Claypaky’s Sharpy Returns for Weather Ready, Camera Safe Shows

0:19 Welcome to the show, Lacey. I want to start with a name that can still wake up a lighting programmer at 2 AMA Sharpie. And now Clay Paki's brought it back as the Ultimo Sharpie, the CD 30-40, with that very subtle message of the icon returns. But the real thing is, they didn't just dust off an old beam light. They're pitching it as brighter, faster, and tougher. And that last word is the one that jumps out at me. Yeah, Icon gets thrown around a lot, but Sharpie is one of those names people actually say like it's a category, like tissues and Kleenex. So when you say tougher, you mean the IP66 part, right?

1:00 Because IP66 on a beam fixture is not a little speck bump. Exactly, IP66 means it's built to deal with dust and water jets, which is a very different life than the old school. Please don't let the rain hit the rig world. So this next Gen. version's not just for the dry indoor arena show play. Paki is very clearly aiming it at indoor and outdoor use, live event and broadcast. That's a broad lane for one compact beam moving head. And that broadcast word matters because for years there were fixtures that looked great in the room and then the video people would go, Nope, not near my cameras. If a thing can live in concert world and television world, that's a different buyer conversation.

1:44 Yep, and that's why this launch is interesting. Beyond nostalgia, production teams are trying to reduce the number of 1 trick fixtures in inventory. If one unit can do your beam look, survive weather and behave for cameras, that changes prep, trucking, spares, all of it. You don't want to own three separate answers if one answer gets you close enough across the board. So where does inner circle distribution fit into this? Because that's the practical question. It's one thing to admire a product page. It's another thing to actually source the thing, service it, and get answers when you're on a deadline. Right. And listeners should know the Ultimo Sharpie is available through Inner Circle distribution. I'm not doing the cheesy ad read voice here call now operators are standing by.

2:30 But distribution does matter, especially on fixtures like this, where buyers are looking at support, availability and whether the product sits inside a real entertainment gear ecosystem, not just on a website. Thank you for not doing the operator voice. But yes, if you're a production manager or a shop, the chain matters. Can I get it? Can I maintain it? Can my team fold it into an existing package without making everybody learn a whole new religion? And that's where the comeback angle gets smart Clay Packy's leaning into a known name while modernizing the use case. They're also tying it to that 50th anniversary innovation push, which, OK, that's branding. But in fairness, this does feel like a product with a point of view.

3:15 It's saying, remember the original Sharpie energy? Now make it weather ready, camera friendly and useful in 2026 workflows. I like that in theory. I guess my pushback is this. A comeback only matters if the new version solves current headaches, not just old memories. If I'm hearing IP66 broadcast indoor outdoor, OK, now I'm listening. That's not a museum piece, that's a road case argument. That's it. It's only the icon returns if it can still earn the truck space. So let's get into the numbers because this is where I stopped being sentimental and start being annoying. The lamp is a custom 250 Watt OS RAM, short arc HID right? And clay Paki says up to 6000 hours. That 6000 hour number is the kind of thing OPS people remember because lamp life equals budgeting. Correct, custom 250 W OS RAM short arc HID up to 6000 hours and the output claim is 100,000 lux at 20 meters. Or if you're still thinking in feet 90,300 plus foot candles at 65 feet.

4:25 That's a serious beam statement from a compact fixture. And they're talking about a crystal clear Halo free beam, which is exactly what people loved about the Sharpie lineage in the first place. Wait, 100,000 lux at 20 meters is the part that'll stick for me. That's the spec where you're basically saying no, no, this thing is going to read in the room because beam fixtures live or die on whether they cut through everything else. Absolutely, but the more modern trick might be the low noise mode firmware update. 7DB reduction in sound while keeping 90% of the original light output. That's not just a comfort feature, that's a placement feature. It means you can get closer to quiet environments, television studios, broadcast spaces, maybe more sensitive corporate rooms without immediately getting the side eye from audio and video. The seven DB is huge to me because that's not a marketing whisper, that's a real reduction people can notice, and if you're still holding 90% output, you're not neutering the fixture just to make it polite.

5:28 Exactly, and Clay Paki keeps hammering flicker free operation too, plus high resolution dimming. They specify a 24 bit electronic and mechanical dimmer with five curves and the pitch is smooth cinematic fades with 0 flicker. That matters because beam fixtures are not always where people expect elegant fades. Sometimes they're just on off laser swords. This sounds more refined than that. Laser swords is accurate. OK, let me play it back. They want the beam punch, but they also want the fixture to dim gracefully enough for camera work and cleaner transitions. So it's not just aerials and chaos, and it's controlled chaos. Beautifully put, and movement wise they're promising ultra fast tilt and infinite pan rotation.

6:12 So the classic Sharpie snap is still part of the pitch integration's Another smart piece. Sharpie emulation mode, meaning it can drop into existing setups without reprogramming. That is catnip for programmers and rental houses. Legacy compatibility saves hours and hours of money. Sharpie emulation mode might be the least glamorous feature, and the most useful one without reprogramming. Those are magic words. That's load insanity. Then effects true CMY colour mixing an original 14 colour fixed wheel, a high contrast gobo wheel with 17 positions, plus open a 10° frost filter and dual independently rotating prisms.

6:54 So you can stay in that tight beam language or open it up a bit, layer the aerials, add texture, fake a washish moment when needed. It's flexible without abandoning the beam identity. And then we come back to IP66 plus Marine Shield for salt laden air and corrosive maritime conditions. That open sea angle is very specific. We're not just talking a rainy festival. We're talking coastal installs, cruise work, harsher environments where gear gets punished for a living. Yeah, that's why this feels like a modernized classic, not a nostalgia play. If the original Sharpie was about to look, the Ultimo Sharpie is about keeping that look alive in weather, on camera, and in places that would have made older fixtures very, very nervous. Which is kind of the whole game now, isn't it? Not just does it look cool, but does it survive the actual job? All right, that's a good place to leave it. Go be nice to your crew and maybe a little nicer to your fixtures.

8:06 Make the specs so clear. Oh La La with music to your ears. Hey, hey, yay. Let's go. New gear vibes, new tech. Jive gear heads unite. We keep it live. Oh yeah, the lunar ski. The lunar ski. We got it here. Got it here.