Amaran 60X | It Could Have Been Perfect

[@petercarroll2812]

Nicely done. This light is still not widely available in the US. Got tired of waiting and got myself a 100X. Glad I did since I rarely need to go off mains power. Thanks.

[@User_not_found_403]

I got the 60D and was worried about the hot spot. However, I almost did not notice, it came with elastic diffuser. Looks like a shower cap that you can attach to the front of the reflector. It softens everything up and gets rid of the edges of the hotspot. Nice compact solution.

[@koalamusik]

Why don't they include that shower cap in the 60x? :(

[@koalamusik]

I just watched both unboxings ( 60d / 60x), none of them seems to have a "shower cap" / elastic diffuser. Where in the box should it be located? There's a protective hard-shell cover, do you mean that?

[@boahandarrowsproductions4326]

That's good to know if it's included. I think you could probably still find a similar cover online. Thank you for the info.

[@User_not_found_403]

@@boahandarrowsproductions4326 only caveat is stifles some air circulation so the fan may come on more often.

[@boahandarrowsproductions4326]

@@User_not_found_403 I see. Not to bad of a trade off considering the price and size.

[@patrickantone1203]

did you try plugging the D-tap cable into the battery BEFORE you attach it to the light?

[@josephrhodes2896]

Seems like he’s rather complain and whine, than actually use his brain. Thought the same thing. There’s no issue with using this battery, fits fine

[@bonnevillebagger9147]

It looks like you could plug in the dtap, then slide in the battery without any issue.

[@colorasylumproduction6355]

Very good review here! I was still on the fence about these, but I'll definitely get a couple of units to be used as fill lights in addition to my Litepanels Geminis. I love shooting live music in often difficult conditions, especially in terms of power supply. In my opinion, you're being a little bit harsh regarding the restrictions the V-lock setup imposes on the type of batteries one can use. From the perspective of an indie production house, I find these little lights to be a godsend that will replace my old, noisy and dangerously hot halogen/tungsten units. Also, the tie-down fixture does look a bit flimsy and pastic-y. Not something I would see myself trusting on the field, but since this piece can be removed, it is just a matter of fixing it to a c-stand or tripod, so no issue there either, as far as I'm concerned. Lastly, the standard bowens mount is just brilliant and makes for a very simple addition of these lights to existing accessories. So, thanks again for helping me making up my mind.🙏

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Thanks. Yeah maybe being a little harsh, I just wanted to make a point of it as it’s not something I’ve seen anyone else mention. Other than that though it’s a near perfect light for a crazy good price. Even if they were double or triple the price they’d still be great value. The adapter isn’t too bad, it’s actually pretty solid, it’s main issue it’s just a bit fiddly to adjust the angle with especially compared to their brake system in the 100x/200x. That said I do like how it allows you to pack down the light so small.

[@GeologyDude]

I bought a Sirui C60B instead. Thje Sirui has a real Bowens mount, and a full size reflector that creates even lighting. It doesn't have the battery issues and doesn't need a battery cord. It has a more quiet fan, and it comes in a much nicer case. The Sirui is more expensive, but the Amaran 60X requires you to buy a full size reflector, a Bowen's adaptor, and comes in an inferior case. The only bad point of the Sirui is the plastic handle it comes with (too weak and too plastic), so I needed to buy an metal umbrella mount instead. The Amaran's handle costs extra to get. Thx for the good review.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Thats good to hear it comes with a full size mount. I haven't tried one myself but certainly would like to check it out.

[@Mucarofilms]

Why I love your content? Great insight, don’t stop making in depth videos 🤘🏾

[@northcoaststudios]

With the Sony NP-F batteries being SO MUCH cheaper than a v-mount battery, and so many filmmakers already having NP-F batteries for other equipment, the NP-F plate seems like an automatic thing to power the light at a very good cost. I have a 60d because I wanted the maximum light that could be put out of the light, and I can just toss a gel in front of it for a warmer light, or other colors for that matter. I just had a film shoot Sunday and used my 60d with NP-F batteries. I am impressed at the duration I got out of the batteries, even at 100% brightness. For my 100d I bought an "open box" Anker brand 300 watt power station. I ran my 100d for 2 hours at 100% and my power station still had 73% charge left. The open box power station from Anker's ebay account was only $253, shipping and tax included. These are normally $460 new. I highly recommend it as a power supply option for the 100d.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Good idea with the anker power station. Handy as I guess you could power multiple lights from one unit?

