Falcon Eyes Flex Light

chris f

chris f

Veteran
I love my Aputure COBs and often am trying to create the biggest, softest source of light that I can, but the light I bring on location the most is the Falcon Eyes RX-24TDX LED flex light. I've been using it for about 2.5 years now and recently got their updated "Version II" so I made a review video about it:

 
What I liked about the version I is that you could roll it really small for traveling. Seems the new version makes a bigger pack?
 
chris-

the falcon eyes rx18 has been a go-to for several years.

i have the daylight.

i wonder if the bi-color with the rx-24 has enough oomph.

did you think about using just the daylight version or is bi-color necessary for your work?

thanks for the effort and the sharing.

stay well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc
 
I bought the Falcon Eyes RX18 last year. I actually bought it for doing YouTube reviews but I have been using it on several shoots out in the field.
It's okay I guess? I find these roll up lights to be an extreme PITA to build up and to break down.

Gaffers and PAs are mystified by how it all fits together without me walking them through it, the output isn't especially high.
The light quality with the diffusion dome especially looks great and it is pretty versatile with the different diffusion options but I would always prefer a COB and a softbox
to any of these flexible lights. I guess if I was still flying a lot and shooting all over the world, the Falcon Eyes would instantly shoot
to number one, it is a decent light with a small and light footprint, it weighs nothing. But overall, the fiddly bits and the so so output make it a very
limited tool for what I am shooting these days.
 
puredrifting said:
I bought the Falcon Eyes RX18 last year. I actually bought it for doing YouTube reviews but I have been using it on several shoots out in the field.
It's okay I guess? I find these roll up lights to be an extreme PITA to build up and to break down.

Gaffers and PAs are mystified by how it all fits together without me walking them through it, the output isn't especially high.
The light quality with the diffusion dome especially looks great and it is pretty versatile with the different diffusion options but I would always prefer a COB and a softbox
to any of these flexible lights. I guess if I was still flying a lot and shooting all over the world, the Falcon Eyes would instantly shoot
to number one, it is a decent light with a small and light footprint, it weighs nothing. But overall, the fiddly bits and the so so output make it a very
limited tool for what I am shooting these days.
Click to expand...

That’s kind of my thing with them. I already feel inefficient enough at times with things like my Gemini’s that are fully assembled and all you need to do is just plug in the power cord, but the erector set lights make me feel like I’m swimming in molasses. I have two Intellytech LC-160’s and a Mega and I love the quality of the light from all of them and the 160’s pack up into tiny cases vs. their working size, but they’re all a royal pain in the a$$ to put together and break-down/pack-up.
 
These types of lights can definitely be gangly and take a bit to set up, but honestly it doesn't take much longer than putting together my Aputure 300DII and a softbox - almost the same amount of moving parts that have to be assembled. I think the key is setting up the light before you need it - it can def feel awkward when you're in the middle of the shoot, running behind schedule, and am like "Oh let me set this light up real quick" and then have the client, talent, crew all sitting there watching you try to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.

I have my main two assistants trained up on the assembly and operation and more and more I'm starting to just have them build the 2x2 Falcon Eyes when we first get on-location and have it on standby even if there's a good chance we'll never use it.....which in my experience if it's built, I'll use it, but if there's just one shot in the afternoon that could look a little better if we had the light, but it's not built, I'm probably just going to say forget it and move on.

I've even had my assistant put the ballast and a v-mount in a sling bag and just hollywood the light for me as we blazed through b-roll going room from room really quick, adjusting color temp and brightness as needed.

To me the value proposition of a bi-color flex light is its versatility - it's so lightweight, easy to travel with, AND since it's a flex light and it's bicolor there's really no location where I can't use it and make the scene look better. As much as I love a Skypanel or my 300DIIs, they're pretty impractical when working on doc stuff or working in other live, uncontrolled environments.

When it's time to film an interview or spokesperson, those other lights come out and do a killer job, but when I need to make B-ROLL look good AND not produced this is by far my best tool for the job.


I also use it for filming YouTube videos in my office :)
 
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I got a TON of mileage out of my Intellytech LC-160...when I was flying all over the place as a OMB for a client about 2 years ago.

I haven't used it once since then because my other fixtures are more useful and more versatile when I'm local.

It's also been rare that I need the flat profile, but that does come up here and there, and when it does, nothing is as useful as a flat large source. Also, they are so lightweigh that rigging overhead without an elaborate menace setup is also a possibility. But again, I haven't needed my LC-160 since I was traveling for by air for OMB shoots. It was the LC-160, bounce for fill, and a Kinotehnik Practilite for scratch/hair. Extremely portable but enough juice for pretty much all indoor shoots. I'd happily go with the Falconeys for that type of need as well, but I'm avoiding airplanes like the plague...because...plague.

