Beginner’s Guide to Aputure LED Lights

Aputure lights are among the most trusted professional-grade lights in New Zealand. Filmmakers, cinematographers, and creators alike have fallen in love with their high-output LED fixtures and accurate colour rendering.

If you’re just upgrading your lighting setup, this is an excellent place to start. Consider this your beginner’s guide to Aputure LED lights and all of their subcategories. Figure out what you need, where you need it from, and what key features, settings, and accessories you need to take it to a professional level.

Meet the Aputure Lights Brand

Aputure was founded the way all the very best production-related brands are: by filmmakers. The team felt that lighting was far too expensive and complicated for independent creators to access, so they set out to disrupt the professional lighting industry many years ago.

What really sets Aputure lights apart is their incredible colour accuracy (high CRI and TLCI ratings), so your talent always looks natural and vibrant rather than green or muddy.

Apart from the quality of the lighting itself, Aputure has carefully built an entire ecosystem. Their fixtures are designed for easy use and are modular, so you can attach a variety of lighting accessories and modifiers to change shape and quality. With the right app, you can even control every Aputure light in your studio.

Brands beneath Aputure Lights:

There are two key brands under the Aputure lights umbrella (see what we did there?):

1.     Aputure itself, which has a series of ‘Storm’ lighting lines and fixtures aimed at professional crews. If you’re building for a film set, these lights have weatherproofing, heavy-duty cooling, and a massive output.
2.     Amaran, which is geared more toward ‘prosumers’. These lights have the incredible quality and colour fidelity Aputure is known for, but are lighter and have simpler mounting systems. Their output is also generally lower, and they are designed for shorter shoots.

Aputure itself is undeniably more expensive due to its higher quality, while Amaran offers a more accessible price point for solo creators or teams on a tighter budget.

How to Build a Professional Setup With Aputure LED Lights

Building a lighting rig is remarkably intuitive once you get the hang of a few fundamentals. Aputure LED lights are designed to interact and interlock as an ecosystem, so if you buy from a single line, you won’t run into compatibility issues.

1. First, pick a key light.

The key light is your primary light source. For most beginners, we recommend a point-source LED like the Amaran 200d or the Aputure LS 600d. These are powerful enough to get the job done, and you can shape them with modifiers to set the room properly. If you buy only one thing off this list, make sure it’s a high-output point-source fixture.

2. Sort your colour temperature.

You’ll notice letters after the Aputure model numbers. These indicate available colour temperatures for certain rigs, as below:

1.     d (Daylight): These are fixed at 5600K, matching natural sunlight. They are usually more powerful and brighter.
2.     x (Bi-Colour): These can shift from warm tungsten (orange) to cooler daylight (blue). These are incredibly versatile for matching the existing lights in a room.
3.     c (Full Colour/RGB): These can turn any colour in the rainbow (perfect for creative background lighting).

You’ll mostly notice a higher price point for greater lighting diversity, though this isn’t always the case.

3. Gear up with modifiers.

Direct LED light can be harsh. To get that cinematic look and equip yourself with full flexibility on-set, you need at least one modifier. Aputure’s Bowens Mount system allows you to click on accessories like the Light Dome III (for soft, flattering light on faces) or the Lantern (for soft light that fills a whole room). A big softbox is the secret to making your Aputure LED lights look professional. 

Beyond softboxes, many other modifiers are available, such as fresnels, projection attachments, and reflectors, which give you even greater control over the shape, spread, and character of your light.

4. Consider power and portability.

If you plan on shooting on location across New Zealand, look for lights that support V-Mount batteries. Most Aputure lights come with a control box that runs on batteries, so you can have high-end lighting in the middle of a forest or on a beach where there isn't a power plug in sight.

There you have it! A beginner’s guide to Aputure lights. If you figure out your ideal price point, build a kit with a key light, the colour temperature that suits your needs, modifiers, and portability, and you’ll be good to go.

As you grow into your filmmaking craft, you’ll notice more and more things that you need (either big or small). This is why it’s ideal to work in a good ecosystem from the beginning, so the higher-quality equipment you buy years from now will still be backwards-compatible with your setup from today.

Partner with Photogear to build your professional lighting setup.

We are proud to be New Zealand’s leading experts in videography, photography, and lighting rigs. Come find us in-store to explore lighting rigs with an expert at your side, or browse our Aputure lighting range online to build on your own.