PAR 64 Bulbs – A Guide to PAR 64 Lamp Sizes
11 October - Stage Lighting Equipment - by: Rob Sayer
For years the PAR Can has been the great workhorse of the stage lighting industry, particularly in band/DJ lighting. The 1000w PAR 64 Can is the daddy of the PAR family and PAR 64 lamps (the bulbs that go inside the Can) are available to buy in different beam widths. On Stage Lighting takes a look at the different PAR 64 lamps available and their uses in stage lighting.
It is disgraceful in the 21st century,we are still treating our PAR cans this way!
Thanks to Alex__w for keeping the lantern welfare issue alive.
The PAR 64 Can is still popular because: a) It provides a good 1000w of punchy light; b) A PAR Can (the lantern body shell) and PAR 64 Lamps are still fairly cheap to buy.
PAR actually stands for Parabolic (the shape) Anodised/Aluminised (the shiny bit) Reflector (the reflector!)and you can buy PAR Lamps them in 240v or 110v supply voltages. To alter the size of your PAR Beam, unlike most other stage lighting lanterns, you need to put a different PAR bulb in. PAR lamps also do not have a very circular beam but produce a light beam that is quite oval, particularly the wider bulbs.
Guide To PAR 64 Lamps
Here is a brief rundown of PAR 64 lamps, the beam angles are approximate and are the most “useful” largest part of the ellipse due to the nature of the PAR lamp beam shape:
- CP60 VNSP PAR 64 Lamp – Very Narrow Spot. Beam Angle 12° approx. This PAR 64 lamp is good for really tight spots, thin light beams cutting through smoke or streaking across stage set/cloths. Also used on large music stages to provide spotlights to hightlight individual band members. The CP60 PAR lamp gives a really intense “splat” of light that can be a bit striated (streaky) across flat surfaces.
- CP61 NSP PAR 64 Lamp – Narrow Spot. Beam Angle 14° approx. The CP61 is the general spotlight of the PAR 64 family producing a tight beam of light that has more uses than the CP60. This lamp is a useful tage spotlight and makes fairly good beam structures in smoke. Could be used to for colour washes with a large throw distance ( further than 8m) although you would need a fair few CP61 PAR lamps to do this.
- CP62 MFL PAR 64 Lamp – Medium Flood. Beam Angle 24° approx. CP62 PAR lamps are pretty much everywhere doing jobs such as colour washes onstage, uplighting bits of set as well as spotlighting people onstage. These bulbs are great for washing intense colour around a stage or lighting up columns or architecture. The beam of this PAR lamp is extremely elliptical and their orientation, like other PAR bulbs, is set by spinning the bulb inside the PAR Can.
- EXG PAR 64 Lamp – Wide Flood. Beam Angle 50°(?) approx. A wider flood PAR that can be used to colour washing with shorter throw distances though it can lack intensity. Used with a short nosed PAR Can. This PAR lamp is not too useful.
- CP95 WFL PAR 64 Lamp – Wide Flood. Beam Angle 70°(?) approx. This PAR lamp is pretty darn wide, meaning that is lights all over the place but lack the punch and intensity of other PAR lamps. The CP95 is only useful when you needed a good sized beam of light, lit from very close. To get full width of this PAR bulb, use a short nose PAR can.
- Raylight Reflectors – The Devil In PAR lamps. Beam Angle – Who cares? The raylight reflector is a cheap parabolic reflector with no front lens, designed to accomodate a quartz halogen “standard” stage lighting bulb, often 500 watts. These PAR lamps produce a messy “splot” of light that is both horrible and burns out gels like anything especially in short nosed PAR cans. OK for beams in smoke (until the colour burns out, that is). Don’t buy.
How Do I Tell Which PAR 64 Lamps Are In My PAR Cans?
Great pic of a MFL Par Lamp. Thanks to VeldaZ
Have a look down the front of your PAR Can with the unit switched off. If the lens (glassy front bit) of the PAR bulb is completely clear, then it is a CP60. If the lens of your PAR lamp is frosted, a CP61 and if the glass separated into small squares, then it is one of the larger floods, probably a CP62. If your PAR can has a Raylight Reflector in it (a shiny dish with a small quartz bulb sticking up, and no glass) then “step away from the PAR Can , sir” and go and find something else to light your gig with. Like a cigarette lighter.
