Astra 6X v Astra 4X

traviswears

traviswears

Well-known member
Anyone here actually compared the new Astra 6X to the previous 4X series? Bi-color models btw.

The 4X is a great price on B&H right now but if the 6X is really that much brighter, I might be willing to pony up the cash. Thoughts?
 
The 6x is a whole lot brighter (I think in the specs its like an extra 100 footcandles at 5'). While the price is nice for the 4x I'm really leaning towards the 6x for that output.
 
I'm surprised there haven't been more reviews on youtube or similar. It's been out for a few months now.
 
I own both (daylight only) and the 6X is 50% brighter than the 4X, which is significant. I don't need that much firepower very often, but when I do, it is a great tool to have. If the cost difference isn't very much, I'd definately recommend the 6X. BTW, "6X" means that it is 6 times brighter than an original 1x1. And "4X" means it is 4 times brighter.
 
firehawk said:
Is the Astra bright enough to use close range outdoors?
Click to expand...

More than bright enough for daytime fill. Even the 4X is pushing the limits on what the talent can stand to have in their face if you don't use it right. But the advantage of the 6X is that you can diffuse it or bounce in ways that might not be possible with a less powerful light. For those situations where you want to crank the dimmer to eleven, the 6X offers that choice.
 
Here's a shot my class did during an Interview Lighting workshop I was teaching last week in Maine. This was shot using my Litepanels ASTRA 4X (not even the 6X) for some catchlights in eyes, a little some bounce, and little diffusion for the backlight.

Litepanels4x-DougJensen.jpg
 
Very nice Doug. Amazingly smooth and low contrast for an exterior without a lot G&L hoopla going on around the talent.
 
Thank you Doug!

So looking at the Astra 6X specs, the
Daylight only version says:
614 fc / 6612 lux @ 5.0' (1.5 m)
154 fc / 1653 lux @ 10' (3.0 m)
68 fc / 735 lux @ 15' (4.6 m)

Wheras the Bi-color says:
Daylight: 588 fc / 6330 lux @ 5.0' (1.5 m)
Tungsten: 528 fc / 5685 lux @ 5.0' (1.5 m)

So if you had the daylight only version, you lose a little output, but not a whole lot, yet gain bi-color ability. Maybe the bi-color is the better choice unless you only need daylight?
 
Personally, I only need daylight and have no need for the fake tungsten color of an LED. And I think mixing LED Tungsten with real Tungsten is a recipe for crap. I'm all daylight all the time. If I ever want to warm up a light just a little bit I can always throw a bit of CTO on it.
 
Last edited:
doug jensen said:
personally, i only need daylight and have no need for the fake tungsten color of an led. And i think mixing led tungsten with real tungsten is a recipe for crap. I'm all daylight all the time. If i ever want to warm up a light just a little bit i can always throw a bit of cto on it.
Click to expand...

Amen!
 
Here are a few examples (both indoor and outdoor) that were shot a couple of weeks ago during an interview lighting workshop I was teaching in Maine. Most of the setups were done with my Astra 4X and my Astra Soft. The 6X never even came out of its case during the class. The goal of the class is for the students to learn simple techniques for setups that can be accomplished by one person in about 30 minutes with gear that can be carried on a cart.

 
Last edited:
I'm still on the hunt for high quality low cost daylight LEDs. OK who isn't :love4:

At this point I already have small daylight sources which do what the Astra's do. 200w HMI's

I would love to find affordable LED's in the 800w, 1200w, 1800w HMI equivalent range
 
I work a lot in environments with mixed lighting and working with existing lighting(overhead flo's that can't be shut-off). I love my Astra's(except the physical design) and to me, the beauty of the bi-color units is being able to essentially "dial-in" the color to match the ambient as closely as possible without having to mess with gel's. That being said, I rarely ever go "full tungsten" on the Astra's. I'm probably operating in that 4300-4700 neighborhood more than anything. And I doubt I would ever buy a single color temp LED unit again, unless it was an "HMI replacement".
 
