HOBOLITE GEAR
IT’S HIP TO BE FLARE
Go back to the future with the old-school styling but modern tech of the Hobolite Pro F ilmmakers fall into two camps whenever they first clap eyes on this brand-new, luxury lighting system. most advanced LEDs from parent company AEC Lighting Solutions, which has spent the last 20 years making cutting-edge fixtures out of top-quality materials.
CHOOSE YOUR STYLE
The first falls in love with the retro-style, leather-and-bare- metal looks – and maybe even finds the name Hobolite to be more aligned with a cool artisan or trendy hand-built aesthetic than a homeless vagrant. The leather may be faux, but the metal is body is rugged aluminium. On the other hand, the second quickly dismisses the Hobolites as over-designed and overpriced bling for hipsters only. But for this group, brought up on bland black or silver boxes, it’s time to look beyond the styling and see the build quality and capabilities of these new LEDs. Part of a family of Hobolites, the flagship Pro model has lots of the latest technology and innovative features, making it far more than just a styling exercise. It uses the
The Pro is a bicolour COB LED with 300W of power, can output light from 2500-7500K with a CRI and TLCI rating of 96, and has full remote control via a smartphone app. That means it has enough power to be used with very large light modifiers – and app control means you can alter settings without having to climb up a ladder. It uses the standard Bowens S mount, so accepts lots of modifiers – though Hobolite naturally makes its own range of stylish accessories to fit. The solid build quality means the Pro kit weighs 3.7kg/8.2lb and comes in a variety of to-go set-ups. The £2299/$2299 Standard kit has the head, a Pro lens, Pro barndoors with honeycomb grid, a V-Mount clamp, a power supply with dual V-Mount plates, two 85Wh V-Mount batteries as well as a DC battery charger, all the cables and an LCD control panel – which is a good deal. We tried the Pro Creator AC/DC kit which is £2998/$2999 and adds a cool carbon-fibre, tripod-style stand, plus a 90cm softbox with an extra removable internal diffuser and honeycomb grid. That might sound like quite a lot extra to pay, but the accessories match the style and build of the light and are good value when you look at the quality. The stand has precision-machined components and the carbon legs are excellent, too. It’s as good as most high-end carbon-fibre tripods. It has its own case and extends to 310cm/10.17ft, yet folds up to a relatively compact 80.5cm/2.64ft. It can accept a
If you can’t stretch to the price and weight of the Hobolite Pro, there are two smaller and more affordable options that have the same retro styling and a body made from aluminium. All the lights have a CRI and TLCI of 96, a colour temperature range of 2700-6500K and app control; the two smaller units are IP20 rated to fend off the weather. The 20W Mini runs on its own rechargeable battery, costs from £298/$299 and weighs in at 0.43kg/0.95lb; while the 100W Avant is mains-powered but can be used with V-Mount batteries, costs from £799/$799 and weighs 1.2kg/2.7lb. Hobolite also offers a massive range of matching accessories, from lanterns to adjustable lenses with coloured filters, tripod adapters and Bowens mounts for modifiers. hobolite.com
CAMERA STYLE The Hobolite Pro is designed to look like an old TLR film camera, especially when the optional lens is fitted
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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