GODOX VL150 Review

Guys, I am seriously considering the genaray radiance as a second cob lights that’s even brighter than the vl150. It’s a good price, but it has 1 major drawback: it requires 15a V Mount batteries. These seem to be rather expensive, as it requires 2 batteries to run. Has anyone found a pair of affordable v mount batteries that will run this beast OR a light that’s as affordable, but can use cheaper batteries? Thanks.
 
The price on that radiance looks nice.

You may want to stick to LEDs from the same manufacturer, however. I've bought LEDs from a range or companies over the years, and they don't all mix perfectly (even if they match color temperature and both have high CRIs). Some might have more of a green bias, some more magenta. The bias by itself might be ok but 2 opposite biases next to each other become more noticeable.

There's no guarantee that a different model from the same manufacturer will match perfectly. But your odds are higher.

Or maybe the radiance will match fine.

The batteries are expensive and you may not be able to find an alternative that uses cheaper batteries. Unless that alternative can only take battery power up to 50% of its output. In which case why not buy a 100w LED instead if you plan on running it off batteries a lot?

One thing to keep in mind with the batteries is that the radiance will drain a pair of them in like an hour, give or take. So, a light as powerful as the radiance is more practical to plug in unless you're doing something quick or can afford several thousand dollars of batteries.
 
The vl300 is the equivalent with the same manufacturer. It’s $750. More expensive than the Genaray, but with being able to use cheaper batteries, maybe around the same price.
 
Yes, I think you can use cheaper batteries with the VL300. 14.8V batteries that can output 10A should run it at full power until they drop down to 15V. But that means they wouldn't run it for long, less than half of their nominal capacity I think. The battery plate for the Godox also says 33V, so I'm not sure if it craps out at 33V instead of 30...
 
My Godox VL300 arrived yesterday. It is insanely bright, for the price. The fans are audible but not over-loud and anyway, a light that bright is unlikely to be positioned close enough for them to be an issue.
 
Tim Sewell said:
My Godox VL300 arrived yesterday. It is insanely bright, for the price. The fans are audible but not over-loud and anyway, a light that bright is unlikely to be positioned close enough for them to be an issue.
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Good to know. I wonder how much brighter the 300 is vs the 200?
 
I've not gone beyond an initial play around with it after the kids went to bed on Monday night! But just from that, apart from the brightness, the quality of the light, to my eye, was extremely pleasing. I checked it out bare, with the reflector and with a cheap after-market Bowens fresnel and all of them behaved as expected per the various online reviews. I haven't seen the VL200, but this 300 is definitely superior by quite a long way to the SL200 that I do have. And I have to say, the price at which I got it - shipped direct from HK from an eBay seller, wasn't that much more than the average price I've seen the VL200s at.
 
thefilmaddict said:
Good to know. I wonder how much brighter the 300 is vs the 200?
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Haven't tested the 200 against the 300 but by the power consumption specs, the VL300 should be about 25-35% more output. If you're on the fence,
always buy the most power you can afford. Our VL300 operates mostly at 30-55% output in most of our setups but it's so nice to
have enough horsepower in reserve to do things like book lights, compete against high ambient, shooting with your cameras at a lower ISO
or smaller f/stop, etc. that the 200 or 150 just may not have enough power to do.

People only regret not having enough power, never having too much.
 
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Just got the ot1 pro optical snoot in.
Pretty much useless for video work unless you're ok with it killing light output by a significant amount.
Haven't tested it but eye balling it clearly shows a massive difference.

Guess it's worth spending double for the Aputure spotlight (provided your light works with it)

Now to try to sell it locally... :(
 
This light has been on my radar.
I have a photo shoot for a law firm in 2 hours using Godox AD Series strobes, which I feel offer great quality for the price.
So I would really like to give the VL series a shakedown.
 
puredrifting said:
Haven't tested 200 againt 300 but by the power consumption specs, the VL300 should be about 25-35% more output. If you're on the fence,
always buy the most power you can afford. Our VL300 operates mostly at 30-55% output in most of our setups but it's so nice to
have enough horsepower in reserve to do things like book lights, compete against high ambient, shooting with your cameras at a lower ISO
or smaller f/stop, etc. that the 200 or 150 just may not have enough power to do.