If this has helped you, consider buying me a beer and CLICK HERE to donate a few bucks to On Stage Lighting (why should I donate?). Thanks, - Rob
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On Stage Lighting has a ton of stuff like this. You may also like:
- Gobos – A Guide To Choosing And Using A Gobo
- LED Stage Lighting – Why Buy RGB LED Stage Lights?
- Which Stage Spotlights Should I Use For My Show?
- Band Lighting Gels – Best Filter Colours To Light Your Gig
Rob is a freelance LD and Programmer working the the UK events industry. He is also the Editor of On Stage Lighting
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October 12th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Maybe you are giving Raylights a bit of a hard time here.
(Thinks).
No, you are right, they are pretty awful. Maybe they make a passable Howie Batten though, if you want it open white.
…and don’t have a Howie Batten or a budget.
October 13th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Ian.
I forgot to mention that raylights blow lamps for a pastime.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:31 am
…and burn out lampholders!
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:22 am
I like this passage.It give me a full known about the par 64.It help me kick off the puzzle about that.Thak you! I am from china.I am a worker of lighting equipment company.
December 16th, 2007 at 1:53 am
You work for a lighting company… and you dont know the different lamp types for par cans? Are you the cleaner?
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I am here to stand and wave the flag for the Raylite… I would agree that you wouldn’t want to keylight anything with them… but for rock beam work, no PAR Lamp comes close! I went through the burnt out lamp holder blues and put them to the back of the wharehouse.. but two months ago after about 10 years of non use, I dragged them out for a Rock video shoot that needed a bit of a Beam feel.. relamped 16 of them and spread them around the rig.. Wow.. Brighter and punchier than Areos.. and if a lamp goes you only loose 1 lamp not 8 or 4!!… and you can flash them individually.. Oh yes they falsh much much faster than a PAR lamp too… Since then, I have put them back into another couple of riggs and have not yet had to replace a lamp!! althought the offical life is only about 80 hours… So yeh not a PAR work horse.. needs to be treated a bit more like a classic car.. but in the right place you can touch them…
Use the 500W lamp not the 650W… Yours Re converted of Sheffield!
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Yeh that was can’t touch them!!!.. I guess depending on where they are in the rig you can touch them as well!!!
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Thanks for your points, Dave.
All lampie religions are welcomed here (possibly with exception of The Followers Of The Masterpiece – tee-hee).
December 22nd, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Yeh…… Even I would agree to that!!!
January 1st, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Where would I find the old style 1000w Par Can Bulb Holders. The new ‘Safer’ ones seem to disintegrate quite easily!!
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Hi Con,
Know what you mean about the newer PAR lamp holders!!
Grelcos don’t last as long these days either.
— Old Man Grumble Mode Aborted —
You can still get old style PAR lamp holders from suppliers of PAR spares. If you are searching you might try using the term “PAR ceramics” as that type are sometimes called.
They are still available as a single rewirable ceramic and a rewiring kit that is a pre-wired bulbholder with a tail of silicon cable that you just need to wire a plug onto.
Penn Fabrications are good place to start.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I haven’t been too involved in the nitty gritty of lighting for a while… but I seem to recall that there’s an issue with the Par lamps when they blow? Don’t they have a tendancy to … well…. explode … and send shards of hot glass shooting about the place?
February 18th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hi Cliff,
You’re right, sealed PAR lamps can explode although it happens pretty irregularly. The burning out of the filament, which is inside a quartz capsule in the PAR lamp, causes the capsule to explode and that shatters the front lens of the PAR.
Because PAR cans don’t have a lens of their own, the result is a shower of hot glass onto whatever is below them. Some designs of PAR Can have a fine mesh covering the lamp.
Thanks for bringing the subject of exploding PAR lamps up.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Hi,
You talking about the masterpeice reminded me of what happened a while ago for the company i work for. Basically, we were using the desk, had it all ready to go and then literally 2 minutes before the show started we had the show manager come and put their metal clipboard down on top of it. O deary me, the touch panels really did not like that, so, now, its been re-named “The Disaster Peice” lol.
Great website Rob, Cheers
February 24th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Charlie, thanks.
Stories of show cock-ups seem to be overweight in the “something made my Masterpiece go crazy” stakes, so it could be argued that the metal touch sensitive pads on the control were a definite design flaw.
