Kino Diva 401 replacements

traviswears

traviswears

Well-known member
I had 2X Kino Diva 401s and loved them. Super durable, reliable lights that did well for interviews or basic room fill. But they were stolen from out of my vehicle yesterday along with both of my Westcott Daylight LED Flex lights.

On one hand I love the Divas and they proved super useful. On the other, I like the idea of not having to swap out bulbs and having greater flexibility to dim without losing color accuracy.

I'm looking at the LiteMat S2 series and the Kino Diva LED. What else am I missing? The Diva-Lite LED looks to be a bit less powerful than the standard Diva, and that worries me as the Diva was already a weak source. But then again, I might not have to use the flozier with either of these.

One nice thing about the original Diva kit was the super durable hardshell case for travel. The LiteMat comes with a weird bag that is in no way shape or form a good professional solution for throwing into a van or allowing PAs to carry. Also, the LiteMat S2 4 is a lot bigger than the Diva but I like the versatility to mount it higher and closer to the talent with it's light weight.

Any thoughts? Astras are too small to be primary keys IMO. What am I missing?
 
I just "retired" my Divas a week or two ago(good riddance. Poor 3200k color, swapping bulbs or gelling, taking up too much space). Replaced them with two full-power, bi-color Astras(I have four total). I considered the Celebs and new LED Divas, but the output isn't as high and I could buy two Astras for less than one Celeb.

I also looked into Litemat's and Dracast, but decided to stick with Astras. I've loved the light since I bought two last year. The design sucks, but I'll deal with it for the results and convenience.
 
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While I haven't officially "retired" my Diva 400 & 200, I have to say I use them less and less for pretty much same reasons already listed. I have two Dracast 1000 LED's & they get used more often now. They need to be handled with kid gloves and I wouldn't recommend them for large crews (I'd be afraid the yoke would not last). But for small shoots, I do love the output & the quality of dimmable, tunable light.
Maybe look into the Quasar Science retrofits of the Kino 4x4's ? Also the Softpanels ? I think you may have already backed that project ... not sure where that stands...??
 
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Aputure Lightstorm LS 1S would be a good economical replacement. With some customization, you can mount a small Chimera, they have much higher output than a Diva, I have even used them for outdoor fill sources with the sun. The power supply thing is a PITA (your mains cable goes into a detached/brick/power supply, then from there to a control box dimmer then out of the box to the light head) but the wireless remotes are killer. Well built, work well.
 
Run&Gun said:
I just "retired" my Divas a week or two ago(good riddance. Poor 3200k color, swapping bulbs or gelling, taking up too much space). Replaced them with two full-power, bi-color Astras(I have four total). I considered the Celebs and new LED Divas, but the output isn't as high and I could buy two Astras for less than one Celeb.

I also looked into Litemat's and Dracast, but decided to stick with Astras. I've loved the light since I bought two last year. The design sucks, but I'll deal with it for the results and convenience.
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I like the Astras for punch but wish they had a 1x2 model w/RGB wifi control and a more robust design. One thing I like about the new Diva-Lite LED is full color control.
 
What about getting some of the 1x2 LED flex panels and make up some aluminum frames to velcro them into. I jumped on the 1x1 flex daylight when B&H had a big sale. I velcro the 2 x 1x1s into a single frame to make a 1x2 although having 2 seperate balasts is a pain it makes a nice lightweight 1x2 panel that replaces my kino knockoffs.
 
Sorry to hear about a-holes stealing your gear. That sucks. I had a full light kit stolen in a smash and grab several years ago. They got a 3 light kit with a couple of small Chimeras. I was so pissed! Terrible feeling and the repair to the cars window wasn't cheap either. Grrrr!

I love the long bulbs of the Diva light. Hard to replace. I would like to find something like them for lighting green screens and backgrounds. I don't like spending big money on fixtures for lighting these and the Diva has worked well for me due to the wide angle. Yeah they aren't as bright as I would like either.

I've recently been using an Aputure COB 120d with a small Chimera soft box. Looks great. I should get some readings from the Diva to compare the output of the COB 120d to it. It's a very broad source as well with the modifier off. Would require a few flags to control it.
 
heguy said:
Got 2 of these : http://www.dmglumiere.com/products/mini-switch-p16

Both fit in a Pelican 1650 with accessories , no regrets .
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Never heard of DMG Lumière, but it's encouraging to see DOPchoice makes Snap Bags, & grids, for their panels. Found a brief article about the company in FD Times.

http://www.fdtimes.com/2016/10/04/dmg-lumiere-led-lights/

I've stopped using my Divas, & probably should get rid of them. My replacents are Aladdin's Bi-Flex 2 (1x2') LED panels, which are simply great.
 
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traviswears said:
I like the Astras for punch but wish they had a 1x2 model w/RGB wifi control and a more robust design. One thing I like about the new Diva-Lite LED is full color control.
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I was looking at the Dracast 1x2 and 1x3 models that collapse, but they just don't have the output and I don't like two different dials for color temp(one for entinsity of tungsten and one for daylight). RGB would be cool and I can't wait to take delivery of my two Hive Wasp 100-C's. I do have Bluetooth modules on two of my Astra's and it's cool, especially when you have the lights out of reach, but it's clunky if they get un-paired from your phone(or whatever you're using) and you have to re-pair them.

