GEAR MINI TESTS
AMBITFUL AL-18 PRO PROJECTOR £107/$165 ambitful.shop
One of the biggest benefits of using COB LED lights is that they replicate a point light source, and you can modify that output in many ways. Add on a softbox or lantern to make the output softer, or use barn boors or snoots and grids to control the spill of hard light. One popular accessory is a projector attachment that lets you shape the light in very precise ways. For these, a focusing lens on the front alters the size of the beam and how sharp it is at the edges, which is ideal for motivated light or for adding a controlled hair light. You can change colours using filters or fit gobos for funky patterns and textures, which is lots of fun and something YouTube’s content creators go wild for – as do creative portrait photographers or fashion filmmakers. But they can be quite expensive, if you want decent quality and kit that lasts. The Ambitful AL-18 Pro Projector is not an expensive, high-end bit of kit. It’s a cheap-and-cheerful version of a projector that’s not particularly well built, only comes with one fixed lens and uses its own size of gobos and very cheap filters. But for a toe in the water – especially if you just fancy having a play with it to see if you want to invest in a better model – it’s cheap to buy and comes in a decent case. After looking at some online reviews, I went for the Ambitful as it was on sale on Amazon for £96 with free next-day delivery. It comes with standard Bowens mount, but you can get Profoto or Elinchrom mounts too. I used a Nanlite Forza 60C with a Bowens adapter, so I had no need for the poor-quality filters
hard-edge slash of light easily. You can get cut-outs of circles, rectangles, weird graphic shapes, foliage and lots more. Used well, the effect is terrific. Used badly, it looks very amateurish and gimmicky. Of course, the power is limited by the light you are using and the size of the pattern is governed by the 50mm lens. Other brands offer a change of lenses, but this one is fixed – and it can be hard to get far enough away to achieve a decent-size image. But it’s fun to use and experiment with, the image quality is decent enough and – if you avoid the gimmicky gobos – it’s a useful tool for not much money. Chances are that you’ll quickly want to upgrade to a more capable unit from another brand, though. PRO MOVIEMAKER RATING: 8/10 A fun device that’s very inexpensive and can make some cool, unique looks Pros: Bowens mount, cheap as chips Cons: Limited adjustment
PLAYING A BLINDER
The huge range of gobos (right) include several to mimic light coming through blinds (above)
that are supplied. With a maximum power of 300W to avoid overheating, the Nanlite was well inside the spec and everything stayed cool. The projector comes with a 50mm lens that can be focused to make projected images sharp or soft; it’s specifically designed to project patterns and effects onto solid surfaces. To use a gobo, you pull out the holder from behind the lens, slip the desired metal gobo into the holder and push it back in. You can then adjust the angle of the holder, but not through a massive range of angles. Then the fun starts,
GOING LARGE The Ambitflow dwarfs the small Nanlite Forza 60C LED
SPECIFICATIONS
as you can create a fake window blind effect or
Mount: Bowens, Profoto, Elinchrom Lens: 50mm Material: Aluminium alloy Gels: Yellow, red, orange, blue, green
Gobos: 40 stainless steel Extras: Padded carry bag
Weight: 1.52kg/3.35lb Dimensions (wxhxd): 240x155x60mm/9.4x6.1x2.4in
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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