I’ve been aware of GVM (Great Video Maker) as an affordable lighting manufacturer for a while now, but this is my first chance to review one of their products. I’ve said this before, but we are in the midst of an LED lighting golden age, and the rapid pace of product launches from year to year means that sometimes things fall through the cracks!

There are many 300-watt Bowens mount options out there these days, but when we talk about 300-watt color-capable lighting, the field narrows quite a bit. Even so, the $549 GVM Pro SD300C does stand out on paper. Competitors include amaran and NANLITE — notably considered to be the more “pro-sumer” oriented brands of Aputure and NANLUX, respectively. In this segment, the pricing generally sits between $549 and $569.

GVM has made the SD300C part of their “Pro” lineup. What makes a lighting instrument “pro” or “not pro” is nebulous these days, but generally, the use of DMX has created some separation in LED lighting product categories. Notably, the SD300C has wired 512-DMX in and out.

Initial impressions

The GVM Pro SD300C arrives in a 17-lb semi-rigid soft case, and the first thing I noticed when removing the fixture was the use of aluminum in the lamp head. Usually, with this price point, I’m expecting something with a bit more plastic, so the aluminum was a surprise.

When you first power on the SD300C, the logo lights up. Look, I’m a sucker for this, and you can tell me in the comments how this doesn’t matter, etc., etc., but this glowing logo looks undeniably cool. The lamp head itself is primarily red, and when you pair that with a glowing logo, there is an argument to be made that this fixture is less, uh, invisible on a set when compared to a matte black lighting instrument. That argument doesn’t mean we can’t have cool things, though. Moving on.

The SD300C kit includes:

• Lamp Head (Bowens Mount)
• Reflector
• Power Adapter
• Power Cable
• Limited 1-Year Warranty

I wish the power cable was locking, but it does fit firmly into the power adapter.

The yoke for the lamp head locks on both sides. I’m not sure if this was an engineering requirement given the weight of the lamp head, but it does take a few more seconds to lock and unlock both sides of the yoke to tilt the lamp compared with a yoke that only has one lock.

Overall, the case is great, and enough padding suggests it could survive many trips in an owner/operator vehicle. Still, I don’t see this case checking on an airplane safely or being thrown into a rental vehicle surrounded by a bunch of heavy Pelican-style hard cases.

The kit doesn’t include a battery plate option, and you’ll have to source a $79 battery plate for V-mount if you need that functionality. HERE is the correct battery plate from B&H.

Glowing logo aside — this being my first time reviewing a GVM product, I am pleasantly surprised with the exterior build quality, the wired DMX, and the included case (given the price point).

Perfect user for the SD300C?

With a $549 price point, the Pro SD300C has a wide potential user base, and it is worth a quick note to know who might be the perfect user for this fixture.

A few quick specs:

• 2000K – 10000K in CCT Mode / RGB
• 300W / Bowens Mount
• +/- Green & Magenta Control
• 16 Lighting Effects
• 12 Matching Light Sources
• App Control
• Several Fan Modes
• Four Dimming Curves (Linear, Exponential, Log, S-Curve)

The ability to use color with a light like this without adding a gel is helpful. For me, the wide Kelvin range in CCT mode is the reason I’ll use the Pro SD300C.

We’ll dive into the testing specs in a moment, but the output here is enough for interior interviews or scene work and usage outside at night. This light won’t compete directly with the sun at noon, however.

The ability to match with 12 existing light sources is useful when you are in a location where you don’t have complete control of swapping out all the existing fixtures in the given shot.

Professional users will need the wired DMX functionality and will find the price point accessible enough to fill out large scenes. Journalists and content creators will also find much to like here, as will independent filmmakers.

Head to head with the amaran 300c

Let’s compare the GVM Pro SD300C directly with the amaran 300c, given the similar price points of $569 for the amaran 300C and $549 for the GVM Pro SD300C. Both also use a Bowens mount to add accessories.

The amaran 300c comes in two colors: gray or white. White is a fun choice if the light is going to appear on camera. When you compare the amaran 300c and the GVM Pro SD300C yokes, I prefer the amaran single-locking yoke for speed. The benefit of the GVM exterior build quality is that it uses more metal (which makes it slightly heavier) and, therefore, is more likely to survive an unexpected impact.

