Aputure have announced two new small LED lights – the Amaran MX – the highly anticipated successor to the popular mini-LED Amaran M9, and the Aputure F7, which is the successor for the Amaran AL-198, one of the first LED lights that Apurture produced years ago. Teased at IBC 2017 in pre-pro prototype form, the new MX is more rugged and powerful than its predecessor by miles. According to Aputure, numerous sources have already named the Amaran MX the brightest tiny LED ever. Unlike the original AL-M9, which was designed to be as light and thin as possible, the aircraft aluminium build of the MX is alternatively designed to be as robust and powerful as it can be. The idea behind the Amaran MX, was to finally design a high-end and concealable light that large sets and owner-operators alike could use on their shoots.
Aputure Amaran MX Features
- Bi-Colour 2800K to 6500K
- 128 LEDs
- CRI / TLCI > 95
- Robust Metal Housing
- 5 Steps Colour Temperature/Brightness Adjustments
- 3x more powerful than M9
- >2400 lux at 0.3meters w Booster / 880 lux at 0.5m
- Built-in 1/4 20″ thread for easy mounting
- Lithium-polymer battery (3.7V 1800 mAh)
- Price: $149
- Shipping March 30th, 2018
- Order directly via Aputure or dealers
The MX features a rugged metal housing that doubles as a highly effective heat-sink—resulting in a light that is not only LED powered, but also silent, without fans and insanely bright, which also applies to the Amaran F7. The new Aputure MX is now a bi-colour light giving users the ability to change Kelvin temp from 2800 to 6500. The MX also packs 128 LEDs onto a surface size of about the size of a credit card. The Amaran MX is 3 times as bright as the already popular Amaran M9; this is also without factoring in the MX’s new BOOSTER function.
The BOOSTER function, which can be turned on with the press of a button, gives the operator another 30% push of output on top of the light’s maximum illumination. That means that the MX with BOOSTER mode on is 4x as bright as M9. It should be noted though that this function only lasts for a 60 second duration though. This time limit protects the LED colour fidelity, a quality that can fade when a light is stressed for too long.
On a single charge, this battery powers the MX at maximum power for about 40 minutes and at minimum power for over 5 hours. To charge the light, it only takes one cable—a standard 5v USB C cable, which is also provided with the package.
The other new Aputure light – the F7 is slightly bigger, and more of the size of a regular on-camera light, but packs a punch tanks to its 256 LEDs giving the F7 a 3x brighter output compared to the original Amaran 198c at 5500k. Conventional bi-colour LEDs have to sacrifice output if they want a bi-colour option, however thanks to a colour range of the LEDs on the F7, which go up to 9500K, the F7 has both 100% output and bi-colour versatility at the same time.
For a light its size, the F7 can also be dimmed to 0%, which not many others in its class can. The F7 gives users the benefit of multiple power options, whether it is the built-in Sony NP-F battery plate, or a D-tap, or even a 5V USB-C input for powering via portable power banks, the choice is yours.
The Amaran MX is available March 30th and is priced at $149, while the Amaran F7 is priced at $98 USD. For more info and specs head over to Aputure’s website.
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