Introducing the Prolycht Orion 300 FS

[say_doyster]

I guess even muppets can get covid too.... :-(

What is the fresnel in the shadows in front of the Prolycht?

[Mitch Gross]

Orion 300 FS working hard on Crank Yankers yesterday, as I look on approvingly from bottom right corner!


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Nice!

[CharlesPapert]

That unit is a Fiilex Q5, pushing into a gold bounce card.

[rob norton]

Matt's PO 300 FS review - https://www.newsshooter.com/2021/07/...300-fs-review/

[Mitch Gross]

Matt's PO 300 FS review - https://www.newsshooter.com/2021/07/...300-fs-review/

Matt's reviews are always highly detailed and exhaustively complete. I recommend anyone interested give it a read as he's quite thorough. He's the only one so far to have done a deep enough dive to discover our "video record" mode in our free app's color picker, which allows one to point an iPhone camera at different objects and lights of various colors in a video clip and then have the light "play back" those colors at the same speed recorded. I can't wait to see the creative uses this is put to.

For those in the 'TL/dr' camp, here's his conclusion statement.

--
The Orion 300 FS is a very impressive fixture, and Prolycht has certainly made it better than the original. Its versatility and range of lighting modifiers make it a fixture you can use for so many different applications.

The Orion 300 FS is fully featured, extremely versatile, and it produces a really nice quality of light. A lot of thought has gone into this fixture and it offers features that are only found in lights that cost significantly more money. Having the 2x Fresnel and Projection Lens gives it even more of an edge over some of its competition.

The interface and operating system are super easy to use, as is the app. By utilizing a Bowens Mount you can utilize a large array of lighting modifiers without having to spend a ton of money.

Prolycht solved the fan noise issue and they also fixed the locking mechanism and yoke frame. I am also glad to see that they took my feedback and now the light no longer alters the Kelvin color temperature dramatically when it is dimmed down.

In my opinion, the light is priced well given its feature set, output, and capabilities.

If you don’t need all of the bells and whistles that come with a light like this then you may well find that the Aputure, Godox, or Nanlite fixtures are a better option given their lower price. If, however, you are looking for a more affordable option than an ARRI Orbiter or HIVE LIGHTING Super Hornet 575-C, then the Orion 300 FS makes a lot of sense.

The Orion 300 FS is an impressive fixture and it does a lot of things really well, without needing to compromise on any of them. I have reviewed a lot of lights over the years and the Orion 300 FS is right up there with some of the most impressive fixtures I have reviewed or seen.

[cpreston]

I just picked up the 300FS. I haven't used it on a shoot yet, but I have some initial impressions. As has been mentioned in some other reviews, it is naturally a fairly spotty light. I was kind of hoping that it might be able to work as a decent replacement to my panel lights if I used it with Chimeras. Unfortunately, it doesn't properly fill a Chimera XS even with both diffusers installed. Therefore, it is not going to replace an Arri S60 or other RGB panel light as a direct, soft key. The Prolycht will, however, make a good, small, relatively powerful spot and accent light and I expect that I will take it on all of my shoots.

[rob norton]

I just picked up the 300FS. I haven't used it on a shoot yet, but I have some initial impressions. As has been mentioned in some other reviews, it is naturally a fairly spotty light. I was kind of hoping that it might be able to work as a decent replacement to my panel lights if I used it with Chimeras. Unfortunately, it doesn't properly fill a Chimera XS even with both diffusers installed. Therefore, it is not going to replace an Arri S60 or other RGB panel light as a direct, soft key. The Prolycht will, however, make a good, small, relatively powerful spot and accent light and I expect that I will take it on all of my shoots.

What about the prolycht soft box?

[cpreston]

What about the prolycht soft box?

This review goes through quite a bit of info about the light. It is the older version, but I don’t think they have changed the emitter design. https://youtu.be/6YxSef1IEPU

He states that the soft box modifiers are really well made, but have the same beam angle problem. He estimates the stock beam angle to be about 50 degrees.

With the 2x fresnel, specs say the beam angle gets down to about 15 degrees. Supposedly, you can’t get a fine cut with the barn doors, but the projector lens attachment gets really good control at the expense of most of the power of the light. Therefore, I would say it is safe to look at this light as an RGB fresnel rather than an open face light. Add the spot attachment and it will make a good interior accent light.

