Lupo Superpanel Dual Color 60

R

robotfist

Active member
Does anyone here have the Lupo Superpanel 60 Dual Color? I am specifically interested in this light due to it's output. For most of my generic corporate shoots over the years I've generally went with 1 of 2 setups for my key. I either rent a Skypanel S60 and throw a 4x6 chimera on the front, or we go a bit bigger and set up a 12x and create a booklight with an M18. The Lupo Superpanel 60 has an insane amount of output for an LED fixture that can run off batteries, partly because it limits the bicolor to a range of just 3200k to 5600k, and it uses a technique similar to Litepanels' Astra lights, where they install small lenses in front of each diode, reducing the spread and intensifying the light. The spread on the Lupo Superpanel 60 is 40 degrees.

It seems to me that a killer combination for a big, soft source would be the Lupo 60 Dual Color and the DoP Snapbag Octa 5' or Octa 7'. This gives you a massive, soft source that has more punch than any other 1x2 panel on the market by a large margin...

Here's the Lupo Superpanel Dual Color 60's output compared to other 1x2's and an M18...

Arri Skypanel SC-60 RGB - 71 Degree Beam Angle
3.2’ - 1,704 fc (with intensifier) 3200k
3.2’ - 1,717 fc (with intensifier) 5600k

Rotolight Titan X2 RGB - 68 Degree Beam Angle
3.2' - 1,442 fc (no diffusion) - 3200K
3.2’ - 1,560 fc (no diffusion) - 5600K

Lupo Superpanel Dual Color 60 - 40 Degree Beam Angle
3.2’ - 5,710 fc (no diffusion) - 3200k
3.2’ - 6,230 fc (no diffusion) - 5600k

Arri M18 (flooded 63 degrees)
3’ - 9556 fc - 5600K


Anyone own the Lupo Dual Color 60? Newsshooter has a great article on it, but I'd love to hear some real world user experiences.
 
I wonder if the beam angle would cause a hot spot in the middle of the Octa 5' or 7'? Probably not that big of an issue if it does. That amount of power is very impressive.
 
theraptor56 said:
I wonder if the beam angle would cause a hot spot in the middle of the Octa 5' or 7'? Probably not that big of an issue if it does. That amount of power is very impressive.
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Yeah, I wondered about that, too. But I think the Octa softboxes have an internal baffle that diffuses the light and spreads it out evenly over the surface of the rag.
 
I have not got time to post properly now.

I own some lupos and while good they are very spotty and this swings the on paper figures hugely in thier favour. They are bright but not much more than the inputted watts. (of course!!)

They are good but not amazing.

Dont beleive the hype do proper reasearch while having a good knowledge of the inverse square law.

Id be checking forza/apture for a big octabox

Vs a 2.5k hmi.. we ae having a laugh - very not the same.
 
morgan_moore said:
I have not got time to post properly now.

I own some lupos and while good they are very spotty and this swings the on paper figures hugely in thier favour. They are bright but not much more than the inputted watts. (of course!!)

They are good but not amazing.

Dont beleive the hype do proper reasearch while having a good knowledge of the inverse square law.

Id be checking forza/apture for a big octabox

Vs a 2.5k hmi.. we ae having a laugh - very not the same.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I’m am well versed with the inverse square law. Been shooting for 20 years. Which Lupos do you have? While alot of manufacturers post exaggerted figures of their products, the numbers I listed for the Lupo Dual Color 60 were pulled from an independent test of the fixture, and not from the manufacturer’s website. You can find that article below. I found it to be a thorough and precise review that doesn’t sugar coat things...

Newshooter Lupo Dual Color 60 Review
 
I have 2 100 (1x1 panels) and 2 2000 Fresnels. Ivw used them lots professionally.

Having these lights over a few redheads lifted my lighting to a new place no question.

But .. These things are bright (on paper) becase they are focussed.

Inverse square. Say you can cover one square foot (1X1) and get 90000lumens, well if you were covering 3 x 3 (9 square feet) you would be down to 10000 lumens.

Newshooter and Meet the Gaffer and the aussie bloke are really off with thier innacuracy of measuing not only the intensity of the light but its spread. IMO hugely over rating many spots and also Lupos!

--

My 1.1 lupos are cool as you can spot a face in the sun in a manner you could not with an astra6 (wider beam) but once you go through some diff they equal and astra six... which is not suprising as they are both current gen led panels with a 100w draw

That doesnt mean I dont like the lupos.. I do.. because I like the simple yoke vs astras Im just trying to do a bit of expectation management.

But firing a lupo panel at a 4.4 diff you have to move it back for it to spread to 4.4 which wastes space on set... and as you move it back you are losing that intensity by inverse square. ALso bouncing off my studio walls (white) you can end not with a diffued light but still reflections - you really need to move to a booklight to get true soft source.. by which time they are not bright.

