Introduction
If you’ve spent anytime working in the film industry, you’ve probably heard of the production triangle: Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two. That’s why when we heard about the high quality, affordably priced, and easy to use LEDs from Aputure, we were naturally skeptical. So we got our hands on a few models and for the last 4 months we’ve put them to the test on shoots in various environments. Here are our real world thoughts on how they really perform, including color quality, useful features, and functionality.
Aputure Overview
We been testing the Aputure Amaran, Light Storm 1s, and Light Storm 1/2w LED lights on our sets for the last 4 months to give you the real low down on how they perform. But first let’s take a quick look at what each of these lights has to offer.
The Amaran has a plastic shell, which cuts down on the weight as well as the price. It is powered by either two camera batteries or AC; it has the ability to tilt or swivel; it is fully dimmable; it comes with a diffusion gel and tungsten gel; and best of all it is completely controllable via remote. The Light Storm 1/2w is a low profile, thin LED in a metal case that can be powered either via camera batteries or AC power. The larger model, the Light Storm 1s, is about twice the size, also incased in metal, and has the same power options, wireless control, and dimming abilities as the 1/2w. Other than size and output, the other major difference with this light is the addition of barn doors. All three of these lights boast high output, high CRI ratings, an affordable price, and options that are typically only found in more expensive lights
Aputure LED Light Quality
If you’ve watched our videos on how LED lights can ruin your projects, then you know that the quality of light output by an LED is critical. You also know that CRI is a useless rating when it comes to LEDs.
So we took all three of these lights and measured them using the Lighting Passport color meter to get their real readings using a few different standards. The Amaran came in at a CRI of 94 for all 15 color channels with an R9 reading of 91. It had a CQS reading of 93, a TLCI reading of 96, and a GAI reading of 96. The Light Storm 1/2w read at a CRI of 96 for all 15 channels with an R9 reading of 98. It had a CQS reading of 94, a TLCI reading of 98, and a GAI reading of 95. And finally the Light Storm 1s had a CRI reading of 97 for all 15 color channels with an R9 of 90, the CQS was 94, TLCI was 96 and the GAI was 93.
From these readings it’s fairly clear that the color quality of all three lights is spectacular. They all score very well in all of the current light measurement standards, including the R9 red value which is very difficult for LEDs to output. You can feel confident buying any of these three lights and know that your colors will look good, and most importantly, your skin tones will be accurate.
The only catch to be aware of is the tungsten gel included with the Amaran. It’s to allow the light to be color matched with tungsten lights. Unfortunately, this gel does not adequately correct the light and actually reduces the color accuracy of the light significantly. When the gel is applied, the CRI rating for all 15 channels goes down to 85 and the R9 drops to 48. The CQS drops to 88, TLCI goes to 85, and GAI goes to 65. So I recommend not uses this included gel. If you need to convert it to tungsten, I’d look into other gel options, or better yet just use all daylight colored lamps.
Overall I give the light quality a 9.5 out of 10.
Initial Impressions of Aputure LEDs
When I opened the box for both of the Light Storm LEDs I was impressed by their solid metal build. They were hefty, but not to heavy, and the LEMO connectors mean I don’t have to worry about the connection accidentally being lost as the lights are used and abused over the coming years. I also like how both of the lights can be powered via Anton Bauer batteries. Each light comes with a three channel remote control meaning I can quickly and easily adjust each light as needed without having to run over to the light on set, which is a valuable time saver. For both of the Light Storm LEDs I’d give them a rating of 4 out of 5 as they are solid lights.
After being very impressed with the Light Storm LEDs, I was expecting more from the Aputure Amaran. The plastic housing left me wondering how long the light would hold up after being abused on set. And the AC power cord felt a little loose, as does the plastic tilting head. With those thoughts in mind, I gave the Amaran LED a rating of 3 out of 5. It is a descent light, but not as solid as the Light Storm models.
Functionality
As I used the Light Storm lights on set, they continued to impress me. They are bright and I love being able to remotely dim them, making adjustments for a one-man band shoot so much quicker and easier. I can literally light by numbers and see the results on screen.
However, there are a couple of things with the Light Storm 1s that do frustrate me. First is the reflective barn doors. The point of barn doors is to block light, not bounce it around my set. This is especially true when working at low light levels, since having extra light bounce around set can be an issue- it can actually increase the ambient light levels or create light patterns where I don’t want them. So I’d recommend spray painting them matte black to avoid that problem on set.
The second issue is that the barn doors interfere with the yoke mount, so I can’t fully tilt the light. At times I have to find creative ways to get it to the angle I need. Lastly the Light Storm lights both use LEMO connections that are roughly the same size but have a different number of pins. So if you’re using different models of Aputure lights, it’s easy to get these connectors mixed up. Fortunately, they cannot be plugged into the wrong power pack due to the pins. At the end of the day, I give the Light Storm 1s a rating of 7.5 out of 10 when it comes to functionality.
Light Storm 1/2w does not have the issues that the Light Storm 1s have since it doesn’t have barn doors. However, one problem is that…it doesn’t have barn doors. So plan to flag off any light leakage. Other than that, I love the Light Storm 1/2w. It is easy to work with, is compact, very bright, and the “randomized” LED matrix helps minimize strange light patterns. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.
