Hello and welcome to ProAV TV, and today we’ve been given a fantastic opportunity to test
out the brand new Gemini soft RGB Light from Litepanels.
It seems fair to say that the Gemini has been brought out in direct competition to the Arri
Skypanel which we also reviewed a few weeks ago and there’s a link to that video in
the description below. So I will be naturally comparing them a bit as we go through the
Gemini’s features. Arri Skypanels are after all the industry standard LED’s now on most
high-end productions, but I think there’s some definite advantages to using this new
Litepanels Gemini. So let’s take a closer look at some of its features.
Firstly, let’s talk about the most important aspect of any light, its performance. We took
some readings and discovered the light produces just over 8 ½ thousand Lux at tungsten with
a TLCI of 98, and at daylight it goes up to 10 ½ thousand Lux and a TLCI of 96. For a
soft light like this one that is impressively bright, and with accurate colour rendition
as well Which is something the Skypanels do struggle with, they are very bright but achieve
fairly low TLCI scores.
Litepanels have clearly focussed on not only making a light that performs well, but also
making it easier to use. A nice touch is the fact that all the controls are on the underside
of the unit, making them easily accessible when the light is raised on a light stand
or attached to a grid. looking closer at the controls we have dials for intensity and colour
temperature as you expect then also hue and saturation controls to change colour. The
intensity dimming is very smooth and has no dropout at the bottom end at all. It can dim
right down to 0.1%. Along the top you’ll see a row of buttons to switch between various
presets, these function in A + B modes, in B mode there are different common temperature
settings ranging from 2700k to 6000k, and In A mode, you can create and save your own
presets, not just for temperature but colours as well. These presets can also be saved onto
a USB through the port on top so you can then transfer your favourites to other panels without
having to waste time setting them up again and again for every light.
Lighting effects like on the Skypanels are coming in a future firmware, and there’s
also a section in the menu for Gel modes, which replicate popular gel looks with different
intensities of each.
Looking at the build of the Gemini, its actually quite compact. It’s still a big light of
course, but its lower profile than the Skypanels are. The 2x1 panel weighs 11kg and the power
is built-in so there’s no transformer or power supply to attach to the back. There’s
also the ability to daisy chain many panels off the one power supply, and it’s nice
to have the option of 5-pin and RJ45 DMX. Add all this to the mounting brackets and
grooves on the top, bottom and sides of the panel, and you have a much simpler, streamlined
approach to rigging together and working with multiple panels at once.
There are also plenty of the usual accessories available including honeycombs, soft boxes,
barn doors, a double v-mount battery plate and a Bluetooth module for remote controlling.
Overall, I think these are going to be very popular. Litepanels have made a LED light
that not only performs better in some areas than the industry standard, but has listened
to the needs of the user to become easier and simpler to use. But what do you think?
do you agree? Let me know if you’d consider the Gemini for your work in the comments below.
And don’t forget to like and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this. Thanks
very much and I’ll see you next time