Doug Jensen said:
Personally, I only need daylight and have no need for the fake tungsten color of an LED. And I think mixing LED Tungsten with real Tungsten is a recipe for crap.
Click to expand...

You have a problem with "fake tungsten", but no issue with fake Daylight?

Our clients/needs are very different, & I'd be hard pressed to purchase, or even rent, LEDs that were not bi-color, or RGB+.
 
Bern Caughey said:
You have a problem with "fake tungsten", but no issue with fake Daylight?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is exactly correct. Fake daylight from all my Litepanels instruments blends very well with real daylight, but fake tungsten looks like crap on faces and has nothing in common with real tungsten lighting, which I must say still brings out the very nicest skintones. But the disadvantages of working with real tungsten fixtures takes a backseat to the huge benefits of LEDs and so I won't use tungsten anymore. If I have gone for the past 8 years, lighting literally hundreds of interviews and talking heads in that time, with nothing but daylight balanced LEDs, I am confident that I'll never need fake tungstens at anytime in the future. Obviously, your needs may be different.
 
traviswears said:
Anyone here actually compared the new Astra 6X to the previous 4X series? Bi-color models btw.

The 4X is a great price on B&H right now but if the 6X is really that much brighter, I might be willing to pony up the cash. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I saw the B&H special on the 4x but went with the 6x. I wanted the full monty and I figured I'd if I bought the 4x I would regret not getting the 6x anytime the output of the 4x was insufficient. I do find the 6x to be very punchy. The first time I went to use my 6x I was next to a crew using two 6x's absent any diffusion and the result was some harsh light on the subjects. I knew before making my choice that I would always be diffusing the light with a soft box or silk on a frame, and thus the extra output of the 6x over the 4x would come in handy.

In short, go with the 6x over the 4x if you can afford it. You can always dim the 6x or knock down the output with diffusion but you cannot make the 4x have as much output as the 6x.
 
Last edited:
Doug Jensen said:
Yes, that is exactly correct. Fake daylight from all my Litepanels instruments blends very well with real daylight, but fake tungsten looks like crap on faces and has nothing in common with real tungsten lighting, which I must say still brings out the very nicest skintones. But the disadvantages of working with real tungsten fixtures takes a backseat to the huge benefits of LEDs and so I won't use tungsten anymore. If I have gone for the past 8 years, lighting literally hundreds of interviews and talking heads in that time, with nothing but daylight balanced LEDs, I am confident that I'll never need fake tungstens at anytime in the future. Obviously, your needs may be different.
Click to expand...

Just curious, Doug- If you are shooting an interview, an interview with a nighttime look, in a home that has numerous tungsten lamps in the background of your interview, you still use daylight balanced LED's? And you just let the practical tungsten lights go super orange? Or do you re-bulb all the tungsten with daylight balanced bulbs? What about when you are in a situation where you are partially dependent on existing interior lighting ( for instance, recessed ceiling lights or a chandelier ) that is tungsten? You shoot with the subjects in a mix of 2800k and 5600k rather than bring your LED's closer to the 2800k light? If you were to shoot a candle-lit scene you would supplant the candle-light with 5600k daylight?

Outright rejection of tungsten and being of the mind that you won't, under any circumstance, use the lights that produce the best skin tones seems a bit extreme and narrow-minded to me. An unnecessarily self-imposed handcuff on the "Art of Lighting".
 
Last edited:
You can always gel the daylight units to tungsten, But that said I haven't really looked at the quality of tungsten LED so I don't have an opinion yet. I will look into that .
I've always gelled my daylight units because I figured you got more 5500K output from a daylight LED than a Bi Color when you need it which is when your under Daylight. Under Tungsten you usually don't need as much poop.
However for reasons I just don't understand you only lose a small bit of 5500K output from the Astra's when you go to a Bicolor. Most LED's I've looked at you lose 50%.
That seems like a good argument for the BiColors to me, though I will look into the color rendition issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top