New from Aputure: Amaran Spotlight SE! | Curtis Judd

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In this episode we take a look at Amaran’s new Spotlight SE! This smaller version of the original Spotlight mount works with a variety of Aputure and Amaran lights up to 300 watts, is available with two different lens options, and comes with almost every gobo you could possibly need. In this episode we cover the Spotlight SE’s key features and demonstrate several ways in which you might use it most effectively. Let’s take a closer look!
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See school.learnlightandsound.com for more info!
Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com ko-fi.com/curtisjudd
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVEStore, Perfect Circuit, Trew Audio or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Amaran Spotlight SE - Aputure, Amazon, B&H geni.us/4DuyTz
- Aputure Spotlight Mount (original, larger, heavier, more expensive) - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/kfAj
- Amaran 150c RGBWW Bowens mount light - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/mAlioD
- Amaran 300c RGBWW Bowens mount light - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/uGkDX
- Amaran 100d/S daylight Bowens mount light (daylight only lights put out more light, but cannot change color temperature) - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/MAXcUQ
- Amaran 100x/S bi-color Bowens mount light - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/0JPszh
- Amaran 200d/S daylight Bowens mount light - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/LrAfr
- Amaran 200x/S bi-color Bowens mount light (This is the light I use as my key light for talking head video 90% of the time. Incredible color quality and I only have to set the dimmer between 10 and 20% for most talking head shots) - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/y6ym5V
- Sennheiser MKH 8050 Supercardioid Condenser Microphone - B&H, Amazon geni.us/mUcDk
- Sound Devices 888 Field Recorder/Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/O8e0
- Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands - B&H, Amazon geni.us/8a8tt
- Amaran 200x S LED light - B&H, Amazon, Aputure geni.us/y6ym5V
- Aputure Light Dome II soft box - Aputure, B&H, Amazon geni.us/AuMKRr
- Aputure Spotlight Mount - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/kfAj
- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender - B&H geni.us/GWKt
- Canon C70 Cinema Camera - B&H geni.us/ABYB
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens - B&H, Amazon geni.us/qwsEs
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon geni.us/InspOl
- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens - B&H, Amazon geni.us/gr47
The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: geni.us/G7by
Copyright 2023, Curtis Judd
#Aputure #Amaran #SpotlightSE #Lighting #CurtisJudd
Index
00:00 Summary
00:10 Intro
00:24 What is the Spotlight SE?
01:38 Choosing a lens
02:17 Compatibility
02:25 Kit inclusions
03:23 Optional iris
03:53 Gobo size
04:13 Build quality
04:40 vs. original Spotlight
04:58 Pricing
05:21 Any cons?
06:10 Black Friday 2023 sale
06:49 Please buy my courses

Опубликовано:

23 ноя 2023

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Комментарии : 94

@DavidBuke 7 месяцев назад

What a great review and this is indeed awesome to be able to modify the light output so precisely!

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

👍

@Fokhus 7 месяцев назад

Phenomenal! Because I had my questions, but all of them are gone. Great great review, thank you.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

👍

@mattcarlson12 7 месяцев назад

Really cool ways to shape light! Great video Curtis!

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Thanks, Matt! 👍

@Chromedbustop 7 месяцев назад

7:03 Curtis describes having fun the same way my middle school biology teacher describes it. Don't be fooled, this man gonna be throwing some hardcore parties! And thank you for the in depth video on this spotlight!

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Haha!

@AllThingsFilm1 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for the heads up. I can really use this on several projects of mine.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

You got it! 👍

@LuiCardenasphotography 7 месяцев назад

Great review as always. I’m wondering how’s the heat dissipation compared to the larger one. Would guess that’s a pro for its bigger size.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Haven’t noticed it running hotter than the original but I generally have the dimmer between 50 and 70% on the 300x or 300c.

@nwestmac 5 месяцев назад

Great review as always! I picked one up today. Much discussion over the 19 degree lens vs the 36. I am more interested (I think) in projecting onto smaller spaces like product shoots, etc. So, I chose the 19. Odds are I will add the 36 at some point. I did find that having some sort of ball head control on top of your light stand helps with shaping the geometric gobos (like the window blinds, etc): create the level of straight horizon vs angled perspective. Overall I find the cutters work well enough with a little practice. Fun toy!

@curtisjudd 5 месяцев назад

Glad you like it!

@TimoSund 7 месяцев назад

Thank´s been pondering these for some time now. Santa´s letter just got big PS to be taken care of ASAP on it.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

😀

@yonis8325 7 месяцев назад

Thanks! Another awesome video! Would you say that the image circle is about 1m when 3m from the wall with the 19 degree spot?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Bit smaller than that. Maybe 60cm(?)

