Greetings from Arctos Lasertechnik!

[Bradfo69]

Thanks! That was far more than you needed to type but, I'm sure a lot of people will be happy you took the time.
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I know Arctos makes fantastic projectors (as Karl mentioned) and, I knew that early on in my rather short 5 or so year history with lasers. The mechanics and engineering I know are outstanding and have always been viewed as ridiculously out of reach for all but the largest of show companies. Imitation is quoted as being the sincerest form of flattery but, also I fully understand when it crosses the line in the way that it has. And I know Kvant was really the catalyst for starting what's recently been the buzz around the ILDA list and Facebook and so forth. Glad to hear it being addressed and that it will continue to be.
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I'm also glad to hear that it sounds like Arctos is looking into being able to be more active in the US market and perhaps even have some units deemed as more affordable. I have a collection that includes some Kvants, some things from RGBLasersystems as well as some of the Asian products that may or may not have been referenced to above so, I look forward to hearing and seeing more from Arctos.

[andy_con]

I think being more open about prices will benefit arctos greatly.

how can a company expect to sell stuff when they are so touchy about tell people prices.

I think one reasons kvant are doing so well is cos they are upfront with prices and make it so simple and easy for customers to buy. just go on their site, see the price click buy. I recently tried to get some prices out of rgblasersystems and no word of a lie the basic response I got was why do you want a price list!! seriously... cos I want to buy something.

did not impress me and I didn't buy anything from them

[AnthonyGarcia]

I got the opportunity to use 6 of your 30W stellas this year and despite the weight (as I should expect from the age and power of the laser) I was very impressed. Incredible amount of red (72 diodes!!) and everything worked well. I don't have the money to purchase your lasers or the need to purchase anything (I'm a freelance operator and designer) but I hold your projectors very high up in my personal preference.

[drm916]

How do we go about getting some current pricing for some of the units? I would be interested in the smaller units say those 3.5-8 watt RGBs.

[ArctosLaser]

Karl,

Thank you for the awesome feedback. Means a lot to us to hear this from people, using our products in the field. A very small amount of the guys here at Arctos are not laserists, who think we make perfectly fine stuff, no different to anyone else, they just focus solely on their work to excel, not seeing other projector manufacturers products, so I'll pass this on to them, I think they'll appreciate it the most!

Also thanks for sharing that photo, looks great - in by no means an easy environment, with those huge LED screens! I love shots like this, it's simple to show a laser with a pitch black 'advertising' background, but the reality is that sometimes, it's not the case in the real world.

Will enquire into the red dichro on the Fortiss, this is the first I've heard of it, that said, I've never worked with them. Thank you for raising this, I will get back to you. Most Fortiss units stay out in the field, rarely if ever sold on or serviced here. We have upgraded some of the older 10W Pioneer models though, those cases keep on trucking, some will be approaching a decade or more of service. Probably my favourite shape of them all, it's what got me fantasising over the Arctos projectors, many years ago.

Personally I've never had an issue on my own Stellas, after two years plus usage, plenty of rickety vans or cars on terrible New Zealand roads, even some off roading, scissor lifts, cherry pickers, plenty of small handling bumps, loud sound systems, vibrating trussing, hot lights and the rest. We do try our best to treat them like the beautiful ladies they are though! I'm only now having to look at alignment of two or three red beams which have shifted by fractions of a mrad. The dichros are bang on still, either way, they had to be for recent film work and were closely inspected. So with this in mind, I think they've got it well sorted in later revisions of the designs. I have seen a few different types of brass mounts employed over the ages, this could also be part of it.

That said, on one of the small, new RGBs which I had as a prototype, was subject to harder treatment when handling, e.g. some hard put downs, deliberately, to see what would go out of whack. After a few months of this, the blue dichro needed a tiny tweak, again, fractions of mrad movement, nothing I wouldn't expect when treating what is usually lab based optical equipment, in a harder manner, a far cry from my first non-Arctos systems, which needed aligning almost every show no matter what.

