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Core Considerations

An in-depth look at entry-level moving lights

by Michael S. Eddy

For some time now, automated lighting has become more common in the house of worship market. Fixture technology, coupled with newer lamp technology, has improved to deliver more punch with lower wattage lamps. Fixtures have more features and flexibility, while still providing churches the quality of light many are looking for. Prices are coming down, so the entry point isn’t as high as it used to be, making automated lighting an option for more than just the largest churches.

Last year, I looked at the considerations of using automated lighting in the HOW market [CPM March 2008: Core Considerations] from the designer’s and consultant’s perspective. I wanted to follow up, taking a look at some entry-level moving lights. Once you have made the design and facility choices to get automated lighting, what should you consider when looking at the different fixtures themselves? I spoke with a number of manufacturers about what’s new and which lights they see best suited for church production. For this article, I drew a price-point line of $5,000. There are cheaper units—as well as much more expensive ones—but most felt that this is the cost range where you can get the core features, some extra flexibility, and have a reliable, useful light to fill a range of your lighting requirements.

Automated Lighting Exposed
“In terms of lighting worship spaces, automated lighting is both the present and future,” says Daryl Sutton, house of worship market manager with Martin Professional Inc. in Sunrise, Fla. “Moving lights have long been incorporated into large-scale, concert-style worship environments. What is new is the trend of incorporating these lights into weekend worship services to be used as effective general stage lighting. This is the flexibility of automated lighting.”

Tom Littrell, fixtures product manager with Electronic Theatre Controls Inc. (ETC) of Middleton, Wis., sees the expanding market uses as well, “We have had good success with the Source Four Revolution fixture in the HOW market,” he says, “because of the combination of quietness, the warm, incandescent source, and beam-control options. It is important to understand and find the type of features the church designer needs in a unit.”

Eric Loader, director of sales with Elation Professional, Los Angeles, sees the punch of the lower wattage units as a benefit for churches. “Starting at 300W is where our moving lights are finding their way into church applications. Smaller moving heads have become a more realistic option for churches. In the past, you couldn’t go with anything smaller than 575W because the fixtures have to throw beyond 20 feet, which meant 575W fixtures. We worked closely with Philips a few years ago to launch a brighter 250W lamp that would give the output needed for larger applications but still be economical and fit [into] a smaller fixture housing. What came out of this was the MSR300/2 Fast Fit lamp technology, which we use in units we have been shipping for almost a year.”

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Michael S. Eddy writes about design and technology. He can be reached at mseddy2900@hotmail.com.   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)