my lighting that id gathered over the years - heavy old stuff - for lighter, better (so i thought at the time) and more reliable LED lighting.

 

I was very happy with it all (LED stratos wash, impossibled, scanners etc), then by chance i picked up some Abstract Twister 4 HPs for a few quid and was amazed at how much better they were than the LED stuff despite being older and costing next to nothing!

 

So much so I now only have the LED stratos (which are brilliant for what i use them for) left in my rig as LEDs, the rest are back to lamps.

 

 

Has any else gone full circle - lamps to LED and back to lamps? Youd be amazed at what quality lighting you can pick up for £100 now!!

 

 

[gadget 0]

I've never really been impressed with much in the way of LED lighting... I've seen them at NADJ show before now - some of it was "ok" but most of it was, well disappointing.

 

I had 8 KAM PAR 56's which I kept for about a year and then sold on - I found I didn't use them that much at all. I bought a pair of NJD datamoons, dynaroll and a pair of cased soundlab colourscans with the money. (90 quid, 90 quid and err 65 quid respectively. The colourscans were brand new, and had been sitting in a warehouse for probably some time!).

 

The stratos wash (prolight), was actually one of the things I was impressed with when I saw it at the time... If I'd have had some cash on me at the time, I may have actually gone and bought a pair...

 

With the 25w LED lights coming out, They may well reach the light levels equivalent to an HID 150w bulb (in terms of Kelvin)..

 

I've read that there is some Theatre lighting LED units which can almost match 500watt bulbs/fixtures, but they have an array of LED's arranged/focus in such a way as to produce the light level and range of colours required.

 

Apart from the pair of PAR uplighters which are LED, the only other LED "effect" is the star cloth :)

 

Cheers,

 

David

[MintyDave 0]

On a small scale i too have gone round the houses. i still have 2 acme invicibleds and the par cans but thats it for now. I may pick up a couple of cheap led fixtures for small venues to avoid having to use the datamoons all the time.

 

like many im still waiting for that good quality led gobo unit.

[Derek Paul 0]

I have a mix of LED and “Real Lights.” I think they both have a place in a light show; the trick is using them in the right place. For anything that projects movement, I like fixtures with lamps. OK they are heavier and need care when hot, but they are just better, and brighter. I use Martin MX4’s and a Smartmac, but I also have older Martin fixtures like Robocolour and Zaps. For up-lighting and under table lighting I use LED’s. In this situation they are better. In any circumstances where lights could be accessed by kids (or drunks :scared: ) I will ONLY use LED’s, as they don’t get hot (actually not even too warm).

As a side note I recently found an old Solar 250 which I have taken to a few gigs (just for old time’s sake). I have more interest in that light than any other, go figure!!!

Edited January 27, 2011 by Derek Paul

[ChrisPeacock 0]

them solar 250 lghts have some mad effects but are still very expensive to buy

[fester 0]

I haven't really gone full circle but I have bought a few LED effects that I never use.

I thought they were kind of fun when they were the new latest thing and I got sucked into the hype but it didn't take me long to get bored of the "dots".

My lighting is all halogen now except for an impossibled that I sometimes use pointed at the ceiling if i'm in a big room.

[Dukesy 0]

I've seen several LED based effects and haven't really been impressed with any of what i've seen so far - reminds me of the cheap 50w halogen effects that surfaced in the late 90's.

 

A lot of the venues in Derbyshire are 17th or 18th century with oak lined walls and dark wood stained floors and in these venues, even a 250w ELC based halogen effect can struggle to make its mark.

 

Even a poll on DJU members with LED lighting effects, returned a majority precentage of owners who still believed that they could be significantly improved in light output.

 

LED technology has still got a lot of ground to gain yet and I think it will be a long time before improvements are here. Its even currently difficult to find a decent LED direct replacement for house lighting. I've tried several, and the light output has been appalling. So i'm not surprised that the opinions are mixed in relation to our, more specialised lighting requirements.

[Robster 0]

I wave recently gone away from lots of moving gobos and flashing lights to more flashing colour washes this works well with karaoke singers so i flood the floor with four led par cans on an over head bar then have two lamp 250 watts effect gobo prism scanners , because the led are good for washes but not powerful as the scanners the scanners punch there shapes through the wash if you get what i mean .

 

I am still waiting for the holy grail of DJ lights a powerful and bright enough and light weight gobo led moonflower a true replacement to the ancient datamoon. when a led with enough lumens comes out in five years time , then hopefully american dj will make seven hundred different models every month with ten billion youtube reviews on it from every dj on the planet being a youtube video reviewer at the rate its currently growing . ;P