When I made my video on
Aputure’s flagship LED panel, the Tri-8,
many of you wondered if, at that price point, you wouldn’t be better off
upgrading to a COB single source light,
like the Aputure 120d. Well,
today we’re gonna talk about the pros and cons
of that upgrade. Let’s get Undone. [offbeat music] ♪ Gerald Undone ♪ ♪ He’s crazy ♪ What’s happening, everybody? I’m Gerald Undone, and
my blood type is 4:2:2 10-bit. So, I shoot these videos in
a pretty small space, and to make it trickier,
I try and maintain the functionality of this space
whether I’m shooting or not. By that, I mean all of my lights
have a fixed position and are permanently
out of the way so that I don’t have to do
lengthy setups and teardowns
just to shoot a video. And I also have to fit
everything around my editing desk,
my workbench, and my set, and so there’s lots of
obstacles to light around, and limited floor space. So, in order to make all
that work and still achieve a reasonably soft key light,
I’ve been using an LED light panel
behind an umbrella.
Originally
I was using Aputure’s 672w, but when I made that video
on the Tri-8c, I switched over to it,
and so far it’s been working well
and I’ve been quite happy. But it is true that
when you factor everything in with the Tri-8c, you do start
to get closer and closer in price to a bigger light,
like the Aputure 120d. So, first off, let’s see
if we can actually fit the 120d into the space where my current
panel and umbrella combo is. And this will hopefully also
tell us if there’s a big enough difference in light quality
to warrant the upgrade, because I think
this shot here is probably the most apt comparison,
because we’re gonna be using it as a soft key light
in a talking head shot.
But in order to achieve
a similar or better softness to what we have going on
with the umbrella here, we’re gonna have to put
the Light Dome on the 120d, and that’s where the size
concerns come in. This is the 120d II
with the Light Dome II. And the 120d II by itself isn’t really much of an issue
when it comes to size. It’s only about this big
and you can fit it pretty much anywhere,
but then it’s gonna be way too harsh
for this application, so we have to put
the Light Dome on it, and that’s when it
takes up space. And putting that Light Dome
on it also introduces another size issue as well, because
now we need a stronger stand. Now, the LED panels
are quite light. So, light, in fact, that I don’t
even use a regular light stand. I’m actually using
a microphone stand, even with the umbrella
attached, and this allows me to save
some space around the floor because microphone stands are
a lot less bulky at the bottom.
And I have no issues with it. Now, you can hold up
to 120d II on its own with just a regular
light stand, but as soon as you add that
Light Dome it and get it to the height
that I need in order to match my current angle, the light
stand actually starts to bend. So, the only way to make
this work was with the C-stand, which, of course,
is a lot bigger, and heavier, and also a lot more expensive
than a regular stand. Alright, enough talk. Let’s jam this monster in
the corner and see if it fits.
[powerful,
driving instrumental] ♪ ♪ ♪ Alright, well,
it kind of worked! It was maybe a little bit
too big for this space, but I was surprised at how well I was actually able
to get it to fit. I had to raise it a little bit
more than my previous light and tilt it down just
a little bit more in order to get it up and away
and not interfere with my audio equipment, and to not
make me feel claustrophobic when I edit, you know, have it
bearing down over top of me. Because like I said,
I don’t take these lights down, I leave them up all the time. So, the shadow angles might be
a little bit different, because like I said,
it’s a little bit higher, but let’s do
a side-by-side comparison for the light quality compared
to a panel behind an umbrella. So, what do you think?
Which look do you prefer? Can you notice
the significant improvement upgrading to the 120d II
with the Light Dome II? Let me know
in the comments below. I also took some measurements
so that I can let you know basically how much space
both of these setups take up.
So, with the panel
behind an umbrella, about a decent distance
to fill the umbrella, and I had it tucked away
in a corner– when I say “corner,” I mean
between a curtain and wall– it was about
26 inches in both directions, so pretty much a square,
and that’s 66 cm by 66 cm, then. And it was 74 inches high
for the top clearance, where the top spoke
of the umbrella was, and that’s about 188 cm. Now, when I switched it
to the Light Dome II on the 120d II
and using a C-stand, which obviously has a bigger
base, I had to come away from the wall 38 inches
and away from the curtain 38 inches– so again,
still a square shape– and a little bit higher
at 78 inches, so that’s about 97 cm
by 97 cm, and 198 cm tall. So, if you want to put
the 120d II, think of it like a meter by meter
by two meters. If you have enough space,
you can fit it in there, and that includes the C-stand. Now, another concern
with using this combo in a small space would be
the proximity to my microphone and having the fan noise
pollute the audio.
