Aputure STORM 1000c Review

Aputure’s new STORM 1000c was unveiled along with STORM 80c, expanding its STORM family of point source lights. These tunable color lights feature the new BLAIR-CG light engine (Blue/Lime/Amber/Indigo/Red/Cyan/Green), offering a claimed color spectrum greater than any other professional LED fixture currently available.

The STORM 1000c looks to build on the already impressive STORM 1200x that I previously reviewed on the site. It will also be interesting to see how close it is to the STORM 80c when it comes to some of the photometric results.

In addition to the new lights, Aputure also announced a host of matching accessories, including all-new compact fresnel lenses, which are claimed to provide excellent optical performance along with reduced size and weight.

The STORM 1000c is being touted as a powerful point-source COB light. It boasts an extended white light adjustment of 1800-20,000K CCT with 100% +/- green control, which is the full ASC MITC range of adjustment.

The light draws 1440W, which is the same as the STORM 1200x.

Just like the STORM 1200x, the STORM 1000c features the ProLock Locking Bowens Mount, which is a secure clamping design to hold Bowens accessories rigidly in place and precisely aligned with the light engine.

Lights in this form factor are very popular because of their versatility, and that is why we have seen so many companies making them. We are now starting to see more options coming to market with higher outputs and power draws. So, let’s get on with the review and see how the Aputure STORM 1000c stacks up.

Concept

The whole concept behind the new technology in the STORM 1000c was to create highly tunable white light and full colors with the best quality and highest output.

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The STORM 1000c does look fairly similar to the STORM 1200x.

BLAIR-CG Light Engine

The new BLAIR Light Engines are undoubtedly a direct result of Aputure acquiring Prolycht last year. With both Aputure and Prolycht engineers now working together for the same company, they have been able to come up with something that is quite unique. Aputure claims that the new BLAIR-CG light engine is the best tunable color light ever produced in an LED, delivering the greatest range and highest color accuracy. It can reach 90% of Rec2020 colorspace, achieving saturated colors in shades otherwise unobtainable, such as accurate yellow.

Aputure could have taken the easy path and just used the RGBACL light engine from Prolycht, but they decided to go in a slightly different direction.

Like the BLAIR light engine found in the STORM tunable white lights, the BLAIR-CG includes a calibrated indigo emitter, which emulates the near-UV light of real daylight and tungsten. This activates the natural fluorescence of various fabrics, plant life, and other materials, thereby replicating the effect of natural light. White fabrics can appear whiter, colors more vibrant and all surfaces in general will appear the same as they do under natural light.

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The BLAIR Light Engine in the STORM 1200x utilizes blue, lime, amber, indigo, and red, LED emitters. With the new STORM 1000c, Aputure has added additional cyan and green emitters. This is quite different from RGBWW or RGBACL. Lights that utilize RGBACL don’t use any white LEDs, instead, they mix all of those different color LEDs to produce white light, and that’s essentially what BLAIR is doing too.

The light engine was designed to deliver a better quality white light to fill out the color spectrum while offering greater adjustability. The calibrated Indigo is said to enhance fluorescing materials, resulting in a higher quality white light that better matches natural daylight and black body sources such as tungsten quartz.

Adding Indigo is very interesting because the light it emits is right at the edge of our visible spectrum and that is why engineers probably haven’t thought about doing it before, that was until now. But why Indigo? Well, not all objects or surfaces reflect light; some of them absorb it. What Aputure engineers found is that by adding an Indigo emitter, certain materials and objects retained their natural brightness and color. In practice, this actually makes quite a noticeable difference. In some of the examples I have seen, you can certainly see its benefits. The benefits will be more noticeable when using the light at daylight CCT setting as opposed to tungsten.

The human eye is only really capable of detecting wavelengths from 380 to 700 nanometers, and most LED lights don’t contain any information below around 420 nanometers. The BLAIR light engine adds information right out to 380 nanometers.

Utilizing color control functions such as HSIC+, xy coordinates, and a gel equivalency mode, BLAIR-CG is claimed to be capable of matching gelled incandescent lights, target hues, and heavily saturated objects and dyes.

Aputure decided to call it BLAIR because they wanted to avoid the alphabet soup confusion of other RGB variants. Regardless of whether you like the name or not, it is easier to remember.

The human eye is only really capable of detecting wavelengths from 380 to 700 nanometers, and most LED lights don’t contain any information below around 420 nanometers. The BLAIR light engine adds information right out to 380 nanometers.

How did they arrive at BLAIR?

Instead of just making incremental improvements, Aputure got to the point where they asked themselves, What are we trying to do, and what are the problems we are trying to solve. They wanted to come up with a better mousetrap and not just build another existing one. This led them to look at different ways of coming up with an alternative solution to what was already available. Aputure received a lot of feedback from Art Directors, make-up artists, etc., that things just never seemed to look quite right when trying to replicate daylight sources.

With LED lights, replicating tungsten has always been a lot easier than replicating daylight. A lot of LED lights when used at daylight CCT settings never quite look right. The color of skin tones, fabrics, etc. can look slightly off. This led Aputure to re-look at the spectrum to see what was missing.

What Aputure found is that there was a discord between measuring colors with a meter and seeing what actually happened when it came to light being reflected and absorbed by colors. Certain surfaces reflect light, and others absorb it, and then there is another group that reflects back light that is different from what is hitting it. This can lead to differences in color and brightness. This discovery led to what Aputure believes was the key ingredient that was missing in the color engine, Indigo.

Probably the best way to describe it is that if you were to shine an incandescent UV light at an object, you can see how bright that reflected light is compared to the light being emitted from the source.

If an LED light doesn’t have a certain frequency that is contained in UV light it won’t look the same. This is why so many LED lights struggle to replicate daylight sources because up to now, those frequencies weren’t being generated by the light engine. Why engineers didn’t see this in the past, is because they believed that these frequencies weren’t visible to the human eye, but what they were overlooking was that the reflected light from these frequencies was visible.

Now, some other companies have been using an extra blue emitter in their light engines to help replicate better daylight sources, and while that may sound similar to what Aputure is doing, it isn’t exactly the same. Companies like Maxima are using technology to add more information out toward the edges of the spectrum, but it’s not the same as what Aputure is now doing.

The above image from Aputure compares their light to a traditional RGBW fixture.

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If we look above at the daylight spectrum of the Maxima 6 GaN or Maxima 3, you can see the extra blue spike at around 430nm, this is similar, but not quite the same as what I expect to see with the Aputure STORM 1000c. The Maxima 6 GaN utilizes Gallium Nitride which is a binary III/V direct bandgap semiconductor that is well-suited for high-power transistors capable of operating at high temperatures. Since the 1990s, it has been used commonly in light-emitting diodes (LED). Gallium nitride gives off a blue light used for disc-reading in Blu-ray. 

Now, what you clearly need to remember is that the Maxima 6 GaN and Maxima 3 are daylight-only (5600K) fixtures.

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If we have a look at a full-spectrum fixture that is doing something similar, in this case, the ZOLAR Vega 30C, you can see there is extra information at around 400nm. You can also see why this translates to high SSI scores.

If we look at an LED light that isn’t utilizing this type of technology, such as the ARRI Orbiter, we can see the difference in the spectrum.

How well will it match other Aputure fixtures?

That is a good question. Other large Aputure fixtures like the Electro Storm CS15 RGB LED Monolight utilize different color engines. If you leave the light in its standard mode, it will match other Aputure fixtures pretty well.

As the light also has an x,y co-ordinates mode you will be able to dial it in to better match other lighting sources as well.

Build Quality

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The build quality of the STORM 1000c is solid, and I would say that it is in line with other current Aputure fixtures. It’s not going to have the build quality of an ARRI, Creamsource, or Kelvin fixture, but I think it’s going to be good enough for most people’s needs.

