I spent last week at LDI in Las Vegas and it brought up a few questions. First, is $3000 an acceptable price for a LED framing spot? I was presenting a discussion on our laser cut gobos at a green technology session and there were several LED products shown there. When one manufacturer mentioned that the price of their light was in the neighborhood of $3,000, I was expecting to hear a groan or gasp but saw folks nodding or shrugging. I was intrigued that it seemed acceptable. As I looked out over the tradeshow floor, I saw a HUGE number of LED products and many were in the neighborhood of $2,000 to $3,000. We carry a few LED fixtures that retail for $440 and $695. Yes, these units are not as bright but have many of the same features as the more expensive units. We also showed a new product, the Spotlight Midi LED Zoom. This is a RGBW fixture with 25 watts per color output, which will retail in the neighborhood of $1,500 and has a cool feature of DMX zoom from 12 to 50 degrees. I think the price is pretty good but if you compare it to the cost of a 6″ Fresnel, it is way expensive. Mind you, it uses no gel and can be used on a Right Arm to give you even more versatility. Is it “affordable”? Well, yes, if you compare it to the other LED fixtures but NO if you use only incandescent fixtures. It just seems that all of the research and new products have shifted to LED technology completely and there isn’t going to be much in new gear for the theaters with medium to small budgets. Any thoughts?
