Altman Lighting, located in Yonkers, New York, USA, is a well-known brand of entertainment and architectural lighting products. Altman has been manufacturing followspots for decades including the Comet, Luminator, and discontinued Explorer and Voyager. When I was in high school, we had a pair of Voyagers, and they were great units. Their newest products are two models of LED followspots, the AFS-500 and AFS-700. Each model is a bit different, so we will have a tour through each comparing the differences.
First Impressions
I opened the box and lifted out the fixture. I was surprised how light it was. I put it on the stand and then dove back into the box looking for the heavy part…you know, the ballast. I had a brain fart moment. Since the unit is LED, no need for a ballast. I grabbed the Edison to PowerCON input cable and plugged it in. The fixture booted up almost instantaneously.
The Engine
The AFS-500 has a cool white LED with a native color temperature of 11,808K and on-board controller that is fixed to the rear of the unit for all of the electronic attributes. It has knobs for the manual adjustment of zoom and focus on the right hand side. Due to both of these, the user’s hands only have those two options and thus, the followspot is primarily a right-handed, or rear, controlled spot.
The AFS-700 has a cool white LED (warmer than the AFS-500) of 7600K and a movable on-board controller for all attributes including the motorized zoom, focus, iris and color. There is a handle rail that wraps both sides and the rear of the fixture, which allows the user to control the unit at any ergonomic location: left side, right side, or from the rear.
Color Options
Both units have a CTO (color temperature orange) wheel with three dichroic filters plus open. On the AFS-500, the CTO wheel allows for 7400K, 6000K and 4200K while the AFS-700 allows for slightly warmer whites, namely 5600K, 4500K and 3200K.
The colors are glass dichroic and come standard. The AFS-500 comes with a five-color wheel plus open, while the AFS-700 comes with a seven-color wheel plus open. The color wheels allows for split colors, which is a nice feature. Altman did a great job collaborating with lighting designers to select a popular Rosco color palette. Although the dichroics are not interchangeable, an optional boomerang (color changer) is an available accessory for the front of the followspot for typical gel filters.
The Throw
At full brightness and 490 watts of LED, the total light output is 10,820 lumens, which yields 1025.3 lux (95.3 fc) @ 100’ at the narrow 7° zoom and 357.9 lux (33.3 fc) @ 100’ at the wide 13° zoom. The lumen maintenance (L70) is stated at 50,000 hours. It is ideal for throws up to 125 feet.
At full brightness and 780 watts of LED, the total light output is 13,925 lumens, which yields 1485.4 lux (138.0 fc) @ 100’ at the narrow 7° zoom and 330.7 lux (30.7 fc) @ 100’ at the wide 13° zoom. The lumen maintenance (L70) is stated at 50,000 hours. It is ideal for throws up to 175 feet.
The Beam
The zoom ranges from 7° to 13°, which is almost a 2:1 zoom ratio. If you need to get narrower, you can utilize the 18-blade motorized iris for those special applications. In the AFS-700, the focus and zoom are also motorized.
Both dimming and strobe are electronic. While the dimming curve is only 8-bit, it was smooth and close to linear, fading out to 0% nicely. The strobe can flash from 1Hz (times per second) up to a maximum 20Hz, pulse, or set to a random flash pattern. The refresh rate on the LED engine is over 10,000Hz for flicker free on camera.
The Controls
Altman has kept things simple yet functional with operation. There is one and only one operating mode for each fixture. The AFS-500 uses six channels: color wheel, CTO, iris, dimmer/intensity, strobe and reset. The AFS-700 adds in focus and zoom to use a total of eight channels. The units can be controlled by either the on-board controller or an external DMX controller, via the 5-pin XLRs. (Use the on-board display to set the DMX address.) On the AFS-500, when DMX is present, it overrides the on-board control. On the AFS-700, the on-board controller plugs into the DMX input — so pick one — either the on-board controller or plug in a DMX source. It’s nice to not have to worry about LTP/HTP and who is controlling what aspect of the fixture.
Summing Up
Designed in the USA, the ETL listed, indoor rated, AFS-500/700 followspots weigh in at 25.5/38.3 lbs., consume 490/780 watts of power, contain an auto-ranging 100-240VAC 50/60Hz power supply and have easy to use yoke pan/tilt controls. Its anodized lightweight aluminum exterior has a smooth matte black finish and comes with an tripod — power input cable is an optional accessory. Users should have a peace of mind knowing it comes with a limited three-year warranty on the fixture.
In non-professional theater, often followspot operators are not highly experienced. And during a show, spectators can spot a bad op immediately! Add more than one inexperienced op, it’s beyond an annoyance. I like to call these fixtures, “point-n-shoot.” Let the LD program the followspots with the rest of the show and then even an inexperienced operator can look quite good. Can you imagine a high school musical with precisely timed blackouts, smooth and in-sync irising and color changes? Just grab the fixture and follow the performer, how much easier can it get? With these two fixtures now available, followspot op-ing should take a giant leap ahead.
At a Glance
Bright, Lean and LD-Controllable
The Altman Follow Spot (AFS) range of white light LED followspots includes two models, the AFS-500 and AFS-700. High in power and fully featured, these units are light in weight (no ballast needed) and lean in power consumption — perfect for medium-to-large applications requiring up to 200-foot throws.
AFS-500/700 LED Followspots
PROS: Lightweight, Quiet, 3-year warranty
CONS: No RDM
FEATURES
490/780 watt, white LED
CTO wheel
Color wheel
Motorized iris
7° – 13° zoom
Motorized zoom and focus (AFS-700 only)
On-board controls
6/8 DMX control channels
COLORS
R19 Flame
R89 Moss Green
R35 Light Pink (AFS-700 only)
R321 Soft Golden Amber
R62 Booster Blue
R02 Bastard Amber
R52 Light Amber (AFS-700 only)
STATS
Size: 7.75” x 10.4” x 30.5”/39.75”
Weight: 25.5/38.3 lbs. (without tripod)
Wattage: 490/780 (max)
Voltage: 100-240, 50/60Hz (auto-ranging)
MSRP: $3,500/$4,900
Manufacturer: Altman Lighting
More Info: www.altmanlighting.com
