review: aputure 600c pro II
What’s up my fellow light lover!
Today’s review covers the Aputure 600c Pro II. This update to the original 600c Pro boasts increased brightness, better low level dimming, and an IP54 rating.
These upgrades sound enticing, but are they worth the cost if you have an original 600c that’s still working? Is this light worth purchasing if you’re like me and are looking for your first high wattage RGB light?
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intro
The Aputure 600c Pro II is a 720watt COB-style RGBWW light. The fixture comes with a ballast, head unit, power cable, extended header cable, and a newly updated reflector dish.
Since much of this light is similar to the original release both in form and in function, I only want to touch upon a couple of my favorite features before we dive into testing the claimed upgrades.
Like the rest of Aputure’s pro lineup, the intensity level in all modes can be adjusted in 0.1% increments.
The CCT mode has a wide color temperature range, going from 2,300 Kelvin at the low end to 10,000 Kelvin at the upper, while including green/magenta adjustment.
And, the HSI mode includes my favorite feature – one that I hope becomes standard as the industry moves forward. This light allows us users to set the color temperature of the white point when the light is at 0% saturation. This setting can be useful for adding colors to our scenes when the color temperature of the camera has been shifted to something other than 5600 Kelvin – like if we’re trying to match to the color temperature of the on-location lighting while still maintaining proper brand colors on a commercial gig.
comparison to original
Aputure is claiming three upgrades on the 600c Pro mark II when compared to the original 600c:
- an IP54 rating
- better low-level dimming and
- increased brightness
First, Aputure was able to secure an IP54 rating for this new unit, meaning it’s dust-protected and water splashing against the enclosure in any direction won’t affect operation. I’m pretty happy with this upgrade, which brings the weatherproofing of the 600c II in line with the rest of their pro fixtures. Uh… There really isn’t much else to say. Put it in the rain, put it in the snow, put it in the elements, and let it do its thing.
Number two, better low-level dimming.
Now, this is definitely NOT what I was expecting in terms of upgrades, but I’m kind of psyched on this – although not for the main reason Aputure has been marketing. Let me tell you why.
One of the main issues with the 600d and 600x, and one that the 600c mark 1 also sort of suffers from, is the inability to get really dim when the intensity is set to 0.1%. What this meant from a gaffer standpoint is that I always needed to have a few smaller lights on hand in case the 600’s were too powerful to balance to existing lighting on location. But now, the low-level dimming of the 600c II really opens up the possibilities for where a 600 watt light can be used in on-location work.
Also, the DMX cue from 0%-2% over 5 seconds IS much smoother on this light than the 600d or the 600c mark 1, as well as the initial “spark” from 0 to 0.1%, which is probably what they were really trying to sell us on.
As for the increased brightness, well that question brings us to the most important section of any light review, so let’s talk about the light quality of the Aputure 600c II.
light metrics
I tested the original 600c Pro, the 600d Pro, and the new 600c Pro II in maximum output mode using the F10 fresnel in either spot or flood mode as indicated over the course of the next section.
The overall conclusion is that the 600c II does indeed increase brightness while maintaining a similar quality of light as the original 600c, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
GRAPH 1
First, I measured the output at intensity levels from 100% to 5% in 5% increments at both 5600 and 3200 Kelvin with the F10 fresnel in flood mode from ten feet away. Here’s what the resulting graph looks like for the 600c mark 2, along with the actual measured values that I obtained here on the left.
The most important takeaway from this first graph is that the 600c II doubles output when the intensity value is doubled anywhere along the intensity range. I love this result because when the DP asks for a light to be reduced by a stop, I know I can just cut the intensity in half.
For reference, here’s how the these results compared to the original 600c with the F10 fresnel in flood mode.
As you can see, the 600c mark II is one-stop brighter than the mark 1. At 7000ish lux max output at 5600 Kelvin, the new 600c mark II is also about two-thirds of a stop dimmer than the 600d, which topped out at 11,300 lux in this same test.