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Aputure has used some composite materials to keep the weight down.

How will it stand up to the rigors of fieldwork and the day-to-day punishment of being in a rental house? That’s hard to know, as it’s a brand new light.

The light features a single locking mechanism on the yoke frame that is well-made and it solidly locks the light down.

Aputure gives you a nice, long, thick, and robust power connection cable that allows you to place the light up very high. It is always nice to see a long cable included with a light as standard.

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The included rolling case is decent enough, but I do wish that Aputure had included more carrying handles. I found it very hard to carry as there are no carry straps on the sides of the case.

The wheels on the case seem decent enough.

IP65 Weather Protection

The fixture features IP65 dust and weather protection, which means the STORM 1000c can work in extreme environments. Seals on every connector and around components allow not only the lamp head but also the control box and cabling to be used outside in the rain.

Design

The Aputure STORM 1000c consists of a light head and a large separate power supply/controller. Aputure has done a good job of keeping the size of the light head to a minimum.

Having a separate light head allows you to use slightly smaller-sized light stands.

You can’t place the STORM 1000c flat on the ground because the power input is located on the underside of the fixture. You will need to purchase the optional Aputure Skid for STORM 1200x/1000c skid plate ($89 USD) to allow you to do that.

You can see the four mounting holes where that skid will attach.

A lot of today’s modern lights are now a seamless blend of hardware and software. With software playing such a big role, lighting companies could continue to improve and update fixtures over time via firmware updates, however, you don’t actually see too many firmware updates getting released for lights. It will be interesting to see if Aputure adds features or extra functionality via firmware in the future.

COB

Quite a few LED lights on the market, including the Aputure STORM 1000c, are using COB technology. COB stands for “Chip On Board” where multiple LED chips are packaged together as one lighting module. The advantage of COB LEDs being multi-chip packaged is that the light-emitting area of a COB LED can contain many times more light sources in the same area that standard LEDs could occupy. This results in a greatly increased lumen output per square inch.

The first caveat with COB LEDs is that they produce a ton of heat, and that heat needs to be effectively dispersed. The second caveat is that you will usually need to diffuse them as they are very bright to look at and can be unsuitable for directly lighting talent. The trouble is, if you use them with diffusion, such as a softbox, you are going to lose a ton of output because that output is coming from a small-sized source. With a lot larger source, say a 2×1 panel, you don’t lose as much output.

Weight & Size

The STORM 1000c lamp head and yoke weigh 9.66kg / 21.30 lbs, and the controller/power supply is 6.12kg / 13.49 lbs. As a comparison, the STORM 1200x light head and yoke weigh 9.50kg / 20.94 lbs, and the Power supply/controller weighs 5.92kg / 13.05 lbs.

So, how does that weight compare to some of the competition?

	TOTAL WEIGHT
Aputure STORM 1000c	15.78kg / 34.79 lbs (including yoke)
Aputure STORM 1200x	15.42kg / 33.99 lbs (including yoke)
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	14.87kg / 32.78 lbs (including yoke)
NANLUX Evoke 900C	12.20kg / 26.90 lbs
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	16.5kg / 36.37 lbs (excluding yoke)
NANLUX EVOKE 1200B	20.09kg / 44.29 lbs

Essentially, if you look at the weight comparison above, the Aputure STORM 1000c is a little lighter than the Godox KNOWLED MG1200R, but around 3kg heavier than the NANLUX Evoke 900c.

Just to be crystal clear, some of these lights listed above only have daylight or Bi-color capabilities. I am simply giving you a reference as to how it compares weight-wise to other similar-styled fixtures.

Mounting

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The Aputure STORM 1000c comes with a robustly made angled yoke that allows you to have a greater tilt range when light modifiers such as softboxes are attached.

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The yoke gives you a lot of adjustment, and there aren’t any clearance issues with the power connector hitting the frame.

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The single clutch lock works really well, and once you tighten it down, the light will not move, no matter how much force you put on it.

The yoke frame utilizes a junior pin mount, so you can only use it with compatible light stands.

The yoke frame is easily strong enough to hold the STORM 1000c and a Fresnel, or a large lighting modifier.

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The STORM 1000c comes with a mounting bracket in the kit that you can use to attach the power supply/controller to a light stand, etc.

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It utilizes a nice, quick-release mechanism, and I like that Aputure has put two mounting plates on the power supply/controller.

ProLock Bowens-S Mount

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The STORM 1000c features a positive locking clamp on the Bowens mount. This is a smart idea because a lot of standard Bowens mounts on competing fixtures leave a lot to be desired. The Bowens S-mount was never designed to take large and heavy Fresnels or the types of lighting modifiers that are now available.

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Again, this is a direct result of the Prolycht acquisition. The Prolycht Orion 675 FS featured a Prolock Locking Bowens Mount, and that technology has now found its way into an Aputure product.

Essentially, the ProLock is like a PL mount for your light. It works in exactly the same way as a PL camera mount. It is made out of metal and it is very strong. This allows you to put heavy lighting modifiers or a Fresnel on the STORM 1000c/1200x without fear of anything breaking. Every time I put the F10 Fresnel on the Aputure LS 600c Pro, I worried that I was going to break the mount.

Once you lock in an accessory, it doesn’t move or wobble around like it would if you were using a standard Bowens mount. Having the ProLock also makes it far easier to attach and remove lighting modifiers.

The ProLock is a great feature, and it allows you to stick with a Bowens-S mount instead of going to a proprietary mount.

Power Draw

The Aputure STORM 1000c draws 1440W. Below, you can see how that compares against some other high-power draw fixtures. Please remember that some of these lights are just daylight or Bi-color fixtures.

	POWER DRAW
Aputure STORM 1000c	1440W
Aputure STORM 1200x	1440W
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	1440W
NANLUX Evoke 1200	1200W
NANLUX Evoke 1200B	1200W
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	1600W
Nanlux Evoke 900C	940W

As you can see, the Aputure STORM 1000c draws 300W more than the Nanlux Evoke 900C and 160W less than the Godox KNOWLED MG1200R.

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The Aputure STORM 1000c can be powered via 100 to 240V AC power. The light’s AC power is supplied through a powerCON TRUE1 TOP connector, which provides a good level of water resistance. There is no 48V DC input, so you can’t power it via an external battery power station or block battery.

Conversely, the Aputure LS 1200d Pro features two 48V/15A DC inputs that can take power from a battery block.

If you need to remotely power the STORM 1000c, then a gas generator/inverter will work, and there are certainly lots of them on the market that would work with the fixture.

You could use something like the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station if you need to remotely power it and have silent operation.

How does it stay cool?

Large, high-powered COB lights get very hot, and keeping them cool is not an easy task. Using fans is the best solution, but the caveat with fans is that they can create noise.

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The STORM 1000c utilizes fans in both the light head and the power supply/controller. There is one large fan and two smaller fans in the lighthead.

There are also large heatsinks on the top of the fixture.

Aputure has included 5 Fan Modes:

• Smart
• High
• Medium
• Silent
• DMX Controlled

If you choose Smart mode the fan speed changes depending on the temperature of the unit.

In High mode, the fans run at their maximum speed. Aputure recommends that you turn this mode on if the ambient temperature exceeds 40° C.

If you choose Medium mode, the fans run at relatively low speeds. Aputure recommends this mode when the ambient temperature is under 35° C. If the temperature exceeds 35° C, it may cause the over-temperature protection to kick in.

In Silent mode, the fans run at their lowest levels, and the total output is reduced to just 75W.

I was interested to see how loud the fan noise is, as on some previous Aputure fixtures, I found the fan noise to be pretty loud.

