In this video,
we'll be unboxing and reviewing the brand-new, Aputure AL-MX LED Light.
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Let's get into it.
We've got the AL-MX Aputure LED Light with us here today.
This is the retail packaging.
This is a box that comes in.
It's a slide off box just like so.
Let's get into it.
Opening it up, we've got a few bits and pieces here.
We've got the Aputure AL-MX product manual.
We've got a warranty card.
We've also just got an Aputure branding card.
We've got an Aputure carry pouch to suit the MX.
Inside the carry pouch, there's a few bits and pieces as well.
There's the carry pouch there.
In this little Ziploc bag is a diffuser.
Those are the magnetic diffusers.
There's also some 3M double-sided Velcro tape,
adhesive tape that you can attach on to your MX panel.
You've also got a larger diffuser sheet here.
Considering the MX is a smaller LED light, the light source itself is quite small.
So, using larger diffusion sheet like this attached on with some of the Velcro pieces
will definitely spread that light a little bit better, and make that a little softer.
We've got some elastic bands here,
assuming you'd be able to use those with the diffusion sheets.
You've also got a USB-C to USB-C cable.
You have the Aperture ball head.
This ball head here has a 3/8-inch thread at the bottom there.
It's a 360-degree ball head.
You've got a thread adapter
so that changes it from 3/8 to a quarter-inch.
You've got the light itself.
Just slide this light out.
With the light, it actually attached on to it by magnets there,
is the other frosted panel.
That one there you receive two in the box.
Having a look at the second one,
they are a little different in terms of the frosting they provide.
One appears to be a bit more frosted than the other.
You can mount them and double them up if you want to,
or just have one of them mounted, or not at all.
That's the light itself.
That's all that's included.
I've got the Aputure AL-MX light here on a light stand,
as well as its previous model which was the AL-M9.
The MX is the latest version,
adopting a lot of the features from the M9 here.
In terms of its size and form factor that you can see
that it's actually about the size of a credit card or a card.
We've got one about Opal card here.
You can see the dimensions are about the same.
It's about nine centimeters by about four centimeters.
In terms of the actual build itself, if you have a quick look,
on the side here you can see that it's a little thicker.
It's a lot sturdier.
The actual unit itself weighs about 280 grams,
compared to about 140 grams on the M9.
You can tell the difference there. It's almost doubles its weight.
In terms of the actual build quality,
it's the previous model, the M9 is made from a plastic.
The M9 is touted to be made from an aircraft grade aluminum.
You can see that it's quite sturdy and heavy,
and overall, a great little unit.
In terms of--
on the back panel here, a wide sticker is because it has a heatsink.
The heatsink here helps disperse some of that heat,
especially when the lights on, because the light itself produces
quite a little bit of light from this little light source.
In terms of some of the other physical differences,
what remains the same, actually, is the magnetic snap on filters.
You can see they're still magnetic here on the MX.
Some of the inputs and buttons have relocated.
We've got the USB-C input on the right side here,
and on the top, you've got all the controls.
Where previously, on the M9,
you've got most of your controls over on the left side.
They've relocated some of that.
Now, in terms of the LED's themselves, the LED's that the MX users are SMD-LED.
They're surface mounted diodes.
Basically, they're mounted directly to the surface,
and that allows them to pack in a lot of power and light
into this little small unit.
That's why it's such a great and really powerful light for its size.
Now, some of the other features are
a quarter-twenty thread on the bottom here,
which is what we have mounted onto a stand.
That's changed.
Previously, the M9 didn't have any mount at all.
You had to use the included bracket.
That's a good inclusion
because that allows you to mount to it to basically anything.
Overall, it's actually a really great study light,
and really high-quality built.
Now, some of the features
of the new MX light include the Lux intensity.
That's increased.
Now, at one meter, you're about 200 Lux in normal mode.
It also has a booster mode on this particular light.
From 200 Lux, it goes up to 260 Lux at one meter.
It's a substantial upgrade from the M9.
I think, the M9 previously was 80 Lux at one meter.
You can see it's almost--
it's more than double the actual intensity in terms of the light.
Now, the amount of LED's that's on the actual unit itself
is 128 SMD-LED's.
Whereas, previously, there was only nine LED's on the M9.
