Advances in LED lighting innovation with Rotolight AEOS

Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 7th September 2017

Advances in LED lighting innovation with Rotolight AEOS

i There\'s no doubt that lighting plays a critical role in videography, filmmaking and photography. It\'s the area of content capture that brings added creativity to shoots, whether that\'s filming a wedding, producing a commercial or making a movie. Much like cameras have evolved over the past few years, lighting has also evolved; from the traditional tungsten, through to the use of LEDs. Of course LEDs have been revolutionised too, now delivering powerful, cost and energy efficient solutions to creatives.

One of the most recent innovations is the Rotolight AEOS location LED light, an industry first that features an ultra-thin design concept. It weighs less than 1.5kg and is only 1cm thick - making it one of the most portable lights on the market at the moment. The AEOS delivers a powerful light output of 5,750 lux at three feet, but is also one of the most energy efficient LEDs on the market, able to run for three hours at 100% power on a single 95W battery - more than twice as long as the industry standard.

The new light was developed especially for use on location, providing portability and flexibility where videographers, filmmakers and photographers need it most. Adding on to that flexibility, the AEOS is the first location LED light to include integrated aluminium handles, which gives users the freedom to \'work the light\' at angles and positions not otherwise possible. Breaking from traditional convention of LED lights in this form factor, AEOS does not feature a traditional yoke, which typically limits movement of the light to just 30-40 degrees of tilt, limiting control over light spill. Instead, it includes a professional level ball head as standard, providing complete 360 degree rotation, and 200 degrees of tilt when mounted to a light stand. This makes it incredibly versatile and enables users to achieve lighting setups not otherwise possible with traditional light sources. The ball head is made from high-quality, solid aluminium and can support the full weight of the AEOS with battery and barn doors mounted, at any angle.

Industry feedback has been exceedingly positive, with Stefan Lange, visual FX veteran known for films such as Batman, James Bond \'Spectre\' and Tomb Raider, saying: "The AEOS is exactly the light that filmmakers and gaffers have been crying out for. Integrating the handles into the actual light just adds that dimension of flexibility to it and allows users to move and manipulate the light quickly and easily in order to get that perfect shot. I can see filmmakers and photographers alike getting great use out of this new light.\"

AEOS features dual controls for brightness, and fast, tuneable colour on location thanks to the accurate colour temperature display. AccuColour TM LED technology delivers industry-leading colour rendering performance, eliminating the need for timely colour correction of skin tones in post-production.

AEOS also includes Rotolight\'s signature industry-first, patented features, such as CineSFX TM, which provides a suite of cinematic lighting effects, such as lightning, fire and TV flicker; and True Aperture Dimming TM that calculates and displays the F-stop for a subject at a given distance. Other features include Designer Fade TM, custom fade up/down production effects; High Speed Sync Flash (HSS), a powerful HSS flash with zero recycle time at 200% of the maximum continuous light output for traditional photographic workflows; and AccuColour TM LED phosphor technology, which ensures the AEOS delivers exceptional colour rendering (CRI:96+) and scores in the highest category on the independently-tested Television Lighting Consistency Index (TLCI).

These patented features, brought to market in the Rotolight ANOVA, ANOVA Pro and NEO, and are well regarded by industry professions. Leading fashion and celebrity portrait photographer Mark Mann, who has shot a host of Hollywood celebrities, from Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Gillian Anderson, to Liev Schreiber, Emma Stone and Jane Fonda, is a keen user of the range.

"I\'ve tested a few continuous lighting panels in the past - having used strobe for a long time - but I\'ve never liked the feel of them. Until I found the Rotolight Anova,\" Mann says. "I shoot exclusively with Leica so the shots are very sharp, and I was looking for a light that would deliver that level of detail.

"I still can\'t put my finger on why the Anova PRO is so good; the lights are really innovative and beautifully made, but more than that there is something about the soft \'wrap\' of light, its versatility, that gives it a different feel,\" he adds. "It\'s absolutely beautiful and gives you very a filmic feel. They are not too hot, and the 50 spread means the light is very controlled so it is comfortable for the subject, too.\"

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