In a market where almost every manufacturer is focusing its efforts on increasingly powerful LED engines and the development of new laser solutions, Claypaky has made a decision that, at first glance, seems to challenge the logic of the industry. With the launch of the Ultimo Sharpy, the Italian company is not only bringing back one of the most iconic names in professional lighting, but also raising a question worthy of analysis: does innovation always mean adopting the latest technology, or does it mean choosing the right tool for each application?
There are very few products in the professional lighting industry whose name has gone beyond the equipment category to become a concept. Sharpy is one of them. For years, referring to a “Sharpy” stopped meaning only a specific Claypaky model and became a universal reference in the world of ultra-concentrated beam fixtures. Its arrival transformed the visual language of concerts, festivals, television productions, and large-scale shows, establishing a trend that was quickly adopted by virtually every manufacturer in the market.
However, that very success created a complex challenge. How do you update a product that defined an era without betraying what made it a classic? Claypaky’s answer was not to develop a completely different replacement or follow the trend of creating a hybrid fixture capable of doing everything. Instead, the Italian company chose to return to the original concept and refine it with the technologies required by today’s productions.
The result is the Ultimo Sharpy, a fixture that preserves the philosophy of the original model while incorporating a completely renewed technological platform to meet the demands of modern entertainment productions.
An evolution, not a reinvention
In an industry where versatility often becomes the main selling point, it is remarkable to find a product that embraces specialization.
The Ultimo Sharpy does not attempt to be a wash, a profile, or a multipurpose hybrid. Above all, it remains a beam fixture designed to produce extremely defined, intense, and visually striking beams. Rather than representing a limitation, this design decision is probably its greatest strength.
Claypaky understood that the success of the original Sharpy was not based solely on its luminous output, but also on the clarity of its purpose. Instead of altering that identity, the company chose to strengthen it by incorporating features that expand its capabilities without changing its personality.
The result is a fixture that continues to deliver the same visual impact that made the Sharpy an industry benchmark, while adapting to the technical requirements of contemporary lighting systems.
The decision to maintain an HID lLamp
Perhaps one of the most interesting decisions behind the new Ultimo Sharpy is the choice to retain a 250W short-arc OSRAM HID lamp as its light source.
In a market where most new products rely on LED engines or laser technology, this decision might appear conservative. However, from a technical standpoint, it follows a very logical approach.
Beam fixtures require an enormous concentration of luminous energy within an extremely narrow angle. In this type of application, beam intensity and the ability to project over long distances remain decisive factors.
With an output of up to 100,000 lux at 20 meters and a color temperature close to 7,200 K, the Ultimo Sharpy demonstrates that discharge lamp technology still offers significant advantages when the goal is producing exceptionally bright and sharply defined beams.
Rather than resisting change, Claypaky’s decision appears to reflect a simple philosophy: use the technology that best solves a specific need.
Designed for today’s productions
If the original Sharpy revolutionized the visual aesthetics of live entertainment, the Ultimo Sharpy is designed to meet the new working conditions faced by rental companies, lighting designers, and system integrators.
One of its most significant advances is the addition of an IP66-rated enclosure. This allows the fixture to be used outdoors without requiring additional protection against rain, dust, or harsh environmental conditions.
Achieving this level of protection in a fixture equipped with a discharge lamp is considerably more challenging than in LED-based products. Claypaky has succeeded in preserving the same compact concept that made the Sharpy famous while introducing a sealed design built to withstand the demands of international tours, festivals, and permanent installations.
This is complemented by a construction clearly aimed at the rental market, featuring ergonomic handles, simplified maintenance, easy access to internal components, and numerous details intended to reduce service time during productions.
More creative tools without losing the beam DNA
Although the heart of the Ultimo Sharpy remains its impressive 2° beam, Claypaky has significantly expanded its creative capabilities. The addition of a CMY color mixing system represents one of the most important advances over previous generations.
Unlike a traditional color wheel, CMY mixing allows for a much broader color palette, with smooth transitions between saturated tones and pastel colors. For lighting designers, this means greater creative freedom, particularly in productions where color plays a narrative role rather than simply a decorative one.
This is complemented by the original color wheel featuring 14 dichroic filters, offering the possibility of combining rapid color changes with chromatic precision according to the needs of each production.