@rickymcc9072 5 месяцев назад

Thanks Curtis, this looks like a useful modifier that's relatively affordable lightweight and versatile. I may well buy a kit as it looks better than my current options. I had been considering using an old Kodak Carousel projector with aluminium foil, needle punched, held in a 35mm slide mount. Currently I have 3 Amaran 200X-s units (so this will fit those). I'm really just a hobbyist and fairly new to videography but was recently attempting to create an interesting background with one of my lights and an Apurture fresnel 2X lens. Although it's a Bowen fit I bought the fresnel about 2-3 years ago, intending to use with flash lights. It's a little disappointing on a 200X and hardly seems to focus in properly as the spot stays a similar size?! Maybe my fresnel was designed for their lightstorm pro light range and works better with a COB source in a different position? Are you familiar with the limitations I encountered? Anyway the newer SE projection kit with a range of gobos seems a better fit with my needs. Also if I later bought a 300C for it's versatility, Sidus compatibility and RGB capability then that looks like an excellent complement to the SE projection kit, obviating any need to DIY mount gels.

@lisajepsen94 4 месяца назад

Great review. I'm curious though, what's the advantages of the Aputure spotlight compared to the smaller Amaran spotlight?

@Swole_Cole_ 4 месяца назад

The Aputure one is made for the bigger lights. This one is specifically for the amaran line of 300 watt and below.

@rodrigogarcia2607 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the review. I wonder what is the light output level compared to the elipsoidal spotlight from aputure.

@curtisjudd 6 месяцев назад

The original appears from the specs to put out more than 2x but in practice, it didn’t seem like that much more.

@igorrutsch 7 месяцев назад

hi Curtis, have you had a chance to compare the sharpness of projection between amaran's 150c and 300c models? Andrew Locke found that results in this area were best with the 150c. thank you for your review! This product makes me consider buying an Amaran system composed of one 200xs plus one or two 150 or 300c as well as this projector.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

No, but did try it with the 200x S and that worked well.

@tylerjanik2132 7 месяцев назад

I honestly like the spotlight se but I got the nanlite projector mount for the forza 60c months before and and it’s a much more solid build all around with quicker knob with solid wings for precise and much cooler the touch, but both are great.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

👍 Thanks for sharing!

@evocati6523 7 месяцев назад

That's not Bowens though is it? Isn't the 60 a smaller mount? The SE can go on any Bowens light which would be a big pro

@tylerjanik2132 7 месяцев назад

@@evocati6523 yeah the one I have is the s mount but they have one for bowens but it’s more expensive

@Schwarz.Medien 9 дней назад

Thanks for that great review, do you know if it will work on a aputure LS 60 with its bowensmount adapter?

@curtisjudd 3 дня назад

Hmm, not sure. You might check the compatibility tool at aputure.com

@nahlene1973 7 месяцев назад

I just picked it up and it is so much lighter and nimble than the original one! It states that don't use it on lights over 300w but I used it on small rig's 450w at 100% without problem.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Glad its working for you 👍

@BasicFilmmaker 7 месяцев назад

Very nice light Curtis. :)

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Thanks, Kev!

@solariumstudiostx 7 месяцев назад

I have had the Godox projection unit and it cuts down alot of light on a 300W head. Does this cuts the output of light as much? With the Godox it cuts my light out put to really low even with strobes firing through.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

This system uses lenses which seem to concentrate the light so, no, I would not say this cuts down the light output. It concentrates it.

@evocati6523 7 месяцев назад

Do you know how this compares in size to the Godox spotlight lens combined with their Bowens adapter?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

I don’t, but a look at the specs for each online should tell you.

@redcat. 7 месяцев назад

What power output you set for Amaran 300c for this kind of scenario (to fill the background)? I'm wondering if you have less power (for example 150W or even 60W) would it be enough for this kind of work? Another question is how does it work with different brands of light fixtures (not Aputure/Amaran) while it's big brother had some issues with that?

@GlobalShutterNY 7 месяцев назад

These projectors really ‘suck up’ light from my experience- you need higher output fixtures if you want studio sized effects…

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

It depends on the rest of your lighting design but I’ve found 120w is about the lower limit for my designs.

@YuriiRay 7 месяцев назад

Can a spotlight with an iris inside replace a fresnel lens? After all, if you change lenses and close-open the aperture, the fresnel lens is essentially unnecessary?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Yes.

@undercross81 5 месяцев назад

will it work for other brand LED lights and even studio flash with Bowens mount such as Godox?

@curtisjudd 5 месяцев назад

It was optimized for Amaran lights, but you *might get lucky with other lights. It all comes down to the size of the LED chip and its position relative to the Bowens mount. So I can't tell you with confidence that it will work perfectly with other lights.

@fireworks1997 7 месяцев назад

Hi Curtis, are you doing a review on the deity theos?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Yes, still waiting for my preorder kit to arrive.

@MightyJax 7 месяцев назад

Does this work on or have you tried it on the Amaran 60DX or ^0D COB ?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Not officially supported. I’m not sure that tiny light can support the weight of the spotlight.

@lorenzonarwhal 7 месяцев назад

I was going to order one, but then I saw the small difference in price with the Aputure Spotlight. In your opinion why someone should choose one or the other?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

This one is way smaller and lighter. That’s its selling point.

@felipeandjess 7 месяцев назад

How would you compare the value of the a Spotlight SE + a aputure 200x compared to a aputure 60x?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Hmm, really depends on what you need. All of them do what they do well.

