iFootage has launched two new panel lights, the Anglerfish PL1 80BN, a bicolor light, and the Anglerfish PL1 80C, a full-color RGB light. iFootage claims both light panels are highly color accurate.
Bicolor light: The Anglerfish PL1 80BN
The Anglerfish PL1 80BN is a bicolor panel light with a CCT range from 2700K to 6500K. It also has a CRI of 98, a TLCI of 99 and an SSI (D55) of 83. What these numbers mean is that the colors in your scene should reproduce very accurately when you use the PL1 80BN as your light source. iFootage says that color accuracy comes from the innovative BLWW technology. This uses a blue LED and a lime LED emitter in addition to the regular warm white and cold white LEDs found in a bicolor light.
RGB light: The Anglerfish PL1 80
The Anglerfish PL1 80C is a full-color RGB panel light. It also has a CRI of 96, TLCI of 99 and an SSI (D55) of 75. The numbers are slightly lower than for the bicolor panel but should still give good color reproduction on camera. In bicolor mode, the PL1 80C has a CCT range of 2700K to 10000K, though this can be expanded to 1400K to 20000K. In addition, the light can operate in full-color RGBW and HSI modes, along with X, Y, GEL, EFFECT and MUSIC functions. The PL1 80C can output 2.8 billion color values, with 90 percent of REC.2020 covered and 36000 HIS color combinations.
Output
iFootage uses its proprietary TIR technology to boost the output of the two panels. This achieves even light dispersion by rotating adjacent LED groups, which prevents local color deviation caused by lights of the same color being in the same row or column. In addition, the light emitted from the LED chips is focused at a 45-degree angle instead of a 120-degree angle. iFootage says that this means brightness is increased by three times. As a result, the maximum output for the PL1 80BN is 7350 lux at one meter and 7200 lux for the PL1 80C at the same distance. With the included diffusion panels, these outputs drop to 2150 lux and 1950 lux, respectively.
Other features
Both the PL1 80BN and PL1 80C panels measure 13.8 inches (351 mm) by 12.5 inches (318 mm) by 2.8 inches (71.5 mm) deep and weigh 5.7 pounds (2.6 kg). They also have a built-in V-mount battery plate for power, along with DC and USB-C PD inputs. In addition, both panels have active cooling with a dual-turbo fan design. You can choose between three fan modes — intelligent, silent and ultra silent — with the latter only producing 28 dB of noise, which shouldn’t affect your audio recordings.
Controls
You can adjust both the PL1 80BN and PL1 80C lights from the onboard controls. There is also a small display on the back of the panels to show information such as color temperature and intensity. In addition, you can control the lights via DMX over USB-C or via iFootage’s own app. The PL1 80BN has 10 built-in creative lighting effects, while the PL1 80C offers 19 effects. These include lightning, faulty bulb, explosion, fire and cop car.
What we think
The Anglerfish PL1 80BN and PL1 80C are both fully featured panel lights. In addition, they have high light output levels, however, the focused beams won’t give as wide a spread as other panels. The built-in V-mount plates are also a nice feature to make it easier to use the lights away from a mains power source. The PL1 80BN and PL1 80C seem like good alternatives to lights, such as the Amaran P60x and P60c. If you are in the market for a bicolor or RGB panel light, then you should check them out to see if they suit your needs.
Pricing and availability
The Anglerfish PL1 80BN retails at $299, and the PL1 80C costs a little more at $329. Both are scheduled to ship in June 2023.
