Thanks for the great vid! I am wondering can the forza 300b use an optic modifier like the 300x? I have heard some bi color lights, such as the amaran 100x and 200x, won’t be able to use a fresnel due to its cob design.
My 300x was delivered today. My first ever light purchase. Dead on arrival. Controller box won’t power on at all. Brilliant quality control Aperture. Wish I’d have gone with my instinct and got the Nanlite now.
App control for Forza is only available if you buy additional wifi box, right? Score for Aputure, on the other hand, their implementation requires internet connection and then you are on the mercy of Aputure and their servers. As soon as they decide "nah, we don't do that anymore, lets make them buy new models", you're screwed. So, maybe a tie there: both suck with different styles
Curious about the nanlite fan noise on the 300x. Thinking that the light with softbox modifier might be close to mic’s in certain situations. I’ve noticed the aputure 300di and II make some ballast sounds but haven’t really don’t remember it being a problem. I have a 60b and love it. A bit noisy on the fan but the 30 percent no fan setting is very very handy. So, at full, how bad is that fan? Thanks for the review! Love the colour rendering of the nanlites.
Hi Clark, I use the 300x for all my videos and it's almost right up against the boom mic. I don't think you can hear it in any of the videos. So I think it's a suitable level.
I use the forza 300 a lot. and while it is louder, especially to the ear, - its never been an issue for interviews. Maybe a bit more care must be taken with mic placement ? but honestly any noise that's picked up is easily cleaned up. My usual setup in my studio has a 1 db lift in room tone when the forza 300 fan is running, so yeah, not a big deal. (and weirdly, it evens the tone out - without the fan noise the room tone is up and down a few db - the forza just makes the RT tone even and so easy to clean up if needed) If shooting in a sound proof studio then yeah, would be more noticeable, but in most situations it wouldn't be a problem.
Did you find if the colour filter on the nanlite gave any multi shadows? I know the 300x has a proprietary filter with randomized lenses, so I'm curious how that compares to the nanlite.
I certainly didn't notice any. In fact, the beam spread from the Nanlite reflector is also much better than the Aputure. You can see it in the footage. The Aputure has a defined central hotspot, and a quick drop off, whereas the Nanlite centre hotspot is two or three times the size of the Aputure's. I suspect that is sort of the advantage of being late to the party. You can look at everyone else's failings and improve on that.
Has anyone experienced the "This Fan Could Not Work!" Error? I cannot seem to find this ANYWHERE online and my fan doesn't seem to work at all! I'm not able to go more than 50% of light output! Forza 300
I'm also really curious about the white balance values and the massive green shift on the aputure. Gaffer & Gear ua-cam.com/video/H5OsNk6vsVE/v-deo.html measured results were right on the line without any green shift. Any thoughts on comparing numbers / tests? He used a meter vs checking with a camera's white balance settings.
Yeah I love Andrew's channel and it's great that he has a color meter. Something I wish I had. So all my tests are somewhat anecdotal. Regardless, I did find that the green lean was pretty consistent. I tested it with two different cameras (Sony A73 & ZCam F6) and the results were always the same. I tested both looking at the WFM & Vector - and there was a push to green that you could see in the vectorscope for the aputure. It was small, but it was less colour accurate than the 300B according to my vectorscope. That all said, these are all the "camera's" interpretation and not exactly reflecting what's happening in the actual colour science. I think the smart money is considering a few different reviewers and their own unique experiences, then averaging out what the common experiences are and somewhat disregarding when one review doesn't line up with the others.
@@vistek agreed! On the method and how awesome Andrew’s channel is. It’s really helpful to see the camera test as that may impact the folks working in this space a little more directly then pure meter tests. One more question. Do you know how many hours are on the aputure 300x, was it new? I know cobs can shift green after some heavy use, hence why I ask.