When the fresnel is switched to spot mode, the measured lux values for the 600c mark 2 more than doubled at peak intensity at 5,600 Kelvin – going from 7,000 lux to 15,000 lux, while still maintaining the same output to intensity ratio as described earlier. And as for how the 600c mark 2 compares to the other two, here’s how that data looks. Very similar ratio between these three lights as in flood mode, the 600c II about one stop brighter than the original 600c and about 2/3 of a stop dimmer than the 600d.
To see how the low end dimming performs, I tested the output at each intensity level from 2% down to 0.1% in 0.1% increments. The 600c II dims to just 21 lux at 0.1% intensity at a distance of 10′ with the f10 fresnel in spot mode. And it does this while consistently doubling the measured output every time the intensity is doubled. The quality of the light also continues to meter within 100 kelvin of 5,600 kelvin along this lower intensity spectrum, although the magenta shift does increase slightly to just below a 1/4 magenta correction as intensity lowers to 0.1%.
When compared to the other two, we can clearly see the difference in the low-level performance between the new mark 2 and the original 600c, and how vastly better the low level performance of the 600c II is compared to the 600d. If you stared at the prior intensity graphs way too much like me, you’ll remember that the 600d was around 3,000 lux at 5%, so to only further reduce by 2/3 of a stop down to 1,850 by 0.1% shows a pretty poor relationship between intensity and lux at the low end. Especially when compared to the performance of the new 600c II, which is able to reduce it’s output all the way down to 21 lux. And that’s with the F10 Fresnel in SPOT mode, so that figure could be even lower.
GRAPH 2
Another thing I like to know is how consistently a light stays at either 5,600 kelvin or 3,200 kelvin as intensity is reduced from 100% to 5% in 5% increments.
Ideally, a light stays measures exactly at 5600 kelvin or 3200 kelvin, with no green/magenta shift, labeled as delta uv or “duv” on these graphs. The 600c II tested pretty well in this regard, at both 5600 kelvin
and 3200 kelvin.
The delta uv was approximately -0.0020 for both graphs, indicating a magenta color shift equal to approximately a 1/8th color correction gel.
And we can see here that both of these graphs are relatively similar to the 600c mark 1, although I do wish that the 3,200 Kelvin readings on the new 600c mark 2 were as tight as the original 600c.
I was curious why both the original 600c and the 600c II had this noticeable magenta hue shift to them at both 5600 Kelvin and 3200 Kelvin when I know Aputure has the technical capability to minimize this…
and I found my answer when I did this same test on the 600d.
It appears to me like Aputure has tuned their whole product lineup to be similar in output to their older daylight fixtures. This way, everything blends well when working together, even if this means sacrificing a small amount of color accuracy on their newer RGB fixtures.
And if you’re curious to learn more about this graph, like why the y-axis is labeled using the weird spacing like I did, or how I created any of the upcoming graphs, feel free to click the link in the description to watch my color science primer video!
GRAPH 3
This next graph shows how well the Aputure 600c II tracks TM-30 reference white values as color temperature is adjusted from 2,700 kelvin to 7,000 kelvin in 100 kelvin increments. Put another way, this graph shows how well this light tracks the idealized color temperature and green/magenta adjustment curve. This standardized color temperature line is labeled as the TM-30 REF line here.
This graph really highlights to me how Aputure’s dedication to color-correcting their newer RGB lights to work with their older lights to maintain an “ecosystem” could also be viewed as a detriment.
The 600c II is above an 1/8 magenta color correction gel for much of the color temperature range, and nearly at 1/4 color correction value starting at 6,000 Kelvin.
There’s also this really weird jump in the magenta value at 5,900 kelvin, where the light visibly goes from a 1/8th to a nearly 1/4 magenta color correction value. I tested this oddity multiple times to verify it, so it isn’t just an experimental fluke.