Above, you can see what the claimed noise levels are for the various fan modes. Please note that there isn’t actually a Low Mode in the shipping version.

Now, I personally found the fan noise to be ok considering the size and output of the fixture. If you are outdoors, I don’t think you will hear it, but if you are in a super quiet room then you may hear it depending on where it is placed.

In the High Mode, the fan noise is quite a bit louder than in the other modes. Aputure quotes a figure of 43dBa for the High Mode, but they don’t list at what distance that measurement was taken.

I did my own independent tests to see what the figures were at a distance of 3m / 9.9′ away from the fixture.

High Mode

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In High Mode, the average noise level I recorded was 41.1 dBa. This was with the fan spinning at 2400 r/min and a lamp head temp of 71° C.

Medium Mode

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In Medium Mode, the average noise level I recorded was 34.0 dBa. This was with the fan spinning at 1682 r/min and a lamp head temp of 69° C.

Silent Mode

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In Silent Mode, the average noise level I recorded was 30.3 dBa. This was with the fan spinning at 0 r/min and a lamp head temp of 65° C.

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As a comparison, I also tested a Panasonic hairdryer in its Cold setting at the same distance. The average noise level I recorded was 53.1 dBa.

The fan noise from the 1000c is basically identical to the STORM 1200x.

The Medium and Smart modes are certainly a bit quieter than the High mode, but sound recordists may have an issue with it if you are using it indoors and the fixture is placed within around 3-5m from where critical audio needs to be recorded.

Beam Angle

The STORM 1000c has a native beam angle of 67°. Below, you can see the beam angles when the light is used unmodified and with the various reflectors:

• 67° (Unmodified)
• 45° (with included Wide Beam Reflector)
• 30° (with optional Medium-Angle Reflector)
• 15° (with optional Narrow-Angle Reflector)

67° is fairly narrow compared to most other similar high-powered COB fixtures that have beam angles that are around 100-120° when used open face.

Is there a hot spot with the included 45° Reflector?

Aputure has been guilty in the past (as have other manufacturers) of having reflectors that produce hot spots, so the claimed output figures appear to be higher than they should be.

I set up a test with the STORM 1000c with its 45° Reflector placed 3m / 9.9′ from a wall. I then took measurements at the center, 15cm, 30cm, 50cm, and 100cm to see if there were any hotspots. Below you can see my results:

STORM 1000c with its 45° Wide Reflector

• Center: 16,400 lx
• 15cm from center: 16,200 lx
• 30cm from center: 15,500 lx
• 50cm from center: 14,200 lx
• 75cm from center: 9,250 lx

It was good to see that the 45° Reflector doesn’t have a big hotspot, and the illumination drop-off was quite gradual.

Aputure CF12 Fresnel for STORM 1000c and 1200x

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The Aputure CF12 Fresnel for STORM 1000c and 1200x ($799 USD) intensifies the light output by up to nine times, producing up to 60,000 lux at 3200K (claimed). It focuses the light’s beam spread from a tight 15° to a 45° medium flood with smooth falloff from the center to the edge.

The CF12 Fresnel looks very similar to the one that was available for the Prolycht Orion 675 FS

It is compatible with select other Aputure lights and CF12 barndoors. The CF12 Fresnel has a Bowens ProLock mount and comes with a carrying case that can also fit the separately available barndoors.

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The CF12 Fresnel is really nicely made, and it is very lightweight and compact for a Fresnel. It weighs in at 10.41 lb / 4.72 kg.

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The beam angle is very easy to adjust. All you do is turn the ring. It is arguably the smoothest Fresnel I have personally used when it comes to the operation.

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Because the STORM 1000c utilizes a Bowens ProLock Mount, the Fresnel doesn’t wobble or move around.

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The optional Aputure CF12 Barndoors for CF12 Fresnel ($159 USD) work well, and they are well-built and easy to use. They simply clip onto the front of the Fresnel.

Compatible Aputure Lights

• STORM 1000c
• STORM 1200x
• LS 1200d Pro
• LS 600c Pro II
• LS 600c Pro

If you have one of the older Aputure 1200d or 600c Pro/Pro II lights, it is nice that you can use this Fresnel with them.

Is there a hot spot when using the CF12 Fresnel at 15°?

I set up a test with the STORM 1000c with its optional CF12 Fresnel set at 15° and placed 3m / 9.9′ from a wall. I then took measurements at the center, 15cm, 30cm, 50cm, and 100cm to see if there were any hotspots. Below you can see my results:

STORM 1000c with CF12 Fresnel

• Center: 60,200 lx
• 15cm from center: 59,000 lx
• 30cm from center: 58,600 lx
• 50cm from center: 49,400 lx
• 100cm from center: 3,120 lx

I am happy to report that the CF12 Fresnel doesn’t have a big hotspot, and the illumination drop-off was quite small from the center out to 50cm.

Controls & Menu System

The Aputure STORM 1000c has a reasonably large LCD screen on the power supply controller that clearly shows you information about the light. While it is not a touchscreen, it is still pretty quick to access all the available lighting modes and make changes. It is an easy interface to use.

The screen is flat and located on the front of the power supply/controller, which can make it hard to see if it’s not mounted quite high on a light stand. Arguably, you could make a case that the light was primarily designed to be controlled through the Sidus Link App, Sidus Link Pro App, DMX/RDM, CRMX, and etherCON rather than directly from the power supply/controller, and that is why the screen is where it is.

I like that Aputure hasn’t just used the same interface that is found on previous fixtures. Redesigning and improving on previous products is what lighting companies should be doing. The design of the interface isn’t a massive departure from the operating systems of previous Aputure fixtures, so users who are familiar with Aputure operating systems will be right at home.

There are four buttons, a Select dial, and a power on/off switch on the power supply/controller.

With a good light, you shouldn’t have to read a manual to work out how to operate it. You should be able to turn it on and use it straight away. You won’t find any deep sub-menus or complicated way of making changes on the STORM 1000c. It was designed to be simplistic and easy to operate.

The Select dial that you use to control the light is very tactile, and this allows you to make precise adjustments.

In the main Menu there are three different sub-categories:

• Light Mode
• Control Settings
• System Settings

Light Mode

Light Mode just takes you to the page where you can choose between the eight different operating modes that I will talk about a bit later.

Control Settings

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In Control Settings, you can access the following:

• DMX Settings
• CRMX Settings
• Sidus BT Settings
• Ethernet Settings

System Settings

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In System Settings, you can adjust and change the following:

• Dimming Curves
• Output Mode
• White Light Standard
• Lead / Follow Mode
• High-Speed Mode
• Fan Mode
• Studio Mode
• Screensaver
• Language
• Product Info
• Update Firmware
• Factory Reset

Dimming Curves

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In Dimming Curves, you can choose from:

• Linear
• S-Curve
• Exponential
• Log

The light will dim right down to 0.1%, which is certainly handy, but realistically, I don’t know how many people will actually run a fixture with this power draw and output at 0.1%.

Output Mode

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The light has two Output Modes:

• Constant Output
• Max. Output

In Constant Output, the fixture should produce a fairly similar output regardless of the CCT setting. I will test this out later in the review.

In Max. Output the light will produce the most amount of output that is possible at various CCT settings.

White Light Standard

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In White Light Standard, you can choose from CIE Daylight or Blackbody.

Blackbody follows the Blackbody curve.

CIE Daylight follows the Blackbody curve up to 4000K, then it transitions from the Blackbody curve to the Daylight curve from 4000-5000K, then follows the Daylight curve from 5000K up. This is the CIE standard as defined by TM30.

Lead / Follow Mode

This allows you to set the fixture as either the leader or place it in Follow Mode when using DMX/RDM, CRMX, etc.

