HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND

ISE management promised it at the 2023 show, and in 2024 they delivered. There is now a dedicated lighting hall, smoke isolated and dark, so all the lampies can shine. Almost all of the big players were there in this first year, but not yet at the scale and polish they bring to PL+S or LDI. I think they will be next year, and the lighting hall will get larger. This more than anything likely heralds the end of PL+S in Frankfurt as a big international show.

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Claypaky Goes One Better

While Claypaky released the newer fixtures on their ISE stand at LDI in November 2023, this is the first time they’ve been seen by the European market (and me). The Shield Family of IP66 rated fixtures has expanded, and IP66 is of course a slightly higher rating of ingress protection than the more common IP65, meaning the fixtures can withstand bigger (12.5mm) and more pressurised (100kPa) jets of water, as opposed to lower pressure 6.3mm jets of water. It’s one better!

The HY B-EYE K15 Aqua is based on the unique Claypaky ALEDA B-EYE technology with rotation and pixel-mapping. Aqua boasts true IP66 protection and has been rigorously tested to endure vibration and shock during transportation, extreme temperature fluctuations, impacts from hailstones, electrical stress, harsh surroundings, UV exposure, and more.

Back on dry land, the Rhapsodya theatrical fixture is a high power, low-noise multi- spectral LED-based fixture. It uses a custom 1200W multicolour RGBAL LED engine, is capable of a 24,000 lumen output and offers many exclusive features, such as the Accuframe framing system using two focal planes for better resolution and focusing; Tonedown, which ensures whisper-quiet operation at just 27dB; Absolute Position for advanced pan and tilt control; the Lineguard frost system using two pairs of blades for much higher beam uniformity and truly incremental adjustment of frost levels; and ColorMatch calibration for matching colour temperatures to other fixtures when using Claypaky CloudIO software.

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Robe iBolt

The Robe stand was the closest thing to a big tradeshow light show in the hall, minus the dancers they usually bring to their more extravagant outings. See those incredibly bright fixtures sitting on the truss left and right? They are the as-yet unreleased iBOLT, a hugely bright fixture with a laser source, 500W phosphor conversion, and 300mm lens. It’s the first real replacement for conventional 7K Xenon searchlights on the market. With the same feature set as Robe’s MegaPointe, the iBOLT can be a beam, spot, wash and effects luminaire for stage and outdoor use. It has been described as “a MegaPointe on super-steroids” and I can attest it was blindingly bright, while barely idling in the confines of the hall.

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Making a Cameo

Part of the massive Adam Hall Group, Cameo had one of the larger stands in the hall, neatly divided into indoor and outdoor fixtures, the latter denoted by sitting on the half of the stand built on fake grass. IP65 rated fixtures are becoming the standard rather than the exception in new lighting releases, and Cameo had a bewildering array of new product in that category.

The IP65 Cameo Otos W12 runs 32 50W RGBL-LEDs with a total output up to 19,500lm luminous flux. Its LED FX ring is totally controllable, and the fixture as a whole is controllable down to the individual pixel. t’s smaller sibling, the IP65 Otos W3 runs seven 50W RGBL LEDs with a total output of 3,100lm luminous flux, also including an FX ring and pixel-level control.

On the architectural/outdoor event wash side, the Dura Spot series are rated at a hardcore IP67 and come in four sizes; the 400 (20 RGBW LEDs), the 200 (12 RGBW LEDs), the 100 (six RGBW LEDs) and the 60 (three RGBW LEDs).

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Maximum Elation

Technically not in the lighting hall but just next door, Elation Professional continued the IP rated theme with the Proteus Hybrid Max, rated IP66. It’s described as an “Extreme Output Hybrid” and uses a Philips MSD Platinum FLEX 500 lamp. Kicking out 22,000 lumens from its 170mm front aperture, it includes Elation’s ‘Sky Motion’ system, which lets you use the fixture as a searchlight effect without a lighting controller. Multiple fixtures can be interconnected, and with the simple assignment of IDs, the fixture provides immediate access to a variety of movement patterns that are easily adjustable in size, speed, and colour directly from the display.

More eye candy sat next to the Proteus in the shape of the SŌL I Blinder. Its ingenious modular design means LDs can make an almost infinite variety of configurations using its simple fixture interconnectors, threaded adapters, mounts, and yoke accessories. Its light source is a 250W RGB+Lime+Amber+White LED engine with 93+ CRI, punching out a suitably blinding 8,000 lumens!

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PROLiGHTS Takes it Outside

Italian manufacturer PROLiGHTS brought a huge selection of fixtures for almost every application and were definitely not going to ignore the IP65 trend. The Astra Hybrid330IP, billed as “the industry’s first IP LED moving hybrid” is IP65 rated, and runs a 330W LED. It includes CMY colour mixing, three colour wheels, an animation wheel, dual overlapping prisms, a frost effect, and two gobo wheels. The front lens measures 140mm and the zoom range is 3° to 50°.

Going back inside, the extremely compact 200W Jet Hybrid200 moving head runs a 200W LED source outputting 8,000 lumens. Designed for mid-air effects and image projections, The Jet Hybrid200’s dynamic effects suite includes a colour wheel with 13 dichroic filters, two gobo wheels featuring eight rotating and 17 static gobos, along with prism and frost. Zoom range is a flexible 3.5° to 40°.

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Safety First with  ChainMaster

The lighting hall was also home to lots of truss, staging and rigging companies, including Germany’s ChainMaster. In addition to their excellent range of hoists, they debuted their CellMaster, a wireless load monitoring sensor and shackle system. Developed in conjunction with English sensor experts BroadWeigh, the CellMaster beams accurate load data to your choice of receiver, making complex rigging environments with strict load limits safer for everyone.