Small body, big power - Aputure AL-MC RGB LED

by YangFanshun

 

When shooting outside, the biggest fear is sky suddenly darkened down. In the dark conditions, a good camera must improve the exposure of the three elements: aperture, shutter and ISO, but these three elements are easy to cause problems of high noise pictures, picture quality clarity, resolution and so on. How to solve these problems? The best solution is to add some photographic accessories, so that the image quality can be improved mainly from the following aspects. The first one is using a tripod to slow down the shutter speed and to extend the amount of light to get enough exposure time. Secondly, we can add some light, to fill light to the subject and brighten up the subject's brightness. The above two ways, both can effectively solve the problem of picture exposure, but from a practical and creative point of view, adding lights, is undoubtedly better.

There are many ways to fill the light, such as adding a flash, instant burst of light, or adding a reflector to the dark side of the direct fill light, or adding a constant light. In this way, what you see is what you get and the light effect is stable as always. In the process of daily shooting, the additional constant light can help with video and pictures at the same time without any impact.

There are many different brands of LED lights on the market, but from the brand, product applicability, portability, power size, light color rendering, light out and the ability to carry accessories, I recommend you this Aputure AL-MC pocket-sized LED light.

1.Appearance

It is the size of the palm of your hand, so I prefer to call it a pocket light, with a face just a little larger than a bank card in our wallets. It is very light at 128g and with a slim body design at 17mm thick, it fits easily in your pocket and is perfect for outdoor shooting. 

What’s In the Box:

  • Aputure MC RGBWW Led Video Light
  • Silicone Rubber Diffuser
  • Magic Tape
  • USB Type-C Charging Cable
  • Carrying Pouch

Back of the Aputure AL-MC

It has a large logo and the model MC logo printed on it’s back, with magnets on the left and right sides, which can be attached to other magnetic objects.

Left of the Aputure AL-MC

On the left side there is a wheel button, a switch button and the USB-C charging port.

Bottom of theAputure AL-MC

There is a 1/4"-20 threaded mounting hole on the bottom side for attaching on a tripod.

Right of the Aputure AL-MC

Small lights also need to dissipate heat, the right side and bottom of the light body have heat sink holes, so there is no need to worry about the ability to dissipate heat.

Front of the Aputure AL-MC

The front side is composed of 12 LEDs, and the frame is embellished with red metal trim for a more qualitative look.

In addition, there are two magic tapes which can be attached to the back of the light. This gives us a total of three fixing options: using a 1/4"-20 threaded mounting hole fixing, the back of the magnet or using the Velcro fixed.

A silicone rubber diffuser is included, which can do a good job of softening the light effect, but it is easy to stain dust.

2.Operation

  • CCT Lighting Modes

    CCT Lighting Modes has an adjustable color temperature range of 3200-6500K, adjustable in units of 100K, and can also control the brightness of the light.

    • HIS Lighting modes

    Hue can be adjusted from 0-360°, and saturation and brightness can be adjusted.

    •  FX Lighting Modes

    Aputure AL-MC provides: paparazzi/fireworks/faulty bulb/TV/lightning/party/pulsing/cop car/fire 9 preset lighting effects, which can be programmed to demonstrate a good lighting effect. Following are some of the examples.

    Fireworks

    Party

    Lightning

    3.Sidus Link

    Here we have to say that the APP "Sidus Link" is indeed a powerful APP. From UI design to control functions and then to response speed, they are all maintained at a very high level. After connecting to our small light through Bluetooth, in addition to the original mode which can be remotely controlled, it can also absorb color, custom frequency, special effects adjustment, series connection of other light groups and other functions.

    • CCT Lighting Modes

    • FX Lighting Modes

    • HIS Lighting Modes

    • Color Picker

    That’s a very interesting and useful feature. Like the straw tool we have in various post color software, just open the color picker and pick the color you want through the front camera of your phone and you will get the corresponding light color.

    4.Battery life 

    The Aputure AL-MC lasts for more than two hours at full brightness and nearly a day at minimum brightness. In the process of use, the MC's heat dissipation effect is obvious, basically no heat, which is also due to its excellent heat dissipation structure. It also supports Qi wireless charging protocol and USB Type-C PD (Power Delivery) quick-charging protocol for rapid charging, it can be fully charged in about 2 hours.

    5.Applicable scenarios

    • Shooting still objects

    Unlike flashlight, the effect of LED fill light is easy to see, and by adjusting the position of the fill light you can easily find the effect you want for shooting. As the main light source it can produce a clear texture and as a secondary light source it can shoot a more interesting effect.

    • Shooting portrait

    The biggest advantage ofAputure AL-MC is that it is portable, this fill light that can easily fit in your pocket is really convenient to use. Especially for children, the flash may have an impact on the child's vision, and this constant fill light will be much friendlier, and the light will be much softer than the flash direct flash.

    • Painting with Light

    In addition to the common use on still objects and portraits to fill the light, there are ways to play it as light painting. The RGB light painting is very cool!

    6.Summary   5

    Aputure AL-MC as a portable fill light, in addition to the biggest advantage of lightness, combined with app control to maximize the variability, is unsurpassed by other competitors. Although the price is not particularly cheap compared to competitors, the advantage of rich features and super high color rendering are unbeatable, plus the card-like size, which will not become a burden if you carry it, it is extremely suitable for players who are looking for the ultimate in portability.

     


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