What Makes the Aputure 300D II So Popular Among Filmmakers?

leaps and bounds. Staple brands disappear as new technologies and new players rise to dominate the market. One brand that did make a name for itself in just a few years is Aputure, one of the most loved by indie filmmakers among light fixture makers.

The company raised quite quickly if you consider that it was born in 2005 after all, and are now the brand you look at when searching for a light that is high-quality with reasonable price, thus having a great price to quality ratio, innovative and always on the bleeding edge of the newest technology.

But one of the most popular fixtures in their lineup is not one of those RGB fancy new lights they introduced last year. It’s the 300D MkII, a single LED daylight only light. How comes? Greg of LensProToGo has been asking the same question.

The Aputure 300D MkII is the perfect example of why this company is so popular among filmmakers. It has clearly been designed by people that get their hands dirty on set, daily. There are so many small improvements and attention to detail, and most of all, there’s a response to customer’s feedback.
Why is that? Let’s take the body of the light: it’s made of aircraft-grade aluminum, light and solid, but couldn’t rotate completely on the MkI because of the yolk’s arm that was too short. The company listened to the customers and now it’s fully rotating.

What Makes the Aputure 300D II So Popular Among Filmmakers?-cine accessories

But still, this light is a fixed daylight color temperature, so how is it so popular now that we have a lot of RGB fixtures? Let’s start with the design. The unit is composed of two separate parts: the actual LED and the ballast.

This means that you can easily get your light up high or in tight corners and still control it from the base that will be on the ground. This is both a pro and a con at the same time, but on set that is going to be a handy feature.

The color rendition is top-level anyway, the bulb is a 95+ CRI index, and is kept in place by an extra-sturdy lever that locks in place and handles even high loads, like light modifiers. And by the way, thanks to the Bowens mount, almost all light-modifiers can be mounted on top of it.

The ballast can be powered by both batteries and AC. There’s a handy V-lock mount on the side as well, plus the unit comes with both a paracord loop that can be strapped to a stand or even clamped tanks to the complimentary mount attachment.