Aputure Light Storm LS 1s Review

Quick frame grab for CatBrowse w one click Sony LC709 lut. Aperture LS1 keylight through 4x4 panel diffusion. Camera was set to the pre-set 5500K setting. I'm finding the LS1 bang on colour temp wise.
framegrab1.jpg

I really think getting two LS1 and one LS1/2 in a pelican case will be the perfect compact durable travel light kit.
 
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For traveling purposes, how much do these weigh (with or without the ballast and power supply)? I didn't see that info in the manual.
 
From Aputure:

Here are the parameters.

Signal light weiht(not very exactely ):
LS1W 2.5Kg
LS1C 2.5Kg
LS1/2W 1.8Kg

Packing with adaptor,cable,ballast weight:
LS1W 5.250Kg
LS1C 5.250Kg
LS1/2W 3.050Kg

I hope this could be helped you somehow and if you have further questions please email me at anytime.
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I also heard back from Aputure USA. They were a little more specific:

LS 1S/C
Gross weight: 11.57LB
Light with the controller panel connected: 7.72LB
Adapter weight: 1.83LB

LS 1/2W
Gross weight: 6.72LB
Light with the controller panel connected: 3.97LB
Adapter weight: 1.01LB
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Has anyone traveled by air with these yet? If yes, could you recommend a case?

Would it be possible to put some padding between two or three of the big ones (LS1s) and carry them on in a backpack, or would they be too large?
 
Thanks, Erik. I finally pulled the trigger on a pair of LS1s, largely based on the info in this thread. These plus my two Alzo 3200s should have me covered in most daylight situations.

Those Tenba bags look rock solid. Still, the idea of checking expensive electronics makes me nervous. I'd like to find something that I can bring onto a plane as my "personal item" to go under the seat in front of me (my camera in its Pelican 1510 case would be in the overhead). Stands and tripod would be wrapped in clothing in my hard case and checked.

These look like good possibilities:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/StudioPRO-B...-Bag-2x-900-LED-Panel-20-x16-x8-/251774233839

http://www.ebay.com/itm/StudioPRO-P...-For-Two-Premium-600-LED-Panels-/251670970813

Since I don't have the lights in hand yet, could someone post measurements of the footprint of this light and yoke, including the light stand sprocket?

EDIT: Someone from B&H sent me the measurements. "It's 15" wide and 12.6" tall even with the bottom mounting knob in full vertical position."
 
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QuickHitRecord said:
Thanks, Erik. I finally pulled the trigger on a pair of LS1s, largely based on the info in this thread. These plus my two Alzo 3200s should have me covered in most daylight situations.

Those Tenba bags look rock solid. Still, the idea of checking expensive electronics makes me nervous. I'd like to find something that I can bring onto a plane as my "personal item" to go under the seat in front of me (my camera in its Pelican 1510 case would be in the overhead). Stands and tripod would be wrapped in clothing in my hard case and checked.

These look like good possibilities:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/StudioPRO-B...-Bag-2x-900-LED-Panel-20-x16-x8-/251774233839

http://www.ebay.com/itm/StudioPRO-P...-For-Two-Premium-600-LED-Panels-/251670970813

Since I don't have the lights in hand yet, could someone post measurements of the footprint of this light and yoke, including the light stand sprocket?

EDIT: Someone from B&H sent me the measurements. "It's 15" wide and 12.6" tall even with the bottom mounting knob in full vertical position."
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The Tenba discrption mentions shipping.

"This black Tenba Transport 1x1 LED 2-Panel Case is designed to carry, ship and protect two 1x1 LED panels with or without barndoors, as well as cables and gel filters. The exterior of the case is made of water-repellent 1680 denier ballistic nylon with self-healing YKK zippered closure. Steel D-rings secure the included padded strap while adjustable straps on top of the case hold light stands or similar gear. Two straps are also sewn onto the back of the case that are meant to slip over a hand truck or rolling case and enable piggybacking if desired. Hand straps that can be joined with a touch-fastener are also part of the case construction.
The interior is made of rigid, puncture-proof, shock absorbing ABS thermoplastic with partitions that are covered with brushed tricot and pack cloth. An interior acetate sleeve protects and stores gel filters."

I would send them an email and ask about checking them as luggage. For carry on those cheap cases on ebay sure look tempting at that price. I hope the zippers dont break. Cheap bags always use cheap zippers.

When you get them try putting them in an actually carry on size luggage. Than you will know if it will fit. Maybe just modify a hard cover carry on for them.
 
My two daylight LS1s came in today. I drove over to the biggest Goodwill in town to see if I could find anything that I might use to carry them onto a plane. I found an old ballistic nylon laptop bag (a Compaq designed for the bulky models of yesteryear) for $5 that can fit both panels, with a foam pad between them, and all cables. They will be fine as long as I do not drop the case. I also picked up a well-padded laptop sleeve with a velcro latch for $6 that houses the two control boxes nicely. This will go into my longer case with my stands and tripod.

As far as impressions go, I don't think that I have anything to add onto what has already been covered in this thread. These lights are pretty nice. They make a perfectly acceptable key for interviews when used with diffusion.

