I imagine that for owners of lighting gear, there’s a certain thrill that comes from sending paid-for gear out of the door. Consider, if you will, the humble conventional PAR can. Most have probably been long-since paid for, with only the regular but occasional lamp change to keep the rig in a state of happy, glowing incandescence. The sheer durability of sealed lamps shoved into an aluminum tube probably partially explains their longevity — one still sees PAR rigs kickin’ around the various fair circuits — and the cost calculation certainly factors into that, as well.
But what happens when it’s finally time to send your well-loved PAR rig to the dustbin? Their ease of use has been somewhat difficult to replicate — almost anyone can make a PAR rig look (at least) decent. LED offers a promising replacement for the sealed incandescent lamp, but until recently, a product that would act as an (almost) one-to-one replacement remained elusive, both from a cost and quality of light perspective. Elation Professional aims to change that, with their new KL PAR FC, an LED-based PAR-style light that looks to finally be a true, economical replacement for these long-lasting workhorses.
LED Light Source
The KL PAR FC’s light source is a COB (Chip On Board) five-color engine: Red, Green, Blue, Amber and Mint. The array is rated at 500 Watts, but is driven at 280 Watts, which helps to maximize LED longevity. Just giving the unit a “dimmer at 100%” command results in a quite usable shade of 6,000K white — many, many older LED units tend to give a pinkish tinge when all emitters are set to full, as the green emitters get overpowered by the red and blue. The Elation units (along with others that Elation makes) go through a calibration process to help correct those issues before going out the door. I measured 11,520 lux (at 6,000K) from five meters with the very narrow spot lens (VNSP), which is roughly equivalent to (but slightly less than) a 750 Watt conventional PAR with the same lens — but only for standard lamps rated at 300 hours. The LED engine in this light will last much, much longer. Regardless, it’s an impressive number, especially for an additive system in open white. I tested on the linear curve, which nearly perfectly matched the ideal curve. The fixture allows you to also select square law, inverse square, and S-curves. The 16-bit dimming was very smooth down through zero. A variety of common strobe functions are also included, and the PWM is adjustable from 900 Hz to 25,000 Hz, to help eliminate shutter artifacts with video.
The unit itself is mostly a chassis of black powder-coated aluminum, with radial fins inset into the body for thermal control and a menu system with power and data inputs and pass-throughs on the back. Within the interior of the light is a large aluminum reflector, in front of which sits a lens of the user’s choice for beam control. More on that later.
Color Mixing
Color mixing is as expected from an RGBMA system, with no real surprises. We seem to be moving toward a world where Mint (and its cousin LED color, Lime) are likely to be seen in most additive color mixing systems — an exciting prospect to be sure. I’ve always felt that RGBW didn’t really cut it when it comes to trying to mix nice colors for skin tones or low color temperatures, and the invention of the Mint and Lime emitters really changed what was possible when trying to recreate the white light spectrum. We can now convincingly recreate low color temperatures and have deeply saturated color mixing, as we do here. In addition, the advantages of LED really shine in a luminaire like this — instead of gelling your lamp to be red, or green, or any other color, which necessarily wastes light, additive mixing permits much higher levels of saturated colored light.
Control of these five-color systems can be complex, and the fixture comes with several control schemes to accommodate lots of different use case scenarios. One of these is virtual CMY emulation, where the fixture will intelligently add in the Mint and Amber emitters depending on what the user mixes. It’s a nice addition for times when you have a large rig of different lights and have limited programming time to make lots of specialized palettes that include the additional colors, or if you just prefer to think in terms of CMY. (On a personal note, the author is one of those people who finds thinking in RGB to be…weird.) For scenarios needing mostly white light, there’s also a CCT mode that adjusts the white light from 2,400K — 8,500K, with options for adjusting the green/magenta balance. A selection of common gel colors is also available. The published TM-30 values at 3,200K (a common enough color of white) are a fidelity index (Rf) of 92.7, and a gamut index (Rg) of 104.1. The TM-30 report generally shows a slight over-saturation on the green/magenta axis, a slight color rendering artifact, which is not unique to this light. In practice, I found the whites to be quite pleasing. Units are color-calibrated at the factory to ensure consistency across units.
Lens and Beam Options
Beam control is achieved by swapping front lenses, a process that is much faster and easier than on conventional fixtures. The KL PAR FC comes with all the traditional lens options: VNSP (11°), NSP (22°), MFL (30°) and WFL (52°). These are all solidly-made polycarbonate lenses with a rubber gasket around the edge and a convenient pull tab to help pop the lenses out for changes. Lens swapping is accomplished with a small lever that retracts a spring-loaded retainer tab, and the lens just pops out. It’s a very fast process, and easily accomplished while the light is hanging. The lenses feel solid and well-made — and unlike the lenses of yesteryear, the occasional bout of butterfingers won’t result in shards of broken glass flying across the stage floor. The KL PAR FC projects a circular pool of light by default, but there is a 23° ovalizer lens available for purchase, as well as a XWFL (90°) lens. The front of the unit also has the standard “slot rails” for an included standard PAR-sized gel frame or the PAR accessories of your choice — barndoors, top hats, etc.
Finally, the rear of the fixture has four touch-sensitive menu buttons as well as an encoder for scrolling through and setting, and for setting CCT, color, and intensity when using the light in standalone mode. An integrated floor/rigging yoke includes 10-degree “clicks” as you tilt the light up and down, helpful for setting large rigs quickly. The yoke also has integrated Omega bracket mounting points (and a center hole) for your choice of rigging hardware.
The Elation Professional KL PAR FC stands 18.74” tall with its yoke, and the head measures 8.5” in diameter (with a few extra inches on the sides for the yoke attachment points) and weighs 16.2 pounds. Power in is via locking IP-65 connector ins and pass-throughs, and data is via 3 and 5-pin XLR connectors.
At a Glance:
Like a PAR Can, but Much Better
The KL PAR FC appears to be excellent replacement for the traditional standard PAR can — both in terms of energy draw and creative potential, it’s light years ahead. The included accessories make it a smart investment for anyone looking to reap the full benefits of LED technology, including increased color rendering, power efficiency and creative potential.
KL PAR FC
PROS: Bright, excellent color rendering
CONS: None
FEATURES
- Dynamic White + Full Spectrum Color Control
- Field replaceable lenses
- Selectable dimming modes and curves
- RDM (Remote Device Management) control option
- Remote LED refresh rate and fan speed adjustment
- OLED display and one encoder for stand-alone control
- Flicker free operation for TV and film
- 7.5″ gel frame and four lenses included
- Variable dimming curves and electronic strobe functions
SPECS
- Lamp Source: RGBMA 280W LED engine
- Lamp Life: 50,000 hours
- Output: 11,000 lumens
- Max Power Draw: 284W
- Included Lenses: 11°, 22°, 30° and 52°
- Size: 10.85” x 13.94” (LxW)
- Weight: 16.27 lbs.
- MSRP: $995
Manufacturer: Elation
More info: www.elationlighting.com
