How many should we hire?

Two is the honest minimum: a single moving light draws attention to itself, a pair makes looks. Four is where it becomes a rig, with symmetry across the stage and enough heads for chases. Big pantos and band nights often take six. They come as a matched set with identical gobos and colours, so whatever the number, the looks mirror properly. Tell us about the venue and we will suggest positions.

Will the fans spoil a quiet scene?

They might. Each head has constant forced-air cooling, and it is noticeable in a silent room, more so with four heads up. Under a band, a panto audience or backing tracks it disappears. For spoken drama in a quiet space, say so when you enquire and we will point you at our LED moving heads instead, which are the right tool for that job.

Why do the lamps stay on all show?

The discharge lamp takes a few minutes to reach full brightness and cannot restrike while hot — a lamp that has just been turned off needs several minutes to cool before it will light again. So you strike the lamps before the house opens, ideally one at a time, and leave them running. Blackouts come from the mechanical dimmer, which is instant and complete. This is normal for the type, not a fault.

Do we need haze to see the beams?

For beams in mid-air, yes: without haze the light is only visible where it lands. Gobos and colour on the floor, set or people work fine without it. We can add a hazer to the hire, but check your venue's rules first — some halls and schools have smoke detection that haze will trigger, and the caretaker will know.

Can our desk run them, and can our bar take them?

The desk needs to handle moving lights: each head wants 14 or 17 DMX channels, and programming pan, tilt, colour and gobo on a basic two-preset fader desk is miserable. If yours is basic, hire a desk with fixture control from us. On rigging, each head is 22.4 kg plus clamp, so four heads put around 95 kg on a bar — check its rated capacity before you plan positions, and allow two people for every lift.

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Martin Mac 250 hire — budget moving lights

Moving lights change a show when there are several of them, and one is rarely enough. The Mac 250 Krypton is Martin's workhorse discharge moving head spot: a hard-edged 250-watt beam with seven rotating gobos, a twelve-colour wheel and a rotating prism on 540 degrees of pan. At £10 per fixture per day, the budget that stretches to one modern head hires a matched rig of these. It is older technology and we are straight about the trade-offs below, but for pantos, school shows and band nights, numbers beat novelty.

The MAC 250 Krypton was one of the most widely used moving head spots of its era, and it got there by being simple and tough. A 250-watt discharge lamp puts around 4,600 lumens through a fixed beam of roughly 20 degrees, with motorised focus from 2 metres to infinity, so a gobo can be razor sharp or softened off. The gobo wheel carries seven rotating, indexable patterns plus open. The colour wheel has twelve colours including a colour-correction filter, with split positions between them. Add a three-facet rotating prism, a strobe to 14 Hz and a smooth mechanical dimmer, and one head covers most of what a moving spot is asked to do. Pan is 540 degrees, tilt 257, on 14 or 17 DMX channels.

The reason to hire it now is arithmetic. Moving lights work in numbers: two heads give you symmetry, four give you a rig. At £10 a day each, a four-head rig is £40, and because they are a matched set, with the same gobos and the same colours in the same order, chases and mirrored looks land properly. For a panto, that is beams through haze in the songs and gobo textures rolling over the set for the transformations. For a band night, it is a moving back wall of light behind the drummer.

Be clear about what a lamp-era mover asks of you. The discharge lamp takes a few minutes to come to full brightness and cannot restrike hot, so you strike the lamps before the house opens and leave them running; blackouts are done with the mechanical dimmer, which is exactly how the fixture is designed to work. The fans run all night, quiet enough under music, audible in a silent room, and four heads make four times the noise of one. Colour comes from a wheel: clean snaps and two-tone splits, not the smooth crossfades an LED head mixes. And the beam is fixed at 20 degrees, with no zoom.

That list tells you when to hire something else. If your show is spoken drama in a quiet studio, if you need colour that fades rather than changes, or if your bar cannot take 22 kilos a head, our LED moving heads are the better pick and worth their higher rate. Where the room is loud and the budget is short, the Kryptons win.

Each head weighs 22.4 kg, so plan a two-person lift onto the bar, with a clamp and a safety bond on every fixture. Mains is a standard UK 13 A plug at 230 V and each head draws about 320 watts, so a small rig runs from ordinary sockets; we will help you plan the runs and the strike order. DMX links on 3-pin or 5-pin XLR. Hire by the day, dry or with a technician to rig, patch and programme.