Unfortunately, the amaran 300c ships in a foam container that is not as easy to work with as the semi-rigid hard case for the SD300C. The foam container is less forgiving. You have to line up all the pieces, or the case won’t close. Any bump to the exterior of the foam is also permanent.

The amaran 300c CCT range of 2500K-7500K is also not as wide as the 2000K-1000K range out of the GVM fixture.

Overall, amaran as a brand has more accessories available versus GVM, although GVM seems to be rapidly rolling out additional compatible accessory options like a softbox, lantern, and spotlight.

Now, let’s turn to a quick head-to-head test using the C700-U Spectrometer with the amaran 300c versus the GVM Pro SD300C, starting with a 5600K target at 3ft. The columns on the left contain the SD300C data, and on the right is the amaran 300C test. Both fixtures were set to 100% output.

Keep in mind that the beam angle for the amaran 300C kit reflector is 65 degrees, and 45 degrees for the GVM Pro SD300C kit reflector.

The SD300C reads 5438K, and the amaran 300c reads 5354K—a slight edge to the SD300C here with resting in CCT mode. The GVM fixture shows a significant output number (27000 lx) compared with the amaran 300c (20900 lx). Based purely on numbers, the GVM SD300C is significantly brighter.

Finally, here is a test with a target of 3200K.

CCT accuracy is a bit closer here (3220K versus 3149K), but the GVM SD300C is significantly brighter overall when you compare a lx reading of 26700 from GVM’s fixture to the 17200 from amaran.

Control

Controlling the light over Bluetooth is done with the GVM LED II app (for iOS on iPhone 15, in my case, but also available on Android). App control has been a tricky area for lighting manufacturers in terms of the app’s design, but the GVM app connects quickly, and there is no delay between issuing a command and the light responding.

Green/Magenta can be changed using the four physical knobs on the back of the fixture itself or are easily accessible in the app itself. Intensity is dimmable down to 0.1% increments using the app or the rear control dials.

The app gives you easy control over CCT, HSI, and RGB settings, and dialing everything in is quick. You have access to a variety of effects we have become used to at this point, such as Cop Car and Lightning.

I did find that the GVM LED II app “held on” to previously connected fixtures well. Opening the app, finding the light again, and clicking “manage” to hop back into the light settings is easy and fast.

I don’t love the addition of banner ads for other GVM products in the app, and hopefully, those could be removed in future updates. When I’m working on a job, controlling lighting without distraction is the goal.

Generally, though, the app works, and the core functionality is all there — not always the case when it comes to lighting apps I’ve tried.

Additional testing

I again grabbed a few measurements on my Sekonic C-700U Spectrometer (now updated with the C-800U) to see how accurately the GVM Pro SD300C handles color temp measured in Kelvin and output (lx) from a distance of 3 ft. Here are my readings, this time with a target of 4700K (56K and 32K target results are above) and output set to 100%. This test was completed with the 45-degree kit reflector attached, and I measured at the center of the beam. The beam angle without the reflector attached is 180-degrees.

A result of 4644K with a target of 4700K is excellent. Now, let’s take a look at how accurate this fixture is at replicating colors with the light set back again to 5600K.

These are excellent CRI scores, and they continue through into the extended CRI range. All these results are very good and sit in the high 90’s, with a dip below 90 CRI only for R12 Blue.

Conclusion

GVM is now firmly on my radar. A solid exterior build, wired DMX, and an affordable price point should make the Pro SD300C a real purchase consideration for content creators and professionals alike. The test scores are also excellent, with impressive output for a 300-watt fixture.

I’d like to test some of the GVM accessories in a future review (obviously an important part of the equation). Hopefully, I’ll be able to update this post with some thoughts on those accessories, but for now, the Pro SD300C fixture itself is impressive.

If you want to learn more, make sure to visit GVM’s website.

Do you have any experience working with GVM fixtures? Will you be adding the GVM Pro SD300C to your kit? Let us know in the comments below!

Over the years, I’ve tried many projector accessories such as traditional Leko lights on theatre, film, and television projects. Projector accessories are incredibly useful, allowing you to throw varying degrees of beams of light far or short distances with incredible precision. You could bounce this type of light for a flattering key, use it as a hard-edge light, or light up a specific art object in the background without much trouble.