Personally if I were looking to fill an octabox Id be looking at the apture 300d or forza lights
 
morgan_moore said:
Personally if I were looking to fill an octabox Id be looking at the apture 300d or forza lights
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Yeah, I have a 300D II and their large light dome, but it just does't match the punch/softness of the Skypanel with a large Chimera. Maybe I'll just wait for the Aputure 600D to come out which was my original plan to begin with. I've been eyeing the Forza 500 for a while, but apparently the Aputure spotlight doesn't work with it and I'm not sure how much the Forza line really matches the Aputure lights in terms of color. Knowing cheap LED Lights, my guess is they don't at all.
 
Best is to view at a dealer?

Matts vids are quite good, and kind of show how Ive enjoyed my 1.1 panels - RnG interview into the sun*, bounce off light walls for quick setups , in his second video you can see it is IMO short of light once you stop down to protect the windows you can also see the poor spread when hitting the wall and ceiling.

Ive had one knob start slipping, they are OK to use, Ive not experienced aptuure which may fall apart after two jobs?

Im totally not knocking them but apture is on my current shopping list!


*thats a great setup for a newsshooter like matt.
 
morgan_moore said:
But firing a lupo panel at a 4.4 diff you have to move it back for it to spread to 4.4 which wastes space on set... and as you move it back you are losing that intensity by inverse square. ALso bouncing off my studio walls (white) you can end not with a diffued light but still reflections - you really need to move to a booklight to get true soft source.. by which time they are not bright.Personally if I were looking to fill an octabox Id be looking at the apture 300d or forza lights
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I don't think the 40 degree spread of the Lupo wouldn't be an issue inside an Octa box because of the internal baffle that is installed closer to the fixture which diffuses the light before it hits the rag and widens the spread? Or, you could just as easily throw some very light, plastic diffusion on the face of the light (like a Skypanel) before installing the soft box. Since the Lupo Duel Color 60 is a 350 watt light, I imagine you'd end up with a fixture that is as bright or brighter than the Skypanel, since the Lupo is only bi-color and the Skypanel is RGB. More wattage can be designated to the same color LEDS in the Lupo than in the Skypanel. And the Lupo is a 1/4 of the price than an S60. That sounds pretty good to me. In a way, I think a panel that's a bit more spotty is more flexible because you can always diffuse it. It's reliability, durability and color accuracy is another story though. It looks like it has a whole lot of janky plastic on it, that's for sure. And I imagine they have very little support in the states.
 
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It’s just quite hard to diffuse. The janky plastic is a sort of carbon fibre - it’s strong - the rotary wheels less so.

It’s ok value where I find sky panels hard to justify

I think the Chinese’s stuff might be better value.
 
Why listen to some bloke on the Internet?

A big reason i bought lupo is that the uk importer is 30 mins from me

I physically went and got them after a test and gave him a hard stare that I would bring them back for a full refund if they didn’t work out.

For $4k or whatever i spent really that face to face guarantee was the only basis on which i was happy to proceed - its not small change for me.
 
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Here's the Octa 5' softbox with the internal baffle. The baffle sits away from the light, to help diffuse it before it gets to the rag.

Screen Shot 2020-05-04 at 12.23.31 AM.jpg

I pulled that image from the video below. To my surprise, at about the 1:20 mark the reviewer pulls out a Lupo 1x1. He then uses it to fill an Octa 5'. So it does look like it can be done and works rather well. Not sure what the output is though...

 
Thats a deep softbox - you hae space for it on set? It looks pretty good at F4 (what ISO/Shutter???)

Sir, Im not saying these things are bad.. im just saying that they are pretty spottiy which makes them look like faux HMI on paper which they are not.

--

I think its really hard buying kit blind you have three choices almost.. arri with a good rep an deler/service network. Binners.. stuff from amazon which cost $200 and you know just to throw if it breaks and $1k plus from non name brands.. too expensive to throw but a service or replacement may take months (unless you like next door to the importer)

My experinence in the middle ground is varied.. good from lupo.. terrible from DJI and others.
 
Robotfist - If you really like the Skypanel check out the Luxli Taiko thread just below this one. There's a Yidoblo branded Skypanel knock-off that's pretty affordable. I also did a lux comparison of different 2x1s that would save you some time if you end up going off the Lupo dual track.

edit: I should add the Yidoblo ended up being the most lux per dollar out of the ones I considered. I didn't consider the Lupo Dual because I want to be able to adjust the hue and I was uneasy about the 3200-5600k range. To get a true 5600k on some lights I have to adjust into the 6500 range. It may be spot on accurate with kelvin delivery but I'm paranoid. :)
 
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morgan_moore said:
Thats a deep softbox - you hae space for it on set? It looks pretty good at F4 (what ISO/Shutter???)

