FalconEyes BL-30TD II Bi-Color 300W Bowens Mount Studio Light

These are decent. There is a huge amount loss of brightness when going from blue to yellow light, and it seems to jump up in color at certain temps, but that is fine. I bought some gels. I have used these for probably 50 hours thus far, sometimes 100%, sometimes 5% brightness and they work fine for the price. I was hoping they would be brighter for the yellow light, or even the blue, but I guess it is fine.

This review is for the Falcon Eyes BL-30TD II, some reviews have been for the first generation of this light - I purchased the second generation.The Good:I've been using this light for my YouTube videos, product videos and twitch streams and it has been a great light to use. I was using lights with less output before, and I needed more output for filming products and keeping everything in focus at high apertures (f16-22), so the higher light output has been great. It's the main reason I bought this light.No flickering at high frame rates. Tested with my A7III @ 120fps.The ability to change the color temperature is an added bonus that set this light apart from the other lights I was looking at. I will be filming at 5600k most of the time, but having the ability to change the temperature is very handy if I have to use this with other lights.Bowens mount, I have bowens mount softboxes already and my other softboxes fit without trouble.Extension cable included! I like that the long extension cable is included so I can place the control box further away to get rid of the fan noise and so the box isn't dangling off of the light stand.Neutral:The scene modes on this light are good if you need different animated scenes. I wont be using these, but they could lead to some interesting lighting of scenes for filmmakers.V-mount batteries can be used with this, I wont be using this feature but if you have V-mound batteries - this could be useful.The included hard case is nice, but it's not pelican quality. The case is nice for transporting the light, but it's not made to be checked on an airplane or tossed around. For storage and transportation though, it's more than enough.The Bad:This LED light has cool and warm LED's, so at 5600K it seems like both LEDs are being used and at 3000K or 8000K only the warm or cool LEDs are in use, so the output will be about half of what it's rated at at the highest or lowest color temperatures. I knew this going in, as I mostly film at 5600K, so this isn't a big deal to me - but if you need to film at tungsten with high output levels, this isn't the light for you. I've included some photos to better illustrate what I mean here.The fans on this LED light and the control box are loud if you're using your microphone right next to them. I had to move my mic from my desk (if was right under the light), but after moving the mic further away, the fan noise has gone away. Kind of annoying, but higher output lights have bigger fans than my other light (Godox SL-60W).My thoughts:I originally found this light because of it's high light output, but it was set apart from the temperature shifting and price. For what I need it for, it's a great light and exactly what I needed - and a few hundred dollars cheaper than other lights in this category. I was worried about the overheating that another user reported, but after using this light at 100% for 5 hours on my twitch stream (completely blinding me) to test it out - I didn't run into any overheating issues. I kept the box on it's side so the bottom intake fan and side/top exhaust vents were unobstructed and the light worked at a normal temperature. After a lot of research, I'm happy with my light. Like any light it has it's limitations but it's a great light for what I need it for.

This light is great. I've used tons of Aputure lights in the past, love their stuff, but until recently there was nothing this bright that was also a bi-color led. For the price it's still cheaper than a 300d mk1, yet it's just as bright.The included case is actually decent; it's not a pelican but it definitely looks like it will hold up for a while.Build quality is okay. The ballast itself is built like a tank, as is the light, but the knob on the tilt lock is still plastic. For personal use I don't mind at all, but I wouldn't rent this light out on a consistent basis.Color is great, no flicker. I use this with an Aputure Light Dome mk2 and it seems like the perfect combo. I've also used with the Fresnel 2x for a super bright and punchy source. One thing I noticed, because the LED chip is a Square shape (unlike the circular one on the aputure lights) it create a square beam when using the fresnel... Not really a big issue, but if you're using this as a spot and actually need a circle, this might be an issue.I have the old version which doesn't have any built in effects / animations (like the aputure mk2 lights) , that would've been nice since those can come in handy, but the controls are very nice on this one.For the price, this light is really great though and definitely outperforms others in it's range. I'd give it 5 stars, but because of the slightly worse build quality I'm giving it a 4. It's still robust feeling, but when comparing it to the aputure lights I don't know how some of the knobs will hold up over time.

Update- lights stopped working. I’ve got 2 of them and using them on a feature. Both randomly stopped working at the same time via either battery or house power. But Lisa & Gao from the company were quick to get back to me and help resolve the issue. I've had aperture lights go down on a shoot before and it took a while to even get a response. It eventually worked out qc problems happen but it's great to have quick support in this situation when I'm on location and the pressure is on.Another caveot is that the output is way less at tungsten color temp but I'd rather have the extra low output orange over a strictly blue daylight fixture like the 300dmk1. So far so good, and well done falconeyes. Fyi bought the extra cable because I thought I'd need it and it turns out the original was plenty long enough.