Small But Mighty DGA’s Nano Tini was the latest miniature spotlight to take home a [d]arc award earlier this year. Here, David Morgan puts the miniscule spotlight under the microscope.
I
f this product review reflected the size of the luminaire under discussion it would already
be well on the way to reaching its conclusion. The DGA Nano Tini spotlight is a very small luminaire indeed.
DGA was founded by Antonio Di Gangi in
Florence in 1989 and the first lighting products
produced by the company were based on fibre optics for use in
museum and architectural projects. These early ranges included
downlights, projectors, and linear systems for interior and exterior applications.
The company introduced its first LED lighting systems in 2000
and has invested heavily to create a full range of interior, exterior and underwater LED luminaires. DGA has always aimed to reduce the size of luminaires to the minimum during the design and manufacturing process.
The company undertakes the full luminaire design and development
process in-house, including mechanical, thermal, and optical design, as well as photometric testing. The primary in-house production process used by DGA to produce its range of luminaires is NC
machining of brass, aluminium, stainless steel, and magnesium
materials. The waste material produced by the NC machining process is carefully collected for recycling to ensure minimum waste within a circular economy model. DGA aims to keep as many production processes in-house as possible and undertakes its own LED light engine assembly and powder coating of metal components.
The company currently employs 60 people in Florence and has a
sales network covering all major specification markets. Focusing
on the specification sector, DGA works closely both with Italian and international lighting designers.
The latest product introduced by DGA is the Nano Tini miniature spotlight, which recently won the [d]arc award for the best interior product.
The Nano Tini lives up to its name and is a very small luminaire –
only 9mm in diameter and 20mm long. The miniaturisation in size
is made possible by the 5mm diameter lenses used in the range. The design of this range of lenses was undertaken by the DGA design team using one of the standard optical design software systems. David Morgan Associates, a Londonbased international design consultancy specialising in luminaire design and development and is also MD of Radiant Architectural Lighting. Email: david@dmadesign.co.uk Web: www.dmadesign.co.uk
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www.arc-magazine.com
Most of the small spotlights I have reviewed for arc magazine in recent years were based on a 10mm lens, such as the LEDiL Lisa
range, and I was interested to compare the performance of the DGA Nano spotlight with these other products.
The sample I was given to test by DGA was fitted with a 30° medium