Thanks for the review Chris, it's very well done.

O
 
Run&Gun said:
That’s kind of my thing with them. I already feel inefficient enough at times with things like my Gemini’s that are fully assembled and all you need to do is just plug in the power cord, but the erector set lights make me feel like I’m swimming in molasses. I have two Intellytech LC-160’s and a Mega and I love the quality of the light from all of them and the 160’s pack up into tiny cases vs. their working size, but they’re all a royal pain in the a$$ to put together and break-down/pack-up.
Click to expand...

Yes, I totally agree. I had the Gemini 2x1 and the 1x1 for a few months and they are heavy but man are they easy to set up and the output is huge. Geat lights. The roll up lights are just a bit too fiddly when you're under the gun
but if you have time, they are good tools and would be great for flying, OMB stuff. I'm shooting an interview up in wine country next week, indoors, single camera, OMB, we'll be in a winery or cask room and I will definitely not be
bringing the Falcon Eyes, it'll be a Godox VL-150 with a 35" softbox as key and a White Flexfill as fill. I hate OMB these days but this is for a quick roll in piece for a live stream we're doing so no budget or time for crew so I said I would just shoot
up and there and get it done by myself.

We did use the Falcon Eyes as a Key for shooting talent inside of cars and for the lighting up the leather seats for CUs and tabletop for that piece I shot for Katzkin Auto Interiors, the Falcon Eyes was great because we had to arm it out
over the windshield of some big SUVs and Trucks in studio and we had no Menace Arm or even a boom pole so my gaffer used the Falcon Eyes on a 40" C Stand arm over the windshield and the light weight of the Falcon Eyes made it
the winner for that shoot. It's super useful just not my favorite as a key source for most things because it's a PITA to set up.
 
I also end up using these on 90% of my shoots. For interior shoots it's lightweight and bicolor, with really good CRI / TLCI and enough power for most situations.
A bit useless against daytime windows.
I leave the diffusion on the softbox, and I've folded two sides so it's collapses in. Relatively quick to put on the SB and I can fit a bunch of these in a box.

Maybe I'm just not getting big enough jobs as a OMB...
 
scotchtape said:
I also end up using these on 90% of my shoots. For interior shoots it's lightweight and bicolor, with really good CRI / TLCI and enough power for most situations.
A bit useless against daytime windows.
I leave the diffusion on the softbox, and I've folded two sides so it's collapses in. Relatively quick to put on the SB and I can fit a bunch of these in a box.

Maybe I'm just not getting big enough jobs as a OMB...
Click to expand...

Aspire to NOT be a OMB. OMB sucks, filmmaking and television is a collaborative art. All of my best work over a 25 year career, hardly any of it is OMB,
almost all of it was from collaboration with amazing artists that made my writing, directing and DPing it's best. It's a team sport.
 
puredrifting said:
Aspire to NOT be a OMB. OMB sucks, filmmaking and television is a collaborative art. All of my best work over a 25 year career, hardly any of it is OMB,
almost all of it was from collaboration with amazing artists that made my writing, directing and DPing it's best. It's a team sport.
Click to expand...

Agreed. OMB has great profit margins that are often hard to pass up, but I always hate it when I’m doing it. At minimum having an assistant makes a world of difference, even if you’re just counting the social benefits of being with someone that has your back and is there to help you succeed
 
chris f said:
Agreed. OMB has great profit margins that are often hard to pass up, but I always hate it when I’m doing it. At minimum having an assistant makes a world of difference, even if you’re just counting the social benefits of being with someone that has your back and is there to help you succeed
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I guess if you have clients that have a singular budget/pot of money for a given shoot and don't care how it gets done, so cutting personnel means more money in your pocket, but most of my shoots, money is spent per position, so less people isn't more money in your pocket, it's just more work spread over less people and possibly less money, if you're able to bring more people in on your gear.
 
Run&Gun said:
I guess if you have clients that have a singular budget/pot of money for a given shoot and don't care how it gets done, so cutting personnel means more money in your pocket,...
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I enjoy those shoots business wise, and that's all the work I've done so far.
All depends on how much you want to be compensated for and what you're happy with.
 
scotchtape said:
I enjoy those shoots business wise, and that's all the work I've done so far.
All depends on how much you want to be compensated for and what you're happy with.
Click to expand...

It’s not always just about the money, although large amounts of it also gives you large amounts of tolerance for the associated bullish!t. I’m sure almost everyone on here has had shoots, even well paying ones, where they honestly can say the money was not worth the pain or they would have taken a little less money to have more people to do the job. There’s an old saying: Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick two.
 
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