It was brand new out of the box. So, zero hours... LED still seems like the wild west a bit. It can be very polarizing in that on one hand the colour quality still varies wildly even within the same make and model. Which would be concerning if not for the fact that it also doesn't seem to matter much. Cameras and colour correction are so good now, that any irregularities in the light are seldom if ever actually noticed by viewers. Good cinematographers and photographers should be able to recognize by eye any lights that aren't jamming together well and adjust. But when the differences are subtle, it's honestly hard to tell. There is the real world, and there is pixel peeping. Sometimes it matters, sometimes is doesn't and the only way to know for sure is through experience. For all the talk of the green shift on the aputure, I wouldn't in any way be apprehensive in using the lamp. Especially when I can just swing the tint in camera or in post a small amount if the green is ever an issue. It's not like the LED of even 7 or 8 years ago, some of which were borderline unusable.
@@vistek Oh yah, oh wow back in the day the green shift would not be tolerable by today's standards, not to mention the white quality itself. We are a little spoiled right in many respects. Thank you for the detailed response. I'm kind of in the aputure camp generally because of the ecosystem they have built, and I have definitely seen batches of cob led's vary quite a lot between units in the past too. So it's all relative too. I agree that generally this can be solved for or avoided and corrected, but I also find the less I have to spend time fixing an image is more time I have to sweeten it. I think it can matter if you don't know it's an issue out of the gate. Tests like these really help solve for that. Thank you!
Will get a bunch of Forza 300B, already invested in the Nanlite ecosystem.
Thanks.This looks nice. In the meantime, awaiting my Amaran 100d.
Thanks for the great vid! I am wondering can the forza 300b use an optic modifier like the 300x? I have heard some bi color lights, such as the amaran 100x and 200x, won’t be able to use a fresnel due to its cob design.
Keep up the great work brother.
Thanks Lethel!
My 300x was delivered today. My first ever light purchase. Dead on arrival. Controller box won’t power on at all. Brilliant quality control Aperture. Wish I’d have gone with my instinct and got the Nanlite now.
Did you buy it used or full price? I bought a used 120d mkII and the fan didn’t work.
Thanks. For me the main thing is that Aputure has a spotlight mount and the Nanlite does not (only the Forza 60 at the moment)
Both light use bowens right? So the Aputure spotlight would fit on the Nanlite without any issues :)
App control for Forza is only available if you buy additional wifi box, right? Score for Aputure, on the other hand, their implementation requires internet connection and then you are on the mercy of Aputure and their servers. As soon as they decide "nah, we don't do that anymore, lets make them buy new models", you're screwed. So, maybe a tie there: both suck with different styles
Curious about the nanlite fan noise on the 300x. Thinking that the light with softbox modifier might be close to mic’s in certain situations. I’ve noticed the aputure 300di and II make some ballast sounds but haven’t really don’t remember it being a problem. I have a 60b and love it. A bit noisy on the fan but the 30 percent no fan setting is very very handy. So, at full, how bad is that fan? Thanks for the review! Love the colour rendering of the nanlites.
Hi Clark, I use the 300x for all my videos and it's almost right up against the boom mic. I don't think you can hear it in any of the videos. So I think it's a suitable level.
@@vistek thanks! Appreciate the info! Great videos!
I use the forza 300 a lot. and while it is louder, especially to the ear, - its never been an issue for interviews. Maybe a bit more care must be taken with mic placement ? but honestly any noise that's picked up is easily cleaned up. My usual setup in my studio has a 1 db lift in room tone when the forza 300 fan is running, so yeah, not a big deal. (and weirdly, it evens the tone out - without the fan noise the room tone is up and down a few db - the forza just makes the RT tone even and so easy to clean up if needed) If shooting in a sound proof studio then yeah, would be more noticeable, but in most situations it wouldn't be a problem.
Thanks ! Very usefull video !
Did you find if the colour filter on the nanlite gave any multi shadows? I know the 300x has a proprietary filter with randomized lenses, so I'm curious how that compares to the nanlite.