The Amaran is functional, but is also missing barn doors. And the big camera batteries decrease it’s thin profile when you go battery powered, which can make the light more difficult to hide in small places. I also like the plastic diffusion panel, which nicely diffuses the light. But like I mentioned in the section on Color Quality, avoid the tungsten gel, as it is less then color accurate.
The Amaran also has the ability to attach a soft box like device to the front of it, which is another great way to diffuse the light. But while it works, I was surprised by the lack of baffles on the sides of it. The open gap between the light and the diffusion means that light is lost as it bounces around and out the openings, which decreases the light output, and means I have more light clean up to do on set with additional flags, often a time consuming extra step. Another thing is the diffusion is held in place with plastic poles that fit very tightly into their holders, which is great when the light is in use. But I wonder how long they will last as they are inserted and removed over time. I give the Amaran a 6 out of 10 when it comes to functionality as it definitely does the job.
Long-Term Quality
After using the lights on a number of shoots and in a variety of situations from indoors to outside at night, the Light Storm 1/2w and 1s lights still perform like new. I see these lights being a great long-term purchase as each part continues to hold up well to the rigors of on-set use. So I feel very confident in giving them a 9.5 out of 10 for longevity.
The Amaran still continues to perform well, but the tolerances are not holding up as well, especially with the tilting neck. It seems this will be the first part to fail. Fortunately, it isn’t attached to the light so it can be easily replaced. Also the AC power cord still fits, but it doesn’t have as secure of a connection as the connections on the Light Storm lights. So with that in mind, I find the Araman to be workable, which means a rating of 6 out of 10.
Price of Aputure LED Lights
With the metal housing, LEMO connections, wireless control, Anton Bauer battery power, high output, and high color quality of the two Light Storm LEDs, these lights are very affordable when compared to other lights with similar features. I would feel very comfortable making a three or four light kit out of these LEDs. So I give them a 3 out of 5 when it comes to price. The Amaran light gets a 4.5 out of 5 when it comes to price. I haven’t seen another LED out there with as many accessories along with the high quality color at such a low price.
Final Thoughts on Aputure LEDs
Both the Light Storm models and the Araman light made by Aputure are solid LEDs to start your lighting kit off right. If you are looking for a more long-term purchase that will last you for years, then go with the Light Storm 1/2w or 1s, as their final rating was a 34.5 and 33.5 out of 40, respectively. If you are looking for quality color and an LED that is more affordable, then the Araman is great buy with a final rating of 29 out of 40.
Until Next Time – Get Out There And Shoot!
Ryan E. Walters, Cinematographer
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Ryan E. Walters
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Ryan E. Walters2015-11-04 17:53:112018-01-25 10:53:37The Problem With The Digital Camera Look & My Solutions To Correcting It
Hey Ryan,
thanks for the thorough review on these units. I’m on a full Aputure kit(2 x LS1s, 4 x HR672) and have been impressed with their output. Your tests have further put a stamp on them in terms of colour.
I did have some issues with the 1s, namely that it’s powerful enough to shoot through a diffusion, but I really don’t like the diffusion solution that they have supplied. So what I did was i went to have a piece of white lighting acrylic cut to size (308mm x 224mm x 2mm) that fits just in between the panel and the barndoor. The way the barndoor is fastened to the light unit provides that space and prevents the acrylic from falling through all the way which is a good thing.
The acrylic definitely softens out the light immediately but I lose about 1 1/3 stops of light. However, after seeing your color meter measurements and how the supplied diffusion paper could affect color readings, I’m kind of curious how it would perform if it was shot through a piece of white lighting acrylic inserted at the position that I just mentioned.
Thanks to your review, I’m probably going to look at acquiring a few of the 1/2ws. =D
Regards,
Zhen Jie
Hey Zhen Jie,
Your diffusion solution is great, although as you probably know diffusion works better the farther you get it from the source. But placing it where you did does solve the mounting issues. Another easy and quick method is pinning a diffusion gel to the barn doors, like we discuss in our lesson “Six Ways To Create Soft Light.” This method means the light isn’t going through as thick of material so you have a better chance at not losing as much light, although losing light is a given with diffusion since you are scattering the light after all.
We too were curious to see how much diffusion gels affect color quality. We were glad that it didn’t change much. Send me the brand of acrylic you use and we’ll see if we can get our hands on some to test for you.
Congrats on the purchases. 🙂 As far as the diffusion goes- how much light is lost depends on the type of diffusion. And as Tim pointed out, where the diffusion is placed makes a huge difference too. If you really want soft light, then you need to place it further away from the light to make it as big as possible which makes it as soft as possible…
Hi guys, sorry I didn’t check back about the diffusion I used.
I figured that yeah, a diffusion is supposed to make the individual point sources into one big source and putting it that close to the LEDs didn’t really do that, so I’m back to clipping the diffusion on the barndoors.
No worries. Glad you found a solution that works. Many times the best lesson is trying different things and seeing which works for you.
Any word on the Aputure Light Storm LS 1c?
