GEAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS ACCESSORIES
H ow can you compare accessories like a hard LED light to a hard drive, or a monitor to a memory card? You can’t! Which is why we have lots of different categories for all the essentials serious filmmakers need. The lighting category gets more competitive every year as there are always loads of new products with stunning features to take on established brands and models. Where it was once tungsten and HMIs, cool-running LEDs now dominate. These are less expensive and some are computer-controlled to dial in daylight, bicolour, RGB or now RGBLAC. Many are remote- controlled by a whole variety of wired and wireless devices as well as apps to make things easier on set. The days of climbing ladders to change settings are behind us. Filmmakers love light panels. In this class, pioneering British firm Rotolight has a range of popular fitments. The Titan X1 is part of Rotolight’s flagship range offering electronically adjustable diffusion from its 1x1ft LED array. There’s also the more portable Neo 3 Pro and AEOS 2 Pro newcomers too. You might wish to cast your vote for the Aputure Nova P600c or Litepanels Gemini 2x1 Hard, which is a soft- style light that can be made hard as it uses focusable LEDs. Or for
smaller panels hidden on set, used as practical lights or joined to form a soft light, Astera’s Hydrapanels are a great solution. For hard lights, COB fixtures now dominate – the Aputure LS 600c Pro is powerful and full colour. While not a budget option, it offers so much for your money. The Nanlux Evoke 900C is the latest all-colour unit boasting even more power, while the Forza 60C from sister brand Nanlite has RGBLAC chips and is affordable. In the competitive lighting innovation category, LED tube lights such as the pro-level Astera Titan Tube are popular, but you may also wish to vote for the Quasar Science Double Rainbow or Aputure Infinibar with its unique modular design. On-camera monitors and monitor/recorders started out simply offering a sizable screen for simple viewing, plus tools like waveforms and false colour to help set exposure and composition. Then, many unlocked even more quality by allowing output at a higher bit rate – or even in Raw. The very latest crop are network-connected devices for utilising a cloud workflow or even enabling live streaming.
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