High-Speed Mode

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With the High-Speed Mode on, it limits the dimming capabilities of the light to prevent flicker at high frame rates. What is interesting, and Aputure doesn’t advertise this, is that the High-Speed Mode can also act as a ‘boost mode’, with the light getting almost a full stop brighter with it turned on. Aputure publishes its max output levels based on the regular mode, but you can actually make the STORM 1000c brighter if the High-Speed Mode is set to on.

The High-Speed Mode is available in CCT only, and it allows for dimming from 100-40%.

Fan Mode

As I mentioned earlier in the review, there are 5 different fan settings you can choose from.

• Smart
• High
• Medium
• Silent
• DMX Controlled

Presets

To recall a preset, you simply press the Preset button, and you will see all of your saved settings. What is nice is that each preset tells you exactly what it is, so you can recall them quickly and easily. The preset will actually even save the exact intensity you had the light set at. For repeat lighting scenarios, this is extremely handy.

Operating Modes

The light has 8 key lighting modes:

• CCT
• HSIC+
• RGB
• GEL
• SOURCE
• xy
• FX
• Sidus FX

Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)

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This is the mode most people are going to use the light in. In the CCT Mode, you have full access to making CCT adjustments between 1800- 20,000 K. This is an impressive range, and it will suit most people’s needs.

The fixture also has continuous variable (full minus green to full plus green) correction from -100% to +100% (Full ASC MITC Range).

Being able to dial in more or reduce the amount of green coming from your lighting source can make a huge difference. Different camera companies use different sensors in their cameras, and they all react differently to light. Some camera sensors may lean towards magenta, and some, more towards green. By making CCT adjustments, you can dial in the light so that it looks better for whatever camera system you are using. G/M adjustment also helps when you are trying to match lights from different manufacturers.

HSIC+

In HSIC+, you can adjust Hue, Saturation, Intensity, as well as the CCT and the +/- G/M bias.

RGB Mode

In RGB Mode, you can individually adjust the RED, Green, and Blue channels, as well as the intensity.

GEL Mode

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In GEL Mode, you can choose a base Color Temperature of 3200K or 5600K color and the corresponding gel to output the desired light.

SOURCE Mode

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In SOURCE Mode, you can select the light source to mimic and fine-tune the xy coordinates.

xy

In xy mode, you can dial in exact xy coordinates, however, there doesn’t seem to be the ability to change the Gamut like you can on some other fixtures. It seems to be pre-set to a Rec.709 color space.

Dialing in xy coordinates is a fairly easy way to get a light to match other lighting sources, or at least get it in the ballpark.

FX

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The BLAIR CC light engine allows the fixture to deliver a variety of lighting effects.

Effects mode lets you recreate a wide range of lighting effects that can be handy for certain scenarios. The effects include:

• Fireworks
• Explosions
• Flames
• Paparazzi
• Defective Bulb
• TV
• Pulse
• Party Lights
• Club
• Color Chase
• Candle
• Welding
• Police Car
• Flash
• Lightning

All the effects modes can be individually adjusted and tailored to your lighting needs.

SIDUS FX

In SIDUS FX, you can choose from Picker FX or Music FX. Both of these modes need to be used in collaboration with the Sidus Link App.

You can store up to 10 Picker FX or Music FX settings (a total of 20).

Sidus Link App

The light can be controlled via Bluetooth using the Sidus Link App.

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There is a range of parameters that you can adjust using the Sidus Link app.

I also like that you can save favorites and then also bring them back up very quickly.

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The Picker FX function can only be accessed and utilized within the app. This gives you the ability to do real-time tracking. Essentially, this gives you the ability to use your phone to capture a scene and the light will mimic it in real-time.

The app is reasonably straightforward and easy to use.

Connectivity

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The fixture can communicate using the Sidus Link App, Sidus Link Pro App, DMX/RDM, CRMX, and etherCON.

The STORM 1000c has the following connectivity on the back of the fixture:

• 1x 5-Pin DMX In
• 1x 5-Pin DMX Out
• 2x LAN
• 1x USB-A

Above, you can see the DMX settings menu.

How does the Aputure STORM 1000c compare to the Nanlux Evoke 900C

Comparing products based on specification sheets never tells you the full story. Below you can see how they compare on paper, but I will let you give you my honest opinion at the end of this review after we have looked at all of the data and the various feature sets, etc.

	Nanlux Evoke 900C	Aputure STORM 1000c
CCT Range	1800-20,000K	1800-20,000K
Light Engine	RGBACL	BLAIR-CG
+/- GM	Yes	Yes
HSI	Yes	Yes
Gels	Yes	Yes
xy	Yes	Yes
Effects	Yes	Yes
Mount	NL-Mount	Bowens-S Mount with Prolock
Power Draw	940W	1440W
App Control	Yes	Yes
Battery Plate	No	No
Weight	12.20kg / 26.90 lbs	15.78kg / 34.79 lbs

Photometrics

So now let’s get to the photometric results. I always test lights in this way so that I get a reference to how they compare to other fixtures. Results only tell part of the story and should never be used alone to judge a light. I have found from extensive testing over the years that certain lights that have good photometric results don’t always look good, and lights that have worse photometric scores can sometimes look better than their results indicate.

You can’t judge a light from one set of photometric results. You have to look at all of the different results to be able to come to a conclusion. Judging a light on one set of results is like reading one chapter in a book and thinking you know the whole story.

Different lights can also look different depending on what camera you happen to be using.

Output & Color Temperature Accuracy

The fixture utilizes advanced diode color mixing that allows it to more effectively utilize each diode’s light output.

Aputure claims that the light has an output of 14,200 lux @3m / 9.9′ (5600K) with the included 45º hyper reflector.

I tested the STORM 1000c at a variety of CCT settings with a Sekonic C-800 Spectrometer to find out how much output the light had and how accurate the CCT reproduction was. All readings are taken at a distance of 3m (9.9ft) in a controlled environment. The readings were all taken directly from the lighting source. In the case of using the light with a reflector, the readings were taken from the edge of those attachments. This is how I test all lights and this is why you will sometimes see a discrepancy between claimed figures and my measured figures.

For these tests, the STORM 1000c was set in its CEI Daylight white light mode.

So just how much output does it have, and how CCT accurate is it? Well, let’s find out.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (open face)

Above, you can see the STORM 1000c recorded an output of 7880 lx (732 fc) @ 3m / 9.9′ when set at 5600K and used open face. The reading of 7880 lx @ 3m / 9.9′ exceeded the claimed figures listed by Aputure.

The light recorded a CCT reading of 5319K, which was more than 280K from being correct.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output (open face)

Above, you can see that the light’s output when it was set at 3200K in the open face configuration was 7760 lx (721 fc) @3m / 9.9′, which was just 1.5% less than what it produced at 5600K.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a pretty good reading of 3111K.

Summary of results (Open Face)

SETTING	OUTPUT @3m	CCT READING
2500K	6770 lx	2445K
3200K	7760 lx	3111K
4500K	7880 lx	4309K
5600K	7880 lx	5319K
6500K	7060 lx	7394K
8000K	7880 lx	7645K
10000K	6300 lx	9028K

These results show me that the light’s output varies by 20% depending on what CCT temperature you are using.

The CCT accuracy across the range wasn’t great. From 2500K to 4500K it was decent enough, but it started to fall off above 4500K.

So, let’s have a look at how the output @3m / 9.9′ compares to the Aputure STORM 1200x, Aputure LS 1200d Pro, NANLUX Evoke 1200, and Godox KNOWLED MG1200R.