Another noteworthy addition is the 10° frost filter, which completely changes the fixture’s personality. Without turning it into a wash light, it softens the beam and broadens its range of applications, offering new possibilities for television, corporate events, and productions where versatility is important.
Prisms that multiply visual impact
Aerial effects have always been one of the Sharpy’s greatest strengths, and the Ultimo Sharpy takes this concept a step further.
The new system incorporates an 18-facet circular prism and a six-facet linear prism, both featuring bidirectional rotation and variable speed. The ability to use these effects independently significantly expands the fixture’s visual vocabulary.
Rather than simply multiplying beams, the prisms allow the creation of far more complex lighting structures, adding depth and movement to every scene. Combined with the CMY system and the frost filter, they provide a much broader visual language than that of the first-generation Sharpy.
Movement designed for today’s shows
Another major advancement appears in the fixture’s mechanics.
The Ultimo Sharpy incorporates infinite pan, a feature increasingly demanded for automated tracking applications and timecode-synchronized productions.
Continuous rotation eliminates the limitations of traditional pan systems, allowing smooth movement without having to reposition the fixture when it reaches the end of its travel.
The tilt range has also been optimized to simplify coverage from challenging rigging positions, a valuable advantage for international tours, temporary events, and venues where fixture placement is often restricted by multiple factors.
The speed of movement remains one of the Sharpy’s defining characteristics, now complemented by greater precision and smoother transitions.
Designed for the 21st century rental market
Beyond its optical performance, the Ultimo Sharpy clearly demonstrates its orientation toward the professional rental market and large-scale productions.
Its connectivity includes virtually every protocol currently in use: DMX, RDM, Art-Net, sACN, and LumenRadio CRMX, as well as an integrated web server and CloudIO compatibility.
These capabilities enable remote configuration, diagnostics, and firmware updates, simplifying technical operations and reducing maintenance time.
Another noteworthy feature is the Sharpy emulation mode, which allows the new model to be integrated into existing productions without having to rebuild fixture libraries or reprogram movements and effects. For rental companies with a substantial installed base of original Sharpys, this compatibility represents a highly significant operational advantage.
Quieter, more durable
Claypaky has also addressed one of the most frequent requests from professional users.
A firmware update introduced the new Low Noise mode, capable of reducing operating noise by approximately 7 dB while maintaining close to 90% of the fixture’s original light output.
This improvement significantly expands its suitability for television studios, theaters, auditoriums, and other environments where mechanical noise can become a critical factor.
Additionally, the availability of the Marine Shield treatment allows the fixture to be used aboard cruise ships and in marine installations by providing specific protection against corrosion caused by saltwater environments. This feature demonstrates how Claypaky has designed the product for applications extending far beyond traditional stages.
A consistent evolution
Perhaps the Ultimo Sharpy’s greatest achievement is not simply the addition of new features, but the consistency with which they have been implemented.
Rather than transforming the Sharpy into a hybrid fixture capable of doing everything, Claypaky chose to refine what it has historically done best: producing some of the most intense, defined, and spectacular beams in the industry.
Each new feature—from the IP66 certification to CMY color mixing, infinite pan, advanced connectivity, and the new quiet mode—responds to real professional needs without altering the product’s essence.
It is an evolution built upon years of experience gained on stages, at festivals, in television studios, and throughout international tours.
Conclusion
The Ultimo Sharpy does not seek to reinvent a concept that has already proven its effectiveness. Its true value lies in understanding what today’s market requires while preserving everything that made the Sharpy a global benchmark.
At a time when many manufacturers are focusing on increasingly multifunctional fixtures, Claypaky has chosen to perfect a specialized tool by incorporating technologies that enhance its performance, expand its capabilities, and simplify its integration into contemporary production workflows.
Coinciding with the company’s 50th anniversary, the Ultimo Sharpy represents much more than the launch of a new product. It is the evolution of one of the most influential fixtures in professional lighting—a luminaire that preserves its identity while adapting to the technical demands of a new generation of live productions. For those seeking a high-intensity beam fixture designed for outdoor use, equipped with modern connectivity and built on a platform developed for the professional rental market, the Ultimo Sharpy confirms that some icons do not need to change their personality to continue leading the way. They simply need to evolve intelligently.
