Aputure’s Spotlight Max Projection Lens is a Light Shaper for Pros
Lighting company Aputure, which recently acquired film and television LED lighting maker Prolycht, has launched the Spotlight Max, a Bowens mount projection lens for high-output LEDs.
The Spotlight Max works alongside Aputure’s 600-watt and 1200-watt lights, like the LS 600D. While the Spotlight Max won’t work with less powerful lights, such as the Amaran 150c and 300c, there are dozens of products in the company’s catalog compatible with the Spotlight Max. Plus, it will work with non-Aputure point-source LED lamps with Bowen mounts and power between 600 and 2,600 watts.
Aputure’s Spotlight Max incorporates customized optics to minimize distortion, maximize power, and ensure consistent color. “Unlike cheaper projection lens mounts, the Spotlight Max cuts no corners when it comes to its optical design. Featuring telecentric optical elements, high-temperature anti-glare flocking in its lens assembly barrel, and texture treatments to the barrel’s inner walls, the Spotlight Max achieves optical clarity and reduces stray light leaks/reflections,” Aputure promises.
“With custom precision optics, the Spotlight Max concentrates and efficiently blends light into a single, clean beam while maintaining its light source’s color accuracy and mitigating chromatic aberration,” the company adds, claiming that the Spotlight Max delivers even edge-to-edge light without any hotspots.
The projection lens also includes internal shutters to cut and shape light output and works with an optional heavy-duty iris insert. Users can adjust the beam angle from five to 50 degrees, and the Spotlight Max has a built-in adjustable Gobo clip.
Aputure initially revealed the Spotlight Max at Cine Gear Los Angeles in June and incorporated some early feedback into the production version. Improvements include better optical clarity, improved control over reflections, new safety features, and more robust construction, as News Shooter reports.
The Aputure Spotlight Max is now available for preorder in three different kits: a 19-degree Lens Kit, a 36-degree Lens Kit, and a 50-degree Lens Kit. All three kits are $1,390 and are expected to ship in January. The optional iris is $159, while the 10-piece Gobo kit for the Spotlight Max is $85.
Image credits: Aputure