You may be very surprised as to how affordable they are, keep your eyes peeled - as there will be some pricing incoming. Also feel free to PM at any time, happy to provide pricing as needed. Unlikely that you'd need it, however projector servicing is already in place stateside. That said, unless you want to do your own projector variance (we can help with documentation or provide local assistance, likely at additional cost), you'll have to wait for our end of the FDA/CDRH process to be finished, which could be still some more months.


Unfortunately, JD3 was stuck in this process, which ended up fizzling out last year and I apologise for that. It's not happening this time!
We actually intended to begin this outreach movement once this CDRH/FDA certification was in place, however external events have forced our hand. So we apologise for this inconvenience both now and in the past to JD3.


Brad, Andy,
We want to avoid having a price war with Kvant. This is something we cannot win, we have higher labour costs in Germany for a start, we're a smaller company with vastly smaller production numbers, so that's impossible from the get go. That said, my plan is to publicly release pricing of one or two models, perhaps three at most, in order to spur people to realize that we can be more than competitive, with other manufacturers in a similar space. Other pricing beyond that would be handled privately, but with some models I'm sure I can have approval to post prices in future as they are released. Thank you for the feedback regarding website pricing also, this is something I will also have incorporated.

And Brad, I'll do my best to get you some Arctos loving, in that nicely rounded projector fleet in future!



Anthony,

Thank you too for the feedback, it's great to know our projectors are kicking ass and taking names! The Stella has only been in production just over two years, so by no means old. I presume you opened one up, the amount of brass in the optical section alone, could be more than 1/3rd of the weight. It's hard to lighten the 30W models much more with this in mind, but we are investigating new ways to do it, especially reducing size, without loosing redundant heat dissipation capacity, e.g. if a fan somehow went out or was blocked by flying debris, we'd want the show to go on either way!
We are investigating rental services in USA, so we may be able to cater to you regardless, in the future. Thank you for using our projectors and we wish you many more satisfying usage experiences in the future.


drm916
For anyone wanting prompt pricing, PM is best for now.
We will be announcing exactly those units pricing, publicly within a week, possibly in next few days. I will PM you later with pricing in the meantime. Please keep in mind, that we still are working through the process to have FDA/CDRH approval for direct sales, which may be some months. So if you do want one immediately, we can coordinate someone stateside to assist you, likely at additional cost, or would need to coordinate filing your own projector variance, either way we can assist with paperwork for this. That said, due to existing operators, servicing capabilities within USA are already in place, so this is not something to worry about, in the very unlikely event you may need it.


Will have some module pricing later today for you all. I must sleep first, it's 0421! Cheers for the warm welcome, PL.

[drm916]

No problems. I would be able to certify them myself. I would not need them certified by Arctos. I have certified multiple types of projectors with the CDRH.

[ArctosLaser]

Karl,

have had an in depth discussion regarding the very old Fortiss model and the feedback regarding red alignment.
Whilst it is an incredibly solidly built laser, a number of design changes were immediately implemented by the new CEO upon takeover.

This includes a completely new chassis construction, totally new design of optical plate + updated optical components, new drivers and placement. All of this has lead to give an entirely hassle free experience - which is what I have experienced in the last 2+ years with the modern Stella and Regus designs. Set up, lase, take down. Go home. Set up, lase, take down, go home, they have never skipped a beat - true workhorses. Absolutely hassle free, never ceases to amaze me after past laser projectors I have used or seen, especially when considering there are over 80 laser sources combined, to make that brilliant white beam!

Drm916, you have a pm.

[Bradfo69]

And Brad, I'll do my best to get you some Arctos loving, in that nicely rounded projector fleet in future!

Geez... it never ends. My wallet just cried a little. LOL

[andy_con]

ive just received a price list from arctos for their 637 modules and wow big surprise.

far cheaper than I was expecting and I mean far cheaper. I think prices are going to be posted by arctos here shortly

would anyone be interested in me doing some reviews of arctos modules? 9subject to agreement from arctos)

[masterpj]

ive just received a price list from arctos for their 637 modules and wow big surprise.

far cheaper than I was expecting and I mean far cheaper. I think prices are going to be posted by arctos here shortly

would anyone be interested in me doing some reviews of arctos modules? 9subject to agreement from arctos)

If you want. Though I am already convinced no need for a review :b