Of all the kit I’ve looked at over the years and thought, “nope, not for me”, a gobo projector is right up there near the top. Most of my work is in pubs, so it doesn’t really fit. That said, as a bit of kit, it does exactly what you need it to do: project gobos well.

Opening the box reveals a compact little projector that takes a no-nonsense approach. It has a captive metre power lead with no power switch, so it's a simple plug-and-go affair. There's a rotary switch on the back that allows you to set two speeds counter-clockwise, or two speeds clockwise along with static. You also have a safety tether ring and a mounting bracket with the standard M12-sized hole for attaching the projector to bars or truss.

The unit itself is fan-cooled as you would expect, to keep the 40W LED cool for extended running. The LED runs at 8000 Kelvin so you get a nice sharp white output from it. Moving down the unit, we come to the gobo holder, which is magnetic, in that it uses magnets to lock in place. There are marks on both the holder and projector so you know you’re putting it in correctly.

The gobo itself is held in with a spring clip that can be easily removed with a fingernail or, if you’re like me and keep them short, a flat-head screwdriver or knife edge if you carry a multitool. Swapping the gobo is simplicity itself: remove the clip and drop the gobo out, swap in the new one, and you can literally press the clip back in with a finger and you’re ready to go. This projector uses 26.4mm outer-diameter gobos with a 21mm maximum image size, and it will take glass or metal gobos.

The unit comes supplied with no gobos included, so you’re going to need to order from your favourite gobo supplier. At the business end is the manual focus ring for adjusting the image. Weight-wise, it’s just 1.7kg, so you can put this anywhere, and its slim profile won’t look out of place in most settings. Now for the important bit: how did it fare in the real world?

I took the unit out to a university speed quiz. The ideal focal length is between one and five metres. Being an absolute rebel, I decided to test it out at 20 metres. It produced a stunningly crisp image, easily 10 feet across, and the rotation is like silk, with no judder.

The dual-speed rotation is perfectly suited for slow movement, so you’re not going to make people dizzy with it. The verdict? This is a lightweight and easy-to-use gobo projector with a fantastic output that will easily reach where you need it. Maybe get gobos made with your DJ Name, regular venue name, a selection of birthday numbers, hearts, snowflakes etc.

Then as a great upsell how about Birthday person's name, wedding couples' names etc. With no DMX, IR, or other bells and whistles to bump the price up, you can nab one for £199.99. A solid bit of kit all round and, more importantly, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Visit the Equinox manufacturer website