Launched on the Harman booth (as Martin is part of this large AV group) at the ISE show in Amsterdam a few days ago, the new compact Martin moving head fills a gap in the Spot range of the Danish manufacturer.
Indeed, the worldwide known success MAC 250, dating from the golden period when this spot had complemented the legendary MAC 500, didn’t then had a successor at Martin with such a level of popularity, even though the Mac 250 Entour, with a look of its own, had a nice career some time later.
Led replacement for the MAC 250
As a result, the Era 300 allows to switch to led technology for those who want a compact Spot to replace the MAC 250, with even more functions, while remaining (very) slighty under the 4,000 € tag (list price).
The range of Martin led moving spots is now divided in 3 levels. The upper one is declined in 4 different models of Mac Encore, in WRM (warm white, tungsten emulation) or CLD (cold white, TV studio, touring and more), and either in Framing Profile Spot or Wash.
The Mac Allure, soon to be delivered in a few weeks in its definitive version, does propose a very original concept with its 7 segments led engine. Last but not least, for more common cases, the Era 300 Spot should address most of the day-to-day mid-size venues or events.
Functions and compromises
See for yourself: 260 W 6,500K white led module, first wheel of 7 rotating/indexable gobos with Shake effects, second wheel with 9 fixed gobos, CMY color mixing (another evolution compared to the more “basic” Mac250), plus additional color wheel, iris, 3-facet rotating prism.
To stay in comparisons between old and new world, it should be noted that, under almost the same format as its widespread ancestor, its light output now approaches the 10,000 lumens tag, formerly reserved for much bigger lamp fixtures.
Comparing functions, the zoom is a strong point for a compact machine like this, even if limited to a quite small excursion 13° to 28°, there we see the light output optimisation/manufacturing quality/price compromise. In the same idea, the CRI of 70 clearly indicates this was designed mainly for Touring or high-range Club installation use.
Similar graphic combinations
Last strong point of the Era 300 Spot, the LD or techie used to bigger beasts will find it more familiar, the gobos choice is very much inherited from the Viper. This leads us to say that a multiple lighting design with several fixtures of different power can now be considered as a whole with the same “family look” of aerial beams and figures.
This model is announced as available Q2-2019.
More info on the Martin website.
