Luxli Taiko - 2x1 panel at around $2k

puredrifting

puredrifting

Major Contributor
This looks very interesting. I have the Luxli Cello and love it, this could be a great key light for significantly less money than the competition.

 
J.Brown said:
I like your signature.
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Thank you. It's true, I am only trying to buy gear that I need to make me money. I bought two Chinese cheap V-Mounts that having really let me land a specific job this past week that made me a good amount of money for a short shoot.
 
Lensrentals.com has cured my G.A.S.

Haven't bought anything over a couple hundred dollars in almost 2 years. I already had/have too much stuff!

I highly recommend them.
 
gkantziper said:
Lensrentals.com has cured my G.A.S.

Haven't bought anything over a couple hundred dollars in almost 2 years. I already had/have too much stuff!

I highly recommend them.
Click to expand...

Agreed, rented a seocond C200 and client monitor from them a few months ago, constantly renting lenses I can't afford and we will be renting a second X-T3 rig for an upcoming road shoot in Florida.
They are great, very good service and sooooo much more convenient than traditional brick and mortar rental houses in LA. No driving through the living hell that is LA traffic back and forth to pickup
and dropoff rentals, it's so much more pleasant.
 
At 250w max draw (maybe 200 nominal), this is more comparable to the Gemini 1x1 in terms of output. If the Gemini 1x1 has discounts like previous Litepanel products have, then they'd be around the same price (unless you need a battery mount).

I'm personally against larger light sources that aren't more powerful. I'd much rather have a 1x1 at 200w than a 2x1 at 200w. If I'm going to get a bigger light, I want it to be more powerful. Some prefer a larger light for a larger source, hence a softer light. I'm typically adding more diffusion in any case so the base light starting out at an incrementally larger size isn't so important to me. Like, a 1x1 shooting through a 4x4 I don't think is going to be hardly any softer than a 2x1 shooting through a 4x4. Horses for courses, though.

Also consider the Lupo Superpanel Full Color 60, 400w at $2598, so about twice the power for perhaps $800 more.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1458846-REG/lupo_416_lupo_superpanel_60_rgbw.html
 
True, a 1x1 is a much more convenient size and if you are punching through larger diffusion, output is what matters most.
 
puredrifting said:
Thank you. It's true, I am only trying to buy gear that I need to make me money. I bought two Chinese cheap V-Mounts that having really let me land a specific job this past week that made me a good amount of money for a short shoot.
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may i ask what specific brand of V-Mount you recently purchased?

thanks
david
 
Now that the Rayzr MC 400 MAX is out the Taiko has even less appeal as I see it. The Rayzr is 400w vs 250w on the Taiko, so almost twice as bright, but the same price. The Rayzr is only 15 lbs, and like the Taiko I like how they both are 5/8" mounts instead of junior pin, as it's been a pain to carry around a separate bag and stand for the combo to support my Gemini (which at 22.5 lbs has more need for a junior pin). As they are thin, I could probably fit two Rayzrs in the same bag that my Gemini is in, for a similar price, an extra 7.5 lbs, but 800 watts of power compared to 325 watts on the Gemini.






gkantziper said:
Lensrentals.com has cured my G.A.S.

Haven't bought anything over a couple hundred dollars in almost 2 years. I already had/have too much stuff!

I highly recommend them.
Click to expand...
Yeah, give all your money to LensRentals instead of making the rental profit yourself. I'm sure the LensRentals owners do quite well for themselves, as do I with renting out my gear as an owner/op.

Yeah, yeah, I get it, depends on how often you use gear. To each their own. As I do about 130 shoots per year, I really couldn't imagine having to deal with rentals for every shoot. I rent from others perhaps a couple or few times per year on average. Probably been a couple years or so since I ordered from LensRentals. The downside over renting from friends, co-workers, or a rental house, is if you miss being home at the right time when delivery requires signature, you could be in trouble. I guess you could have them deliver it at a post office or dropoff location.
 