My heart always sinks if ever I am presented with a moving light controller (?) that has a joystick. That’s never a good sign.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Hi all
has anyone tryed the raylight with the R7 lamp holder? DTS make them
the lamps are the same you get in the garden security lights so they are very cheap.
I already own 4 minuette asymetrical floods and they give a nice wash using the same lamps.
Plus the lamps are held in the right burning posistion unlike the normal raylights.
your thoughts please
June 21st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Hi Darren, I can’t really work out what exactly the DTS lanterns are supposed to be (they look like a fresnel box with no lens on the front) but the idea of putting a linear halogen strip with a parabolic reflector seems counter intuitive.
Your asymmetrical floods (“scoops” in the US) are a more standard housing for such lamps and give a wide floodlight. Let us know your thoughts on the light quality from those fixtures.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Hi Rob
I bought some to try as they have a 30 day money back offer..
and… they aren’t that good the effect you get is an oval beam of light which is ok but it also reflects the pop rivit holding the fitting to the parabolic reflector and sends out lines of light which have bounced off the back of the reflector.
looks like i’ll return these and purchase some normal PAR 64 lamps Have you ever used Omnilux?
my other concern is the apparent exploding PAR lamps is this because they are miss treated or de rigged before they have cooled properly?
I’m not sure how I could explain the possibility of hot glass showering down on the performers or audience
or would GE be a better make to buy?
Look forward to hearing from you
Darren
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Thanks for letting us know your thoughts on the R7 Raylights.
We normally use GE PAR 64 lamps and I know there has been a bit of talk over the years about different makes being better/worse for exploding. I had a GE CP62 explode on a gig last week during performance – hot glass rained down behind the band but noone hurt (pretty surprised though. It doesn’t happen that often though.
The interesting thing is that, with mesh in the front of the PAR Can, the front lens cracked and fell to bits while the blast forced the internal halogen envelope back through the hole (no PAR safe) in the rear of the Can – still intact with filament. This is where the glass escaped from. Not seen that happen before.
It’s the sort of situation that noone really wants to think about. But it does happen and I don’t think that anyone has the exact answer as to what causes a PAR lamp to explode.
Good to hear from you again.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:47 am
What about ACL? That is a popular par can.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Hi Rob,
More advice please if you would be so kind! I am having the eternal debate about the correct lamps for PAR 64 fixtures. I have read about Raylights and taken on board the advice about NEVER using them! I am told that some of the FIXTURES we have here are Raylights – is that right? Is there such a thing as a Raylight Fixture or is that misinformation? They look a lot like our Silver PAR64 Fixtures but they are black and shorter. Is there anyway I can know for sure? There are lots of pictures on Google but they are not very definitive! Help please!!
Also, don’t suppose you know of anyone who has an old lighting desk that is able to control intelligent lighting that they would like to donate to a charity!
Matt
November 1st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@ Matt
A PAR can is a PAR can – the metal bit that holds the PAR lamp. However, the electrical wiring set for a Raylight reflector is not the same as the “ceramic” used for standard PAR lamp connections inside the can. Perhaps that where the idea the your fixtures are for Raylights comes from. You can fit standard PAR lamps to the cans, you might just need to modify the lamp base and wiring to accept the new lamps. Some designs of PAR can have a meshed/solid rear lamp housing (for Rays or ACL fittings) which might stop you from spinning the lamp.
BTW, Most “old” intelligent lighting desks are museum pieces and are probably worth a little bit to someone. Why don’t you take a look at cheap/free PC software lighting control instead?
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
Thanks Rob!
Matt
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Can anyone help me??? I have 40 64 long nosed PAR Cans and need to lamp them all, whats the cheapest/most cost affective way? the lights will be used for band gigs mainly.
Chris
February 25th, 2009 at 10:07 am
if you have 40 par64′s to be used for a band gig then u have two options for lamping them
1) You can opt for GE bulbs which come in three types Very Narrow,Narrow and medium flood,they also come in wide flood but dont use those. You must use wide for your side lighting and very narrow for your back lighting. For FOH if you want to use pars from very close then use wides at a agle of 45′to the stage from a height.If you want to use your Foh from a distance then Narrows are recommended. If you wish to use your FOH from very far then use very narrow. For Foh no matter what you use try for a height since eyelevel or lower will hurt the performers.The best are Narrows for FOH since you can use it from anywhere that is “not too close”.