This shift also appears as the intensity is adjusted from 100-75-50-25%, becoming less noticeable as intensity is reduced.
For reference, here’s how those same measurements look on the original 600c. We can see how this light has a similar magenta shift, meaning these lights will probably do a great job blending together. And one framing is that this is a great move since they original 600c and the newer 600c mark 2 are technically the same model. But as a result of this magenta shift, both of the 600c’s may not blend perfectly with more color accurate lights without additional fine tuning by the operator.
GRAPH 4
But enough about color temperature! These are RGB lights! So how well does the 600c II perform in RGB mode?
This first graph represents how much of the color gamut is covered by the 600c II in RGB mode as viewed in a CIE 1976 color space, which was chosen because it is a perceptually uniform color space. X Y coordinates were obtained using a sekonic c800, which were then translated to u’ v’ coordinates using the standard transformation formula. Measurements were taken in 30 degree hue increments from 0 to 360 degrees, and as saturation was decreased from 100% to 75% to 50%. I also took readings across intensity levels of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% to make sure the 600c mark 2’s color reproduction stayed consistent across intensity levels. This and the following RGB tests were done at a distance of 10′ with the F10 fresnel in flood mode.
While there isn’t a perfect standard for manufacturers to hit on this graph, I’d have still liked to see Aputure cover the gamut more evenly. Particularly between 100% and 75% saturation, as these values barely perceptibly change for some of the hues. Like red for instance, we can see how close these points are on this graph, and here’s what that same saturation change of 100% to 75% looks like to my camera. Barely noticeable! And 50% saturation still leaves a lot of ground to cover to get to the 0% saturation white point located here.
However, this graph does stay relatively consistent as intensity is reduced from 100% to 75% to 50% to 25%.
Compared to the original 600c, we can see that a lack of even-distribution amongst gamut coverage was something that the original 600c suffered from as well, and at each intensity level.
One thing I do want to note, is that it seems Aputure has gotten new LED emitters for their blue and green LEDs between models. The original 600c had a blue emitter around 465 nanometers, while the new 600c II seems to have one around 455 nanometers. 465 nanometers targets the actual wavelength of blue as our eyes see it. This new blue diode at 450ish nanometers is closer to a pure blue LED diode wavelength.
Also, the green led follows that same trend and has moved from around 540 nanometers to like 530ish nanometers now, shifting from targeting true green wavelength to a more pure green LED diode output.
I’m not really sure what to make of this, there’s a variety of reasons from supply chain issues to how condensed the LEDs are on the COB that could have caused this switch. If you have thoughts, let me know in the comments!
GRAPH 5
Another way to look at this data is to ask these two questions, “how consistent does the 600c II stay at the selected hue value as intensity is adjusted from 100-75-50-25%?” and “Does this consistency change as saturation is adjusted from 100-75-50%?”
When viewed this way, the 600c II stays relatively consistent across intensity levels at 100% saturation. At 75 and 50% saturation, we begin to see a visible shift in the output of the purple and pink hues as intensity is reduced.
This 50% saturation graph also highlights to me again how much of the color gamut is left to cover with what’s left of the adjustment knob.
And, for reference, here’s how the original 600c performed at each intensity level.
GRAPH 6
Lastly, I tested the light in HSI mode from 0-360 degrees in 5 degree increments. This was done at 100% intensity and 100% saturation. This graph gives us an indication of how well a light performs at covering the entire hue wheel.
Like the prior RGB graphs, there isn’t an ideal graph for a manufacturer to hit here.
However, these tight groupings in the corners at red, green, and blue means a loss of fidelity in other areas. We can see this represented as these longer spacings in the hue values here, here, and here.
These groupings in the corners also means that when we’re near hue values of 0, 120, and 240 degrees, the light won’t perceptibly change to us until we’re nearly 10 degrees away, like in the case of red and blue, or almost 20 degrees away like with green.