[@northcoaststudios]

@@JonathanPalfrey - The one I have is 300 watts. I can run a 100 watt Amaran 100d and two 65 watt Amaran 60d's and have power left over. And if you are not running them at 100% there is even room for more.

[@ared18t]

2 of them cost like 160 it isn't that much cheaper

[@ared18t]

If you buy actual sony batteries it's 150 each and no charger. The np style batteries also give you les power output and limit you to 80 percent power

[@northcoaststudios]

@@ared18t - I bought two Powerextra brand NP-F 970 batteries for $37 and they are phenomenal. It's much cheaper. I have 6 of these batteries (already had 4 for other lights) and the power station, and I've yet to run out of power on a shoot. My Amaran P60X also charges batteries while it is plugged in.

[@50450720]

I love the fact that this light can run off a couple of sony batteries, and this keeps the cost down as v-mount batteries are way more expensive. For me the biggest negative is the fact that the hard case it comes with is far to tight a fit when it comes to packing the cables away, it takes for ever to try and fit the gear back into it. It would of been far better to have a semi-rigid bag like the Godox ml60 comes with, and that's why I chose the ml60 light instead, even though it has a godox proprietary mount.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Yeah those cases they come with are just fancy product packaging rather than something useful long term. Personally I like putting my kit in other bags anyway as the cases are a pain to carry and waste too much space. The 60x slots really nicely into the space a lens would normally sit in a camera bag.

[@hicetnunc_]

Do you think that heavy softbox could break it? What's the biggest weight it could handle?

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Its probably OK up to a Aputure Lightdome but I'm not sure Id go any bigger.

[@mattfleming3459]

Nice video Jonathan! Subscribed.

[@CB-hd4fi]

What we really need from Aputure at this point is an RGB version of this light. That is the future. Like the Fiilex P3 or the Sokani X60.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

I understand WRGB is good for precise colour tinting however I'm not sure that's really needed at the affordable end of the market. In terms of using it with strong colours for music videos etc, I think the RGB trend will die down soon and a lot of what was shot like that will look quite dated in the future.

[@CB-hd4fi]

@@JonathanPalfrey Thanks for your reply. Actually, I feel the opposite. One only has to look at the success of Arri Skypanels and the preponderance of knock offs now to see that no one wants to fiddle with gels anymore. The only reason this hasn't come to the COB market is because the light output in battery powered situations is still poor. That will change. Further, mixed light sources are everywhere and this is especially true for the affordable market where one man bands have to contend with uncontrolled environments all the time. Fluorescent, tungsten, led, daylight, computer monitors, you name it, if you ever have had to show up at a local business, you know how out of control it can be. In the past we carried Fluo correction gels, CTB, CTO's, beauty gels for nicer skin tones, etc. It's all a thing of the past with the tweak of a dial now. People want more creative controls in smaller packages. The technology is there, why not harness it ?

[@koalamusik]

I want this. For the German market, it's sold out everywhere

[@RayValdezPhotography]

whats the name of the dtap adapter.

[@iamwannabefilmmaker]

Hey very nice said 👌 I am thinking to buy... 2 of them I need small size, battery powered for run and gun shootings. Do you think 2 of them can light a couple 5-7 meters away? What's your opinion. All the videos I saw are in a KZbin studio environment so I have no idea how powerful this light is. Thanks

[@ibopwebop]

the V-Lock battery you used is great but the fact that it only has 1 Dtap port is problematic

[@maximumguitarage]

I need lighting in a home music studio , travel documentaries and music videos. I was thinking to go with the amaran 60x and Apature LS60D. Should I be mixing up the cameras by getting a D version and an and x version for bi optical capabilities. How would you go by doing this ?