2)Option 2 is go for Ordinary bulbs which are more flood lights. They just hit all over the place. These are dirt cheap but i do not recommend them for serious lighting guys or serious work.
Hope this helps
March 4th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Hi Chris,
if you have 40 par64’s to be used for a band gig then u have two options for lamping them
1) You can opt for GE bulbs which come in three types Very Narrow,Narrow and medium flood,they also come in wide flood but dont use those. You must use medium for your side lighting and very narrow for your back lighting. For FOH if you want to use pars from very close then use wides at a angle of 45?to the stage from a height.If you want to use your Foh from a distance then Narrows are recommended. If you wish to use your FOH from very far then use very narrow. For Foh no matter what you use try for a height since eyelevel or lower will hurt the performers.The best are Narrows for FOH since you can use it from anywhere that is “not too close”.
2)Option 2 is go for Ordinary bulbs which are more flood lights. They just hit all over the place. These are dirt cheap but i do not recommend them for serious lighting guys or serious work.
Hope this helps
Sharukh
Just remember the further your narrows go the more they will cover.If you really want a good FOH then dont use Par’s use profiles. 26 DEGREES from close or 10′ from far. You can use 10 degrees from close but it will be very bright. So if you want to highlight any one band member you can use those from close and use 26 on the rest. You will need two for each band member. You will also need it to be from up close.
Sharukh
March 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Hi
I have a question can somebody please post a picture of a raylight on this site. Theres a lot of talk, but ive never used a raylight, so Im not sure what it looks like. If someone can tell me where i can see a picture of one id like to try them out.
Thanks
Sharukh
June 11th, 2009 at 1:16 am
When you say that a Medium Wide flood is 24 degrees, is that going length ways or the shorter width of the ellipsis?
June 11th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Hi Darcy, 24 degrees is a rough figure for the widest axis of the PAR beam. The narrowist axis of a CP62 is probably half that, I guess.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi!
In DESPERATE need of help.
1) I have 2 P64 long nose PAR cans. I’m intending on using these in a Drama Studio but when I tried one it started to smoke from the lamp. Is there any explanation why this could’ve happened. I’m plugging them into a 15A 250V socket…Could this explain it maybe?
2) I can’t seem to fit the lamp base onto the lamp comfortably The ceramic bit should plug all the way around but it’s just not happening for me!!!
Any help would be appreciated!
July 9th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Hi Dyl,
Are the par cans new? Then its probably the Paint, its normal leave it on for a while. If it’s old still leave it on for a while but keep sand ready incase something catches fire.
Dry sand mind you not wet.
Cheers
Sharukh
July 13th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Hi Sharukh,
Yes, they’re brand new, only a few weeks old! If it’s the paint i’ll be relieved! Still no able to fit the lamp base comfortably onto the lamp though…
September 1st, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Hi Ppl the drama group i help out are buying par 64′s 4 long nose and 8 short. The stage itself is pretty small approx 5m wide x 5m depth. the lighting grid is only 4m from the stage floor pretty low for a show i know. my question is what bulb to go for eg 1000w or 500w and the other thing is what type med flood or wide.. any help greatly takin on board
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Hi Phil,
The Drama Studio where i work has similar dimensions as your’s. I would go for the 500w and med flood. The med flood gives you more flexibility as to where and how you’re intending on lighting the space as oppose to a wide which will light bits you want dark. Alternatively, if you’re intending on lighting large spaces/areas of the stage go for the wide. Another option would of course be buy BOTH lol! Just so you’re ahead of the game when you’re lighting a play etc…
Hope that helps.
Dyl
September 4th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
cheers Dyl yea i wish i could buy both bulbs but like yourself shoe string budgets are great fun….
September 5th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Hi Phil,
My Recommendation would be to get a few MultiPARS, which are similar to par cans, except you can get interchangeable Lenses, however they don’t take a PAR Lamp, rather a capsule lamp, similar to what you put in a Profile or Fresnel.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
So now I know NOT to blame the crew for hitting my Par 64 with a flat. It exploded all by itself! And if you think a 4 metre grid is low ours is 3.4m! For the current show half the stage has been raised 40cm so it’s only 3m! And the tallest actor is 5′ 7″!(Don’t know what that is in metric but I do know it’s hard to light that high). Who can suggest the best light for that job? It’s complicated by the headers being low so the angle is awful. Yeah, I know, pull it down and build another one, not going to happen.