F&V — manufacturer of many innovative LED lighting products — have released their new Softlight F&V Z1200VC ,a 3×1 LED. Let’s have a closer look at the announcement. Z1200VC CTD-Soft I have always loved lighting with soft lights. HMI or tungsten fresnels shot through (multiple) diffusion frames and fluorescent-tube fixtures like KinoFlos have had a fixed place in my arsenal since I began with filmmaking. I tried to steer clear of LED fixtures in the past, because I never liked what they did to skin-tones and always felt the quality of the light was kind of “rough”, not en-par with the soft glow a KinoFlo or diffused tungsten source produced. That changed a while ago, especially when Arri came out with their Skypanel series of soft RGB LED lights. But their high price means that they are out of many budgets in rental as well as for buying them as an owner/operator. Since the introduction of high-end LED lights like the Skypanel and others, various companies have stepped up to making LED soft lights that produce equally “good” quality light — F&V being one of them, with a CRI that matches the one of the Skypanels. Let’s have a look at the F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight – F&V’s newest offer, which appears to be a well thought-out product. 3×1 LED Softlight F&V Z1200VC Technicalities & Color The F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight is roughly 800mm x 290mm x 43mm in size (3x1ft) and is very light at only around 5kg (lamp head only). That makes the fixture one of the lightest contenders in the market. The F&V Z1200VC CTD — a very slim fixture, indeed. The light draws 270W of power and has a beam angle of 130°. F&V rate the light at 1300 Lux at two meters with 3200°K and at 1450 Lux with 5600°K also at 2 meters. That puts the F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight somewhere in the middle of the market’s current offerings in terms of brightness. F&V employs a LED panel technology the named EverTrue Vari-Color, which they claim is superior to bi-color solutions. Their technology allows the color temperature follow the Black Body Radiation Curve more precisely resulting in no magenta or green color shift like it occurs when simply blending together tungsten- and daylight balanced LEDs like it is done in normal bi-color fixtures. This Green/Magenta shift has always been the problem with bi-color fixtures, especially when they were mixed with pure daylight or tungsten sources that were balanced with gels. One of the reasons I never use Bi-color LEDs. Ever. I rather gel daylight LEDs with CTO to match tungsten sources. F&V claim that light temperature can be adjusted from a very low 2400°K to 9900°K, which is quite a huge range compared to other products and will come in handy when matching existing light sources or for creative work. Speaking of matching existing light sources: the F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight offers Tint Controls and Green/Magenta shift, which should make matching the tint of existing practicals or movie-lights much easier. Z1200VC CTD – Vari-color vs. Bi-color The TLCI (Television Lighting Consistency Index) of the lamp is given at “up to” 99 by F&V and they claim to factory-calibrate their lamps so that there are no inconsistencies between multiple fixtures. I presume the “up to” means that the precision is not constant across the full-color temperature range. Power, Control & Mounting The fixture can be powered by either a 2-slot battery plate (Standard is V-Mount an Anton Bauer is optional) or via an AC adapter. (The V-Mount plate is included in the Rental- and Location kits, not in the Studio Pack.) Z1200VC CTD – AC power adapter or twin V-Mount A separate unit is used to control the lamp and adjust settings either directly on the unit, via DMX and via WiFi. A variety of pre-programmed lighting effects like Party, Club, Lightning, TV a more can be dialed-in and adjusted by the user – making the fixture a lighting SFX tool. F&V has hinted at more effects that will be added —presumably via a firmware update. Another neat feature is user-selectable dimming curves – these can be useful in a variety of scenarios. Just think about a simulated sunrise or adjusting the dimming-curve to match tungsten lights that need to be dimmed live at the same time. AC Adapter and Controller unit can be attached or detached The Controller and the AC adapter (alternatively a battery mount) can be either mounted directly to the back of the lamp or taken off the lamp and used much like the ballast of an HDMI or Kino-Flo. NOTE: This is a neat feature, because you can change the depending on where you want to rig the lamp choosing between a compact fixture with minimal cabling and the lightest possible lamp-head configuration. The standard way of mounting the lamp is a central lollipop-mount, which enables the light head to be rotated freely in many ways — probably the best solution for location- and most studio scenarios. F&V also offer an optional Pole Operation Yoke, which is useful when the lamp is used in a semi-permanent studio setting. Conclusion If the F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight delivers, what F&V promise (at a very reasonable price point) they could have a winner on their hands that will be seen on many larger and smaller sets out there. What also remains to be seen is the build quality of the lamp body and the accessories – whether they can stand some abuse on set will determine if the lamp is suitable for rental or if it’s more suited for owner /operators. The lamp head itself has passive cooling and will not cause any noise issues, but it remains to be seen whether there are fans in the AC adapter or the control unit that might. F&V are currently offering three kits that include the lamp head and various accessories: the Location Pack, Studio Pack, and the Rental Pack. What do you think of LED lights in general and LED Softlights in particular? Is the F&V Z1200VC CTD-Soft LED Softlight something you think you will be using or even buying? Let us know in the comments!

At IBC 2017 we caught up with Mark Voss, who showcased the new F&V 1×1 and 3×1 LED panels, both of which offer strong output and soft light. In the saturated market of LED panels, it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. The latest offerings from F&V aim to satisfy customer demand for powerful yet soft LED panels. The new F&V 1×1 LED panel offers a powerful output of light at a 70° angle when bare-faced. The light manages to pack quite a punch at a 1m distance, making it still usable outdoors – something that F&V achieved by designing the LED array with lenses surrounding each of the bulbs. When you add the diffuser, the F&V 1×1 beam angle increases to 90°, offering a bit more spread and a softer light quality while retaining a lot of the brightness. The manufacturer also managed to integrate very fine brightness adjustment into the new F&V 1×1. In addition, it is capable from starting from a very dim initial setting – something usually not found in regular LED panels which they tend to start from a 10 or 15% power even at their lowest settings. This is particularly helpful when dealing with the more sensitive cameras available these days. F&V will be releasing this new 1×1 panel in the coming months, with a retail price of €549 for the daylight-only version, and €599 for the bi-colour version. They will be available individually and as 3-light kits.  F&V also showcased its new 3×1 panel, which joins the Soft series as a versatile and powerful striplight solution. It offers around 270W of LED power resulting in a very strong, yet soft light. F&V has decided to do away with the yoke mount, opting instead for a ball mount to allow positioning it in a variety of angles. The pricing for the 3×1 is expected to be around the €2K range, and it should become available in the next two to three months. Could the new small F&V 1×1 find its way to your lighting kit? Let us know in the comments below!