As I mentioned in the beginning, there is more than one name for the projector accessory. Ellipsoidal reflector, Leko, spotlight, and “Source Four” (a brand name) are a few. For the rest of this article, we will stick with “projector”. In the past, projectors took a Tungsten bulb (500-750 watts), and gel was often required. To this day, you can find relatively affordable projector tungsten fixtures in theatres and event venues worldwide. They are also a great starting light for students (remember to use gloves!).

Now, we live in a world increasingly dominated by LED fixtures, but we still want both the quality and control of the tungsten fixtures we’ve used for decades. Enter the 1.67kg/3.7lbs SIRUI Projector Lens accessory priced at $429 with a beam angle between 18 and 36 degrees.

Making an accessory like this is actually very tricky because it requires lots of carefully placed glass elements, and if the COB fails to reduce heat, watch out, user. In fact, the last burn I received on a commercial job was from a projector accessory (not from SIRUI). Just because we are moving away from hot tungsten lights doesn’t mean you can’t get a solid burn from LED lighting. It’s also a good reminder for me!

The fact that this accessory has a variable beam is one of the features that makes it stand out from competitors who mostly rely on fixed beam angles for their projection accessories.

As I went into testing for this review, I was optimistic that SIRUI (a company that knows something about lenses and glass and how they interact) would be perfect for making an accessory like this.

Initial Impressions

Not all lighting accessories listed as Bowens mount compatible can be used with all Bowens mount fixtures, just as lens flange distance can vary in compatibility between different camera systems and mounts.

With that in mind, SIRUI claims that this projector accessory will work for Bowens lights 200 watts or less. Unfortunately, I’m not able to test this accessory with every sub-200-watt cinema light on the market. So, my advice is to take care when purchasing and ensure you test at home before taking it into the field on a paid job (good advice for lots of tech these days). For this review, I’ll primarily use the $223 SIRUI CS200B for my testing, as well as a few Aputure, NANLITE, iFootage, and amaran fixtures.

The SIRUI projector (occasionally referred to as P1836A by the company) ships in an excellent, sturdy, labeled hard case with plenty of foam protection in every direction. I would love it if SIRUI took this solid packing approach to more of their products. For example, the SIRUI CS200B Bi-Color LED Monolight ships in a simple cardboard box that, unfortunately, you must replace with another sturdier case.

Overall, the accessory is smaller than some projectors I’ve used in this category, and that initially concerned me a bit with the heat handling, but more on that later.

SIRUI includes 15 gobo patterns, 3 color filters, and a gobo holder inside the core kit. You can also purchase the SIRUI CS200B + the projector accessory as part of a package deal, so that may be worth your time if you are also looking for a suitable light.

SIRUI Projector Lens – heat dissipation

A hollow aluminum alloy design rings the projection accessory to allow heat to escape. Still, the actual attempt at tackling the ever-present heat issue is a separate, primarily plastic battery-powered fan unit that connects by magnets to the side of the unit.

A few things about the detachable fan unit: The battery is charged by a USB-C cable (not included) and doesn’t appear to be weather-resistant. You must also remember to turn it on using the separate power button. There is no warning if the battery dies, so it’s up to you to keep an eye on it and recharge the fan when needed. Thankfully the fan does work with a USB-C cable inserted while charging, so you could keep the fan running without delaying your shoot. Four lights marking quarter increments on the side of the fan indicate if the fan unit is charged or not.

Early marketing materials for this accessory never mentioned the fan, and thus, I’m assuming this was a later addition as the product came to market. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as having an electronic fan is better than having only passive cooling, and the fan unit doesn’t add significant noise that could be picked up on a mic.

The fan removes heat, and it’s reminiscent of the fan accessories created for various mirrorless camera systems on the market. I know it’s a big ask, but my hope is that we can move to a universal system of electronic communication between lights and accessories so that something like this fan unit can be triggered on and off and powered from the light itself rather than an internal battery.

Granted, this electronic communication solution isn’t a novel idea, and we are already seeing electronic contact points being added to lights by competing manufacturers such as ARRI, Aputure, Nanlux, and others. Hopefully, SIRUI will consider adding something like that in the future, too.

