After a successful campaign in 2021, Rotolight has gone back to Indiegogo to launch their new NEO 3 Pro and AOES 2 Pro LED lights. The new lights bring some added features over the non-pro versions, including the “True Aperture Dimming” feature from their Titan LED lights, a bunch of Masters of Light Presets and wireless trigger compatibility with Godox, Profoto and Elinchrom flash systems.
Both lights also boast 25% more light output than their predecessors, making the NEO 3 Pro what Rotolight claims to be “the brightest LED on-camera light ever made”. The lights feature RGBWW LEDs offering up to 16.7 million colours including 2,500 gel filters from LEE and Rosco. They offer a range of quick-access Kelvin presets from 3200K up to 6300K with a 99% CRI for maximum colour accuracy.
The Masters of Light Preset Pack included with the NEO 3 Pro and AEOS 3 Pro contains SFX presets from filmmakers such as Stefan Lange and Denson Baker, as well as HSI and Gel presets by portrait artists such as Jake Hicks. These presets are also available for existing NEO 3 and AOES 2 owners through the Indiegogo campaign. Four new SFX lighting effects have also been added to the system, including Fireworks, Candle, Disco and Throb, along with enhancements to much of the existing suite of SFX on the non-pro models.
True Aperture Dimming (FDIM) is a Rotolight patented technology to calculate and display light exposure as an f-stop for subject at a given distance, ISO and shutter speed, which they say eliminates the need for a light meter. The new lights are also compatible with a range of flash systems now, including Elinchrom, Profoto and Godox (and their various rebrands around the world). In what Rotolight describes as an industry first, it offers “ultimate flexibility for photographers wanting to wirelessly integrate Rotolight into their existing systems”.
This compatibility does mean you can essentially get full RGBWW flash with the three main systems out there today, letting you light any colour you like, although I wouldn’t expect these to be as powerful as your typical strobe. There’s also a Bowens S mount adapter available for them that will let you turn them into nice large soft light sources, but this will also suck a stop or two more juice out of them, so if you’re going to be shooting in bright conditions, these may not be your best bet.
The Rotolight NEO 3 Pro and AEOS 2 Pro are currently available on Indiegogo, with pledges starting at $549 and $1,517 respectively, with multiple light kits available at higher pledges. Existing NEO 3 and AEOS 2 owners can also pledge to get the Masters of Light Preset Pack for $54. Items are expected to ship in January 2023.
