LED Fresnels: Two Takes on Design

PRIMETIME's GUS 41

PrimeTime Lighting's Gus 41 fresnel. Click the image to see it at full size.

The other light I had the opportunity to get my hands on was the Gus 41 from PrimeTime Lighting Systems. This is a much larger, traditional fresnel. While it looks like it would be perfect hung from the rafters in a theatre, it is also well suited to today's video production with great color rendition, true focusability, and remote DMX control.

Offering an alternative to DMX in every head, PrimeTime's DNR interface to DMX.

PrimeTime also manufactures a lighting control system that can take one DMX input and convert it to DNR to control eight heads using BNC video cable. The DNR hardware in the head is less expensive than DMX hardware so for a studio looking to replace their tungsten lighting, this could provide considerable savings. One DMX head can even have multiple DNR "slaves" that mimic its settings.

Power & Loop through, DNR & Loop through, DMX & Loop through. Dimmer, DMX address, and power switch are on the front.

The Gus 41 head also integrates the AC supply into the head itself, using a standard IEC cable for power, not a cable dangling out of the head. This enables you to daisychain multiple heads in a row by plugging one head into next. You'd never daisy chain many older tungsten heads on one circuit. But when you can get the equivalent of a 500w tungsten or 200w HMI from just 40w of AC, daisychaining lights makes a lot of sense.

It also has an integrated, manual, onboard dimmer and even a numerical controller than can preset certain features of the light--like maximum brightness, or the DMX address of the light.

In Use

The Gus 41 is a serious light. The heavy-duty aluminum and CNC'd parts speak to this light's durability in a rental kit or in a multi-use stage facility. The case is durable and completely silent. There is no fan nor is there any noise from dimming that I could hear. The and AC to DC ballast and other controller hardware is contained in the base of the light. The top exists solely to dissipate the heat from the LED elements through a large, movable heat sink in the head.

The Gus 41 is a serious production tool.

Turning the knob on the center of the back of the head moves the entire lighting assembly forward or backward with respect to the fresnel lens on the front. The motion is smooth and sure, and the inside assembly never moved on its own when I tilted the light up or down.

There's plenty of room for scrims or gels on the front and it includes a very durable set of doors for the front. All this loads from the top, and the top latch can screw down. But I really wished it was spring-loaded so I could just lift and turn the latch to add or remove what I wanted. The U-bracket gives the head good tilting ability. Without doors or cables attached, the head can spin completely around.

The light from the Gus 41 was smooth and even. It is remarkably even when full wide--more so than the Fiilex lights. There's a little rolloff on the edges, but within the coverage area, it's remarkably flat lighting without a hot center spot. That's a credit to the design of the lighting element and the high-performance, micro-fine acrylic fresnel lens on the front.

Changing from very flat, to very spotted is easy with Gus' smooth focus adjustment.

Focus it down and your 12' circle at just 10' away becomes a 2' circle of light. Your 22 footcandles of light across that 12' circle becomes an incredible 323 foot-candles. This is something the two Fiilex lights I tested don't do. At 32' away, that spot of light only expands to 6' across. PrimeTime has also tested this fixture in uncooled office rooms for weeks at a time. It the passive cooling keeps the LED array about 100 degrees above ambient temperature. So keep it in a room under 110° and you'll be fine.

Lastly, PrimeTime Lighting has come out with an update to the Gus 41 called the Gus 51. By using more powerful diodes, it's 24% brighter overall, but everything else remains the same. This gives you the equivalent of a 650w tungsten light.

In Comparison

Unlike the Fiilex heads, which are designed for compactness and for a mobile kit, the PrimeTime Gus 41 is designed more for an installation, or for a grip truck. Two similar-looking LED lights, but made for different lighting purposes. I would not try to light a stage or studio with these little Fiilex lights as they don't offer enough control over the light that's emitted. Conversely, I would not want to cart four Gus 41 heads, and the appropriate heavy-duty stands, with me around an office to record some talking heads.

But the reverse is absolutely true: For a small sound stage, or grip truck, the Gus 41 makes a perfect solution. It is very wide and soft or small and focused as needed. Put it in place, hang it from a grid, and control it from the light itself, or from a lighting board via DMX or via PrimeTime's DNR lighting protocol. Wiring multiple lights is simplified by the ability to daisy-chain the power from one outlet through multiple heads.

Big and small LED lighting options.

For location lighting, moving around a lot, and travel, the Fillex kits offer amazing capability and flexibility in a small and light package. With the softbox and doors you can get some control of the light. Being able to turn a dial to match, or contrast, the color temperature, and to dim the light, are very handy features. So, too, is the ability to plug all your lighting into one 15A circuit and not have to worry about tripping a breaker.

LED lighting has come a long way and is now really stepping up to emulate traditional lighting tools with capable replacements. While not as inexpensive as a small, open-faced light kit, lensed lighting offers much more control of the light you use to create the images you need. Initially, it may seem expensive, but when the same light will serve you for many years to come, with no bulbs to replace, lower power usage, much less heat, and more capability (color temperature control) than a traditional lamp, it certainly proves to be a worthwhile investment.

DISCLOSURE:
Fiilex provided their equipment for review.
Shipping from and back to Fiilex was covered by their reseller DVE Store in Washington.
PrimeTime Lighting is located near me. I drove to see their factory and how the Gus light is manufactured.
PrimeTime let me use it for two weeks and I returned it to their factory.
There is no other relationship between myself and either company.