The results

SIRUI’s projection accessory works well, provided you stay within the 200-watt guidelines and use the fan unit (especially in hot environments). Remember, I’m not testing this with every sub-200-watt light on the market, but in the testing I did, I didn’t notice weird aberrations around the edge of the beam, and the cuts of light you can make with the four shutters are very clean. This quality of light is also consistent throughout the entirety of the range from 18 degrees to 36 degrees — not an easy thing to do.

I did see light bleed out of the sides of the accessory (mainly from the heat sink area), but it is minimal. A small knob lets you focus or de-focus the instrument to explore different looks for the gobos or a light beam.

The variety of gobo options is helpful. While all of them might not be useful on every shoot, gobos like window blinds and different foliage types can be widely used on various projects. There are also fun options like bird wings and more abstract shapes. The included color filters are also potentially helpful if you aren’t working with color-capable COB fixtures.

As I mentioned, I used the SIRUI CS200B in conjunction with the projector, and this pairing gets hot when the light is at 100%, but not uncomfortably so when the fan is on during summer filming in California with no AC.

Final thoughts

The $429 price tag for the SIRUI Projector Lens is competitive; it comes with a variety of gobos, and its variable beam angle makes it stand out. The case it comes with is fantastic. All those positives outweigh a fan unit that feels like a bit of an afterthought.

SIRUI’s move into other product categories like lighting continues with some real success stories at filmmaker-friendly pricing. I am interested in seeing what the company comes up with next.

Head over to their Kickstarter page to get more information.

Please note that this review contains affiliate product links for SIRUI’s Projector Lens campaign. As with any other crowdfunding campaign, we advise you to carefully read the platform T&C as it is not a shop! SIRUI, on the other hand, had several very successful campaigns in the past, so obviously they can deliver.

What do you think? Will you be adding the new SIRUI Projector Lens to your kit? Let us know in the comments below!

This is my first time working on a review for an iFootage product, and that’s not because I wasn’t interested – there are just a lot of cinema products out there! Earlier this year, my colleague Jeff took a look at their Beava Roller 35 rolling bag in an extensive review that you can read here.

In this review, I tested the Anglerfish SL1 200BNA Bi-Color LED Monolight, the COB 40° Light Projector Attachment, and the Iris Ring accessory. iFootage also makes a fresnel accessory I couldn’t test for this review. From this point forward, I will drop the Anglerfish moniker (especially since this light isn’t waterproof) and call this fixture the SL1 200BNA for short.

In this review, I wanted to answer the following question: in a market filled with 200-watt bi-color offerings from competitors like Aputure, NANLITE, Godox, and others, will the SL1 200BNA find a home?

iFootage Anglerfish SL1 200BNA – first impressions

At first glance, it is clear that iFootage isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel here. For example, the fixture has an identical kelvin range as an amaran COB 200x S Bi-Color fixture. The pricing is also quite similar, as is the lamp head’s exterior.

The SL1 200BNA comes in a cardboard box with cut foam similar to the amaran 200-watt equivalent. Everything in the core kit (single reflector, power cable, and lamp head) fits snuggly inside. However, if you become a long-term user of this fixture, you may want to consider a different case.

The exterior marketing messaging stickers are, to me, a little confusing. On the lamp head are the words “unmatched color spectrum” displayed prominently and in multiple colors. I initially thought this was because the light might be capable of more RGB colors outside the CCT-only realm, but the light is, in fact, bi-color only. I’m not knocking “bi-color only.” I’m just not sure how many filmmakers are using RGB much on shoots these days, that is, outside of music videos or product shoots.

Tilting the SL1 200BNA up and down is easy with the yoke at the base, but I wonder how long that same yoke will hold up to constant use, as it does feel a bit plasticky to the touch. The fixture’s weight of just under 1.8kg/4 lbs means you don’t need a full C-stand for rigging. A small lighting stand will work just fine for this setup.

Control

Controlling the SL1 200BNA is very simple. You use the rear control dials labeled “dim” and “set” alongside a power button on the lamp head. If you hoist this light off the ground, you will have difficulty accessing those same controls, but in that event, you can turn to Bluetooth control using an app available for iOS and Android called “Lumin+.”

