The Aputure 600d is a super bright LED that the company is positioning as an alternative to high-wattage HMI lights. The prototype on show at IBC this year offers 600W of output while drawing 720W of power, either from the mains or a quad-plate battery pack.
More power
It’s a step up from Aputure’s previous most powerful offering, the 300d Mk II, and the company are suggesting it could be used on sound stages in space lights or on location where you need to light up a big area or match high levels of ambient light. Or both!
Less size
The form factor has changed slightly from the 300d Mk II – the fixture is squatter and fatter as a response to feedback from DPs asking for lanterns that can be backed up to walls and fitted into smaller spaces. The new form factor is still light enough to rig on a C-stand arm.
The 600d carries over a Bowens-type mount, so you’ll be able to choose from a range of widely available modifiers – just bigger ones. So Aputure are talking about the possibility of using an 8ft Chimera softbox without the need to worry about heat issues as you might with a traditional hot light.
The 600d also works with Aputure’s Spotlight modifier, to give you an LED equivalent of a Joleko setup: punchy, very controllable hard light but now with the option of battery power.
Cool it
LED isn’t magic technology though, and all those lumens means you need to actively cool the chip. For the 600d Aputure have gone with a large, low-RPM fan on the fixture itself and claim that it’s actually quieter than the 300d Mk II despite offering about twice the output.
Big ballast
Currently the controller is significantly larger than Aputure’s previous models (although still smaller than most HMI ballasts). The controller seen above features four battery plates and DMX, with the same XLR and Neutrik cabling you’ll find on the company’s other fixtures.
Battery power, mains power
Aputure say they’re hoping that the final production version of the controller will be much smaller, possibly by using two dual-voltage battery plates. These will take advantage of 28.8V batteries when they become more widely available, rather than the more usual 14.4V. Other options Aputure are exploring are to make the quad battery pack an optional extra.
That’s for the future though. Using four high capacity 310W V-lock batteries that are currently available, Aputure say you could expect to get around an hour and a half of run time.
If you’re on location and want to run them from locally available power sockets, you could run two lights on a typical domestic circuit in the US, or up to four from the mains in Europe. Go Europe!
Colour accuracy for hip and fancy people
The 600d will feature a claimed CRI/TLCI of 96+ and an SSI rating (more details about this standard here) of 78-79. Colour temperature shouldn’t change during dimming – to be fair that’s true of Aputure’s other fixtures too.
Aputure 600d price and availability
Aputure are hoping to release the 600d in Q1 2020, before the NAB show in April. They’re aiming for February but there’s no word yet on price. By way of comparison an 800W HMI might set you back several thousand dollars. We’ll look forward to trying one out soon…
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