What you get

Each head with its omega brackets and a hook clamp — tell us what you are rigging to and we will confirm the fitting

A safety bond for every fixture going overhead

A UK 13 A mains lead per head

DMX cabling to link the heads and reach your desk — give us the distances and we will make up the run

The lamp run up and checked before it leaves us, so you are not striking a tired lamp on show night

Not included as standard: a lighting desk, a hazer for mid-air beams, stands or truss, and a DMX terminator. All can be added

Good for

Pantomimes: gobo textures and colour chases in the numbers, beams through haze for the transformations

School and academy shows where one budget has to cover the whole rig

Band nights and battle-of-the-bands: strobe, prism and a moving back wall of beams

Dance school showcases wanting matched pairs either side of the stage

Am-dram musicals adding movement to a generic rig for one production

Church and community events where several lights matter more than the newest light

What you need to know

What it does: A moving spot: a hard-edged beam with gobos and colour, panned and tilted from the desk. The price is the point — hire them in pairs and fours.
Beam: Fixed at about 20 degrees with motorised focus, seven rotating gobos and a rotating prism. No zoom.
Colour: A twelve-colour wheel with split positions. Colours snap or roll; they do not crossfade like an LED head.
Power: About 320 watts each on a standard 13 A plug. A four-head rig runs from ordinary sockets.
Control: DMX, 14 or 17 channels per head, on 3-pin or 5-pin XLR. It needs a desk that can drive moving lights — we can supply one.
Where it goes: 22.4 kg per head, so it is a two-person lift to the bar, with a clamp and safety bond. Indoor only.

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician.

Alternatives

Equinox Fusion 260ZR — the modern LED moving head — quieter, cooler and no lamp to strike, for one-or-two-head jobs.

Full technical specification (15)

Manufacturer and model	Martin MAC 250 Krypton
Fixture type	Discharge moving head spot
Lamp	250 W discharge, MSD 250/2 or approved equivalent
Light output	4,618 lumens, Martin's measured figure at 230 V
Beam	20.6 degree field angle, fixed; motorised focus from 2 m to infinity
Gobos	7 rotating and indexable plus open, interchangeable, 22.5 mm diameter
Colour	12-colour wheel including CTC, plus open, with split positions
Effects	3-facet rotating prism, strobe to 14 Hz, mechanical dimmer 0–100%
Movement	540 degrees pan, 257 degrees tilt
Control	USITT DMX512, 14 or 17 channels; 3-pin and 5-pin locking XLR in and out
Power draw	323 (at 230 V, 50 Hz)
Mains	100 to 250 V, 50/60 Hz, IEC inlet; supplied with a UK 13 A lead
Weight	22.4
Dimensions	538 x 393 x 375 (height x yoke width x base length; base 315 wide)
Cooling	Temperature-regulated forced air with filters

Common questions

Two is the honest minimum: a single moving light draws attention to itself, a pair makes looks. Four is where it becomes a rig, with symmetry across the stage and enough heads for chases. Big pantos and band nights often take six. They come as a matched set with identical gobos and colours, so whatever the number, the looks mirror properly. Tell us about the venue and we will suggest positions.
They might. Each head has constant forced-air cooling, and it is noticeable in a silent room, more so with four heads up. Under a band, a panto audience or backing tracks it disappears. For spoken drama in a quiet space, say so when you enquire and we will point you at our LED moving heads instead, which are the right tool for that job.
The discharge lamp takes a few minutes to reach full brightness and cannot restrike while hot — a lamp that has just been turned off needs several minutes to cool before it will light again. So you strike the lamps before the house opens, ideally one at a time, and leave them running. Blackouts come from the mechanical dimmer, which is instant and complete. This is normal for the type, not a fault.
For beams in mid-air, yes: without haze the light is only visible where it lands. Gobos and colour on the floor, set or people work fine without it. We can add a hazer to the hire, but check your venue's rules first — some halls and schools have smoke detection that haze will trigger, and the caretaker will know.
The desk needs to handle moving lights: each head wants 14 or 17 DMX channels, and programming pan, tilt, colour and gobo on a basic two-preset fader desk is miserable. If yours is basic, hire a desk with fixture control from us. On rigging, each head is 22.4 kg plus clamp, so four heads put around 95 kg on a bar — check its rated capacity before you plan positions, and allow two people for every lift.