Intellytech Pocket Canon compared to Arri 300 Fresnel

[dharty]

Hello,

I recently purchased an Intellytech Pocket Canon and wanted to share my impressions compared to a long time standard, the Arri 300w fresnel.

Output: 6ft. 1/60, ISO 800

Pocket Canon Spotted - F8.5
Pocket Canon Flooded - F5.6
Arri 300w Spotted - F11
Arri 300w Flooded - F5.6.4
Arri 150W Spotted - F4.7
Nila JNH, with spot lens - F16.4

I have attached two photos taken with an iPhone. One showing the Arri 300W and Pocket Canon fully spotted from 6ft'. The other showing the cut pattern produced with the barn doors collapsed to a slit, also from 6ft. The Pocket Cannon produced a more evenly illuminated spot with a narrower but smooth fall off. With the Pocket Canon fully spotted, the barn doors would not cut the spot of light. With the Pocket Canon and Arri fully flooded the Pocket Canon produced a smoother more controlled cut of light; however the barn doors are not big enough to cut the full projected circle of light. The Arri produced a more evenly illuminated circle of light fully flooded.

Although the Pocket Canon body is smaller than the Arri 300W, when you collapse the arm for storage and with the dimmer attached it measures 11L x 7Wx 4H (without the top handle attached and not including the AC adapter. You can't keep the barn doors on when the arm is collapsed.)
The barn doors for the Pocket Canon are very poorly designed. They are a force fit on the front of the fixture and will not rotate. Small rubber rings on the barn doors provide friction for the force fit, and I would guess they will fall off at some point.

 

[Seanik]

Thanks for this. I've recently been researching these types of lights (small led fresnel/focus floods) as well.

If you don't mind me asking, what influenced your decision to go with this light vs. others in that market (e.g. Aperture mini, Genaray Torpedo, etc.)?

 

[dharty]

Thanks for this. I've recently been researching these types of lights (small led fresnel/focus floods) as well.

If you don't mind me asking, what influenced your decision to go with this light vs. others in that market (e.g. Aperture mini, Genaray Torpedo, etc.)?

I am not familiar with he Torpedo, but I did look at the Aperture Mini and Genaray. My primary use for a small fresnel is for interviews, so I was leary of the Aperture mini and Genarary that both have fans. The Aperture mini daylight fixture also has a color balance of 7500 K, which would likely always require the use of gels. The Genaray uses multiple LEDs, so it produces multiple shadows, especially when you cut the light with the barn doors. If I were able to compare all 3 fixtures in my studio, I may think differently about whether the fans, color balance, or multiple shadows from the Genaray are important issues or not.

Ergonomically, I think both the Aperture Mini and Genarary are nicer designs than the Pocket Cannon with its large external dimmer, poor implementation of the barn doors, and the flimsy, plastic connector to the dimmer. The Pocket Canon fixture itself is otherwise very solid and throws a clean pattern of light whether spotted or full, which is a high priority for me.