Battle: Aputure 600d vs 575 HMI
In this article we will compare a very popular Aputure 600d LED light to a typical 575 HMI. We'll examine the Aputure claims that the light is "comparable to output to 1200w HMI" and find this claim to be short of truth.
Please note that at PAT Rentals, we carry both lights.
Quick verdict: 575 HMI is brighter.
Aputure 600d is comparable in size, weight and power consumption to a typical 575 HMI (here LTM 575 HMI Par). Both packages consist of light head, ballast and wires connecting head to ballast and ballast to power source. The Par HMI head also has lenses that make the unit much more versatile light as it lets to modify the beam spread controlling light's intensity. The lenses is where the Par HMI shines greatly outdoing the LED.
From the get go, with just a Medium Wide lens, the 575 HMI leaves Aputure 600d in the dust producing more intense beam of light.
In my experience Medium Wide lens is not the sort one starts with. Instead, we should start with a more popular Medium Spot lens. If you had any doubts about intensity of the 575 HMI in comparison to Aputure 600d, this picture speaks for itself. The rectangle of light prouduced by the HMI is much more bright than the circle from the LED.
But the Aputure's slaughter doesn't end there. With a Spot lens, HMI becomes even more powerful.
It's the addition of the F10 lens to the Aputure 600d head that makes the light stand on its own in this comparison. With the lens, the light gains a new meaning. Here, F10 lens is spoted as compared to Medium Spot lens on 575 HMI.
Here, the F10 lens still in spot position against Spot lens on HMI. Though 575 HMI still wins, Aputure 600d is not far behind.
And just as a comparison, F10 lens on Aputure 600d in flood position against Spot lens on LTM 575 HMI Par.
And a bare Aputure 600d against Wide lens on LTM 575 HMI Par. Here the wide lens of the HMI produce bigger spread and is dimmer than the LED.
The 575 HMI is much more powerful light than a bare Aputure 600d. However, with the F10 lens, Aputure starts competing head to head (pun intended!) with the HMI. Also note that HMI is a bit more finicky with shutter speeds (you see some banding in HMI's beam due to high shutter speed utilized by my phone's camera). Despite that, the LED's beam looks rock solid so when comparing the two lights you must concider more than just the brightness.
Hopefully you found this comparison useful. You can find both lights for rent at PAT Rentals (www.patrentals.com).