@jonathanfang9612 Месяц назад

does this amplify light like the other one?

@curtisjudd Месяц назад

Yes

@DavidMonostori 7 месяцев назад

How do you chose between the 19 or the 36? Is it based on distance only? 36 degrees for smaller spaces and 19 degrees if the light is far or in a larger studio?

@emmetkowler 7 месяцев назад

Pretty much always based on distance and what size of beam you need. The 19 will be generally sharper when you use your shutters and gobos, but optics are so good that the difference is small.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

When I first got the original Spotlight mount with the 19° lens, it was hard to use it because I only had about 3-4 meters to work with and I wanted to fill the entire wall with the light pattern. So I see distance as the primary factor, yes.

@aristotle_4532 7 месяцев назад

If the angle spec is accurate, you can use it to calculate the size of the projection for a known light distance from the subject.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

@@aristotle_4532 Indeed. I have no reason to suspect the angle spec is far off. Would you happen to have the math at hand to calculate the size of the light circle at a given distance?

@aristotle_4532 7 месяцев назад

@@curtisjudd For a distance d and an angle a/2 and a radius of projection r, by the tangent equation it is tan(a/2)=r/d so the diameter of the projection is 2r=2dtan(a/2), so the diameter for distance d is 0.334d for 19 degrees and 0.650d for 36 degrees.

@NickDelDuca 7 месяцев назад

Does it work on the 200xs? It doesn't show compatible on their website

@BenjaminBjurstrom 7 месяцев назад

Just set mine up today with the 200xs. Works great.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Definitely yes.

@framewavemedia4831 7 месяцев назад

Does not work great on the 200x. Tons of leaking if you're trying to create a slash of light of any size

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

@@framewavemedia4831 as I noted, the cutters are fiddly but I was able to get clean cuts with the 200xs.

@NickDelDuca 7 месяцев назад

@@curtisjudd I thought it would have weird ghosting around the edges because of the way the LEDs are arranged on the 200xs, or at least that was the issue with the original spotlight. Is this new one better? I'm super stoked for this if it works I have so many ideas for a spotlight

@Eye-V. 5 месяцев назад

Is the spotlight compatible with Nanlite lights?

@curtisjudd 5 месяцев назад

It uses a Bowens mount but it is optimized for the size and position of the Amaran COB lights. That means it might work with Nanlites but may not work optimally. (may have a hard time focusing it and such)

@RohkopfMS 7 месяцев назад

Does ist work with bowens mount lights other than from Aputure, like Godox? Aputure products tend to not work with other manufacturers lights

@MariusViken 7 месяцев назад

A bowens mount is a bowens mount. Easy as that.

@Francisfphoto_ 7 месяцев назад

It doesn’t work with my Zhiyun Molus G200….

@MarcosElMalo2 7 месяцев назад

I’d imagine it’s a YMMV situation. The accessory is designed specifically for Aputure units. This means that the distance between the COB and the mount are a factor (as an example). The Bowens “standard” is purely mechanical for the physical amount.

@MarcosElMalo2 7 месяцев назад

@@MariusVikenIt might fit the physical hardware, but it might not perform equally. The distance from the COB to the mount is not equal on lighting units across manufacturers, and that’s a huge factor for accessories incorporating optical elements (lenses). The reason is that elipsoidal (and fresnel) lenses are used to focus the light. For soft boxes, you are 100% correct.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Agreed with others here. It might work but the distance from the COB emitter may affect focus ability and the size of the circle of light.

@KBFilms2 7 месяцев назад

Can these work with Godox light?

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

It is optimized for the Amaran and Aputure lights listed but should work with any Bowens Mount light 300 watts and lower.

@focuspulling 7 месяцев назад

The review is a little too kind to the Spotlight SE (that Aputure sent you), because it desists from mentioning the "flood" (pun intended) of other better options around the same price point - sticking with one brand is irrelevant too, cuz Bowens mount is Bowens mount. There are many reports of flimsy construction, spill beyond the center circle, and fidgety zoom. Westcott's Optical Spot kit is the far, far better bargain and choice, adding gel capability too.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for sharing about other options.

@CinematoPhoto 7 месяцев назад

Can you list more options here please

@musicelect 7 месяцев назад

The wescott branded optical snoot is about twice the price of the same product on Amazon. I bought one for under $150

@Ranger7Studios 7 месяцев назад

Are you having a problem getting the entire gobo in focus? I am.

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

If the light is not square to the surface you’re projecting to, yes. That’s expected.

@framewavemedia4831 7 месяцев назад

I would pass on this one. The cutters have ALOT of light leak. I sent mine back

@curtisjudd 7 месяцев назад

Thanks for sharing.

@rickymcc9072 5 месяцев назад

Would black aluminium cine foil wrapped around the lens periphery help overcome any 'edge of circle' light leak? Or perhaps the separate iris unit?

@curtisjudd 5 месяцев назад

@@rickymcc9072 the cutters work, you just have to finesse them a bit more than on other lenses I’ve used. It isn’t an issue of light leaking outside of the lens so no need for cinefoil.