Recently filmed in Boston & the Rental House provided a Gemini that they’d modified with 5/8” Receiver. Only issue was they were unable to remove the Junior Receiver so had just moved it a bit to the side.
 
Yeah, I saw some adapters on B&H but at that weight you still need a pretty beefy stand and a junior pin helps with stability.
 
I have two of the Matthews adapters. I keep one in each Gemini kit/bag, for if I need them.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/187365-REG/Matthews_429301_Junior_Baby_Adapter.html

I haven't used them in-the-wild yet, but I have tested them at home for stability and they worked well with the stands I put them on and at the heights I had them. If I had to run them up high(over 6'-7'), I would want to use them on beefier stands, like I do normally, but I would feel completely confident and safe with them at the heights I would probably have them at for a normal interview.
 
I just pulled the trigger on the Luxli Taiko and should be receiving it next week. Interesting dialog in here.

It's impossible to compare all the different 2x1s unless you have them all sitting in front of you, but I spent a good chunk of time watching YouTube reviews over the past few days and compiled some photometrics data on a few of the 2x1 options.

Best thing I could do is track down stats for each 2x1 with a standard level of diffusion since some of these units have a permanent diffusion panel. This shows lux at 1m. Current retail price. And $/lux for a value comparison.

Yidoblo A-3000: 8676 $1,399 $0.16
Skypanel 60-C: 11097 $6,550 $0.59
Luxli Taiko: 9800 $1,699 $0.17
Lupo Superpanel Bi-color: 8500 $1,790 $0.21
Lupo Superpanel Full: 8500 $2,598 $0.31
Rotolight Titan X2: 16200 $4,999 $0.31
Rayzr MC 400: 10068 $1,999 $0.20
LP Gemini: 9713 $3,795 $0.39

The reason the Luxli Taiko does so well in the value category is because most of these lights deliver 115-120 degrees of coverage whereas the Taiko is 76, so the 250W draw is more focused. For my use the 76 degrees will cover my subjects well, and I'll be able to power the Taiko for much longer shoots in comparison to the 400W and 450W draws of the other lights.

Another wild card is how to qualify what standard diffusion is for each unit. I may have been too generous to the Rotolight because I used their 50% diffusion. No diffusion for the Rotolight was listed at 16800, so I imagine I should've possibly used their "full diffusion" figure of 10,425. That's much more in line with the rest of the lights.

edit: I used this to extrapolate lux readings at different distances since not all listed photometrics are taken from the same distance. Science is science. https://www.bannerengineering.com/us/en/company/expert-insights/lux-lumens-calculator.html
 
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theraptor56 said:
I just pulled the trigger on the Luxli Taiko and should be receiving it next week. Interesting dialog in here.

It's impossible to compare all the different 2x1s unless you have them all sitting in front of you, but I spent a good chunk of time watching YouTube reviews over the past few days and compiled some photometrics data on a few of the 2x1 options.

Best thing I could do is track down stats for each 2x1 with a standard level of diffusion since some of these units have a permanent diffusion panel. This shows lux at 1m. Current retail price. And $/lux for a value comparison.

Yidoblo A-3000: 8676 $1,399 $0.16
Skypanel 60-C: 11097 $6,550 $0.59
Luxli Taiko: 9800 $1,699 $0.17
Lupo Superpanel Bi-color: 8500 $1,790 $0.21
Lupo Superpanel Full: 8500 $2,598 $0.31
Rotolight Titan X2: 16200 $4,999 $0.31
Rayzr MC 400: 10068 $1,999 $0.20
LP Gemini: 9713 $3,795 $0.39

The reason the Luxli Taiko does so well in the value category is because most of these lights deliver 115-120 degrees of coverage whereas the Taiko is 76, so the 250W draw is more focused. For my use the 76 degrees will cover my subjects well, and I'll be able to power the Taiko for much longer shoots in comparison to the 400W and 450W draws of the other lights.