Open Face

	Output at 5600K	CCT (K)
Aputure STORM 1000c	7880 lx	5319K
Aputure STORM 1200x	10,800 lx	5393K
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	4484 lx	5517K
NANLUX Evoke 1200	4489 lx	5377K
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	6780 lx	5384K

As you can see, the STORM 1000c has a lot more output than most of these other lights, but it also has a reasonably narrow 67° beam angle. It had 27% less output than the STORM 1200x.

Open Face Constant Output

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Constant Output (Open Face)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K in its Constant Output mode and used open face was 5,480 lx (509 fc) @3m 9.9′. This was 30.45% less than the 7880 lx it produced at 5600K when used in its Max. Output mode.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 5302K. The CCT accuracy when using the light in its Constant Output was almost identical to that when used in its High Output mode.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Constant Output (Open Face)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K with the wide reflector was 5490 lx (510 fc) @3m 9.9′, which was just 0.18% more than what it output at 5600K.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 3113K.

Summary of results Constant Output (Wide reflector 45°)

SETTING	OUTPUT @3m	CCT READING
2500K	5490 lx	2451K
3200K	5490 lx	3113K
4500K	5520 lx	4311K
5600K	5480 lx	5302K
6500K	5470 lx	6101K
8000K	5510 lx	7375K
10000K	5680 lx	9045K

These results show me that the light’s output varies by just 3.5% from 2500-10,000K.

Just like when used in its Max. Output mode, the CCT accuracy across the range was not great, especially at 5600K and above.

These results clearly tell me that the light’s CCT performance isn’t negatively affected regardless of whether you are using the High Output or Constant Output modes.

Wide Beam Reflector 45° Max. Output

So, now let’s see how much output the light has when used with its wide beam 45° reflector in its Max. Output mode.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the wide reflector was 14,600 lx (1360 fc) @3m 9.9′. This was 85.27% more than the 7880 lx it produced at 5600K when used open face. It is important to note that this measurement was made from the edge of the reflector.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a very accurate reading of 5386K. The CCT accuracy when using the wide reflector was only marginally better than when the light was used open face.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K with the wide reflector was 14,900 lx (1380 fc) @3m 9.9′, which was actually 2% higher than what it output at 5600K.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a very good reading of 3158K.

Summary of results (Wide reflector 45°)

SETTING	OUTPUT @3m	CCT READING
2500K	12,900 lx	2480K
3200K	14,900 lx	3158K
4500K	15,000 lx	4370K
5600K	14,600 lx	5386K
6500K	14,500 lx	6191K
8000K	13,900 lx	7475K
10000K	12,300 lx	9120K

These results show me that the light’s output varies by 18% depending on what CCT temperature you are using; however, between 3200K and 6500K, it only varies by 3.33%.

The CCT accuracy across the range was pretty good up to about 5600K. At 6500K and above it wasn’t overly accurate.

So, let’s have a look at how the output compares to the Aputure STORM 1200x, Aputure LS 1200d Pro, NANLUX Evoke 1200, and Godox KNOWLED MG1200R.

Reflector 45°

	Output at 5600K	CCT (K)
Aputure STORM 1000c	14,600 lx	5386K
Aputure STORM 1200x	20,300 lx	5571K
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	16,000 lx	5592K
NANLUX Evoke 1200	16,000 lx	5353K
NANLUX Evoke 1200B	18,570 lx*	NA
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	23,600 lx	5572K
Nanlux Evoke 900C	12,940 lx*	NA

*Claimed output. Not independently tested.

These lights were tested under the exact same conditions, so you get a real-world, honest assessment of how the lights compare when used open face and when used with reflectors that have a similar beam angle. Now, you need to factor in that the power draws are different, and some of these lights are daylight only. Please note that my measurements are always made from the end of the reflector and not from the COB, and that is why my measured figures will sometimes be lower than those quoted manufacturer figures. You can see that above, where the claimed output of the Evoke 1200B is higher than the measured output I got when testing the daylight-only Evoke 1200.

So, what about if we compare it to an HMI light like the ARRI M18?

As a comparison, an ARRI M18 and HMI 1200W SE, when used at 38 degrees, puts out around 18,056 lx at 3m / 9.9′.

Ok, what about using a 1800W lamp bulb in the ARRI M18? Well, as you can see, the output at 3m when used at 38 degrees is 24,056 lx.

What this tells me is that the Aputure STORM 1000c has about 19% less output than an ARRI M18 and HMI 1200W SE when similar beam angles are used. Now, comparing HMI’s to LED lights is a bit of a slippery slope and not an apples-to-apples comparison, but it does give you an indication of how bright the STORM 1000c is.

What about if we change the White Light setting from CIE Daylight to Blackbody?

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°) Blackbody

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the wide reflector and in the Blackbody White Light mode was 16,200 lx (1510 fc) @3m 9.9′, which was 10.95% more than what it output in the CIE Daylight White Light mode.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded an ok reading of 5388K, which was only 2K different from what it recorded in the CIE Daylight White Light mode.

Wide Beam Reflector 45° Fan set to Silent

I was also interested to see how much output the STORM 1000c had when you run the light in its Silent fan setting. Now, in this mode, the output is limited to just 75W, so it isn’t realistically going to be a mode you can use for a lot of lighting applications.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Fan set to Silent (Wide reflector 45°)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the wide reflector, when the fan was set to Silent was 1,070 lx (99.5 fc) @3m 9.9′, which was 92.67% less than what it output at 5600K with the fan set to Smart.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, the light recorded a reasonably good reading of 5467K.

Output using the CF12 Fresnel

So now let’s look at how much output the STORM 1000c puts out when using the CF12 Fresnel.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output Mode (CF12 Fresnel 40°)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the CF12 Fresnel set to 40° was 14,000 lx (1300 fc) @3m / 9.9′.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a decent reading of 5443K.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output Mode (CF12 Fresnel 40°)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K with the Medium reflector was 14,000 lx (1300 fc) @3m / 9.9′, which was exactly the same as it output at 5600K.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a very good reading of 3154K.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output Mode (CF12 Fresnel 15°)

Above, you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the CF12 Fresnel set at 15° was 53,300 lx (5140 fc) @3m / 9.9′.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 5353K, which wasn’t as good as when it was set at 40 degrees.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output Mode (CF12 Fresnel 15°)

Above, you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K with the CF12 Fresnel set at 15° was 56,400 lx (5240fc) @3m / 9.9′.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a good reading of 3146K.

CCT consistency & linear output when dimming the light

Now, what you should always do when testing lights is to see if the CCT remains consistent when dimming the light. Just because you set a light at say 5600K, that doesn’t mean that the CCT will remain stable as you start dimming the fixture down. I also wanted to see how linear the dimming curve was.

The Aputure STORM 1000c has several dimming modes, as I previously mentioned earlier in the review.

I decided to do a series of tests at 100%/75%/50%/25%10% to see if the CCT being recorded changed. This was performed at a distance of 3m / 9.9′ using a Sekonic C-800. These tests were done at 5600K with the 45° Wide reflector and the light set in its Linear dimming mode.

CCT READING	OUTPUT	INTENSITY %
5386K	14,600 lx	100
5360K	11,100 lx	75
5365K	7490 lx	50
5358K	3820 lx	25
5390K	1590 lx	10

The STORM 1000c had excellent CCT consistency as you start dimming the fixture. My testing showed that the CCT readings varied by just 32K. This shows me that the light retains very good CCT consistency even when you dim it down.

As far as how linear the output is when you start dimming the light, at 50% output, it had 48.69% less output than when used at 100%. At 25%, it had 73.83% less output than when used at 100%. At 10% output, it had 89.10% less output than when used at 100%. This shows me that the light’s dimming curve is very linear.

Above you can see the various dimming curve options that are available.