Sir, Im not saying these things are bad.. im just saying that they are pretty spottiy which makes them look like faux HMI on paper which they are not.

--

I think its really hard buying kit blind you have three choices almost.. arri with a good rep an deler/service network. Binners.. stuff from amazon which cost $200 and you know just to throw if it breaks and $1k plus from non name brands.. too expensive to throw but a service or replacement may take months (unless you like next door to the importer)

My experinence in the middle ground is varied.. good from lupo.. terrible from DJI and others.
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Yeah, I often shoot corporate and branded doc stuff and we always have room on set. We often use 8x and 12x frames. I’m always looking for quicker and more compact setups though. I love the idea of being able to roll a 7’ softbox around on wheels instead of adjusting an 8x frame and moving an M18. And in the world of Covid we’re all probably going to be using less crew all around.

And yeah, I understand you’re not saying the Lupo is bad. And I appreciate your feedback. And yes they are definitly not HMI’s. No LEDS are really. There isn’t an LED light out there that can match the perfectly clean 5600k color of an HMI. They all fall short in those regards. An M18 puts out such gorgeous light. I’m just tired of dealing with the heat, the power, the buzzing, etc. And I want something that can do the job with a 2-3 man crew now.
 
theraptor56 said:
Robotfist - If you really like the Skypanel check out the Luxli Taiko thread just below this one. There's a Yidoblo branded Skypanel knock-off that's pretty affordable. I also did a lux comparison of different 2x1s that would save you some time if you end up going off the Lupo dual track.

edit: I should add the Yidoblo ended up being the most lux per dollar out of the ones I considered. I didn't consider the Lupo Dual because I want to be able to adjust the hue and I was uneasy about the 3200-5600k range. To get a true 5600k on some lights I have to adjust into the 6500 range. It may be spot on accurate with kelvin delivery but I'm paranoid. :)
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Cool. I will check out that thread. I too was uneasy about the 3200k-5600k range, but after reading Newshooter’s color readings on the Superpanel Dual 60 taken from their Seikonic C-800, I felt a bit better about them. It looks like they read closer to 6500k at the 5600k setting. Depending on how you look at that, it’s good news or bad news. The good side is the color range looks to be much wider than they’re advertising. The bad news is the settings are off! But in my experience most budget LED lights are like this, so I can forgive it. I’d rather have the extra 1000k kelvin than not have it.

I will check out the light you mentioned. I’ve never heard of it.
 
robotfist said:
Yeah, I often shoot corporate and branded doc stuff and we always have room on set. We often use 8x and 12x frames. I’m always looking for quicker and more compact setups though. I love the idea of being able to roll a 7’ softbox around on wheels instead of adjusting an 8x frame and moving an M18. And in the world of Covid we’re all probably going to be using less crew all around.
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After significant thought I am in disagreement.

You want to do Alice in accounts then move to Fred in marketing.

Big/deep softboxes wont go in uk lifts or through uk office doors and have to be taken apart - major pain in the ass and slower of the day!

Im very much on the side of fixture on cstand, 4.4 (or larger) diff on a second stand.

My style doesnt mind spill from a 4.4 (Im working on an 8.8 in my kit sometime - more ideal) Im generally shooting higher key and dont need the black side protection of a softbox/octa but that is my style and my locations :)

As for skipping the extra complexities of HMI - right on :)
 
morgan_moore said:
After significant thought I am in disagreement.

You want to do Alice in accounts then move to Fred in marketing.

Big/deep softboxes wont go in uk lifts or through uk office doors and have to be taken apart - major pain in the ass and slower of the day!

Im very much on the side of fixture on cstand, 4.4 (or larger) diff on a second stand.

My style doesnt mind spill from a 4.4 (Im working on an 8.8 in my kit sometime - more ideal) Im generally shooting higher key and dont need the black side protection of a softbox/octa but that is my style and my locations :)

As for skipping the extra complexities of HMI - right on :)
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I agree with you there. If I were shooting in a bunch of tiny offices, I wouldn't be using a 7' soft box let alone a 12x or an 8x with an M18. You use the right tool for the job. My clients run the gamut and many tend to be larger brands that don't want a bunch of shots in their boring office. So I am often shooting in larger, open spaces, factories, sound stages, etc. I generally try to to steer my corporate clients in that direction. In interviews I like to shoot with 2 cameras, and one extremely wide, where I want a massive, soft source that can be positioned rather far away from my subject. This is why I'm looking into a giant soft box/panel setup. I would never consider it a one stop shop that I use for everything though.
 
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