Denmark-based Martin Professional, one of the leading manufacturers of automated lighting, has crossed into some new territory in their product line. Their newest MAC, the TW1, goes backwards in time, but forward in technology as Martin unleashes their new tungsten wash automated moving yoke light. This luminaire features an incandescent source, a 1200-watt tungsten bulb from Philips that brings out skin colors and fabric textures that arc driven lights would normally wash out and render slightly differently. The warmth of the light source makes it perfect for television and film as well as lighting a runway. The f i x tur e comes with its own internal IGBT dimmer, yet it also boasts the capability of hooking up to an external dimmer via an extra outboard cable with a Neutrik Powercon connector. It’s perfect for jamming into small stages where there is little or no room for external dimmer racks. It has a nice feature that prevents an external dimmer from powering the lamp unless the fixture is powered on.
There is also a mechanical dimmer built into the fixture. It has variable speed strobing as well as strobe effects, of course. The strobe function isn’t quite as nice with this type of fixture, but you probably wouldn’t spec it for that particular attribute. The beauty of the mechanical dimmer is that the color temperature of the beam does not change when you fade it up or down. You can also snap to zero intensity if you want to, rather than having to wait for the filament to stop glowing.
The fixture accepts a 110-volt or 240-volt bulb, and the electronic switching power supply makes it quite universal to use around the world. There is also an option for an 80-volt PSU that will power the new 80-volt bulb Philips Lighting is working on. This low voltage bulb has a brighter output than the others I’m told.
The beam has a relatively flat field with a consistent soft edge. The MAC TW1 ships with a stock front lens that allows the dual lens zoom system to stretch from 19 to 40 degrees. There is also a wide lens available that allows for a 90 to 110 beam degree spread they are also working on a narrow lens option, though the details have not been finalized yet. The zoom function is impressive, though you can notice something dropping into the light path as it zooms to a tight beam.
Don’t doubt the brightness of this fixture because it has an incandescent source. From 15 feet away, I measured 500 footcandles of illumination when the beam was white and in its tightest zoom position. In a saturated blue color, I read close to 100 footcandles at the same distance.
The color mixing system comes with welldesigned CMY flags. I was able to achieve many brilliant shades of pastels and ambers that are hard to achieve with arc sources. I was also able to blend the three flags to achieve a great variety of white color temperatures ranging from 3200k (warm light) to 7500k (daylight).The color system was fairly fast at bumping colors and running the flags in an effects engine.
The fixture can pan 540 degrees and tilt 242 degrees. It does not move extremely fast, but it does move to pinpoint accuracy and it can stop in place quickly. More importantly, the fixture moves silently. I hear no belts whirling or color systems clanging when I beat this fixture up. It performs slow ballyhoos flawlessly, but don’t depend on this fixture for any fast moving rock effects.
Some of the other nice features include a tilt brake that keeps it from swinging drastically when the power is removed. There is also an optional accessory gate that can hold two items like color frames, a top hat, safety screen, etc.
On the tech side, this fixture is stealth to look at and work on. It is modular which makes for easy cleaning, bench teching and parts replacement. The lamp holder/bulb combination is a “FastFit” with an easy quarter-turn quick-replacement scheme that shortens the length of the head by a couple of inches because the lamp socket is very flat. It also requires no tools for replacement. You just open the access door with a thumb tab and twist the lamp until it comes out. Nor does it need adjustment after lamp replacement.
The internal PC card pops out one side of the head with four quick-fasten screws. Its size seems a bit large for a wash fixture —the width at the yoke is 19.3 inches and the height with the head pointing straight up is 27.9 inches—though it is a 1200-watt fixture. The cooling system on the back of the head might contribute to the size of the fixture. You will easily notice the convection cooling fins on the magnesium alloy exterior of the head. These heat sinks, along with a forced air cooling system and the reflector design, keep the exterior from getting blazing hot to touch.
Weighing in at 60 pounds, this fixture can be rigged at any angle. It can run in 8- or 16- bit mode, utilizing 14 or 20 DMX channels.
The Martin MAC TW1 has a fantastic range of color temperatures and the various dimming options give it a lot of flexibility. Although the size may limit its placement for certain functions, it’s a nice fixture.
