To buy Studio Color for theater use ?

Hi, I'm a french light designer and i'm looking for wash yoke to use in a theater show.
We dont have enough money to buy brand new ones
So i found old Studio Color 575.
But i dont really understand the beam shape wheels, and i don't find the max angle too.
What do you think of this product, the difference with mac600 ?
Is there other high ends products which are not very noisy ?
Thanks a lot for helping me
  • Studio Color is a much higher quality fixture than a Mac-600 by far.

    All Studio Color and Studio Spot models are completely convection cooled. Which means they have no fans anywhere, and that alone makes them much quieter. It also means less cleaning b/c they are not sucking dust, fog, etc....through themselves all day long.

    For beam-shaping....think of it as an adjustable PAR shaped beam when it is engaged.

    For all the info and more you ever wanted about these fixtures:

    www.highend.com/support/automated_luminaires/studiocolor575.asp

    Hope this helps. :)
  • thanks marty for the answer.
    to understand more the shape wheels, i understand the PAR concept, like in the mac600 but the thing that is not clear to me is the global concept of these wheels:
    wheel one lens +shape
    wheel two frost + shape
    is it progressive lens and frost
    are the shape the same in both wheels ? can they turn 360° ?
    is the max angle is 22° with the lens max engaged ?
    is it bigger when lens and frost at max ?
    Thanks for answers
  • You are correct in that there appears to be no documentation as to the exact photometrics of the beam shapers.

    If you look in the manual, data sheet, or DMX chart you will have a better idea of how these work.

    - Yes you have sort of variable "zoom" when using the Wide Angle on wheel-1
    - Yes you have variable "frost" when using the Frost on wheel-2
    - Yes the shaping lenses are fully index-able 360.
    - Yes you can use one on wheel-1 and one on wheel-2 simultaneously.

    Hope this helps. :)
  • thanks for the answers
    I gonna try this machine. it really seems better than the mac600

    One more thing, because i'm not very familiar with yokes,
    do you know if there's a way so i can easily check if the yoke is in good condition ? and do it need a lot of knowledge to maintain it in a good condition ? Is it a safe one ?

    thanks a lot

    PS : i did not find a lot in the manual, it doesn't give you precise informations and i can't find more than :

    "Studio Color utilizes lenticular, frost, and convex lenses to refract light
    without decreasing light output. This allows for a wide variety of beam
    shaping effects beyond the possible combinations from mechanical systems.
    The system uses two independent effect wheels to accomplish this task. The
    following options are available on their respective wheels:
    Effects Wheel 1:Beam Shaping (DMX channel 10)
    • Variable wide angle lens
    • Variable narrow horizontal to wide vertical beam shaping
    Effects Wheel 2: Beam Shaping (DMX channel 11)
    • Variable frost lens
    • Variable narrow vertical to wide horizontal beam shaping"
  • Why not pop down to a rental house and stick the two side by side? I have done shows with 600's and studio colours... but never together in the same rig - so I can’t really comment on comparison. However I can say that both are solid workhorses. They are really good fixtures.

    Best Regards,
  • [quote=Joe Bleasdale;39457]However I can say that both are solid workhorses. They are really good fixtures.

    Actually I'm going to have to diagree with you here Joe.

    I've done hundreds of shows apiece with both Studio Colors and all flavours of Mac-600s.

    The Studio Colors are extremely rugged and look awesome.:headbang:

    The MAC-600s are, for lack of a better word, truly crap fixtures....I cringe every time I am forced into working with them.:chairshot:
  • I use Studio Color in theatre very frequently, and they are great . . . . unless you have a pretty low trim height, and then they tend to be a bit narrow. The beam shapers can widen them to a usable width, but you tend to lose a fair amount of intensity when the shapers are in play. Dead silent, save for a bit of noise in the dimming iris when moving fast . . . . which HES tells me is normal . . . .

    - Tim

    [quote=efra-france;39419]Hi, I'm a french light designer and i'm looking for wash yoke to use in a theater show.
    We dont have enough money to buy brand new ones
    So i found old Studio Color 575.
    But i dont really understand the beam shape wheels, and i don't find the max angle too.
    What do you think of this product, the difference with mac600 ?
    Is there other high ends products which are not very noisy ?
    Thanks a lot for helping me
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