CLAYPAKY SHARPY X FRAME

The original Claypaky Sharpy has a lot of fans. It is arguably one of, if not, the most well-known and popular fixtures Claypaky have ever released. There have been a number of updates and iterations to the Sharpy family, including now the Sharpy X Frame.

The Sharpy X Frame is a multifunction compact hybrid fixture that can be a wash, spot, or a beam. As the name would suggest, it also features a framing kit, making it one of the most versatile fixtures on the market.

Construction

Claypaky have a long-established reputation for building lights that are well designed, and the X Frame is no different. The handles are in a good spot, and it’s easy to move around and hang. It’s also an aesthetically pleasing light. This of course doesn’t impact performance, but is always appreciated.

For those familiar with the Sharpy family, it is bigger than a standard Sharpy. It would be closest in size to the Super Sharpy or Sharpy Plus. It weighs 28kg; a two-person lift. The chassis is made from aluminium and steel with the covers being made out of plastic.

Optics, Colour and Brightness

Sharpy fans will know that the optics are what sells the light. The Sharpy produces a perfectly parallel, laser-like beam. It is also known for the purity of its beam, which is sharply defined and free of any halo or discoloration around the edges. Although the optics were the main selling point for most of the Sharpy family, the Sharpy X Frame goes a few steps further with a much more versatile and feature packed light.

The Sharpy X Frame utilises the same optical system, albeit with a number of upgrades.

Sharpy X Frame features a powerful 550W arc lamp. It throws a very intense beam with good colours to match; the warmer colours are especially vibrant. It has an 18,800 lumen output. It sounds like a respectable figure on paper, but when you see it in person you would think it is much higher.

The Sharpy X Frame has a 160mm front lens which features a zoom range from 3° to 52° in spot mode and from 2° to 29° in beam mode.

For colour mixing, it has linear CMY (or subtractive) colour mixing as well as linear CTO. It features a colour wheel too, with 14 colours.

The Sharpy X Frame really does punch above its weight. For the size of the light, it has fantastic output.

Applications and Features

The Claypaky Sharpy X frame has a solid feature set. Most noteworthy would have to be the framing system. It features a four focal plane shutter system. What that means is that you can get a full blackout using one shutter. This system makes it possible to do “curtain effects”, offers a way to transition between scenes in a live performance, or create a dynamic visual element during a live show. With the framing system you also have your own set of built-in macros which will save you a lot of programming time. This framing system can do much more than just make a square on the wall.

It has a rotating gobo wheel with eight gobos, a static gobo wheel, four- and eight-facet rotating prisms, linear frost, and a colour system with CMY, CTO, and a separate colour wheel. From a programming and design perspective it gives you a lot of options.

Pan and tilt are both 16-bit, operated with a tilt range of 270° and a pan range of 540°, which is what we have come to expect from a mid-size light. Infinite pan and tilt would have been cool, but are definitely not essential.

The idea behind the X Frame seems to be to make the most versatile light possible. It functions well as a wash, a beam and a spot. You can use it anywhere (inside) that needs a wash, spot, and beam, or just one of these functions. It will work just as well in a venue or in a production house.

It would work well as a backbone in a venue standard rig. You could use these as your stage wash, for gobo effects, and as beams on the floor.

For the size of the light, it can do a heck of a lot. While the rest of the Sharpy range’s main selling point is its optical system, the Sharpy X Frame’s main selling point would have to be its overall versatility and the number of things it can do.

Control and Programming

The control and programming side is relatively straight forward. Those who have used Claypaky fixtures will be familiar with the onboard menu layout and general look and feel of programming them.

The X Frame is controlled by 5 pin DMX and can also be run via Ethernet. When patching them, there is only one mode, which uses a DMX footprint of 43 channels.

It has its own built in web server and for control protocols it can be operated through DMX512, Art-Net, RDM and sACN – your usual suspects.

They use about 750W of power. This means you could get three to a standard 10A circuit. They also make about 49.3dBA of noise when running, which is on the quieter side.

Verdict

With just about every other lighting manufacturer moving over to LED and having done so for years, it seems an interesting choice for Claypaky, who have made some high quality, high end LED lighting fixtures, to stick with a discharge lamp. There are of course pros and cons to each.

That said, it is a really good light. It is a fantastic all-round fixture and one of the best, most useful hybrid fixtures I have ever come across. It performs as a spot, a beam and a wash exceptionally well.

There is a bit of a stereotype out there that a hybrid can do two or more things but can’t do either that well. If you subscribe to this school of thought and would like to challenge it, check out the Claypaky X Frame.

Product Info: www.claypaky.it

Distributor Australia and New Zealand: www.showtech.com.au

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The Specs

• Philips 25R 550W lamp CRI: 80+
• Colour temperature: 6000K
• Zoom range: 3° to 52° (Spot mode) – 2° to 29° (Beam mode)
• 18,800 Lumen output
• Front lens diameter: 160mm
• Linear CMY colour mixing (brilliant and lighter Magenta in the Sharpy X Frame FD model)
• Linear CTO
• Fixed colour wheel with 14 dichroic colours
• 1 rotating gobo wheel with 8 HD indexable and replaceable gobos
• Framing: 4 blades with +/- 60° rotation of the full system
• Linear heavy frost 5° for wash effect Sharpy X Frame
• Linear light frost 2° for wash effect Sharpy X Frame FD
• Aluminium animation wheel with continuous rotation in both direction at variable speed
• 2 prisms (4 and 8 facet) with rotation in both direction at variable speed
• Iris: motorised with variable pulse and random effects
• Tilt: 270° – 16bit Pan: 540° – 16bit
• Dimensions: Weight 28 Kg. Base 306mm x350mm, 668mm high with vertical head