[Mitch Gross]

The beam angle without any modifier is about 55-degrees.

It is my opinion that one can always make a light more wide beam and diffuse but it's a lot tougher to go the other way. By being a bit more punchy and directional than other lights the Orion 300 FS gets more illumination to your subject. The light surface doesn't get particularly hot like other COB lights, and I know some owners have added a bit of diffusion just near the head for when they mount modifiers light our lantern or soft dome in order to more fully fill out the diffuser.

The 2x fresnel goes from 15-degree to 30-degree. The focal spot projection lens is a 23-degree beam.

I wouldn't particularly call it an open face light either. We call it a spot light as it is somewhat directional. But even without any attachment on the front it works great as a bounce or pumped into one of the many CLRS reflector systems out there like LightBridge.

[cpreston]

I prefer to have a hard light with a more directional beam angle vs a hard light without any directionality. I am looking forward to my focal spot and fresnel shipping when they become available.

What I feel is currently missing from RGB LED systems is something similar to a Joker/Bug. A system that can act as both a hard source by adding a reflector while also having the option to have a broad beam spread for a softbox. The flat, disk shape of the COB and heat transfer requirements may make this entirely impossible. Also, a panel light is just far more efficient as a soft source even with a softbox attached. I just appreciate how small these COB fixtures are and wish I could replace my mixture of heavy panels and HMI's with a bunch of COB lights, reflectors, and softboxes.

[Mitch Gross]

I prefer to have a hard light with a more directional beam angle vs a hard light without any directionality. I am looking forward to my focal spot and fresnel shipping when they become available.

What I feel is currently missing from RGB LED systems is something similar to a Joker/Bug. A system that can act as both a hard source by adding a reflector while also having the option to have a broad beam spread for a softbox. The flat, disk shape of the COB and heat transfer requirements may make this entirely impossible. Also, a panel light is just far more efficient as a soft source even with a softbox attached. I just appreciate how small these COB fixtures are and wish I could replace my mixture of heavy panels and HMI's with a bunch of COB lights, reflectors, and softboxes.

Both the focal spot and the fresnel should be bak in stock very soon (days). We had a huge demand and sold out a little faster than expected, but our supply chain is solid and we'll have full inventory on everything very quickly.

So are you asking for a basic single element lens that would go in front of the COB to spread the beam more? Would you want to use it on its own or in conjunction with our soft dome or lantern? I ask because we mount accessories using the common Bowens mount, and currently everything we make (dome, lantern, reflector, fresnel, focal spot) uses this. So if you wanted two items such as a "beam-spreading lens" as well as a diffuser then we'd need to come up with a proper way to rig this. If it was just used on its own then it makes designing something a lot simpler for the lens. For instance I could see it clipping to the front of the reflector we include with the Orion 300 FS. Since the 4-way barndoors we include with the fresnel kit also fit on the Orion 300 FS reflector we would try to make the lens not interfere with this. But that just means putting diffusion on the barndoors or punching into a frame, not using a softbox.

So how would you realistically want to use such a lens?

[cpreston]

Both the focal spot and the fresnel should be bak in stock very soon (days). We had a huge demand and sold out a little faster than expected, but our supply chain is solid and we'll have full inventory on everything very quickly.

So are you asking for a basic single element lens that would go in front of the COB to spread the beam more? Would you want to use it on its own or in conjunction with our soft dome or lantern? I ask because we mount accessories using the common Bowens mount, and currently everything we make (dome, lantern, reflector, fresnel, focal spot) uses this. So if you wanted two items such as a "beam-spreading lens" as well as a diffuser then we'd need to come up with a proper way to rig this. If it was just used on its own then it makes designing something a lot simpler for the lens. For instance I could see it clipping to the front of the reflector we include with the Orion 300 FS. Since the 4-way barndoors we include with the fresnel kit also fit on the Orion 300 FS reflector we would try to make the lens not interfere with this. But that just means putting diffusion on the barndoors or punching into a frame, not using a softbox.

So how would you realistically want to use such a lens?

Thank you for all of the response. I doubt my style of shooting is the most common, so I'm not sure how relevant my wishes are. Also, I am still trying to figure out the limitations of the COB technology in order to temper my expectations.