Output when using a DoPChoice Octa 3 Softbox

I also wanted to see how much output the STORM 1000c had when using a DoPchoice Octa 3′ softbox.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K (DoPchoice Octa 3 Softbox)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the DoPchoice Octa 3 Softbox was 2370 lx (221 fc) @3m / 9.9′. It is important to note that this measurement was made from the end of the softbox.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 5017K. Which was almost 600K from being correct. If you wanted to get closer to 5600K, you would need to increase the CCT on the fixture.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K (DoPchoice Octa 3 Softbox)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with the DoPchoice Octa 3 Softbox was 2390 lx (222 fc) @3m / 9.9′. It is important to note that this measurement was made from the end of the softbox.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 3047K, which was just over 150K from being correct. This didn’t come as any surprise, as any time you put a lighting modifier in front of a light source, you will alter the CCT value. The good thing with modern-day lights as you can easily make adjustments if you need to better replicate a certain CCT.

Color Rendering

So now that we have seen how much output the Aputure STORM 1000c produces, how does it perform when it comes to replicating accurate colors?

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°)

Above, you can see that when the light was set at 5600K using the Wide reflector, it recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 98.1 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 97.34. For replicating accurate skin tones, it recorded 88.6 for R9 (Red), 98.2 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 98.6 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These are excellent results, and only R9 (Red) was marginally under 90.

	EXTENDED CRI	R9	R13	R15
Aputure STORM 1000c	96.96	88.6	98.2	98.6
Aputure STORM 1200x	97.34	95.5	97.9	98.4
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	92.92	91.5	93.0	95.9
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	94.50	91.8	98.2	98.8
NANLUX Evoke 1200	95.13	95.2	98.3	99.4
Prolycht Orion 675 FS	96.73	98.2	98.9	98.4

As a comparison, above you can see how the results for the STORM 1000c compare to some other similar lights we have reviewed. I have also included the very good Prolycht Orion 675 FS as another reference.

The Aputure STORM 1000c, when set at 5600K, recorded a TLCI score of 97.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°)

Above, you can see the scores for when the light was used at 3200K. It recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 97.8 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 96.18. For replicating accurate skin tone, it recorded 84.5 for R9 (Red), 98.9 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 97.9 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones).

These results were fairly similar to when the light is used at 5600K. This wasn’t the case with the STORM 1200x, which was considerably better at 5600K than it was at 3200K.

	EXTENDED CRI	R9	R13	R15
Aputure STORM 1000c	96.18	84.5	98.9	97.9
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	95.03	93.7	95.9	98.9
Aputure STORM 1200x	93.52	94.4	93.3	97.2
Prolycht Orion 675 FS	94.19	79.0	96.5	93.2

As a comparison, above you can see how the results for the STORM 1000c compare to some other similar lights we have reviewed. I have also included the very good Prolycht Orion 675 FS as another reference. The STORM 1000c had the highest extended CRI score I have seen from a high powered spotlight.

The Aputure STORM 1200x, when set at 3200K, recorded a TLCI score of 96.

What about if we change the White Light setting from CIE Daylight to Blackbody?

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°) Blackbody

Above, you can see that when the light was set at 5600K using the Wide reflector and used in its Blackbody White Light mode, it recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 98.1 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 97.17. For replicating accurate skin tones, it recorded 97.1 for R9 (Red), 97.7 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 97.8 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These are outstanding results, and they were slightly better than when the light was used in its CIE Daylight White Light mode.

Open Face

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Open Face)

Above you can see that when the light was set at 5600K and used open face it recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 97.4 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 97.36. For replicating accurate skin tones, it recorded 93.4 for R9 (Red), 96.7 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 98.8 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These are outstanding results, and one of the best I have ever seen from an LED light. Not a single value was below 90.

	EXTENDED CRI	R9	R13	R15
Aputure STORM 1000c	96.65	93.4	96.7	98.8
Aputure STORM 1200x	97.36	95.9	97.9	98.6
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R	92.84	92.1	92.8	95.8
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	94.36	91.8	98.1	99.0
NANLUX Evoke 1200	95.18	97.2	98.5	99.3

As a comparison, above you can see how the results for the STORM 1000c compare to some other similar lights we have reviewed.

The Aputure STORM 1000c, when set at 5600K, recorded a TLCI score of 97.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output (Open Face)

Above, you can see the scores for when the light was used at 3200K. It recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 97.5 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 96.22. For replicating accurate skin tones, it recorded 85.7 for R9 (Red), 98.3 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 98.5 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These were good results, and again, very similar to when the light was used at 5600K. Only R9 (Red) was below 90.

The Aputure STORM 1000c, when set at 3200K, recorded a TLCI score of 96.

Unlike the STORM 1200x, which definitely performs better at 5600K than it does at 3200K, the STORM 1000c is equally as good at both 5600K and 3200K. With the BLAIR-CC light engine, you still get great daylight performance without sacrificing tungsten performance.

CC Index & ⊿uv

The CC Index displays the CC correction value and whether any magenta or green need to be added or subtracted. 1 CC corresponds to 035 Kodak CC values or 1/8 Rosco filter values. Any reading less than +1.00 or -1.00 and you’re probably not going to need to make any kind of adjustment. The ⊿uv is the value to show how much this light is away from being an ideal light source (black body radiation = incandescent lamp). As with the CC Index you want this number to theoretically be zero. Kelvin is not a linear value, so we need to convert from Kelvin to MK-1 to compare the values of color temperature. To calculate from Kelvin to Mired is MK-1= 1*1000000/Kelvin. While this may sound confusing, it is the only way of measuring if the Kelvin shift is significant enough to warrant having to use a filter for correction. Below are the results for the Aputure STORM 1000c:

Aputure STORM 1000c Kelvin Vs MK-1

	Kelvin	Difference in K	MK-1	Difference in MK-1
SET VALUE	2500K	0	400	0
ACTUAL READING	2480K	20	403.22	-3.22 MK-1
SET VALUE	3200K	0	312.5	0
ACTUAL READING	3158K	42	316.65	-4.15 MK-1
SET VALUE	4500K	0	222.22	0
ACTUAL READING	4370K	130	228.83	-6.61 MK-1
SET VALUE	5600K	0	178.57	0
ACTUAL READING	5386K	214	185.66	-7.09 MK-1
SET VALUE	6500K	0	153.84	0
ACTUAL READING	6191K	309	161.52	-7.68 MK-1
SET VALUE	8000K	0	125	0
ACTUAL READING	7475K	525	133.77	-8.77 MK-1
SET VALUE	10000K	0	100	0
ACTUAL READING	9120K	880	109.64	-9.64 MK-1

These figures might look confusing, but what they tell me is that the light could be better when it comes to CCT color-accuracy. Any MK-1 score that is under -9/9 means you wouldn’t have to use any color correction gels. The MK-1 scores for this light were nowhere near as good as those from the STORM 1200x. Any MK-1 score that is under -6/6 is a very good result, but the STORM 1000c was only under -6/6 at 2500K and 3200K.

Ok, now let’s look at the CC INDEX & ⊿uv.

Aputure STORM 1000c CC INDEX & ⊿uv

	CC INDEX	⊿uv
2500K	0.0	0.0010
3200K	0.2M	0.0014
4500K	0.4M	0.0029
5600K	0.4M	0.0047
6500K	0.2M	0.0044
8000K	0.0	0.0042
10000K	0.3G	0.0040

These were decent results across the board. There was nothing here that anyone should be concerned about.

TM-30

TM-30 is a relatively new color rendering standard that was developed to deal with the limitations of CRI. TM-30 looks at 99 individual colors. These 99 colors are categorized into seven groups: nature, skin color, textiles, paints, plastics, printed material, and color systems.

