Curtis Judd 7/28/19 Curtis Judd 7/28/19

Aputure COB300DII: Refined, Powerful, Versatile Video Light

Aputure updated their COB 300D LED single point light in some substantial ways with the COB 300D II. This new light puts out even more than the first generation COB 300D, adds a new more refined control box, removes the separate AC adapter, and adds an extremely convenient light stand quick release system. The color quality is very good for a daylight balanced LED light and the Bowens mount makes this light especially versatile. With various modifiers you can make hard or soft light with Aputure’s Light Dome, Light Dome Mini, Fresnel 2X, Barn Doors, Lantern, and soon to arrive Spotlight. Let’s take a closer look.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Gear used and mentioned in this episode:

Aputure COB 300D II with V-Mount Battery Plates - B&H

Aputure COB 300D II with V-Mount Battery Plates - Amazon

Aputure COB 300D II with Anton Bauer Gold Mount Battery Plates - B&H

Aputure COB 120D II - Amazon

Aputure Light Dome II - Amazon

Aputure Light Dome II - B&H

Aputure Light Dome Mini II - Amazon

Aputure Light Dome Mini II - B&H:

Aputure Lantern - B&H

Aputure Barn Doors - B&H

Aputure Fresnel 2X - B&H

Aputure Fresnel 2X - Amazon

Aputure Spotlight - B&H

Sound Devices Scorpio - B&H

DPA 4017b Shotgun Microphone - B&H

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - B&H

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - Amazon

Get a free trial of the best music for your videos at Musicbed

Ethics statement: Some of the links above are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or other affiliate links.

Curtis Judd 5/18/19 Curtis Judd 5/18/19

Lupo Superpanel 60 Series & SSI Color Quality

Jump to 7:40 for coverage of color quality, CRI. TLCI, TM-30-15, and SSI. See why SSI is probably the most useful for most filmmakers when evaluating color quality or matching lights.

See the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences paper describing SSI over at https://www.oscars.org/science-technology/projects/spectral-similarity-index-ssi

Lupo is an Italian company which makes LED lighting for video and photography, mainly targeting the studio and professional markets. I’ve worked with their previous LED Fresnel DayLED and Superpanel 30 lights. In fact, the Superpanel Full Color 30 is a staple in my lighting kit. In this episode, we take a look at their newest Superpanels - the Full Color 60 and Dual Color 60. These are 1x2 LED panels that pack a lot of punch.

I also recently added a Sekonic C-800 color meter/spectrometer to my kit so that we can evaluate lights for our reviews. The C-800 measures color quality using CRI, TLCI, TM-30-15, and most importantly, the new SSI metric. SSI stands for Spectral Similarity Index. We cover why this is probably the most useful metric for assessing color quality vs. the others we have used in the past.

#Lighting #LED #Filmmaking

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at https://school.learnlightandsound.com including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used in this video:

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 60 - Great 1x2’ LED panel light that works great not only as an effects light, but also as a key or rim.

Lupo Superpanel Dual Color 60 - Same as above but without the RGB capabilities and this one has more light output. I only need to set it to about 8% on the dimmer for most head and shoulders shots.

Aputure COB 120DII (Amazon) - used as one of the background lights

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 - a staple in my lighting kit for the last year. Great not only for its color effects, but also as a key, rim, fill, or flood.

Sekonic C-800 Color Meter/Spectrometer

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens (Amazon)

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - used to shoot the talking head and most of the product shots

Curtis Judd 4/14/19 Curtis Judd 4/14/19

Aputure - New Lights and Sidus Link - NAB 2019

At NAB 2019, we stopped by the Aputure booth to see the new products they announced and wow! There's a bunch of them. Hopefully they can deliver them all before 2019 comes to a close. I'm especially interested in the 300DmkII and the spotlight. The new Sidus Link sig mesh bluetooth control is also interesting.

Please consider my sound for video classes.

Aputure MC - Small RGB LED panel that can charge wirelessly and communicate via sig mesh bluetooth. Optional hard case with 12 wireless charging slots - Coming soon

Aputure RC - A smart LED bulb, but battery powered, RGB, and with good CRI/TLCI, and color effects. Oh, and also sig mesh bluetooth control. No flicker at any shutter speed - Coming Soon

Aputure COB300DmkII - 20% brighter, handbrake yoke, 360 degree yoke, integrated control box and power supply with passive cooling and metal body, power via 1 or 2 cine batteries, super clamp and QR for control box - Coming Soon

Aputure Spotlight - similar to a leko light - various beam angles with focusing, internal flags to cut the light, and slot for adjustable aperture and cookies and gobos - Coming soon.

