First look at Aladdin All-In-One RGB

J

J.Brown

Well-known member
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I just took delivery of a 1x1 Aladdin All-In-One RGB panel. This being my first RGB panel and not having any experience myself from RGB panels look at this like a first look.

For years now I have used Aladdin Bi-Flex panels. First the Bi-Flex 1 Bicolor, then the 1x2 Bi-Flex Bi-Color and for six months now I'm using the Aladdin M7 panels. What strikes me about Aladdin products is how little is actually mentioned about them. Maybe they don't market themselves enough. So I just had to write something about this new All-In-One RGB panel.

Aladdin have really shrunk the electronics with this All-In-One design. Gone is the separate dimmer as it's integrated with the panel. It's also bluetooth controlled via an app which, in my limited time testing, works fine. It's a very basic operation of the panel with sliders for each controllable item.

The panel have the integrated dimmer on the back side and with five buttons to control it. Compared to having the older dimmer I prefer the older dimmer as it shows me Kelvin and brightness value. The integrated dimmer has only two LEDs and no way of knowing which Kelvin it is. Not even the app shows that so this is a major step back. On the other hand the app could, further on, maybe have such functions added.

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The panel is like two panels in one. First it's like the original Bi-Flex 1 with 50w power. Then it adds 20w of RGB LEDs. These can be mixed however I want. 20w RGB isn't much, so in my limited time testing it, a room should be to the dark side to take advantage of RGB lighting. For close ups it looks like having enough power to add another dimension to lighting, which is one reason I got. But I also would like to splash colour in a room more broadly. Further testing will tell how that works.

As a small yet powerful 1x1 panel the integrated dimmer and faster setup is very welcome. Most flexpanels have huge dimmers in comparison so in this regard Aladdin is way ahead. They've also improved the tripod mount making it more robust and it can rotated into more angles. Sadly we see another type of connector for this panel. It was one type for the original Bi-Flex, another for the M7 and now even a third version. Why o why Aladdin? It would be great to use the extension cables I already got but no such luck. They are all incompatible.

As always flexible panels have their pros and cons. Lightweight and versatile but at the same time set up time can be a killer when you are in a hurry. So far my initial feelings about this new Aladdin panel is mixed. I've always loved the colour of these lights but certain things could be made better.

Anyway. Questions?
 
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Cost?
Who did you buy it from?
What are the photometrics and how does it's output compare to the Astra 6X? Lupo? Aputure LS-1S?
 
CVP in the UK has them and I believe the current price is on their site.

I haven't measured them but I would expect it to be just like the Bi-Flex 1 Bi-Color 50w so less than the M7. It is possible to mix Bi-Color with RGB and get a bit more output so they might be on the same level as the M7 when I do that. I have measured Astra 4x and the different Aladdin panels and the Astra 4x is a bit brighter than Aladdins 1x2 so all of their 1x1 are less bright but with a much wider beam angle.
 
If this is the one, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...50bi_kit1_sc_bi_flex1_bi_color_with_kit1.html
they look to be $1,124.00 here in the states. That's pretty costly for a 1x1 panel. The Astras, despite their issues and questionable advertising copy, are immensely popular here and not any cheaper,
I am kind of amazed that people keep buying them even with all of their issues, a DP friend just bought two more and he has the board problems on the three he already owns. Go figure.

If was looking for a 1x1 panel today, I would heavily consider the Luxli Timpani, I have the Cello and so far, it's a great light. The Timpani is on sale at $899.00 at B&H.
I have three of the Aputure Lightstorm LS-1S and for a step down in cost from the Astra, the Alladin and the Timpani (I got mine at $600.00 when they were on sale when they first came out),
they are decent although daylight only. I just don't need bi-color that often and when I do, I have some Kamerar Brightcasts, the Cello, and just received the Nanguang RGB88 that all are Bi-color.
 