TM-30 scores go from 0 – 100. The higher the score, the more accurate a light is at producing colors. Any TM-30 Rf score in the ’90s is considered to be good. What is interesting and something that you need to be very aware of is that two separate light sources with the exact same CRI scores can render colors very differently. A light with a high CRI rating could have a low TM-30 score. Conversely, a light with a good TM-30 score could have a bad CRI score.

Now, there are two measurements associated with TM-30, Rf and Rg.

Rf (Color Fidelity)
Rg (Color Gamut)

With Rf value, ideally, you want a score in the 90’s.

With Rg value, a score below 100 indicates that the light source renders colors with less saturation than the reference source. So, ideally, you want this score to be 100 or slightly above.

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Above, you can see the scores for the Aputure STORM 1000c at various CCT settings. Below, I have listed the figures as well.

Here are the results:

	Rf	Rg
2500K	94	100
3200K	97	100
4500K	97	100
5600K	97	100
6500K	97	101
8000K	97	100
10000K	96	101

The TM-30 scores are all very good, and it shows me that the light is extremely consistent at replicating accurate colors with full saturation.

SSI

SSI (Spectral Similarity Index) was developed by the Sci-Tech Council of the Academy. SSI gives me the ability to set any light as a standard, or use predefined standards (such as CIE D55), and then give other lights an SSI score based on how well they will match standards such as CIE D55. This way I can measure spectral response and compare it directly against an ideal light source. This is actually a much better test than recording CRI scores, but it won’t tell you everything you need to know.

Aputure STORM 1000c 3200K Max. Output Mode (Wide reflector 45°)

In this graph, the red bars indicate a perfect Planck 3200K source. The gold bars indicate a perfect 3200K Tungsten source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 3200K lighting source the Aputure STORM 1000c is. Any SSI score in the high 70’s, low ’80s is very good for a 3200K LED light. The results for the Aputure STORM 1000c were excellent when used at 3200K.

Aputure LS 600c Pro 3200K

As a comparison, let’s have a look at the Aputure 600c Pro. In this graph, the red bars indicate a perfect Planck 3200K source. The gold bars indicate a perfect 3200K Tungsten source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 3200K lighting source the LS 600c Pro is. Any SSI score in the high 70’s, low ’80s is very good for a 3200K LED light. The results for the 600c Pro were also excellent when used at 3200K, but not quite as good last the STORM 1200x. As you can see, this light has a hard time replicating colors below about 450nm.

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output Mode (Wide reflector 45°)

In the graph above the gold bars indicate a perfect CIE D55 source. The red bars indicate a perfect CIE D 5600K source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 5600K lighting source the Aputure STORM 1000c is. A score in the low 70’s is typical for a 5600K LED source, the STORM 1000c recorded a score of 88, which was exceptionally good. The reason for this great score has to do with the Indigo emitter in the BLAIR-CC light engine. You can clearly see that the STORM 1000c is able to produce colors below 450nm whereas most lights can’t.

It wasn’t the highest SSI score at 5600K I have ever recorded, but it was pretty close, and the same as the STORM 1200x.

Aputure LS 600c Pro 5600K

In the graph above the gold bars indicate a perfect CIE D55 source. The red bars indicate a perfect CIE D 5600K source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 5600K lighting source the LS 600c Pro is. A score in the low 70’s is typical for a 5600K LED source.

What about if we change the White Light setting from CIE Daylight to Blackbody?

Aputure STORM 1000c 5600K Max. Output (Wide reflector 45°) Blackbody

In the graph above the gold bars indicate a perfect CIE D55 source. The red bars indicate a perfect CIE D 5600K source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 5600K lighting source the Aputure STORM 1000c is. A score in the low 70’s is typical for a 5600K LED source, the STORM 1000c recorded a score of 88, which was exceptionally good and the same as when it was used in its CIE Daylight mode.

SSI Comparisons

The main reason we want to record SSI scores is so we can see how well they match with other lights. As an example, I wanted to see how well the Aputure STORM 1000c matched the ARRI Orbiter and the STORM 1200x. Below you can see the results.

As you can see, the ARRI Orbiter wasn’t anywhere even vaguely close to matching the Aputure STORM 1000c, but the STORM 1200x was very, very close. Any score in the high ’80s and low 90s would. be considered reasonably good, but a score in the 60s would make matching the Orbiter very tricky. This is the caveat of using the STORM 1000c with other fixtures at 5600K.

As another test, I thought I would compare those same lights against the Aputure STORM 1000c at 3200K. Below you can see the results.

As you can see, the ARRI was a better match at 3200K, while the STORM 1200x was very close. Very few lights from different manufacturers are ever going to be an exact match.

Let’s now do a test where we compare the light against itself when it is running in the CIE Daylight and Blackbody White Light modes.

As you can see, the light wasn’t a perfect match to itself when used in either the CIE Daylight or Blackbody White light modes, but it was pretty clos

I also wanted to see how well the STORM 1000c matched itself when used open faced and with its optional CF12 Fresnel. As you can see, they are all very close. This shows me that you can use multiple STORM 1000c’s with lighting modifiers without any matching issues.

SSI tests are a great way of telling you what lights you own or use will work well together.

Spectral Distribution

5600K

Above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure STORM 1000c when it is set at 5600K. The spectral distribution is reasonably full, and you can clearly see the extra blue spike which is the result of the Indigo emitter in the BLAIR-CC light engine. You can see the extra information that is between 380-420nm which you don’t see on other fixtures.

As a comparison, above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure STORM 1200x when it is set at 5600K. The spectral distribution is not as full as the STORM 1000c, but it is still fairly similar.

As a comparison, above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure LS 600c when it is set at 5600K. The spectral distribution is ok, but you can see an orange spike.

If you want to see what a really good full spectral response looks like for a spotlight at 5600K, above is the result for the Maxima 3.

3200K

Above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure STORM 1000c when it is set at 3200K. The spectral distribution only has a very marginal push towards green, but overall it is reasonably good.

As a comparison, above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure STORM 1200x when it is set at 3200K.

As a comparison, above you can see the spectral distribution of the 600c Pro when it is set at 3200K. The spectral distribution only has a very marginal push towards green, but overall it is very good.

Real-World Performance & Quality of Light

As I always say, photometric scores only tell you part of the story. So let’s find out if the scores from the Aputure STORM 1000c translate into good real-world performance.

The photometric results can only give me scientific data and it is much more important for me to see how the light looks and performs. Contrary to popular belief, if you are in the business of making lights, you don’t want to try and achieve perfect scores because perfect scientific scores don’t necessarily equate to a light looking good. A good light should look good to a camera because, after all, that is what is capturing the image. Cameras and our eyes see differently, and ideally, you want to use a light that looks good to your camera. There’s a bit of alchemy in knowing what to prioritize in order to render colors that appear accurate, natural, and pleasing. It’s not just about hitting certain numbers.

It is important to note that almost all of the LED lights that have come to market in the last couple of years are very good, and they can all produce good results. Just because something is new doesn’t necessarily mean it is better, nor does it mean that you have to throw your older lights out.

Lighting really comes down to how you use the light, and having a great light isn’t suddenly going to produce better results unless you know what you are doing.

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Above you can see some photos I took when placing the light outside and punching it through a sheer curtain into a room when it was used Open face. I have kept the same camera settings for all the shots.

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Above you can see some photos I took when placing the light outside and punching it through a sheer curtain into a room when it was used with its 45° Reflector. I have kept the same camera settings for all the shots.

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Above you can see some photos I took when placing the light outside and punching it through a sheer curtain into a room when it was used with the optional CF12 Fresnel. I have kept the same camera settings for all the shots.

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Above you can see some shots where I punched the STORM 1000c down a stairwell using it open-faced, with its reflector, and with the CF12 Fresnel.

