Skylux, Alzo 3000, Fotodiox LED comparison

R

rallymatt

Well-known member
Here's a vid comparing the 2 popular LED monolights, as well as the cheap Amazon/eBay fotodiox LED.

Shot all 3 on my RED at 4kHD with a locked 5600k white balance. Goal was to see any difference in light quality and portability before I buy 3-4 more.

Decided to put together a vid to illustrate the differences for anyone else out there. Lots of "reviews" on the Skylux and Alzo, but they are always alone. So here they are side by side.

http://youtu.be/NGgaaen6riA
 
I did a personal comparison between the Alzo and the Skylux and had the same findings. When I white balanced to a gray card, the Alzo had a green cast in particular to skin tones that could not easily be removed. The Skylux was much better and didn't have any green cast.

If you want more output and are willing to give up the bowens mount, the front of the Skylux can be removed allowing you to take the diffusor plastic off. This gives about 1 stop more output when shooting into umbrellas.

As far as handling goes, the only thing I didn't like about the Alzo is the non-removable power coord. This makes it a bit more of a pain to store. If the color was good I would have gone for it though given the price. This summer they are coming out with the Alzo 3300 which is a 300 watt LED. I'm looking forward to seeing if they fixed the color quality.
 
An even more expensive, yet quieter route is the Hexolux. After white balance the daylight version has about the exact same color as the Skylux.
 
Pultzar said:
An even more expensive, yet quieter route is the Hexolux. After white balance the daylight version has about the exact same color as the Skylux.
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What is the output in comparison to the skylux? I love the look of the hexolux lights and the fresnel lens, but didn't want to buy one to test.
 
rallymatt said:
What is the output in comparison to the skylux? I love the look of the hexolux lights and the fresnel lens, but didn't want to buy one to test.
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With the default diffusor over the front of the Skylux, the Hexolux is a stop brighter. Once I took the diffusor off of the Skylux then the output is much closer to equal. However this forgoes the bowens mount. I use this when shooting into umbrellas.

The Hexolux is also a warmer color temperature, around 5200k vs 5600k of the Skylux.
 
Add that quieter fan DIY and a minus green gel to the Alzo and that seems like a decent deal. What's the mount like on the Alzo? It looks plasticy. Do you think it will hold up?
 
It seems like the Fotodiox is the most neutral when the camera is at 5600 and AWB. The Alzo is green, and the Westcott is magenta. Anyone else see this?

Man, if Alzo is coming out with a 300 watt open-face LED, that thing will put out a lot of light with one of those big-ass high performance Bowens reflectors. :)

EDIT: Looked at the video again, and now maybe I'm seeing the Westcott is the best, and the Fotodiox is just less green than the Alzo. But my eyes keep shifting colors, lol. Hard to tell. If only they would come out with a 300 watt Skylux, that would be nice.
 
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rjp85 said:
It seems like the Fotodiox is the most neutral when the camera is at 5600 and AWB. The Alzo is green, and the Westcott is magenta. Anyone else see this?

Man, if Alzo is coming out with a 300 watt open-face LED, that thing will put out a lot of light with one of those big-ass high performance Bowens reflectors. :)

EDIT: Looked at the video again, and now maybe I'm seeing the Westcott is the best, and the Fotodiox is just less green than the Alzo. But my eyes keep shifting colors, lol. Hard to tell. If only they would come out with a 300 watt Skylux, that would be nice.
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Yea, the Skylux is the most neutral at 5600k. The Alzo and Fotodiox both show a green spike on skintones, even though the light looks magenta coming out of both of them. The skylux looks white.

In post we could easily correct the Fotodiox white balance and get a nice look. The alzo could be corrected too, but still felt like it had polluted the skintones a bit.
 
Hey Matt, have you ever tried the Mole LED Fresnels? I can't find any reviews. It's kind of strange. Throw those into your test and that would be awesome!
 
rallymatt said:
Yea, the Skylux is the most neutral at 5600k. The Alzo and Fotodiox both show a green spike on skintones, even though the light looks magenta coming out of both of them. The skylux looks white.

In post we could easily correct the Fotodiox white balance and get a nice look. The alzo could be corrected too, but still felt like it had polluted the skintones a bit.
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The Alzo could be corrected, but it needs more than just a white balance adjustment.
 
this thread inspired me to see what the current events on ebay leds was. and it's certainly more interesting than last i checked:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pergear-Bi-...Domain_0&hash=item2a48768566&autorefresh=true

let's keep in mind claimed vs actual performance. but this fella claims 90cri with 150watts, for under 300 bucks.... daymn...

i put in a stupid low offer just to see what they come back with.

IF, and i mean big if, by chance they are using the new cree 3590 chip, which does have models in the 90cri range, and does top out at 150watt, then this could be interesting indeed.
 
This does look interesting but my first concern would be fan noise, that test video sounds pretty loud if the lights fan is what I'm hearing.
 
Mark Bolding said:
This does look interesting but my first concern would be fan noise, that test video sounds pretty loud if the lights fan is what I'm hearing.
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Its hard to tell from the video because it seems the noise if background AC or airvent noise from the room. If you notice the same noise is present before the light is even turned on.
 
Erm... I meant the lights linked to by Darren Levine, not the Alzos. The Alzos have been discussed extensively. That said, I am somewhat curious if you personally find the fan noise on the Alzos disturbing insofar as a mic picking it up from 3', if you were shooting narrative work. I'm thinking that if the fan noise is consistent and not too loud, you could always filter it out in post.
 
OldCorpse said:
Erm... I meant the lights linked to by Darren Levine, not the Alzos. The Alzos have been discussed extensively. That said, I am somewhat curious if you personally find the fan noise on the Alzos disturbing insofar as a mic picking it up from 3', if you were shooting narrative work. I'm thinking that if the fan noise is consistent and not too loud, you could always filter it out in post.
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I use a senheisser G3 lav. Its there but after a little filter in audition. Its gone.
 
Thanks, theillestmc12 - good to know it's possible to filter it out... makes these lights a lot more attractive.
 
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