I had a chance to put these lights up against the other LEDs I own: two Alzo 3200s. I was surprised to see how well the Alzos held up despite the lower CRI (though I do have some 1/8 minus green taped over the LED elements). The Alzo also has a lot more punch than the Lightstorm so they're by no means obsolete. I think that for home-turf shoots I'll use all four LED lights, and for travel I'll pare my kit down to two Lightstorm panels.
 
QuickHitRecord said:
I had a chance to put these lights up against the other LEDs I own: two Alzo 3200s. I was surprised to see how well the Alzos held up despite the lower CRI (though I do have some 1/8 minus green taped over the LED elements). The Alzo also has a lot more punch than the Lightstorm so they're by no means obsolete.
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Thanks for this. I was curious as to what the tradeoff was in comparison with the Alzo 3200s... I was interested in the 3200 and the 3300 for the power, but the problem was noise and CRI; it seems that Alzo solved (so they claim) the noise problem with silent version of the 3200 and they claim a CRI of 94 (but do I trust them?), and the price of around $600 is comparable, so it was definitely interesting to me - so your review was very, very timely... thanks a lot! The one fear I have with flat panels like the LS ones, is exactly power - not enough. It's a tough choice if the color between the Alzos and the LS is not much at all 94-95, and the Alzos have a lot more power. Something to think about options-wise.
 
@OldCorpse

I think I was hoping that the Lightstorm would be close to an all-in-one solution. But I like the Lightstorms for convenience, and the Alzos for power. For instance, I'm looking forward to keying with an Alzo and then dialing in my fill ratio by remote. Also, I don't own an Arri 1K, but I've worked with them pretty extensively and without a meter in hand, I would (very unscientifically) eyeball the output from the Lightstorm as closer to an Arri 650W than a 1k.

All of these new toys aside, I still prefer the light from tungsten incandescents. It just looks the best to my eye.
 
Hey, QHR, thank you for those insights. Yes, agreed on the tungstens, but unfortunately, the temperature can be a dealbreaker in many circumstances.
 
I just got back from my first shoot with my pair of Lightstorm LS1s (5600K model). The shoot was on a yacht; half of it up top, and half of it in the engine room. The lights proved versatile in both situations. On the bridge, I was able to get a nice medium shot and brought up my exposure enough to preserve some of the detail outside. In the engine room (which was extremely hot, cramped, slightly waterlogged, and a really hard place to find a place to stand, let alone get a decent shot), I squeezed into a back corner and mounted one of the lights on a railing. I was able to control it by remote, which saved me from having to go back there again. Because the hatch to the engine room would only open to a 45 degree angle and could be removed, I couldn't reflect sunlight into the room so I took the other Lightstorm and put it on a stand. I closed down the legs, lay it flat on the deck, positioning the light directly over the item we were shooting (yes, I had a safety cable), and weighted it down with sandbags. Worked pretty well.

There are a few things I don't like so much. For one thing, there are a LOT of components that have to be plugged in to power these lights: Edison cable plugs into the AC adapter, which plugs into the controller, which plugs into a lemo cable, which plugs into the head. It's a long and bulky train. If you forget to bring any one of these components, you're out of luck (unless you are powering by battery). Also, the remote was not always responsive. My understanding is that it does not require line-of-sight, but there were a few times when I hit the button and nothing happened. I'm not sure why. There was a new battery in the remote and my channels and groups were in order. I had to switch the lights on manually. This only happened a handful of times, but enough to be an annoyance.

Overall, I am pretty happy with these as travel lights. At my last job, I used to travel with bicolor Fiilex P360s a lot. They were really nice and compact. But I think that I prefer the Lightstorms more based on the punch alone. If they continue to perform well, I'll consider picking up an LS 1/2 (5600K) to use as a rim light.
 
Thanks for that awesome report, QHR. One thing to keep in mind, for those that are comparing/contrasting the Lighstorms with the Alzo 3200 series, is that the LS can be battery powered. That is huge, because there are many circumstances where battery power is a lifesaver. Of course, depending on how long you have to shoot, it can get pretty expensive pretty fast if you need tons of very expensive batteries and chargers. Still, something to definitely keep in mind. If you do have batteries for the LS, I'd be curious about your experiences - how long do they last, is there any lessening of power with battery use compared to AC (as I found with some LEDs before), or color shift etc.. Thanks again for your report!
 
I'm currently investigating V mount options for my LS1. I came into a situation the other day where having the light up on a light weight stand that I could move around quickly from area to area without running cables would have saved me so much effort and time. I remembered that I have a V-mount adapter for Sony NP batteries so when I get some time next week I hope to test it to see how long it will last and if its a viable option compared to investing in V mount chargers and batteries.

I agree with QHR that the AC brick is a bit on an anchor if moving the light around a lot but I hope to solve those situations with Battery options (love not having to pay extra $$ for a v mount adapter like Astra or BBS). I do like how moving the ballast out of the light head has kept it silent and lighter weight and size so I guess the AC brick is the trade off. Just zip tie it to the yoke like the Astra (joking)
 
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