Over ten days, Newcastle’s New Annual 2022 festival by Newcastle City Council showcased 50 events in art, culture and creativity through an action-packed, contemporary and diverse program. The event allowed Equip Multimedia to debut their new Ayrton fixtures; eight Ayrton Perseo Profiles, four Ayrton Karif LT and two Ayrton Cobras.
“We already own an impressive amount of Ayrton fixtures, from Mistrals to MagicPanel FXs and it’s become evident that there is a demand for these high-end fixtures in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley area,” said Justin Mason, Equip’s Hire Manager. “We decided to stay with Ayrton as there are no other fixtures on the market that have the comprehensive feature set offered by Ayrton. If we are made out to be Ayrton fanboys… then so be it! We are!”
Justin says the Perseo was chosen for its IP rating and sheer output adding that their optics are very crisp compared to other fixtures.
“The Perseo is simply an amazing fixture and the IP-rating means we don’t have to babysit them,” said Justin. “They’re punchy – for such a compact fixture they have a lot of punch. They also have a great assortment of beam and gobo features … basically, they do everything we want them to do and they do it very well!”
The Perseo Profile is the first compact multi-function luminaire with an IP65 enclosure rating developed by Ayrton for intensive outdoor use. This was a blessing for Equip Multimedia as they were looking after the outdoor stage in Newcastle’s Civic Park where the rain bucketed down on a few occasions.
According to Justin, the four Karif LT were chosen to complement the Mistrals. With an astronomical zoom ratio of 17:1 and a zoom range of 2.8° to 47°, the Karif LT is capable of delivering stunning visual effects. Equip Multimedia will greatly benefit from the multi-use hybrid fixture nature of the Karif LT which has the capacity for narrow beam looks as well as wide textured prism looks.
“The Karif LT is an astonishing fixture,” commented Justin. “It’s small, very fast, responsive and easy to control. It also has a great range of gobos.”
Lastly, Equip Multimedia invested in two of Ayrton’s latest product – the unique laser-sourced, IP65-rated Cobra. Cobra’s speckle-free laser source is designed for rendering a D65 white point that allows perfect colour reproduction. It’s incredibly narrow 0.6° beam angle and extreme range of focus allow the beam shape to be adjusted to suit the operating distance. It has a 170mm frontal lens and a 0.6° to 23° zoom range.
“The Cobras were purchased to future-proof the company and to be able to offer our clients the best,” explained Justin. “They are an expensive product but we’ll keep adding to the numbers! We expect them to last us at least ten years.”
Justin says that the Cobra is an incredible product that offers so much more than simply a super bright pencil-thin beam.
“You can zoom it out, put a frost in and you have a great wash light,” he said. “It’s not a one-trick pony that just does only bright beams – it does gobos, wash and everything else. In fact, its optics give such good variation, that the gobo projection is fantastic and that is an exciting option for long distances. The choice of colours is excellent, the zoom range is impressive and you don’t lose much light output compared to others.”
At the New Annual 2022 festival, the fixtures moved around to suit the variety of acts performed at the site. The Perseo and Cobra were generally flown from the roof where they were open to the elements whilst the Karif LT were kept undercover.
“The Perseo and Cobra withstood a lot of weather,” concluded Justin. “In fact, I would say our team are now qualified scuba divers it was that wet!”
