Lighting Kit Upgrade: Aputure STORM 700x and 400x
I recently upgraded my lighting kit. Aputure came out with some new lights, and I couldn’t pass them up. I now own the Aputure STORM 700x and the STORM 400x. Previously I was using the 600D and the 300D.
The big difference is that these new lights are brighter, more color accurate, and much more flexible than what I was using before.
My previous lights only produced one color of light: daylight. I always chose daylight-balanced fixtures over bi-color lights because the daylight versions were usually much brighter. That was the tradeoff. I could either have more output or I could have adjustable color temperature.
What has me excited about the STORM 700x and STORM 400x is that I do not have to make that same tradeoff anymore. I can adjust from tungsten to daylight without giving up the kind of output I need on set.
The benefit of being able to change from tungsten to daylight is obvious, but I think it opens up a lot of smaller creative choices too. Technically, putting a gel on a daylight-balanced light is not that big of a deal. But on a lot of shoots where I do not have much setup time, I would usually just leave the light at daylight and move on. Now I can make those adjustments quickly without adding another step.
These new Aputure lights use the BLAIR light engine. BLAIR stands for Blue, Lime, Amber, Indigo, and Red. Instead of only using the normal LED setup, the light mixes those emitters to create a better white light. The result is a tunable white light that is brighter, more color accurate, and better at matching the way real daylight and tungsten look on camera.
Another interesting thing about the BLAIR chip is that even though these are not full RGB lights, they can still create some saturated colors. The colors are not as strong or as flexible as a dedicated color fixture like Aputure’s C-series lights, or my Litepanels Gemini lights, but I tested it out and the colors looked pretty good.
I am not sure how often I will use that feature, because I already own lights that are better suited for full color effects. But it is nice to have the option built into a powerful point source light if I need it.
I also bought the fresnels for both of these lights, and I have to say I love them. They are light, compact, and they come in their own cases with the barndoors. That might sound like a small thing, but it makes a big difference when you are actually loading gear in and out of shoots.
The fresnel for the 600D was pretty rough to deal with. It is huge, the barndoors are massive, and there is no good way to transport them. Mine are still sitting in the box they came in, taking up space in my closet.
The new spotlight mount for these lights is also really cool. It has a rotating barrel, so you can adjust the angle of the projected light much more easily. One thing I can’t wait to try is using the color features with the spotlight mount to create some interesting effects. I am just waiting for the right project where I have the chance to use it.
Overall, I have been really happy with these lights. They give me more flexibility especially on shoots where I need to move quickly but still want the lighting to look intentional.
If you need a Gaffer, Director of Photography, or Cinematographer in Atlanta, reach out to me. I would love to put these lights to work on the right project.
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