So, let’s give a quick listen to
this system versus the panel– and the panel should
obviously be silent since it has no fan–
and see if it poses a problem. [faint, nearly
inaudible whirring] Now, for me, even if the fan
noise was detectable, it wouldn’t be
that much of a problem because I do a noise
reduction process on all of my audio anyway. But as I’m sitting here… …I can barely hear the fan,
and so I don’t really think it’s gonna pose
that much of a problem, and that’s with
the light at 55% power and running for
just over an hour, and with the microphone
just over a meter away. Now, I definitely lost
some floor space going from a tiny microphone stand
to a giant C-stand, but because I have it
tucked off in the corner, I think I can work around it.
And there’s actually
enough space that maybe I could slide some things
underneath the C-stand, which is not something
you can typically do with a light stand
or a microphone stand. But you do have to factor
the C-stand into the price, because they’re
much more expensive than microphone stands, so in that previous video
when we were talking about, “Oh, why don’t you just
get a 120d at that price,” there’s other factors
that contribute to it.
So, when you factor
in the diffusion with the Light Dome II, obviously the 120d II,
and the C-stand, this whole combination
will cost you about $1,065 US, where you can get the Tri-8c
and a cheap umbrella and cheap light stand
for under $600, and you’ll have
a bicolour light. Now, there is a cheaper
and smaller option for the 120d in the Light Dome Mini, which will save you
a little bit of money.
You’ll be down to about $950
instead for this whole combo, and it will save you
a ton of space because
it’s significantly smaller. But I actually think at that
point that you’re sacrificing too much softness
and making your light source too small that you might be
better off going with that umbrella combo,
because the umbrella is actually bigger
and a little bit softer than the Light Dome Mini. Basically, what I’m saying is,
I wouldn’t recommend upgrading from a panel and umbrella combo
that’s working for you to a 120d
if you were just going to exclusively use
the Light Dome Mini.
I do think the Light Dome Mini
can be a great little add-on to add versatility to
your 120d combo when you just can’t meet
the space requirements, but I wouldn’t get
the 120d just to use with the Light Dome Mini. Now, I’m worried that
it kind of sounds like I’m saying that upgrading
to the 120d II isn’t worth it, and that’s not
my point at all. I just wanted to address the
comments on the previous video that suggested that it was
a no-brainer upgrade. It’s not as simple as that. As you can see now,
it actually ends up costing you 50-60% more and takes up
significantly more space once you factor in a C-stand
and appropriate diffusion. And that remains true even
if you find a good sale on a 120d I.
It’s still gonna cost you
an extra $200-$300 to get the light up
and softened. But you do get a hell
of a lot more light for that premium, though. The 120d II behind
the Light Dome II, in my opinion,
is a much softer, much nicer, and much more versatile
light configuration. And you’ll get
so much more output that if you plan to shoot in
other environments other than just your small studio,
the 120d II will have your back, where a panel behind
an umbrella probably won’t. And it also features a Bowens
mount, which will give you access to a ton of accessories
to be able to control the light, including some
discounted third-party ones, because that’s one area
where LED panels are significantly limited– in their
ability to shape the light.
For example, I can add a grid,
which comes included with the Light Dome II, to
control the spill on this 120d way better than anything that
I could do on an LED panel. So, here’s a side
by side of the 120d with the grid versus without. And then with the grid versus
the Tri-8c behind an umbrella. On the 120d, I’m using
the thickest diffusion material and have the power set to 55%, where the power
is set to 80% on the Tri-8c.
But to give you an idea
of the output, let’s run through all
of the power settings here from 0 to 100%, again,
with the strongest diffusion on and with the grid on,
so this is about as dark as it’s gonna get
while at 100%. I also find the 120d II
has more potential in the photography world
as well. So, if you’re both
a video and photo shooter, I think you’ll find
this unit more useful. Now, I didn’t make this video
a review of the 120d II, because there’s already several
great reviews out there, but I can say that
the build quality and design is excellent,
and it performs extremely well to the extent that I have
no complaints about this light. So, while it may not be
a simple upgrade decision for small studio creators, I do
think it’s a fantastic light and worthy of the price premium
if you’re able to take advantage of its added
versatility, or if you just want the softest light
you can get in your small space.
But that’s gonna be it for me. I hope you found
this video helpful, or at least entertaining. And if you did, make sure you
leave it the old thumbs-up and consider subscribing
if you haven’t already. But if you did not find this
video helpful or entertaining, feel free to hit
the dislike button twice. Alright… I’m done. ♪.