People only regret not having enough power, never having too much.
Click to expand...

Good advice.
 
Thanks, everyone.

VL150 - 5666.9 fc / 61,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m
VL200 - 6967.5 fc / 75,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m
VL300 - 7153.3 fc / 77,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m

I may get the 200. It's more affordable and does seem to be a step up from the VL150. Hands down, I would pick the 300 if I had the money.
 
thefilmaddict said:
Thanks, everyone.

VL150 - 5666.9 fc / 61,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m
VL200 - 6967.5 fc / 75,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m
VL300 - 7153.3 fc / 77,000 lux at 3.28' / 1 m

I may get the 200. It's more affordable and does seem to be a step up from the VL150. Hands down, I would pick the 300 if I had the money.
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You'll be happy with it, they are really impressive for cheap lights. I might have a job in a couple of weeks where I need to light up three different areas of a pretty good sized set.
Job is not yet confirmed but if it does, I will probably buy two of the VL150s or VL200s, if can afford it. I'd rather buy two more VL300s to match the one I have but I can't afford it
so two VL150s or VL200s will be a good compromise and I know they will all match.

Renting lights in LA right now is an unknown, not even sure if my rental houses are open, but I know a few gaffers who will rent me some of their lights.
But no idea how they would match with my VL300 so I am leaning toward just buying a couple more Godox.
 
Not sure if this needs to be said but those photometrics are a bit misleading...
The reflectors have gotten more efficient at beaming into a tight spot but the overall lumen efficiency is basically the same across the mid to low end.
If you are not using the new reflector and right in the center, you're not getting anything special.

In fact you can order the new style reflector and put it on your older lights to "improve" performance if that floats your boat. But you are just getting a brighter hot spot.

If you use softboxes etc. These don't offer higher performance.

I got the vl300 and aputure 300d ii last month. Both decent, neither wowed me but no real complaints. I will say the godox power brick and strap is really stupid because the strap covers the center line of the cable connector when it's pointed down to the ground, so you have to off center it and it feels janky. Or you can have the cable sticking up then going down.... Also the plastic wire that is used to hang the controller seems like it will break at some point.

At least the yoke can be mounted in two positions because the range pointing up is quite limited.

Fan is slightly louder on vl300, but aputure isn't amazing either. Both are fine on location.

Waiting for 600d!
 
I've been thinking of getting the VL150, its the best value. The 200 seems less so because the 150 is $399and the 200 is $549 so you're paying $150 for an extra 50 watts. In regards to the batteries I think anything above the 150 needs to be powered by dual batteries.

I currently have 2 1x1 panels with a diffusing gel. While not as soft as soft box they are so much easier to setup. I filmed a dance last night and I thought I had plenty of time (1hr) but I barely hand enough time: transport, unpack, tripod, camera, balancing, remote, focus, white balance, floor mic, sound board feed, gaffing power and sound cables, mixer, audio check, then only 1 light panel on a stand.
 
That's one of the challenges as it has open vents but it is still usable. There are a couple of videos of people using it for styles like music videos, photography, background projections.

I haven't used the Aputure spotlight, so I am not sure of what the light loss there would be, but have you seen the price Aputure is asking? That's 6 times the price, $150 vs $900! As for me, I am not going to spend $900 to get some window or custom shadows in a scene/image that I would rarely use, when I can get that with a $150 unit.
scotchtape said:
Just got the ot1 pro optical snoot in.
Pretty much useless for video work unless you're ok with it killing light output by a significant amount.
Haven't tested it but eye balling it clearly shows a massive difference.

Guess it's worth spending double for the Aputure spotlight (provided your light works with it)

Now to try to sell it locally... :(
Click to expand...
 
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