Battle: LitePanel Astra 6x vs Aputure 300x
By Patryk Rebisz
In this article we'll compare LitePanel 1x1 Astra 6x to Aputure 300x.
Quick verdict: LitePanel 6x wins but read below why specificily.
The above is somehow strange conclussion because by most metrics Aputure 300 looks like a great light. It's "well made" out of metal, it's very versatile with a plethora of compatible accessories to use with its bowen mount, it's very bright and the X option has bi-color capability. On the other hand, LitePanel Astra 6x, despite its brightness and bi-color versatility, feels plasticky. Similar in brightness to the 300x unit, its only plus is that it's soft out of the box and quicker to set-up. So what's going on?
To make the long story short, Aputure 300 units are NOT reliable. In just over 1 year I've had 5 (!!!) Aputure 300 heads go down on me. Don't assume that my Aputure units get a beating becaue I run a rental house. One head died on me after just 2 months (5 personal shoots, the head never went out on rentals). Another head, brand new sent back as replacement, was dead on arrival. Again, I want to make sure I'm not misunderstood: I am specifically talking about the 300 heads. My Aputure 600 heads are reliable workhorses. Though Aputure's customer service is responsive and provides free shipping to and back for your broken light, you still loose your unit for 1-1.5 months.
So how does LP Astra 6x unit stacks up agains Aputure 300x? Well, here is a littel disclaimer. Since I don't have 300x units, I used 300d MII at 50% intensit to compare it to the LP light. Why 50%? Beacuse as compared to the Aputure 300d, the 300x outputs only half the brightness. You trade brightness for versatility of having access to both colors.
Just for the sake of comparison, here (below) is the LP 1x1 Astra 6x agains Aputure 300d at 100% intensity. You can clearly see bright spot in front of the 300d unit (indicating brighter light).
Here, the LP's tungsten mode against the 300d (at 50%). Both lights are equivalant in light output.
And finaly, a comparison of the shadow quality. As you can see the LP's shadows (shadows on the right) are very soft while Aputure's shadows, as expected, are very crispy but not in any interesting way. This sort of hard shadows need to be diffused otherwise the double shadows look distracting. Here LP, as a soft light, delivers what it's expected of.
Hopefully you found this article useful. You can find all lights for rent at PAT Rentals (www.patrentals.com).