Current rundown of RGB Fixtures in 2018

homestar_kevin

homestar_kevin

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

I'm about to start a few projects over the next couple months and am starting to look into some RGB fixtures to help me accomplish some looks.

These are mainly low/no budget music videos that are being done for creative fulfillment

I have a wide assortment of tungsten fixtures, Fluorescent fixtures, and LED Panels. I have a pretty wide assortment of gels and can certainly get more.

I've began to do some research on my end and it seems like some RGB fixtures would be a great addition to quickly throw some color splashes around and play with some colors.

It seems like as of today there are several tiers to these fixtures, the bottom being LED ribbon strips and DJ style PARs, Light Bars and other fixtures.

Then there seems to be the quasar tube stuff and I'm seeing a lot more higher end stuff coming out.

Obviously this is a new and rapidly expanding area, so what's worth it these days?

I'm assuming most of the stuff on the low end has flicker and CRI Issues?

Are the cheap fixtures enough to provide background/color splashes?

If anyone has any good suggested readings or threads, or even specific fixtures, I should be checking out, post them below!

Just looking to get the ball rolling and see what others are using/working with.
 
So after looking around for a few more hours it's looking like a few of the Yongnuo YN600's and 1 or 2 of the YN360's will fit my needs.

But I'm curious to hear what other people are using, or if anyone is using the Yongnuo stuff.

It's crazy to me how cheap these are. Thinking about eating in for a week or two and putting a 4-5 light kit together. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I know you mentioned music videos but just in case youre planning to do anything with audio those Yongnuos reputedly have noisy fans.
 
For the price, the Yongnuos are awesome. And I like one thing better about these than the Ice-Light, it has a removable Sony battery rather than a built in. For a bit of splash, they would work great. I keep a few in my travel bag and wouldn't hesitate to use them for lighting spontaneous work, or fill for natural light situations.

Grant
 
Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, the fan is a bit concerning, but for $110 a fixture I can deal, especially for the music video stuff I'm thinking about.

The yn360 wands don't have a fan do they? Just the yn600 panels.

Thanks for your advice so far!
 
Hey guys, just put in an order for 2 of the yn600 RGB pannels and 2 of the YN360 Wands= $330 shipped

Definitely cheap enough to play around with.
 
Im also in your current situation, having 2 YN360wands which are great but have really low output.

I would say most RGB panels are only gonna be out next year. Aputure, litegear, intellitech (litecloth), came-tv, dracast ; all are about to release RGB panels\fresnel. If you can wait, i would definitely do so.

The only thing missing is RGB tube. So far Digital Sputnik and Came-tv are the only ones who have announced them, but they are back-ordered.

If your adamant on getting YN360, i would get the new model, the RGB88. Stronger output and has various effects.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1384716-REG/nanguang_rgb88_led_rgb_light.html
 
The Nanguang RGB88 is looking quite versatile. Best review I've seen is: https://youtu.be/B5oKVTSAb1U

Would be neat if someone was able to do a head to head comparison with the YN360 or the YN360 II.

I also have two of their RGB66 lights which I am finding very useful for some fill, and useful to have the RGB option for colour splash/flash.
 
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Well, I have a decent set of colour gels that I've collected over time...with a RGB light I can put a few a few C47s into retirement and leave the gels at home too.
 
Hey guys, actually did the music video shoot a few weeks ago.

That video shoot was my primary reason for buying these fixtures, so a few things to report.

The yongnuo's worked great, except for the annoying fact that I was only able to hook one fixture up to the app at a time.

This was inconvenient and a downer as I was using these to light my subject, and needed to be able to ride/change the colors of both fixtures at once.

It worked out, we ended up having someone else on set download the app, and used two phones each assigned to one fixture to make it work.

The y360 and yn600 aren't just nice RGB fixtures, they're really nice, really cheap, LED fixtures period.

I do not regret buying them, and I know they'll get more use.

The only bummer in practice for me was not being able to control multiple units via one app.

Also, I wish they came with power supplies as the ones listed on B&H and other retailers for these lights are about half as expensive as the lights themselves, which seems like a bit much.
 
homestar_kevin said:
Also, I wish they came with power supplies as the ones listed on B&H and other retailers for these lights are about half as expensive as the lights themselves, which seems like a bit much.
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Look at it from this perspective: If you buy a $50 power supply for a $100 light, that seems like a lot of money, because it's half the cost of the main item. But if you buy a $50 power supply for a $1,000 light, you don't really think about it, because it's a much smaller percentage of the cost of the main item. Probably same power supply, manufactured in the same factory in China and used by multiple companies for their lights, but some of the lights cost $100 and some lights cost $1000.
 
Run&Gun said:
Look at it from this perspective: If you buy a $50 power supply for a $100 light, that seems like a lot of money, because it's half the cost of the main item. But if you buy a $50 power supply for a $1,000 light, you don't really think about it, because it's a much smaller percentage of the cost of the main item. Probably same power supply, manufactured in the same factory in China and used by multiple companies for their lights, but some of the lights cost $100 and some lights cost $1000.
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Definitely true. That's a good way of looking at it, yeah a power supply costing 50% or more of the fixture price definitely leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, but you're spot on and I'll take $150 with fixture and power supply all day.


I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the lights and will grab a few power supplies as time goes on.


I have enough sony NPF batteries that I could keep these things running for awhile, so not a huge concern, but one of those items that filed away in the "It would be nice to have" category.
 
I've been using the YN600's for a number of years and am a big fan. Also have the YN900 now. The fan on 600 is entirely unnecessary as long as you don't use the plastic diffusing or color correction panels that impede airflow. Just put diffusion or color on the doors where it belongs anyway. I've been taping a toothpick in my YN600's fans for years on day long runs even outside and never had any problems. One of these days I'll open them and cut the wire.
The only irritating thing is the bicolor units have separate controls for Tungsten and daylight bulbs which makes it hard to dim without changing color. As a result I've stayed with the daylight versions. The best deal in lighting for sure.

For the ice light I got the other chinese knockoff that's branded by a ton of other companies. I think mine were MTY or MTH but just saw it on Amazon as Opteka VL600. I think they're all the same. More output than the Yongnuo because it doesn't have the RGB colors, but I don't see much use for those in my work. You can convert to AC if you buy a an AC powered dummy battery then hold it in place with velcro. A bit of a kluge but it works. Also you can get a diffusion/gel frame for it that is exactly the same as the wescott version only much cheaper because it isn't branded. Great lights also.
 
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