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Definitely get at least one bicolour light. Either will do fine for what you want to do.

[@conservovirtus5796]

You're at 40% through the light dome, correct?

[@alphaartisan]

I know right huge output!

[@JackieDElia]

I enjoyed watching this review. It was very helpful and informative.

[@iamwannabefilmmaker]

Nice video thanks how much time do we have with npf and v mount? I like it so far I am between this and godox ml60 bi I don't like what the Reflector does .

[@JonathanPalfrey]

You get about 45-60 minutes with a couple of large mpg batteries, similar for a 90w v-lock too

[@iamwannabefilmmaker]

@@JonathanPalfrey thanks for the answer... Mpg batteries? 🤔

[@byronwright2]

Hey Jonathan, what was the d-tap cable you got for the Amaran 60 light from Amazon.

[@robsonquintela]

I want to know as well

[@kenyee88]

Could summarize the one thing in the description...

[@TheAugusts]

Great video!

[@BenDavies1991]

Did you find a workaround with the nano batteries and this light?

[@JonathanPalfrey]

I've been playing around with a few ideas. The best so far is a smallrig v-lock adapter and a clamp attaching it to the lightstand. Not as neat as having it all on the light but it does help add some weight lower down the stand for stability.

[@GroovyTakeON]

Thank you so much for the video. trying to make the decision 60x or 100x - so thank you for giving the examples and explanation. 60x seems like so much better option for a quick on the go light. 100x might be a better for in studio only. Will 60x handle light dome SE?

[@JonathanPalfrey]

No problem. Yeah I think it would probably handle the light dome SE better than the II

[@GroovyTakeON]

@@JonathanPalfrey noticed that some are just attaching the dome directly to the c-stand to bypass the 60x - which might help in case of a need to use a bigger dome

[@bvill6749]

Can you use this as a videographer? In a reception

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Yeah I’d imagine it would be ideal for something like that. Always be careful with light stands though in a venue like that.

[@jamessonfield]

I’m after my first decent light for on the go stuff and I’m torn between this, the LS60x and the Godox ML60? Any advice? I’ll be using v mount batteries.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

I would lean towards the amaran/aputure lights just because they have such a full range at different price points which you can build around. Even between their cheapest and most expensive lights the colours and functions match well. As to this or the ls60x, they are quite different lights. The aputure is all about the to focusing beam while the amaran is super compact. Both are great but for different uses.

[@beretaniastreet6384]

Bad analysis on the d-tap issue. Makes way more sense for the intended user to have the NPF adapter than a dtap adapter, if your investing 1k+ you are probably not getting too many Amaral 60. Your getting higher end lights like Light Storm. Content creator are way more likely to already have NPF instead of vmount - why not complain that there no gold mount option

[@JonathanPalfrey]

But it has a v-lock mount on the side of the light! Also V-locks are fairly cheap now days, especially when you compare like for like capacity. To be fair it the d-tap issue is more down to the battery brand I have. Of course if you where to buy v-Locks for this light you could just get ones with the ports on the top or other side of the battery.

[@gaetanobruno5889]

i got the 60d for 140$ and theres nothing out there to compare with it.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

It’s an awesome light for the price. Only 5 years ago you’d pay way more for a far worse light

[@luclaflamme4712]

Battery life please ...

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Using 2 Sony NPF970 batteries you get about 45 minutes, similar with a 90w v-lock too.

[@luclaflamme4712]

@@JonathanPalfrey Hey thanks!

[@alvarob17]

@@JonathanPalfrey Hi, thanks for the video and question on battery option. I saw a review of this light stating that when the battery level drops to say 80% the light will shut off unless you turn the power down to 80% and the same when it drops to 70%, 60% and so on. Do you know if this is true from your experience?

[@frankfeng2701]

A used 100X is cheaper and in stock whereas 60X is hardly available.

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Yeah it's annoying the lack of stock. If you don't need the battery option then the 100x is probably a better option. Slightly more power and a better yoke.