Kinotehnik Practilite 600 — Portable LED Lighting for $799

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by Graham SheldonNovember 28^th, 2016

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The Kinotehnik Practilite 600 recently announced by the film accessory manufacturer is a portable, smartphone-controlled LED with a promised output similar to a 300-450 watt Tungsten light. This new addition to their Practilite line will be shipping and available soon, so read on for all the specs including pricing and availability.

Credit: Kinotehnik

LED technology has been improving dramatically over the years. Gone are the days of green tinged color output and individual diodes burning out because of poor quality control. The struggle these days, however, is creating high-output LED lights at a price point that makes sense. The Practilite 600 comes in with a price tag of $799, double the price of a comparable output tungsten light, but significantly more affordable than LED lights of years past.

Other budget LED fresnel lights on the market: 

• CAME TV CE-1500WS LED Video Spotlight $338.95
• Dracast Fresnel 200 Daylight LED Light $493.50

The Kinotehnik Practilite 600 promises an equivalent output to a 300-450 watt tungsten unit, which for me personally places this light in background light, hair light or fill light territory — not necessarily for a key light. Despite being cheaper than the Practilite 602, the 600 has an output 20% higher in flood mode according to the manufacturer.

For more on the first member of the Practilite line read Johnnie Behiri’s minute review of the Practilite 602 HERE.

The benefits of LED lighting lie in power consumption and heat output. You can plug multiple LED lights into household circuits and not worry about blowing a breaker. In the tungsten world, you are out of luck with anything larger than a 1K light, maybe 2K in some instances, inside a home. Not to mention that with tungsten lighting there is always that tiny chance of someone getting burned. Not so with LEDs.

The Kinotehnkik Practilite 600 is dimmable, and you can quickly change the color temperature with a simple slider within an iOS app. Cameras and audio equipment have been enjoying app control for years, so it’s good to see Kinotehnik bring lighting controls to that smartphone in your pocket. Also, it is very easy to impress a producer on set by taking out your phone and dimming your light by 5%.

LED lighting is still in its infancy, but it is good to see brands like Kinotehnik continue to raise the bar with high-CRI, very portable lighting fixtures like the Practilite 600. 

Credit: Kinotehnik

Price: $799
Shipping: Mid December – 2016 and available now for pre-order from B&H.

What do you think of the Kinotehnik Practilite 600? Enough features for use on your next project, or are you holding out before adding a few LED lights to your personal lighting package?