When you’ve been in the “business” long enough, you’ll probably run into your fair share of Redheads and Blondes. I remember the day I first laid eyes on my first Redhead. She was petite, but broad. Punchy yet lightweight. And as cheap as she might have seemed to others, she was a great tool for me at the time. But years later, she broke my heart and I traveled throughout Europe looking for a replacement.
Engand, January 2008, in a small quaint town located near a suburb of London, I find a British Lighting company that has been around since... well, more than a century – 127 years to be exact. Photon Beard Ltd. has quietly been making a name for themselves in the lighting world since 1882 and has been making Redheads and Blondes for virtually as long as they’ve existed.
We all know what Redheads and Blondes are. They’re made by loads of different companies out there. But they’re all the same, right? WRONG! Over the decades, Photon Beard has constantly refined these little ladies by listening to customer feedback and responding to the very questions all of us have been asking for years!
Why are the focus handles mounted on the rear? After being turned on, their rears are pretty hot! Isn’t there a better place for it?
YES!
Sure, professionals almost always wear gloves. But for those times when you forget, Photon Beard strategically places the focus cup hanging underneath her head. A majority of the heat then bypasses the focusing cup. That means even after hours of use, you can still adjust her focus - gloves or not! It’s also a proper pole operating cup, so if you have her hung up high, you can still tweak the focus with a pole.
I really love my Redheads and Blondes, but is there any way you can keep them from blowing lamps so frequently?
YES!
In the early 1990’s, R.R. Beard received a letter from a large customer questioning the lamp life of Redheads and Blondes. That very night, in a pensive state, Mr. Beard visited his local pub. It is legend that after a "few" pints, he came up with an ingenious idea: An anti-surge resistor! This little lifesaver resists the electrical flow until it is heated up. In a nut shell this effect creates a “soft start” saving hours of lamp life and prevents bulb explosions!
But he didn’t stop there! He was legend to have drank a little more and blurted out in a semi-drunken scream, “Anti- Locking Focussssing Meachanissssim...” Now mind you this is all local legend collected at questionable hours of the evening, under questionable conditions, with people of questionable character. But legend has it that he wrote down on a bar napkin, what would be come the blueprints for a continuous focusing system that never had a stop! The way it works is like a cam. When the lamp carriage reaches the end, it simply starts to go the other way, which then prevents operators from slamming the focus and breaking filaments! So while we can’t guarantee the lamps, Photon Beard does a couple of things to make their little lives as painless as possible (for them and you!).
My ex-Redhead and ex-Blonde both had weird scrim sizes and made it difficult to mount accessories. Did R.R. Beard figure that one out over his pints of beer too?
YES!
Photon Beard puts a lot of thought and practical experience into all of the fixtures they make, so they figured you should be able to take your new lamphead out of the box, put the lamp in, plug it in, turn it on and go. The accessory holders (or “ears”) are part of the lamphead, not a cost add-on like others that you may have seen before.
Even better news than that, the Photon Beard Blondes and Redheads have always been ready to be used with standard sized scrims and other accessories. The Redheads use your readily available 6 5/8” scrims. The Blondes use the very common 10” scrim. No more searching around and being forced to pay high prices on odd-ball scrims!
Further, the Redhead will accept the ever-readily available Chimera 9670AL circular speed ring or even a standard baby 407 speed ring. Save time and money by using the scrims and speed rings you already own!
Plus, unique to the Redheads and Blondes from Photon Beard are the myriad accessories that just simply do not exist for any others. Create different lighting effects through use of their dichroic daylight filter lens, Fresnel lens, snoots and barndoors that feature gel clips.
I use Chimeras a lot with my Redheads and Blondes, but it’s a pain trying to point them at the right angle because the extra weight on the front makes them droop. I hate getting droop! Can you stop the droop!?
YES!
If you look at the Photon Beard lampheads, you will notice the tilt lock-off is on the opposite side of the head to most other brands. This isn’t because we’re catering for Southpaws, it’s so the weight of your lightbank, actually tightens the lock-off, rather than loosening it. A simple solution, but they’re often the best!
Hey, my Barndoors droop too, and I can’t tighten the hinges. Can you stop the droop here too?
YES!
Once or twice with a hammer perhaps? But then it would be new Barndoor time! You won’t find rivets on our barndoor hinges. Good old fashioned screws, washers and nuts hold the doors in place. So if they do droop, you can just tighten them with your Leatherman. Another logical and simple solution from Photon Beard!
To find out more about the famous Photon Beard Redhead and Blonde Tungsten Light Fixtures, visit the following websites:
http://store.maccam.tv/650Wand1000WRedheadlightfixturesandaccessories.aspx
OR,
http://www.photonbeard.com/