The app is simple to use, giving you control over common settings like intensity and the kelvin range. Additionally, you can select any of ten different effects modes, such as Strobe Lights, Fireworks, Welding, and others. Each of these modes is tunable down to the speed of the welding flashes or the number of lightning strikes, for example.

Unfortunately, no DMX options are available here.

Output & Kelvin handling

I grabbed a few measurements on my Sekonic C-700U Spectrometer (now updated with the C-800U) to see how accurately the iFootage SL1 200BNA handles color temp measured in kelvin and output (lx) from a distance of 3 ft. Here are my readings with a target of 5600K and output set to 100%. This test was completed with the 63-degree kit reflector attached, and I measured at the center of the beam.

I hit a kelvin temp of 5691K with a target of 5600K. The output of 29200 lx is also nothing to scoff at. Let’s try a target of 3200K:

The overall output of 24900 lx at 3 ft/1m is a bit less than the daylight target, but not a dramatic drop in output. 3228K with a target of 3200K is excellent.

And finally, let’s test with a target of 4300K:

A result of 4359K here is excellent, and the output of 29400 lx brings the output back up towards our 5600K test. These results are impressive and place the SL1 200BNA at the top of the pack when it comes to my 200-watt tests of COB LED fixtures in general.

iFootage Anglerfish SL1 200BNA competitors

I alluded to this earlier, but there are multiple players in the 200-watt Bi-Color space, and here are just a few competitors to the SL1 200BNA:

• amaran COB 200x S Bi-Color LED Monolight ($349)
• GVM Pro SD200B Bi-Color LED Monolight ($239)
• NANLITE FS-200B Bi-Color LED Monolight ($349)
• Godox Bi-Color Zoomable LED Video Light ($296)

The $349 price tag for the SL1 200BNA sits squarely at the top end of the 200-watt affordable LED fixture category, which includes products of similar build, weight, and CCT range. I’ve only reviewed the amaran option above.

iFootage Light Projector accessory

Like NANLITE and Aputure, iFootage now has a projector accessory, too (sometimes called a spotlight modifier with other brands). This accessory has a very controllable 40-degree beam for $349. Several common gobos are included in the kit, which has a case similar in design to the case for the SL1 200BNA.

The iFootage light projector accessory actually helped save an interview shoot for me. We had been sent many scouting images of a beautiful space, only to show up and find that the property had pulled a bait-and-switch and placed us in a very bland ballroom. At the last moment, I was able to grab the iFootage Light Projector out of my vehicle and project interesting shapes on what was a dull beige wall. So, I owe the success of at least one shoot to this iFootage accessory!

After the interview experience, I used the light/projector combo on another project with the Iris Ring accessory, and it worked perfectly to help enhance a character entrance for a sporting event – lots of potential use cases here.

On a different front, use caution if you purchase this projector and any projection modifier, for that matter, if you use it with other Bowens-mount fixtures. Just because the Bowens mount may click into place doesn’t mean it was designed for all COB fixtures, and because of this, it could potentially cause excessive heat. I’ve noticed this fact over the years from using a variety of Bowens-mount fixtures and projector attachments.

Conclusion

iFootage has created a solid and CCT-accurate lighting fixture in the form of the iFootage Anglerfish SL1 200BNA, and this has done much to support my opinion of them as a competent lighting brand. I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen many of the features in the SL1 200BNA somewhere before, but that shouldn’t detract from this light as the Spectrometer tests show some great engineering “under the hood.” It only shows that filmmakers have a lot of choice these days in the crowded 200-watt bi-color category.

Price and availability

All products are available now. The iFootage Anglerfish SL1 200BNA Bi-Color LED Monolight costs $369, the COB 40° Light Projector Attachment is $349, and the Iris Ring accessory is $59.

In my opinion, the real winner here might be the competitively priced iFootage COB 40° Light Projector Attachment that works well and doesn’t show errant light leaks or weird aberrations around the edge of the beam that I’ve seen with other accessories of this type.

What do you think about this bi-color LED light? Will you add the iFootage Anglerfish SL1 200BNA light or the Projector Accessory to your kit? Let us know in the comments below!