Another wild card is how to qualify what standard diffusion is for each unit. I may have been too generous to the Rotolight because I used their 50% diffusion. No diffusion for the Rotolight was listed at 16800, so I imagine I should've possibly used their "full diffusion" figure of 10,425. That's much more in line with the rest of the lights.

edit: I used this to extrapolate lux readings at different distances since not all listed photometrics are taken from the same distance. Science is science. https://www.bannerengineering.com/us/en/company/expert-insights/lux-lumens-calculator.html
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The taiko is a great light. Do you plan on using with a softbox?
 
I'm going to have to see how it does in person. I purchased the kit that includes a case and two additional plates of diffusion (one light and one heavy). If I'm not happy with how it looks with any of those I'm thinking I'll likely shoot it through some diffusion from a c-stand.

B&H lists a Chimera Pop Bank as a potential soft box for the Luxli Taiko. I don't think Luxli makes softboxes for the Taiko yet and not sure if they will.

Have you used the Taiko? If so what've you used it for? I'm excited to try it out.
 
I don't own one but a Gaffer I work with has 2x violas, cellos, timpanis and now taikos. They were used for the RGB in the same way as the timpani but with more juice/larger source to begin with.

The narrow beam angle should make bouncing into a board easier vs. the super wide angles of other panels where sometimes you need to move the light so close it begins to block its own light! On the flip side when diffusing you may need to back them off more than others. 2x taikos through an 8x frame would be nice - where square panels are nice for filling square frames, two rectangular panels do well at filling larger frames, where they're each lighting up a rectangle. Hopefully any vertical mounting is pretty straightforward.

I just emailed dopchoice asking if there are plans to make a snapbag.
 
puredrifting said:
They are great, very good service and sooooo much more convenient than traditional brick and mortar rental houses in LA. No driving through the living hell that is LA traffic back and forth to pickup
and dropoff rentals, it's so much more pleasant.
Click to expand...

I guess...but given how many times even at the best rental houses we are delivered gear at prep that needs attention for one reason or another, I'd personally be pretty reluctant to rely on this model. I suppose if it's one or two items that are nominally stock, it's not nearly as much of a risk as it seems.
 
On rentals, it always comes down to a volume question... Here's the way I approach it. I'll rent it until the regularity of rentals exceeds what a monthly payment would look like if I bought the thing. Then I'll buy it and the needs of that ongoing job will magically and mythically change within no greater than three (3) months, leaving me to rent the new whatchamacallit2000 that everyone demands while the expensive thing I just bought sits home, eventually to be sold of for pennies on the dollar with nary a scratch on its finish. Enroute to its new buyer, it will be hijacked by porch pirates, leading to a lengthy, stressful insurance claim, which will leave no single party happy (including the porch pirate, who will discover that (unbeknownst to me) my cats whizzed in the case just before I shipped the thing off).
 
rob norton said:
I don't own one but a Gaffer I work with has 2x violas, cellos, timpanis and now taikos. They were used for the RGB in the same way as the timpani but with more juice/larger source to begin with.

The narrow beam angle should make bouncing into a board easier vs. the super wide angles of other panels where sometimes you need to move the light so close it begins to block its own light! On the flip side when diffusing you may need to back them off more than others. 2x taikos through an 8x frame would be nice - where square panels are nice for filling square frames, two rectangular panels do well at filling larger frames, where they're each lighting up a rectangle. Hopefully any vertical mounting is pretty straightforward.

I just emailed dopchoice asking if there are plans to make a snapbag.
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Good call on the beam angle and punching through. By removing the diffusion of the Taiko I can put almost as much light on my subject as the Rotolight Titan X2 (15,500 lux vs. 16,800 lux ratio) if I want. It's very versatile as long as you don't need 120 degrees of coverage at really close range.
 
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