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REVIEWED
ADJ Focus Spot One and Focus Spot Two
By James Humphrey.
ADJ’s new Focus Spot range is a line-up of moving heads which all offer motorised focus, among many other features. Initially launched last summer with the top-of-the-range Focus Spot Three Z, the series was augmented at the end of 2016 with two new fixtures – the Focus Spot One and Focus Spot Two – which are clearly aimed at the mobile DJ market.

As both fixtures share many of the same features, it seemed to make sense to write about them here in Pro Mobile in one large review. I’ll start by covering the differences and then move on to the many similarities between the two models. To avoid repetition, I won’t continually include both fixture names. So, as you read the review, assume that I’m referring to both units unless I explicitly reference one or the other.

The main differences between the two fixtures are their light-sources and prices. The Focus Spot One houses a 35W white light LED and has a suggested retail price of £425, while the Focus Spot Two is powered by a 75W LED and has a price tag of £549. Having the opportunity to try out both fixtures together was especially useful for carrying out a side-by-side brightness comparison.

First, I fired up the Focus Spot One and must say that I was very impressed by its output. It’s white is striking and even with a colour filter applied the beam can cut through ambient and wash lighting to create vivid GOBO patterns. Then, when I powered up the Focus Spot Two alongside its smaller sibling, I was actually surprised how similar the outputs are. While it is clearly brighter, the Focus Spot Two really doesn’t appear to be anywhere near twice as bright. That said, when I added GOBOs and movement into the mix, the difference made by the more powerful LED began to stand out more clearly.

As to which model is more suited to mobile DJs, I think it comes down to personal circumstances. For the small-to-medium-sized function rooms that make up the majority of my work, I think I’d prefer to save the £100+ per head and stick with the Focus Spot Ones. However, those of you working larger venues will no doubt value with extra ‘punch’ of the Focus Spot Two.

Another difference between the two models is that the Focus Spot Two offers a manual zoom function. An opening in the bottom of the head provides access to a dial that can be used to alter the beam angle between 15- and 20-degrees. This means that a narrower beam angle can be used for large rooms where beams will need to travel a long way to hit the rear wall, while a wider angle can be used in smaller spaces to ensure projected GOBO images are still of a good size. The Focus Spot One, on the other hand, has a fixed beam angle of 16-degrees.

Both fixtures offer a colour wheel featuring red, blue, green, yellow, pink, another shade of blue, lime green, light yellow and open white. All the colours are almost identical across both units, apart from the second blue; on the Focus Spot Two this a light blue, while on the Focus Spot One it is a very deep purple. Both are useful shades and it comes down purely to personal preference as to which is the better option. However, one of my few minor gripes with these fixtures is related to the two yellow colours. On both fixtures the two shades of yellow are very similar and I’d have much preferred the inclusion of orange in place of one of them.

A separate wheel features slots for six interchangeable GOBO patterns in addition to open spot. Both fixtures are supplied with a set of GOBOs: five standard metal patterns and a multi-coloured GOBO featuring a square formation of red, green, blue, and yellow dots. The metal GOBOs vary between the two fixtures, with slightly more complex patterns included with the Focus Spot Two.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 81, Pages 64-68.
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