I certainly didn't notice any. In fact, the beam spread from the Nanlite reflector is also much better than the Aputure. You can see it in the footage. The Aputure has a defined central hotspot, and a quick drop off, whereas the Nanlite centre hotspot is two or three times the size of the Aputure's. I suspect that is sort of the advantage of being late to the party. You can look at everyone else's failings and improve on that.
@@vistek for sure, I think the reflectors vary the beam a lot between manufacturers making it hard to compare, a lot of them suffer from hot spots.
Has anyone experienced the "This Fan Could Not Work!" Error? I cannot seem to find this ANYWHERE online and my fan doesn't seem to work at all! I'm not able to go more than 50% of light output!
Forza 300
Nice review!
Can we use Aputure lights for slow motion? Will they flicker?
Hi Dinesh. You should be good up to 1000fps. Possibly higher depending on your Hz & shutter angle.
@@vistek Thank you
I'm also really curious about the white balance values and the massive green shift on the aputure. Gaffer & Gear ua-cam.com/video/H5OsNk6vsVE/v-deo.html measured results were right on the line without any green shift. Any thoughts on comparing numbers / tests? He used a meter vs checking with a camera's white balance settings.
Yeah I love Andrew's channel and it's great that he has a color meter. Something I wish I had. So all my tests are somewhat anecdotal. Regardless, I did find that the green lean was pretty consistent. I tested it with two different cameras (Sony A73 & ZCam F6) and the results were always the same. I tested both looking at the WFM & Vector - and there was a push to green that you could see in the vectorscope for the aputure. It was small, but it was less colour accurate than the 300B according to my vectorscope. That all said, these are all the "camera's" interpretation and not exactly reflecting what's happening in the actual colour science. I think the smart money is considering a few different reviewers and their own unique experiences, then averaging out what the common experiences are and somewhat disregarding when one review doesn't line up with the others.
@@vistek agreed! On the method and how awesome Andrew’s channel is. It’s really helpful to see the camera test as that may impact the folks working in this space a little more directly then pure meter tests. One more question. Do you know how many hours are on the aputure 300x, was it new? I know cobs can shift green after some heavy use, hence why I ask.
It was brand new out of the box. So, zero hours... LED still seems like the wild west a bit. It can be very polarizing in that on one hand the colour quality still varies wildly even within the same make and model. Which would be concerning if not for the fact that it also doesn't seem to matter much. Cameras and colour correction are so good now, that any irregularities in the light are seldom if ever actually noticed by viewers. Good cinematographers and photographers should be able to recognize by eye any lights that aren't jamming together well and adjust. But when the differences are subtle, it's honestly hard to tell. There is the real world, and there is pixel peeping. Sometimes it matters, sometimes is doesn't and the only way to know for sure is through experience. For all the talk of the green shift on the aputure, I wouldn't in any way be apprehensive in using the lamp. Especially when I can just swing the tint in camera or in post a small amount if the green is ever an issue. It's not like the LED of even 7 or 8 years ago, some of which were borderline unusable.
@@vistek Oh yah, oh wow back in the day the green shift would not be tolerable by today's standards, not to mention the white quality itself. We are a little spoiled right in many respects. Thank you for the detailed response. I'm kind of in the aputure camp generally because of the ecosystem they have built, and I have definitely seen batches of cob led's vary quite a lot between units in the past too. So it's all relative too. I agree that generally this can be solved for or avoided and corrected, but I also find the less I have to spend time fixing an image is more time I have to sweeten it. I think it can matter if you don't know it's an issue out of the gate. Tests like these really help solve for that. Thank you!
What is the Lux output mate?
Is the 1 stop difference in light due to the reflector?
Hi Johnny; great question. I never swapped the reflectors to see for sure. I suspect it’s a blend of the chip and the reflector.
I have tested it before without the reflectors , its still hv nearly 1stop difference.