Aputure Lantern - Quick setup china ball with double sided skirts - Coming soon

Curtis Judd 3/10/19 Curtis Judd 3/10/19

Aputure AL-MW LED Light & Fresnel 2x

In this episode, we take a look at two new lighting products from Aputure: The AL-MW and the Fresnel 2x. The AL-MW is a tiny LED video light with a daylight color balance and is waterproof to 10 meters or 30 feet. Its in-built battery will power the light for 85 minutes at high power. The color quality is very good with a CRI of almost 98 and the light puts out enough light to use even as a key light.

The Fresnel 2x is a new add-on focusing lens for lights with a Bowens mount like the Aputure COB series of lights along with lights from several other manufacturers. The lens focuses the light beam between 12 and 40 degrees so you can add a good bit of drama, texture, and dimension to your lighting design.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Fairlight and Audition, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used in this video:

Aputure AL-MW (Amazon) tiny, waterproof LED Light

Aputure Fresnel 2x (Amazon) - Lens to focus your light into carefully defined beams.

Aputure COB 120DII LED Light - this is my main workhorse light for 90% of my video work.

Aputure COB 300D LED Light - a BIG light for BIG jobs

Aputure Barn Doors - You can use this on its own, or with the Fresnel 2x to cut the light for even more dramatic lighting designs. I use this a LOT for lighting backgrounds.

Sennheiser XSW-D Portable Wireless Lavalier Set - used this to record all of the audio for this episode. Review coming soon.

1/4-20 to Light Stand Adapter - the adapter I use to attach the AL-MW to a light stand

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record most of this episode

Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens - Used on the Pocket 4K camera

Curtis Judd 2/3/19 Curtis Judd 2/3/19

CAME TV RGB Ring Light - Boltzen Cassiopeia C-50

In this episode, we have a look at the new foldable ring light from CAME-TV, the Boltzen Cassiopeia C-50. This is both an RGB light which can produce any color on the spectrum plus also be used as a daylight or tungsten balanced light for more traditional lighting. Interesting concept and an interesting light. Let’s take a closer look!

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used in this video:

Came-TV Boltzen Cassiopeia Ring Lights

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record most of this episode

Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens (Amazon) - Used on the Pocket 4K camera

Aputure AL-MW (Amazon) - tiny, waterproof background light in talking head shots

Lupo Superpanel 30 Full Color - Pro level RGB background panel light in some of the product shots

Curtis Judd 1/24/19 Curtis Judd 1/24/19

Aputure Light Dome II & Light Dome Mini II Soft Boxes

In this episode, we have a look at the Light Dome II and Light Dome Mini II from Aputure. These are soft boxes you can use with their COB line of LED lights for video and photography. But you can also use them with any other manufacturer’s light that uses a standard Bowens mount.

Links to gear used in this video:

Aputure Light Dome II

Aputure Light Dome Mini II

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record this episode

Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS Lens (Amazon) - Used on the Pocket 4K camera

Aputure COB 120d (Amazon)- daylight color

Aputure COB 120dII (Amazon) - key light, daylight color

Aputure COB120t (Amazon) - background light, tungsten color

Curtis Judd 10/18/18 Curtis Judd 10/18/18

Upcoming Reviews After a Short Break

After five years of producing a new video nearly every week, I need a short break just to catch up on a ton of things that have been neglected and recharge a bit. We've got a bunch of interesting reviews coming up after the break:

Sony ECM-674 Shotgun Microphone

Centrance MixerFace R4 - 4 channel XLR/3.5mm TRS Mixer/USB Audio Interface. Great for mobile recording

JK Mic-J Headset Microphone

Moza Air II - Coming soon

Scotty Makes Stuff Glider Pro 3 Duo - 4th Axis Stabilizer for motorized gimbals (like the Zhiyun Crane 2)

Aputure Light Dome II - Softbox for the Aputure COB series of lights or any light with a Bowens mount

Aputure Light Dome Mini II - Smaller softbox for the Aputure COB series of lights or any light with a Bowens mount