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Like most modern-day, high-output spotlights, it is very easy to create a very soft, flattering light source using a softbox or other lighting modifier. Above you can see some examples with the light set at 2.3% and used with a DoPchoice Octa 3 Softbox.

I found that by using a softbox you could create a very soft lighting source without needing to punch it through a diffusion screen. This makes it a very quick and easy light to use for interview situations or for any scenario where you need soft light.

You won’t ever need to run a light with a 1440W power draw at anywhere near 100% in interview situations in controlled environments, but it is nice to have that extra punch for other shooting scenarios. If you are looking primarily for an interview light, then the Aputure STORM 1000c is arguably overkill. A 300W or 600W spotlight will certainly get the job done, and I would wait until Aputure releases something smaller that is 300W or 600W with the BLAIR or BLAIR-CC light engine.

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I also tried placing the light outside and punching it through a curtain sheer and then through another diffusion screen and it worked well. I am not using any other lights for these examples. Using a high output fixture and punching it through quite a bit of diffusion enables you to create nice soft light source.

The light has a ton of output, so it is also a good choice if you want to replicate sunlight coming into a room.

Who is the Aputure STORM 1000c aimed at?

Just like its sibling, the STORM 1200x, this is a fixture that could be used for lots of different applications, by lots of different people. However, it is pretty clear that it is being targeted at professionals in the TV and film industry. With its high output and good color rendition, it could be used for a wide array of lighting scenarios.

It is arguably priced to appeal to professional owner-operators who are looking for a jack-of-all-trades lighting solution and need something with a lot of output and versatility. The ability to use the light as a soft source, hard source, or anything in between makes it an appealing option. As I said before, this is not going to be a light for everyone, as not everyone needs a high-output, high power draw fixture.

Price & Availability

The Aputure STORM 1000c retails for $3,990 USD, and it is now shipping. This makes it very well-priced compared to its direct competition, which is arguably the Nanlux Evoke 900C RGB LED Spot Light ($4,660 USD).

• Aputure STORM 1000c BLAIR-CG LED Monolight with Wide Reflector
• Control Box
• 45° Wide-Angle Reflector
• Neutrik PowerCon AC Power Cable (19.7′)
• Head Cable (24.6′)
• Rolling Soft Case
• Limited 1-Year Manufacturer Warranty (Registration Extension: 1-Year)

Above, you can see what you get in the kit.

You can also buy the Aputure STORM 1000c Cine Kit with Skid Support, Fresnel, and Barndoors for $5,037 USD.

Competition

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Competition arguably comes in the form of the Nanlux Evoke 900C RGB LED Spot Light ($4,660 USD) and the Godox KNOWLED MG1200R RGB LED Monolight ($5,290 USD). The Nanlux Evoke 1200B LED Bi-Color Spot Light ($3,895 USD) and Aputure’s own STORM 1200x ($2,990 USD) could also be considered competition.

Below, you can see how the price compares to some of the competition. I have included some other similar power draw spotlights, as there isn’t a lot of competition in this space.

	Price
Aputure STORM 1000c	$3,990 USD
Aputure STORM 1200x	$2,999 USD
Godox KNOWLED MG1200R RGB LED Monolight	$5,290 USD
Nanlux Evoke 1200B LED Bi-Color Spot Light	$3,895 USD
Aputure LS 1200d Pro	$3,389.95 USD
Nanlux Evoke 900C RGB LED Spot Light	$4,660 USD

The price of the Aputure STORM 1000C makes it more affordable than other competing fixtures on the market. It also arguably has a better light engine than what its competitors are offering. It is, however, almost $1,000 USD more than the STORM 1200x, which is an excellent fixture.

What lighting modifiers will it work with?

The Aputure STORM 1000c will work with the STORM 1200x reflectors. These optional 15° and 30° reflectors will work well with the STORM 1000c. You could use older reflectors, but because of the new ProLock Locking Bowens mount they will not be optimized properly.

Apture claims that the new reflectors feature uniform edge-to-edge light output distribution with no hotspots.

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The STORM 1000c will work with all the existing Aputure softboxes, lanterns, and third-party lighting modifiers. Now, I did find it slightly odd that the F10 Fresnel is listed because it doesn’t physically fit on the STORM 1000c. You ned to use the new CF12 Fresnel.

The STORM 1200x Reflector Kit is a rental-ready kit that features the 15° Narrow and 30° Medium Reflector packaged in a protective soft carrying case. This kit expands the beam angle options of the STORM 1000c, allowing users to obtain either an intense and narrow or a smooth and wider push of light.

Conclusion

The acquisition of Prolycht has certainly helped Aputure immensely. The integration of technology from both companies has now resulted in some excellent fixtures coming to market. The light is well-made and Aputure has paid a lot of attention to small details.

The feature set is impressive, as is the output. The new BLAIR-CC light engine clearly offers advantages over Aputure’s previous light engines, but I would argue that it doesn’t perform quite as well as the standard BLAIR lighting engine that can be found in the STORM 1200x in certain photometric tests, and my testing data backs that claim up. In saying that, it does perform better at 3200K than the STORM 1200x. With lights it is always about give and take and there is no such thing as the perfect fixture.

The fan noise is ok for a fixture of this size and power draw. If you are using this light indoors in close proximity to where critical audio is being recorded, you could arguably find it too loud, however, I didn’t personally have any issues.

The STORM 1000c and the CF12 Fresnel make for a very versatile and powerful combination.

I actually think that 1200-1500W is the sweet spot for a high output COB, because anything larger and your powering options become more difficult. Being able to plug the Aputure STORM 1000c into any household outlet anywhere in the world, at least to me, is a big advantage. I am in Japan, though, where powering a light like this is not easy! You really need to plug it into an outlet where nothing else is running on that same circuit.

The light is solidly made, and it is reasonably compact and lightweight considering its power draw and output. The ProLock is a great feature and it allows you to place large and heavy lighting modifiers on the front without the fear of anything breaking. This really should become a Bowens-S mount standard. It is nice to have a solid, locking mount for once and not one that rattles around or feels like it may break when attaching a Fresnel or heavy lighting modifiers.

Sticking with a standard Bowens-S mount with the addition of the ProLock makes a lot of sense, and it is a better option than going with a proprietary mount that limits what lighting modifiers you can use.

The output is very good given its power draw, and the light certainly packs a decent punch, especially when used with the CF12 Fresnel.

The ability to dial in a very wide array of CCT settings and have +/- G/M adjustments are features most users are looking for. Having the ability to use Digital Gels, do Source Matching, use HSIC+, etc. are added bonuses.

The interface and operating system are easy to use, as is the app. I usually prefer an all-in-one design and not having to worry about connecting up a separate power supply/controller, but with a high power draw fixture like the STORM 1000c, it wouldn’t make much sense, as it would make the fixture too large and heavy.

The caveat is that it doesn’t come with any way of powering it remotely, at any output from a DC source. If you want to power it remotely, you will need to do so through a generator or a large portable device that can output 120-240V AC.

The light is reasonably well-priced given its feature set, output, build quality, and performance, although as I previously mentioned, it is almost $1,000 USD more than the STORM 1200x.

Yes, this is a gear review, but people shouldn’t get caught up in wanting to buy the latest and greatest, because if you have older fixtures that are still working for you, then there really isn’t any need to upgrade.

I would also like to see Aputure make STORM fixtures in the 300- 600W range, as quite a lot of shooters don’t need very high power draw sources.

The STORM 1200c ticks a lot of boxes, and it is very hard to fault it. Yes, the CCT accuracy and some of the photometric results aren’t quite as good as the STORM 1200x, but for a full color fixture, it is very hard to beat. Aputure’s STORM series continues to set a benchmark for what other point source fixtures need to live up to.

Technical Specifications

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