The link you sent is for the original Bi-Flex panel. Since then they've improved on parts and added the All-In-One series which despite the lack of displayed Kelvin is far superior. I will try to find the time to do a photometric measuring this week and compare it to the M7 panel. I will also check if it's possible to use all LEDs at the same time to get tungsten and daylight at the same output level as the M7 panel. If so I will go for another one as it will do what my M7 panels do but with the added remote and RGB functions.

As pure power and easy of use the Astra panels are fine and by the look of it the Timpani is a very nice light but neither has as high colour accuracy as the Aladdin panels. I work with both Astra and Aladdin and I always like the Aladdin better when it comes to how nice skin tones and smoothness is.
 
J.Brown said:
The link you sent is for the original Bi-Flex panel. Since then they've improved on parts and added the All-In-One series which despite the lack of displayed Kelvin is far superior. I will try to find the time to do a photometric measuring this week and compare it to the M7 panel. I will also check if it's possible to use all LEDs at the same time to get tungsten and daylight at the same output level as the M7 panel. If so I will go for another one as it will do what my M7 panels do but with the added remote and RGB functions.

As pure power and easy of use the Astra panels are fine and by the look of it the Timpani is a very nice light but neither has as high colour accuracy as the Aladdin panels. I work with both Astra and Aladdin and I always like the Aladdin better when it comes to how nice skin tones and smoothness is.
Click to expand...

Good feedback, I've never tried an Alladin panel but have been hearing about them for years.
 
I like these flexible panels a lot but the Astra is so much faster and easier to use. That's why they are in so many ENG kits in the US. No controller box dangling and extra cables to a ballast. It's all on the fixture including V mount battery if you want to be even more mobile. I have six of them at work with Snap Box's and they have been great.
 
Astra panels are fast but I don't like the Snap box softbox. It works fine but can be a pain to mount although pretty fast. Astra soft would be a better option if always used with softbox as it's one less thing to deal with.
 
I did a photometric reading comparing the Aladdin M7 and Aladdin AIO RGB at 1 meter:
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My own conclusion so far is this. The Aladdin softbox is a must have. As theses panels have such a wide beam angle they gain a healthy bit in light output when the beam is made narrower as the softbox does. I didn't put any diffuser on front of the softbox as I wanted to measure pure raw output power.
When the new Aladdin All-In-One (AIO) panel is used with both bi-color and RGB I ended up with almost as much output as the M7 panel. But this is also tricky as the RGB can't be made to output pure white and given the app or dimmer on the back of the panel shows no reading to which color being output.

In daylight the M7 is the better choice as it puts out more light.

As far as set up time this is the biggest downside of all flexible panels. I've learned to have the Aladdin panels partly put together inside the bag to reduce the procedure. Still it takes a little bit more time than a solid panel like an Astra. On the other hand, when it's mounted and running it's so easy to move it around and I can use Manfrotto Nano stands. I can also have two panels in a small and lightweight bag so there are both pros and cons to these flexible panels.
 
I liked this panel so I got the All In 2 100W+40WRGB panel and put photometrics in an updated chart. I must say I'm impressed with this new panel as it provides both power, refinement and skills.
I noticed one oddity while measuring. At certain settings the panel increased output by about 100 lux over a couple of minutes. On other settings it stayed. As long as it was an increase I'm not complaining but it's good to know.


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Aladdin have made two videos about the new All-in series and the freshly released app. I have to try it this weekend.


 
It's more of a gimmick so far. It worked even in the older app but hey it could come in handy to do special effects in an organic way.
 
I played around with the app the other day on a shoot having both panels up and it worked great. I sat down in the interview chair and fine tuned both panels while my colleague checked in the camera. There's many colour presets and it's easy to add custom ones also.

On a side note I also had a short try on the app for the Litepanels Astra panels BT module. A feature I thought to be innovative was using the camera on the phone to find the ambient colour temperature and have the panels set to that automatically.
 
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