ACTUAL DIFFERENCE between Aputure 120d and 300d mkII

Aputure has built a reputation on high quality, high power LED lights. While I've been using the original Light Storm 120d lights for the past few years, I've been hesitant to upgrade to the more powerful LS-300d series. Is the added expense worth it? If it's twice as powerful but twice the price, what's the benefit? I wanted to finally put the 300d mkII up against the original 120d and see how the two compare.

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Long story short, this thing packs a punch! I’ve always been happy with the Aputure LS-120d so I really never saw a reason to make the purchase of something newer and more expensive. After all, if the 120d does a good enough job, why spend more?

At least that’s what I thought until I turned on the 300d mk II and was immediately blinded by the sheer firepower of this light. Sure it’s not quite HMI levels of power but it’s close. This thing is MILES ahead of the original 120d and if you need maximum light output, I highly suggest you buy one ASAP.

In my testing I found the 300d mk II to be 6X more powerful than the 120d. That’s right. Six times the power in a fixture that’s only slightly larger and heavier. I expected 3, maybe 4, 120d’s would equal one 300dmkII but I was blown away when I needed to set up six 120d’s just to match the intensity of one single 300dmkII. The raw power really is incredible.

Especially when you consider that the original 120d lights still sell for around $500 whereas the brand new 300d mk II will only cost $1100. So for roughly double the price, you get six times the output. That’s a no-brainer.

Color accuracy and white balance are also on par with the quality we’ve consistently seen from Aputure. These aren’t the LED lights from 10 years ago with nasty green tones and low CRI. The color is beautiful and even better than the already good 120d model.

I also appreciate the significantly improved build quality. The 300d mk II feels like a professional lighting fixture made from industrial parts with well-thought and well-designed parts. While the 120d feels like a cheap prosumer light in comparison.

There are other lights on the market like the NiceFoto HA-3300B that are actually more powerful than the 300d and far cheaper but they also feel a lot cheaper. A LOT. I tested one of these lights side by side with the 300d mk II and while it was brighter (by about a stop) the design and build quality of the light itself was much much lower. Lots of plastic parts and flimsy material. Also a poorly designed mounting bracket and overall ugly design. It’ll get the job done and then some but I don’t recommend it for consistent work especially if you’re constantly on the road and shooting in rough conditions. I don’t think the NiceFoto would hold up but I have a lot more faith in the Aputure 300dmkII.

As an added benefit, I really do enjoy the lighting effects built into the ballast. I don’t imagine I’ll be using them often but it is a nice touch to have an intelligent controller to do some convincing lighting effects. Watch the video if you want to see these in action since there isn’t a good way to describe their quality without seeing it for yourself. The lighting looks like lightning, paparazzi looks like paparazzi. It’s pretty straight forward stuff but well executed and easy to set up and control.

Overall, I’m incredibly satisfied with the Aputure COB 300d mk II. It’s everything I expected and then some. You get a really powerful light with some amazing features for a very reasonable price. It’s not cheap but I think it’s 100% worth it. Lighting is often overlooked but it’s easily one of the most important things you can add to your kit to truly stand out and improve the quality of your productions. Make the investment in yourself and in your kit to get some decent lights. The 300dmkII is a very well-made light that more than earns its worth.

Видео ACTUAL DIFFERENCE between Aputure 120d and 300d mkII канала Stronz Vanderploeg