Portkeys HS7T On Camera Monitor - HD high brightness screen with HDMI and SDI inputs. Can read 4K signal via HDMI - Coming soon

Accusonus ERA D

Curtis Judd 9/30/18 Curtis Judd 9/30/18

bitLighter 2 Review: Flashlight/Torch for Video and Photo

How can you make higher contrast, more dramatic lighting for your video and photo projects? Hard light! In this episode, we demonstrate a few different dramatic lighting setups with the bitLighter 2, a very small, hard light designed for video and photography. It is super portable and renders colors well.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at the Learn Light and Sound school including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used in this video:

bitLighter 2 - LED Flashlight/Torch for Video and Photography

Aputure COB120t - Key light for the talking head portions of this video

Aputure Light Dome II - Newer version of the big soft box with faster setup and gel holder

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 - RGBW 1x1 panel light for the funky background colors

LED GO E268C Bi-color Edge-lit LED Pad - super thin and light, making it a great soft light source for tight spaces

Vistek Canada (also ship to USA)

Holdan UK

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer

Sennheiser MKH 8050 - This is the boom mic used to record this episode

Panasonic GH5 Camera - Used for all of the product shots

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - this is the the lens I use more than any other on the GH5s

Curtis Judd 9/16/18 Curtis Judd 9/16/18

Aputure COB120dII: LED Light for Video and Photo

For a couple of years now, the Aputure C120d and C120t have been my main lights for almost all of my video jobs. They’ve been super reliable and I love their flexibility to work as hard or soft light sources. The updated C120dII takes some very nice steps forward in terms of build quality, output, and overall usefulness. Let’s take a closer look now that I’ve had a copy for about 3 or 4 months.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at my school including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used in this video:

Aputure COB120d II LED Light

Aputure COB120d - Original version, $100 cheaper. My take is that the mark 2 version is worth the additional $100. But if you’re on a tight budget, the original has been great for me for a couple of years.

Aputure Light Dome II - Newer version of the big soft box with faster setup and gel holder

Aputure Light Dome - Deep, big softbox for incredibly beautiful, soft light (original version)

Aputure Fresnel Lens - Original focusing fresnel lens to push a strong shaft of light. Great for effects. I’d wait for the new version coming soon if you don’t need it right away

Aputure Barn Doors - Great for cutting hard lines in your light. I love using this for product shots to add a bit of mystery to the feel.

Sekonic C-700U Spectrometer - This is what we used to measure the light output and color quality

Sennheiser MKH 8050 - This is the boom mic used to record this episode

Panasonic GH5 Camera - Used for all of the product shots

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - this is the the lens I use more than any other on the GH5s

Curtis Judd 9/3/18 Curtis Judd 9/3/18

3 LED Lights: Lupo, bitLighter, & LED GO

New LED Lights for video and filmmaking are hitting the market so quickly that I cannot possibly review them all. But here is an overview of three fairly unique lights I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the last couple of months. The first is the Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30, an RGBW light which effectively serves as a key or effect light with equal agility. It even includes special effects such as police car lights.

The second is called the bitLighter which is essentially a large flashlight (or torch for our British friends) that is specifically designed for video and photography lighting. It has a focusable beam which ranges between 10 and 56 degrees making it very useful for hard effects. You can also swap out the LED head to a variety of color temperatures between 2700K and 5700K.

And finally, we have a look at the LED GO E268C, and edge-lit LED pad about the size of the larger iPad Pro. This makes a very nice soft light to use as a key light or rim light. Because it is so thin, it is easy to use this light in places where traditional soft light sources (such as lights with soft boxes) could never fit.

Full Disclosure: Each of these lights was given to me free of charge from their respective manufacturers. None of them paid me beyond providing the light and they did not review this video before I posted it. All opinions shared here are my own.

Links to gear used in this episode:

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 RGBW LED Panel - my new favorite background and effect light that also works as a key

bitLighter LED Flashlight/Torch - Incredibly small form factor for a lot of hard light

LED GO E268C Bi-color Edge-lit LED Pad - super thin and light, making it a great soft light source for tight spaces

Vistek Canada (also ship to USA)

Holdan UK

Deity D3-Pro Shotgun Microphone - this was recorded in my car with the D3-Pro

Zoom F8n Audio Recorder

Panasonic GH5s Camera - my favorite small camera for video

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - this is the the lens I use more than any other on the GH5s

Amazon: http://geni.us/uMsKam