review: Aputure MC Pro 8-light kit & 5 ways to use it on an actual film set
Are you interested in purchasing the new Aputure MC Pro 8-light kit? Let’s cover some real-world use cases so you can decide if this one’s right for you!
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What is UP light lover?! This review will cover the MC Pro 8-light kit by Aputure. It starts with 5 ways that I’ve been able to integrate this kit into my lighting setups. Then, I give you my thoughts on the pros and cons of the kit, and I’ll finish by saying if I think the MC Pro 8-light kit is worth the price of admission!
use case #1
This first category I’m referring to as “pockets of light”. Because the MC Pros have such a small form factor, they can be hidden somewhere in frame anytime some extra light is needed. Shelving units like you see behind me, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, cabinets, briefcases, comic book cases, car dashes, whatever.
Some of these appliances already have lights, so why would I want to pop an MC in there? Let’s take the microwave for example. The existing lighting doesn’t have much output, nor does it provide any kind of shape to the face. It’s there, it just kind of exists though. Let’s pop an MC Pro into the microwave. Now, I’m able to control the intensity, the color temperature, AND I can alter the angle it hits the subject’s face from.
use case #2
These lights don’t always need to stay out of frame though, sometimes they do just fine in-camera.
I’ve attached MC Pros to c-stands at varying distances and heights from the subject to provide depth in a location that had none. Sort of like very expensive tea lights. I’ve also stuck these under lampshades for a controllable bulb replacement. Not necessarily in-camera, but they also work well to simulate the output of all of our modern devices like phones, laptops, iPads, whatever.
use case #3
The bubble diffuser isn’t included with the kit, but I definitely consider it a must-have addition. My favorite way to use this diffuser is to pop it on an MC Pro, put it on a magic arm, attach it to the A-cam, and set it to 1%. I get the perfect circular eyelight every time.
use case #4
The inclusion of a CRMX chip is a very welcome additional to the MC Pro. This chip enables wireless DMX cues for things like color fades, special effects, scene changes, whatever. I’ll touch more upon CRMX control later in the review as well.
use case #5
Since these lights are so small, they can be hidden in frame to add a pop of light to brighten up specific objects in frame. I’ve used them to light trees in driveways in night scenes, to highlight company product in the background of interviews, brighten elements in frame for narrative reasons, you get the idea.
use case #6
Here’s a bonus use case: consistently keeping this kit on the truck means I’ll never forget a hair light, kicker, or rim light again. Sure, there are more ideal lights for the job, but in a pinch at least I’ll have something. Bonus, the included rigging kit allows me to have both a hair and kicker from the same stand using the mini clamp and baby pin.
pros
Okay, I’ve covered the ways I use this kit on set, but how has it held up in daily use?
First, the on-unit controls are intuitive and easy to use. I’m often handing these units to someone who hasn’t used it before and they seem to figure it out pretty quickly every time.
I have yet to find the output of these lights to be lacking for whatever they’re called to do. The color specs are also on par for this generation of LED lighting. I’ll flash through some of the metrics now for those of you that are curious about their spectral output. Feel free to pause at any point, and let me know in the comments if you think I should drop a video explaining what these metrics mean in detail!
I’ve found the battery life has been surprisingly good. Not only does the case come with 8 units, so I can charge 4 while using 4, but I seem to never be able to burn even one of them down during a set day anyway. Your mileage may vary however, we’re all lighting different things!
Speaking of battery, I’m a big fan of the new wireless charging system. It is super convenient to just drop the MC in the charge slot, see the indicator light pop, and know that it’s charging. I also don’t need to worry about an overzealous PA accidentally ripping a cord out of the socket when grabbing them in a rush either!
The CRMX chip is a welcome addition for those of us that use Blackout or other DMX control setups. Being able to finally integrate these into the rest of my wireless control setup and put them on cues not only opens up creative possibilities, but can be a significant time saver when multiple MC Pros are used in a setup.
Using magnets to attach the modifiers is a no-brainer and I’m glad they upgraded to this attachment style for the diffusers on the MC Pro.
An IP65 rating means they can be exposed to the elements without worry.
Lastly, the included grip hardware also happen to be the things I would reach for anyway whenever I’m rigging these. As someone who likes to be prepared for anything, I would have liked to see a magnet with a 5/8” thread in here as well, but fortunately those are only $20 on B&H.
cons
I know what you’re thinking, “This review sure has had lot of good things to say, don’t you have any criticisms you Aputure fanboy?”, so let’s expose some of the ways this kit fell flat.
While the units themselves are fairly color accurate, putting the dome diffuser that comes with the kit warms the color temperature output by about 20%. When set to 10,000K, the reading is pretty spot on from the bare unit, but when I add the dome diffuser, you can see the new output reads around 8,000K. This happens across the whole color temperature range, 5,600K, 3,200K etc.
Second, there’s no way to remove the multiple shadowing effect when using the supplied grid modifier. And if you add the thin diffuser to try to reduce the multiple shadowing, you get light leak out the side of the unit, and still don’t really remove the multiple shadowing.
I’ve never used both mini clamps because I need to keep one of them in the case as reference for how to put the other back. I am a fan of playing Tetris with my kit, but I’m not sure I’ll ever remember how these go back properly.
Finally, and a very first world complaint, I’ll use this to charge my phone, and boy it’s like I shouldn’t even bother. Not sure what’s going on but I can’t get any sort of fast charging to my phone out of this USB port. Seems to charges an MT Pro just fine though.
conclusion
Do I think this kit is worth $1,900? If you’re a gaffer or rental house then definitely. These lights will smoothly integrate into your existing workflow, and the all-in-one carry case combined with the output and form factor is just too convenient to not have on the truck.
For basically the same price, you also get twice as many lights as the DMG Dash kit. Sure, there may be some advantages to the DMG Dash related to intensity, but I haven’t needed additional intensity whenever I’m using the MC Pros, so I can’t justify a two-fold increase in price per unit.
If you’re just starting out on your lighting journey though, I believe that you are better off buying a couple MC Pros for $200 each. Play around with those before making this significant of an investment, because that amount of money can definitely be better spent elsewhere to speed up your learning process. For nearly $2,000 you could have a quality starter setup with something like 2 amaran 300c’s, 2 amaran PT2c’s, and an MC pro. You’ll learn much quicker how these different types of lights fit together in a cohesive setup, and be able to light more scenes due to their combined versatility.
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disclaimers
– Aputure provided the MC-Pro 8 light kit
– Some of the links in Tyler’s blog posts are affiliate links, which means that qualifying purchases will help financially support Tyler at no extra cost to you. If you wanted to purchase something else but still support Tyler, please use the following link: https://amzn.to/3WdnsdM
– This blog post contains only Tyler’s opinions about G&E, gaffing, and LED lighting, and was not reviewed or paid for by outside persons or manufacturers
– Tyler Trepod is a freelance owner/operator gaffer of a Grip & Electric truck based in Denver, Colorado and serves the Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, & Fort Collins markets