USER REVI EW | F I I LEX MAG 4K
“COLOUR QUALITY IS ALSO GOOD WITH TLCI ALWAYS OVER 89.9”
brightness, much higher intensities can be achieved using the 18, 27 and 60° PAR-style reflectors. The 60° reflector forced the CV600 meter into an overexposure error in the one-metre set-up, so all we can conclude is that it achieved at least 115,000 lux, which seems reasonable. Barn doors are also supplied, and here Fiilex’s ability to pack emitters very close together scores, in that barn doors require a small emitter to be effective – and they are. From more than a few feet away, the Mag 4K can be very easily cut and flagged, although the reflectors do spoil this ability slightly in exchange for the extra punch. The market seems intent on bigger and bigger LEDs until we’ve replaced the venerable 18 and 24kW HMIs, and while that’s a way off, the Mag 4K is a welcome hint that this progression might just be possible. In the meantime, it is a reasonable, much more flexible replacement for an 800W HMI, just as advertised. What we don’t know is what it’s likely to cost. Quality LED lights in the kilowatt range are routinely well into five figures, and while that compares quite reasonably with something like an M8 HMI, the value-for-money assessment on the Mag 4K will have to wait.
5% intensity. That’s a mired shift of less than 7. For comparison, a 1/8 CT straw filter creates a mired shift of 20. Colour quality is also good, with TLCI always over 89.9. Unusually, TLCI is better at higher CCTs. In most lights, the bluer the output, the less of the blue LED is being converted to white light, and the more discontinuous the spectrum. The Mag 4K’s 6500K setting, however, achieves an excellent 97 TLCI. This unusual behaviour prompts us to look more closely at an actual spectrum plot of the light, which reveals what looks like two different principal sources of blue light, as well as the usual phosphor- converted white emitters and a conventional red. The deep blue R12 patch used in CRI assessments is often poorly illuminated by LEDs, although the Mag 4K performs well and R12 results are in the mid-90s at 6500K, and approach 80 at 2800K. The scarlet R9 test patch is effectively blood-coloured and crucial for good skin tone reproduction. It reads 77.5 in the worst case, at 6500K, and always over 82 otherwise. The brightness and colour performance of Fiilex’s latest is state of the art. In terms of sheer
IMAGES The 12kg weight of the Mag 4K is explained by the power supply being built into the light
58 DEF I N I T ION | APR I L 2020
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