Falcon Eyes Bi-Color (New Packaging) RX-18TD Bi-Color Dimmable 3000K-5600K 100W with Softbox Diffuser Portable Flexible LED Photo Light (RX-18TD with Diffuser)
S**A
Great lights, terrible smell
I was really excited to receive these lights, and immediately set them up, turned them on and tried them out. From my brief time with them, they seem to check many boxes: they fold out nicely, produce an intense and very pleasant light, which is improved even further by the included softbox. The 'balast' gives you precise control over the intensity and color of the light. Everything appears to be well-made and durable, and I was looking forward to using the lights on many future video shoots.Later that day, I went to bed, the lights lying open on the floor nearby. For the first time, I noticed the rather strong chemical smell coming from them, but quickly thought, 'Nothing to worry about, they're just a little smelly, that's all.' The next day, I awoke with a pounding headache, feeling nauseous and weak. I vomited several times and made an appointment to see a doctor. Over and over again, I wondered what had suddenly made me so sick. A few days later, a friend of mine also used the lights, and commented on the incredibly strong chemical smell coming from them. He said that he, too, had a 'hangover feeling' the day after using them. Many new items have a 'used car smell' when you first buy them, but I have never, ever smelled anything as toxic-smelling as these lights. I'm not sure what kind of manufacturing process they use to make these, but I'd be surprised if it didn't involve strong and potentially harmful chemicals... I seem to be the only reviewer noticing the strong smell, so perhaps this isn't a problem for most people. If you're not worried about such things, however, then everything else about the lights seems to recommend them.
S**E
Huge thumbs up!
I bought pair of these having come from years of using a Kinoflo Diva 401 kit for mostly talking head interviews. Switching over to these bicolor, lightweight, soft, LED's, was such a welcomed change.Gone are the days of switching out tubes to match ambient light sources. Also, I won't miss lugging the nearly 50 pound Kinoflo kit.Being portable was a big reason why I went for this kit, but that wouldn't matter if I couldn't get accurate light on skin. I'm very happy to report that these lights look fantastic on skin and have held up to road abuse for several months now.Falcon Eyes customer service is also top notch. Like I mentioned, I bought two of these lights and received different baby pins on their x-brackets (one straight and one 90 degree). I emailed them about it and they sent me parts to have matching hardware within the week.Huge thumbs up Falcon Eyes!
J**E
Color temperatures off, but nice features
The brightness is good, a bit more than our Kino Diva 400, however the native daylight color temperature of the light of the 18TD is actually around 4500k, despite the 5600k it shows on the ballast. With a sheet of 1/2CTB you can get the light to true 5600k if you balance the light to 5200k. Also, the 3000k setting I found to be more like 2300k, true 3200k was actually 4250k on the ballast. Kind of a hassle, really wish it was spot on 5600k, but the portability, v-mount, and general features of the light are nice.
M**B
Don't leave home without it. Flexible, bright and looks great on skin tones!
I cannot believe how awesome this light is. You can mount it anywhere, it's bright as hell and it's a perfect travel light. If you bought two of these and put them next to each other, you'd have a large, soft source, similar to the size of a LiteMat4.First things first, you're paying for the fixture; not the accessories, not the case, etc. You're paying $350 for a flexible, bi-color fixture that's so bright it's unbelievable.I would recommend upgrading the light stand holder, placing this in a different case and investing in some different steps of diffusion to make this light even softer and easier to control. The diffusion that comes with this light is fine, but I would get 1/4, 1/2 and full steps of diff so you can control this beast even better.I have been using my LiteMat4 (original) for about 4 years now and have loved it, but it doesn't roll up, its footprint is huge when traveling and it's just not extremely bright. Granted, the light spread is larger and the CRI is probably slightly better, but it's just not ideal for every situation.Lastly, there are a lot of cables that come with this light, so using V-Mount batteries really slims that issue down. They have done a nice job of helping out with that issue when you have to plug in, the A/C box slides into the back of the ballast using a V-Mount adapter, kinda cool.Overall, for $350, it's hard to complain. One criticism, take extra special care of the ballast, the cable that goes from the ballast and screws into the light's cable is not removable, it's wired in. So if that gets pulled too hard, or breaks off, you're screwed. I wish they would have made that cable screw into the ballast instead of wiring it in.
C**T
Great flexible light.
This is a great light. It puts out a ton of light even at its lowest setting. The diffusion that comes with the kit is nice and provides a nice wrapping light around the subject. Setup is fairly when using the included mount. The flex light is really lightweight and flexible and can be mounted anywhere. I love that there isn't a loss of intensity when changing color. If there is any knock on the product it would be the length of the chord from the controller to the light. In most cases this is not a problem as I have both the controller and light on a Cstand but for anything more creative, this might create an issue. For the price this is a really good value. In my experience you cant go wrong with this light. Highly recommend.
M**.
Really nice quality of light, bright enough to be your main light
Really like everything about this light - the quality of light is very nice. Can go from warm tungsten to daylight. The only gripe I have is that the "softbox" that comes with it has zero instructions and to this day I have no idea how it goes together. It also comes with a china ball type diffuser and this one is much easier to figure out, though it knocks down the direction of the light a bit more than I like. Having said that, the light itself is pretty great.
A**R
This is an amazing light, not just for the price but for ...
This is an amazing light, not just for the price but for the quality of the light. With the diffusion it is a very soft light. Great for portrait lighting. You can use it as a key light with lots of punch. The light weight means I can use it on a long boom if needed or hang it from a drop ceiling...or tape it to a wall. I've been waiting for a fixture like this for a long time. I can easily get light to where I need it. The construction of the light and materials seem very robust. I would highly recommend it!
I**N
Good budget solution
Powerful, very light - great alternative for Kino Flo on a budget. Smells like cheap plastic, but nothing crazy as some reviews mentioned. The only problem with that package was a wrong size of rods for a diffuser, making it unusable.EDIT: Seller has sent me a new pack with a diffuser, everything is perfect now.
J**L
Good light for price
It’s great for the price. Needs a better case though.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
2 days ago