The beam angle of the light itself is 120°.
It's a wide throw of light.
From this small little light, the actual light source,
it's quite wide in terms of the light spread.
That's a good thing.
With the included diffuser, you'll be able to spread that
a little bit more and soften it a lot more.
You've got a color temp range now.
Previously, this was only at 5500 Kelvin.
Now, you've got the color temp range between 2800 Kelvin,
all the way up to 6500 Kelvin.
You've got that dual color that you're able to do.
If you want to go for the daylight or warm light,
it's a lot more versatile in terms of having a small portable light source.
Now, battery time, we've got at full output on booster mode,
you can have it at about 30 minutes of powering time
for the battery at full charge.
However, if you're only using it on its lowest setting,
you can get about four hours of life out of it compared to the M9.
The M9, basically, at its full output was about 1.75 hours.
That's what they say in the Aputure website.
That's at max brightness.
Overall, as I mentioned, the weight itself is at 280 grams compared to 140 grams.
Those are some of the differences between the two lights themselves.
Going through some of the controls on the Aputure MX,
we've got some of the buttons at the top here.
The control panel has moved to the top of the LED.
On the right side, you've got the on/off button.
It's a slide button, so you can simply turn that on.
You've got a few buttons across the panel here.
Firstly, you've got-- these are dimming knobs.
That's decrease and increase intensity,
which is displayed there by those little icons.
It also acts as a warm/cold.
So, when you change over to the color temp mode,
you can also change the color temperature through that as well.
They double up for these controls.
Firstly, these controls are dimming.
Pressing down on the increase button, they increase the intensity obviously.
And you've also got a booster mode to increase the intensity.
Going from its lower setting,
all the way up to its most powerful setting,
that's when you can boost the light up to that 260 Lux at one meter.
Now, all you need to do to change the color temperature
is simply slide that dial across.
That says dimming and that's the color temperature changing.
Now, you can dim it from cold to warm.
Currently, it's on its coldest setting.
You can start doing it to a warmer setting there as well.
It's as simple as that.
It's a really easy light to use.
It's just got the simple on/off functions, the dimming, and the color temp controls.
Now, for the powering options for the MX,
you've got the USB to USB-C cable provided.
That's all they provide in terms of powering options,
but you've obviously got the internal lithium polymer battery included.
You can plug the USB-C cable in and use a portable battery pack.
If you have that, or if you have a V-lock battery, for example,
with a DTaP to USB connection, you can definitely use that as a battery source.
It's quite versatile in terms of its powering options.
They do that because most videographers and photographers
will have these battery sources with them at any one time.
Having that single source for connection
allows this to be a lot more compact in terms of the size.
In terms of uses for the light,
this little light source definitely can be used as a fill light,
or one of your key lights,
especially if you're doing up-close videos, for example, or photos.
We've turned off one of our studio lights here
off to the right of my face,
just to show what sort of light this would produce
in terms of having a fill light with the use of our other studio lights.
I've got this on now.
You can see that light going across my face,
showing that it is filling in those shadows on this side of my face here.
Some examples we use for the AL-MX include a run-and-gun set up
in low light situations for photos or videos.
You can actually hot shoe mount the light
using the included 360° ball head mount that they provide.
This has a 3/8 inch at the bottom,
but you can use that cold shoe directly onto your hot shoe of your camera,
mount that on the bottom, and use that in low-light situations for photos or videos.
Another would be to attach it onto a gimbal rig, for example.
If you have something like the Zhiyun Crane or the DJI Ronin,
you can definitely mount them with the use of friction arms
or those mounted points on the actual gimbals themselves,
the quarter-inch threads.
Lastly, you can use that as a key or fill light in any light setting.
We definitely use this light here as a fill light
with the use of our other studio lights.
If you need to fill them in a few more shadows in a shot,
we'll use this just because it's so compact and portable,
and it has its own internal battery.
It has its own powering directly on the light itself.
Overall, the Aputure AL-MX is a great little light.
It's really sturdy build quality.
It's got really easy controls.
It's got the USB-C function,
so it allows you to power in different options.
It's a great little light to add to your lighting kit.
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Feel free to leave in the comment section down below your thoughts in the AL-MX.
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Or, visit our website, www.hypop.com.Au.
Thanks for watching.