Has anybody used Nanlite lighting products?

[Oliver Daniel]

Lighting is coming along in very exciting ways, so I couldn’t resist dipping into more research. 

I came across a company I never knew about called Nanlite, who are in the same ballpark as Aputure but also have RGB LED tubes. Crazy high TLCI across the range at 98! 

Anybody used their products? The rest of the internet loves them. 

Cane across a budget Aputure called Godox too. Super affordable. 

Aputure themselves looking strong! 

Looking to build a new, quite portable and nimble lighting setup after Covid has buggered off. 

Thoughts? Experiences? I’m listening. 

 

[zerocool22]

dont forget Quasar science tubes.

[newfoundmass]

The Godox LS series are excellent value lights. I saw they just released a more professional, but still much more affordable, series of lights that I'm looking at. 

We're becoming quite spoiled when it comes to lighting! 

[Zak Forsman]

Because of the price, I looked into the 4' Nanlite RGB tubes but remember some reviews saying they were underpowered. And the Quasar Science tubes had just gone on sale so I went with those and have been very happy.

[PannySVHS]

7 hours ago, Zak Forsman said:

Because of the price, I looked into the 4' Nanlite RGB tubes but remember some reviews saying they were underpowered. And the Quasar Science tubes had just gone on sale so I went with those and have been very happy.

Hey Zak, would love to see some of your material lit with it, also some EVA1 footage. Do you still post these awesome little cam and lens tests on your vimeo channel?

[Oliver Daniel]

10 hours ago, Zak Forsman said:

Because of the price, I looked into the 4' Nanlite RGB tubes but remember some reviews saying they were underpowered. And the Quasar Science tubes had just gone on sale so I went with those and have been very happy.

Not looked into them a great deal (Quasar). Looking for around 4 tubes, synchronised. Good output. What’s your setup?

Heard lots of good things about Nanlite’s range, especially the Forza range. They lack gobo support like Aputure though, it’s something I want in my new kit. 

Looking for portable battery powered stuff - powerful key lights, soft lights, some with RGB, some not. Ability to use modifiers. Like a complete ecosystem of lights without too much footprint and weight. 

I’m looking at a compromise between power and portability with everything I do, cameras to lights to grip. I want to be quicker and faster on set but with plenty of creative options. 

[Zak Forsman]

11 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Hey Zak, would love to see some of your material lit with it, also some EVA1 footage. Do you still post these awesome little cam and lens tests on your vimeo channel?

it isn't much, but I set up a couple of the Quasar RGB tubes for this test of a Z-Cam E2, Speedbooster, modded Contax-Zeiss combo. Honestly, this was less of a test and more of a chance to mess around with new gear while chatting with my buddy.

 

[Zak Forsman]

7 hours ago, Oliver Daniel said:

Not looked into them a great deal (Quasar). Looking for around 4 tubes, synchronised. Good output. What’s your setup?

Heard lots of good things about Nanlite’s range, especially the Forza range. They lack gobo support like Aputure though, it’s something I want in my new kit. 

Looking for portable battery powered stuff - powerful key lights, soft lights, some with RGB, some not. Ability to use modifiers. Like a complete ecosystem of lights without too much footprint and weight. 

I’m looking at a compromise between power and portability with everything I do, cameras to lights to grip. I want to be quicker and faster on set but with plenty of creative options. 

if the battery element is important, the Nanlites are definitely better there. Quasar Science offers batteries but they look clunky and dangle from the power socket. I think The Nanlites last about two hours? In terms of equivalency, I'd estimate you'd need 6 or 7 Nanlite tubes to match the output of 4 Quasar Science tubes. But that's matching full power. I have run into situations where a single QS tube at 1% is too intense and I've run a strip of gaff tape down it to cut it down further.

[andrgl]

@Oliver Daniel go all out with the nanlite stuff.

I own quasar crossfire tubes, aputure 120ds and lightstorms, and, nanlite pavo tubes.

The nanlite products have more features, are often better built and cost less.

Only thing nanlite doesn't make are the tiny credit card sized panels. I use aputure amran al-mc (RGB) al-m9 (bicolour)

Edit: though they do make a mini RGB tube, pavotube ii 6c