I have accumulated a full range of Chimera softoboxes in both the Quartz size and the video size. I like using speed rings and softboxes and grids vs book lights, flags, and multiple layers of diffusion. This is mostly because I'm often shooting in offices with limited space and difficult load in. An RGB light that could replace a Joker/Bug that would allow a bug light for softboxes, reflectors for bounces, and lekos for spots would be wonderful. I know that is impossible just due to the physical limitations of having a disk emitter with multiple colors that need to be diffused. I would also like powerful fresnel replacement with clean barn door cuts, but that also appears to be impossible due to the size of the emitter.

All that being said, the add on I would like is a bowens mount wide angle lens attached to a speed ring that would allow the 300fs to operate like an open face light and fill a standard video chimera. I could also see the lens being a different product from the speed ring so that 300fs works better as a compact book light.

I just watched a video of DOP Choices options for the Orbitter. In order to get softboxes to work, they had to make their own wide angle lens and half dome diffuser very close to the lens in order get an even soft box. Their octabox setup costs $2000 and I doubt it is very efficient compared to the S60 softbox. I think I need to just be happy that I now have an affordable RBG spot light rather than wishing it could do something that is better accomplished with a panel.

[Mitch Gross]

Sometimes it's just not practical to try to make one light do everything. I seriously wonder what the photometrics are for that octabox setup on an Orbiter. For reference, here's how the photometrics of an Orion 300 FS compare to an Arri Orbiter, which is about 3.5 times the price:

(Both lights at 5600K and measured at 3-meters. Measurements from manufacturer's websites.)

Orion 300 FS with 55-degree reflector: 3,276 lux
Oribiter with 60-degree reflector lens: 2,333 lux

[Eric Coughlin]

If I read that correctly, are you saying the 300w Orion is brighter (in general) than the 400w (plus 100w for the computer) Orbiter?

I ordered the Orion FS on B&H a few days ago. Appears to be on back order. I ordered the Fresnel attachment as well.

Got the Hive 575 replacement and still not thrilled with it. Fan is still on the noisy side and some of the previously mentioned issues are still present. Planning to return it.

I am happy with the Hive 200-C with mini source four projection. Much smaller and lighter than the Orion with the versatility of RGB and projection use. Less bright than the Orion so the Orion definitely has its place as a brighter RGB light. I may get a second Hive 200-C. The Hive 100-C I'm also returning because it's practically the same size and weight as the 200-C but is half as bright, so the only real advantage it has is it's half the cost, so I don't want to waste $1k on a half as bright light when I can get a $2k light that's twice as bright and negligibly larger and heavier.

Changing from projection attachment to Fresnel or reflector attachment on the Hive is a bit finicky and requires some screwing around with the projection attachment, while the Bowens mount is much easier to switch on the Orion. The Orion projection attachment is also around five or so times the size of the Hive projection. The Hive Projection gets quite hot and then requires gloves to adjust while the Orion seems to have good heat dispersion and ergonomics such that you don't need gloves to operate it. Hive also has different lens options for the projection so you can change the beam angle of the projection, while I believe the Orion only offers one option for lensing which can be more limiting. I'd like to see more lensing options for the Orion that ideally do not require additional full size Bowens projector attachments as having three of those would get bulky. The projection attachments on the Hives also have lots of fringing (somewhat noticeable in the image below, the yellow line on top and bottom) while the Orion projection has zero fringing.

Also considering getting a Dedo DLED7 or 9 Turbo bi-color. Anyone have experience with those? Would be nice to have an LED light with a good barn door cut that doesn’t require fiddling with a projection attachment to do so. The barn door cut on the Hive Frensnels are practically useless. The DLED9 Turbo can get costly quickly; $2200 head, $800 ballast, add some accessories and a projection, and you can easily be at $5k...for a 90w light. What?! I guess if you skip the accessories $3k isn't too terrible and I believe the ellipsoidal lens is more efficient than a regular Fresnel but I'm not sure about that, plus you get the ability to have a 5 degree beam angle which can be useful.

Been quite happy with the original version of the Orion.


Projection slash with the Hive 200-C. I had the Orion setup to put a blurred and dimmed Venetian pattern on the blank wall background behind her right side but the remote series DP didn't like that so we turned it off.