My understanding of tungsten balanced LEDs and daylight balanced LEDs is that the phosphor combos are VERY different, so it isn’t as easy as one would think to create a bi-colored units. Look at the spectra for sunlight and true tungsten lights and you’ll see that the spectra are very different. However Aputure has really nailed color so far (other than the tungsten gel for the daylight balanced Amaran), so they probably got it covered. I will get a LS 1c to get color readings.
From our LED Database:
DAYLIGHT
TUNGSTEN
No word on it as we didn’t have it on us to test. Personally, for myself, I prefer higher light output which comes from having one color rather than bi-color.
Based off of the other lights we tested, I would bet that the 1c has great color quality, but you lose light output since it is bi-color. But until it gets tested, we can say anything specific / for sure.
Fantastic work. Thanks so much for these tests. I was wondering though, did you have any problems when mixing and matching these different models…especially in regard to colour temp?
We didn’t have any problem mixing the Aputure models together, since they essentially have the same quality of light. On set and in post we didn’t see any differences. They are leaps and bounds better than most other LEDs as far as color quality.
Also, I didn’t post the correlated color temperature (CCT) values for each light, but here they are: LS 1/2w: 5445K; LS 1s: 5333K; Amaran: 5752K. The diffusion that comes with each light dropped the values between 300-400K: LS 1/2w: 5145K; LS 1s: 4909K; Amaran: 5459K. And the included tungsten gel for the Amaran dropped the CCT to 3274K. In our shoot the Amaran was the hair light, while the LS 1/2w and LS 1s were the fill and key, respectively. Since the LS 1/2w and LS 1s both have CCT values only 100K different, their differences weren’t perceptible. And the Amaran was basically the same since we had the diffusion in.
If you haven’t done so already, I HIGHLY encourage you to watch the video we put together on Are LEDs Ruining Your Productions: https://indiecinemaacademy.com/are-leds-ruining-your-projects-video/
What we’ve found so far, is that using LEDs from one manufacture works the best, as any errors in the quality of LED will be “uniform”. As you can see in that video, as soon as you mix LEDs from different manufactures you run into some serious problems with matching the LEDs even if they have the same specs.
As Tim mentioned, the very small differences in each of the Aputure lights doesn’t cause any issue. Their high quality makes the differences imperceptible.
Thanks Tim & Ryan for the additional colour temp info and video link. You guys are awesome. So many people could benefit from seeing these tests.
Hi Ryan, great video and review. Thank you! Can I pick your brain on two things: 1) Have you tried the Yongnuo LED 600 lights? If yes, how do they compare? 2) For travel lighting with either the Aputure or Yongnuo where soft and diffusion boxes aren’t really easy to travel with, is the direct lighting from these LEDs suitable or too strong and artificial? This is particularly for interviews.
Thanks Ryan
Hi Becca,
1) We haven’t tried the Yongnuo LED 600. I just looked it up and found this very useful review on NoFilmSchool: http://nofilmschool.com/boards/discussions/aputure-amaran-hr672w-vs-yongnuo-yn600 In the review they mention the the color felt off, which to me means the CRI must be pretty bad if it is that noticeable to the eye.
2) We tend to diffuse everything in front of the subject (fill and key) with all lights except the Fill-Lite brand (since it already is very soft). One downside with how many LED lights are designed is that there are hundreds of points of light coming from the white diodes. Even though these diodes are relatively close together, you can get many weird lighting issues as you look at shadows, reflections, etc. There is a type of LED light that instead uses remote phosphor. These types of lights don’t have this problem because the remote phosphor is what is being lit up, so it is much more even.
So if you are using a light that uses white diodes, which the Yongnuo and Aputure do, then you really need some type of diffusion.
Hi Tim,
Thanks very much for your detailed reply and suggestions.
It looks like I’ll go with the Aputure over the Yongnuo. They are slightly more expensive but the quality and reviews do show them to be superior.
Thanks again,
Bec
Yeah, I agree with what Tim said.
If you are looking for a easy and portable diffusion frame to use- I’d look into the Road Rags from Matthews, or I’d look into the collapsible frames from Wescott. They both offer great solutions for small productions that need to travel light. 🙂
Thanks for the great review!
I just bought a HR672S, principally to do live hits in a NHL area that is led lit at 5500K.
Getting to know the instrument and appreciate its colour response makes me want to purchase a couple more of their lights.
I am trying to decide if I should get a LS1S, and/or an LS1/2 or/another HR672.
Is their little H198 strong enough to serve well as a hair light or kicker?
Thoughts?
They are all great lights. The LS 1/2w is 30% brighter than the H198. This is based on the specs on their website; we haven’t worked with the H198 yet. But whatever light you get, they will mix very well as we’ve shown.
I bought another HR672S for my second light. Think I’ll grab an H198 to serve as a hair/camera light too.
I also figured out a cheap and easy solution for mounting filters to the HR672 lights.
http://newsom.ca/peternewsomvideography.com/HR672s-filter-clips.jpg
One more picture of the clips.
http://newsom.ca/peternewsomvideography.com/HR672s-filter-clips-2.jpg
Looks like a great solution, Peter! Thanks for sharing!