I would have hoped that this would be more evenly spread as the values between 0, 120, and 240 should just theoretically be calculated averages. But even when viewed in the more commonly used CIE 1931 color space, we can see there isn’t any standardized distance to the spacing of these points.
A lack of consistency in the spread of the measured hue values is another area that Aputure struggled with in the previous model, as we can see when we compare the two.
SSI/TM30
As for the quality of the spectral output, at 5600 kelvin the 600c Pro II had an SSI[d] score of 73 and a TM-30 Rf score of 93.
At 3,200 Kelvin, the SSI[t] score was 85, with a tm-30 RF score of 96.
These readings were taken at a distance of 3′ with the bare COB.
These results, while not outsanding, do put the 600c II right in line with most other fixtures in 2024.
general notes
I’m just gonna rapid fire some final observations at you about the 600c mark 2 before we talk about whether or not I think it’s worth the $2500 USD price tag.
First, I’d like to see Aputure change how their head unit is designed for upcoming launches. It would be great if us end users could replace the brake mechanism ourselves after it’s worn out with time. This isn’t a complaint that’s particular to the 600c mark II, but I just wanted to throw it into the void and hopefully it gets heard and put on someone’s to-do list.
In CCT mode, there is a noticeable intensity blip around 27ish percent when I do an intensity sweep up or down through that value. This jump begins happening at 4400 Kelvin and continues all the way to 10000 Kelvin.
Two menu options are different on the new 600c II. There’s no frequency selection, and there is the addition of a DMX status screen. The exclusion of the former is because Aputure has implemented flicker-free operation and rolled it into their “HyperSync Technology” branding, and the inclusion of the DMX status screen showing address, mode, signal strength, and battery life is much appreciated for those of us who run our lights with CRMX controllers.
Speaking of DMX, there is a DMX smoothing option included in the 600c II.
One thing that does bug me with the DMX connection though is that unlike the original 600c, once the light is connected to a CRMX controller, it can no longer be manually operated from the ballast. Even if I don’t have my iPad open and sending a DMX signal, it still won’t let me switch over.
And lastly, and very weirdly, the case got bigger! The light is the same size, it’s the same body housing and ballast, so why did the case need to get larger?!
outro
Alright, after hearing everything I’ve had to say, should you buy this light?
Honestly, while I did buy a second one, this light kind of feels like a version 1.5 in some ways to me. The increased intensity is *truly* the reason I’m buying it, and the decreased output at 2% and below is… nice to have, ya know, but these features also feel to me like ideas that Aputure was testing for newer lights by using the 600 head-size as a prototype reference. Then, when Aputure realized they could just package these newer features into the 600c, they turned on the manufacturing process, ran a few tests, and here we are. And while the light *does* match perfectly with the rest of *THEIR* ecosystem, I would prefer it if the CCT mode on a fully green/magenta adjustable light was tuned to meter closer to the TM-30 reference point since that’s the actual standard, and this is definitely something I wish they fixed between releases.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I like this light, again, enough to purchase another one for my own kit, but I completely understand why some more recent purchasers of the original feel like this release was a gut-punch. Especially without any buyback program in place.
So, if you’ve already got the original, and you’re still getting rentals, and the output at both the high and low ends hasn’t been an issue for you, then I don’t really see a reason to upgrade to the mark II. The color science between the two models is the same, so there aren’t any gains to be had there.
However, if you’re like me, and were unimpressed with the output of the original 600c, so you waited to buy it, crossing your fingers and hoping for an eventual 600c release that would be closer to the intensity of a 600d, then I’m sure that this is the light you were waiting for. Incremental improvements between models aside, when viewed solely as it’s own release and not a second generation, this light performs well and is built to the same quality as the rest of the Aputure Pro lineup.
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Aputure provided the 600c Pro II for review
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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 1-Ton Grip & Electric truck based in Denver, Colorado and serves the Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, & Fort Collins markets