011-E579-D-113-E-44-E2-8120-926934-F6-DC00.jpg

B5-D1-DEE3-3-F00-41-C2-AB2-E-3-B02-A83-BD195.jpg

[Mitch Gross]

If I read that correctly, are you saying the 300w Orion is brighter (in general) than the 400w (plus 100w for the computer) Orbiter?

I ordered the Orion FS on B&H a few days ago. Appears to be on back order. I ordered the Fresnel attachment as well.

Got the Hive 575 replacement and still not thrilled with it. Fan is still on the noisy side and some of the previously mentioned issues are still present. Planning to return it.

I am happy with the Hive 200-C with mini source four projection. Much smaller and lighter than the Orion with the versatility of RGB and projection use. Less bright than the Orion so the Orion definitely has its place as a brighter RGB light. I may get a second Hive 200-C. The Hive 100-C I'm also returning because it's practically the same size and weight as the 200-C but is half as bright, so the only real advantage it has is it's half the cost, so I don't want to waste $1k on a half as bright light when I can get a $2k light that's twice as bright and negligibly larger and heavier.

Changing from projection attachment to Fresnel or reflector attachment on the Hive is a bit finicky and requires some screwing around with the projection attachment, while the Bowens mount is much easier to switch on the Orion. The Orion projection attachment is also around five or so times the size of the Hive projection. The Hive Projection gets quite hot and then requires gloves to adjust while the Orion seems to have good heat dispersion and ergonomics such that you don't need gloves to operate it. Hive also has different lens options for the projection so you can change the beam angle of the projection, while I believe the Orion only offers one option for lensing which can be more limiting. I'd like to see more lensing options for the Orion that ideally do not require additional full size Bowens projector attachments as having three of those would get bulky. The projection attachments on the Hives also have lots of fringing (somewhat noticeable in the image below, the yellow line on top and bottom) while the Orion projection has zero fringing.

Also considering getting a Dedo DLED7 or 9 Turbo bi-color. Anyone have experience with those? Would be nice to have an LED light with a good barn door cut that doesn’t require fiddling with a projection attachment to do so. The barn door cut on the Hive Frensnels are practically useless. The DLED9 Turbo can get costly quickly; $2200 head, $800 ballast, add some accessories and a projection, and you can easily be at $5k...for a 90w light. What?! I guess if you skip the accessories $3k isn't too terrible and I believe the ellipsoidal lens is more efficient than a regular Fresnel but I'm not sure about that, plus you get the ability to have a 5 degree beam angle which can be useful.

Been quite happy with the original version of the Orion.


Projection slash with the Hive 200-C. I had the Orion setup to put a blurred and dimmed Venetian pattern on the blank wall background behind her right side but the remote series DP didn't like that so we turned it off.

011-E579-D-113-E-44-E2-8120-926934-F6-DC00.jpg

B5-D1-DEE3-3-F00-41-C2-AB2-E-3-B02-A83-BD195.jpg

Yes, at 3-meters and with similar beam angle reflectors in place (55-degree v 60-degree) the Orion 300 FS is considerably brighter than the Orbiter, nearly 50% brighter.
The Hive 575-C is nearly twice the wattage (and three times the price) of the Orion 300 FS, yet the two lights have similar output. The Orion 300 FS at 3-meters, 55-degree reflector, 5600K is again 3276 lux. The Hive 575-C has available a par reflector that's a bit tighter beam at 40-degrees which should mean more brightness as the light is more concentrated, but it's only a bit brighter at 3767 lux. The Hive 200-C under the same parameters is 1507 lux, less than half the output of the Orion 300 FS at a similar price.

Our focal spot projection lens is definitely well-engineered, with excellent passive cooling, quite mounting & adjustment, and as noted non-existent color fringing plus very even edge-to-center brightness. It's currently only available in a 23-degree angle beam but we are actively looking for options to widen & tighten that beam angle and to do so without having to purchase complete new projection heads.

We're restocking B&H as well as other resellers in the next couple of days so your order should ship very soon. In your 2x fresnel kit you will find that it not only includes a handy protective softbag (because I know you like all the extra bags so much) but also a 4-way barndoor. As a nice added-value feature the barndoors will also fit on your reflector that comes with the Orion 300 FS.