The last two times I used my Diva's was for backgrounds, one was seamless and the other green screen.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Never heard of DMG Lumière, but it's encouraging to see DOPchoice makes Snap Bags, & grids, for their panels. Found a brief article about the company in FD Times.

http://www.fdtimes.com/2016/10/04/dmg-lumiere-led-lights/

I've stopped using my Divas, & probably should get rid of them. My replacents are Aladdin's Bi-Flex 2 (1x2') LED panels, which are simply great.
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It's not just the accesories, it's also the build quality, makes an Astra feel real cheap compared to them . Light quality is great as well . They are new to the North America market, but they have been around for 5 years . Have been used in quite a few French and European movies .
 
Bern Caughey said:
Never heard of DMG Lumière, but it's encouraging to see DOPchoice makes Snap Bags, & grids, for their panels. Found a brief article about the company in FD Times.

http://www.fdtimes.com/2016/10/04/dmg-lumiere-led-lights/

I've stopped using my Divas, & probably should get rid of them. My replacents are Aladdin's Bi-Flex 2 (1x2') LED panels, which are simply great.
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Interesting light. The 1x2 is expensive at $981 for the panel and it looks like you need more accessories to get a working system. How much do you think you need to spend for a working fixture?
 
puredrifting said:
Aputure Lightstorm LS 1S would be a good economical replacement. With some customization, you can mount a small Chimera, they have much higher output than a Diva, I have even used them for outdoor fill sources with the sun. The power supply thing is a PITA (your mains cable goes into a detached/brick/power supply, then from there to a control box dimmer then out of the box to the light head) but the wireless remotes are killer. Well built, work well.
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Have you seen this accessory from Aperture intended to tidy things up? Don't know if it is actually available as of yet:

LS1Studio_06.jpg


I've temporarily gone backwards as far as lighting. I just picked up two preowned 3 ft Kino 4-banks. I was able to get the two units for less than the cost of one new Astra bi-color.

If you are okay with flo's and tungsten fresnels, now is a great time to pick some up used. People are dumping Arri fresnels and I've seen many available for amazingly low prices. There are many good reasons for wanting to move to LED's but none of those reasons result in my being able to charge more for having LED's. So in that sense, unlike when HMI's commanded an additional charge, it is an expenditure with no financial return. LED's don't "pay for themselves" in my case.

I agree with another forum user who said that LED fresnels / LED pars are ultimately the way to go if you work ENG style / small crew and transport the entire kit yourself. Like a Joker HMI, LED fresnels / pars can perform multiple roles be it as a source in a soft box, bounced into bead board to create a big soft source, used as a hard fresnel, or used as a punchy PAR that you bounce off the ceiling or a wall. And less bulky in size for transporting. The LED fresnels / pars just aren't quite there yet. Maybe the Hive 100-C will change that.

A light like the Lumiere SL-1 will run you $3600 when all is said and done. And it can ONLY serve duty as a soft light. But that is also the case with Kino Flo's be they original, Diva, or LED.
 
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The Astra Soft was on an unannounced special of $1350 with a free Bluetooth controller last spring... if they repeat that sale I think it's a good deal. In our informal testing, it's at least a Diva 400 (for power).
 
markfpv said:
Also the Softpanels ? I think you may have already backed that project ... not sure where that stands...??
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I did!

That project is a total mess. If I had any confidence in that light actually shipping and/or working as promised I'd probably just rent Divas from friends and wait for them to arrive. But they've already missed 6 promised ship dates and the latest word is they couldn't get the auto-color function to calibrate properly when producing mass quantities of the lights. So who knows.

The communication on that project is the weakest I've ever seen from a kickstarter.
 
JPNola said:
Have you seen this accessory from Aperture intended to tidy things up? Don't know if it is actually available as of yet:

View attachment 119596
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I have not seen this JP, thanks for posting it. Is it an Aputure product or third party? Looks intriguing but I wonder if it would impede the cooling fins too much when used on a hot day or hot interiors?
 
This is the studio version from Aputure. It's designed to use in a grid with DMX. You could use it on a stand but won't have the ability to power it with a battery since it's mounted on the bracket. I don't think it's a add on to the original LS 1s due to the taps on the fixture for the bracket.
 
Longtime Diva400 user. I now use a pair of Area48's and love them. If I could do it again I would've just purchased one Area48 and then picked up a fresnel or COB style light for when I need hard light. But for one-man-band style content that I do so often, this 2 light kit is great. Switching between 5600 to 3200 is a snap, the light is very powerful and naturally soft, slightly softer than a naked Diva (I haven't done a side by side so I could be wrong there) . There's a bunch for sale used on eBay right now from the same seller. $1600.
 
Lkorver said:
Longtime Diva400 user. I now use a pair of Area48's and love them. If I could do it again I would've just purchased one Area48 and then picked up a fresnel or COB style light for when I need hard light. But for one-man-band style content that I do so often, this 2 light kit is great. Switching between 5600 to 3200 is a snap, the light is very powerful and naturally soft, slightly softer than a naked Diva (I haven't done a side by side so I could be wrong there) . There's a bunch for sale used on eBay right now from the same seller. $1600.
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That's a good price. Think I would rather just buy some Astra Softs for that price though and skip the phosphor panels.

The more I look into it, the more I like the smaller S30c Skypanel. Trouble is it's around $6k fully kitted out with chimera, case, etc... and I want two.

Love the LiteMat size and weight, wish it did RGB :)

Also looking into the Digital Sputnik DS-1s.
 
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