Around the time professionals started to adopt LED lights into more serious lighting setups, I was in college and working part-time at a photo/video equipment rental house in New York. One of the most popular rental items, lighting-wise, was the ubiquitous Litepanels 1x1, now long discontinued and replaced. It was big enough to provide a decent throw, while being lightweight and small enough to cram into a small soft case with other panels. For the professionals who abided by these lights, gone were the days of lugging around huge lighting cases and ballasts. LED lights have come a long way since then, and now the new Luxli Timpani 1x1 is at the cutting edge of this well-regarded lighting format.
When I say that LED lights have come a long way, it’s not an exaggeration. Regardless of expense, LEDs at that point in time simply couldn’t reproduce as full a light spectrum as accurately as they can now. Anyone needing daylight-temperature light would have preferred HMI fixtures or fluorescent Kinos. LED lights of yore would also introduce serious green shift, which, depending on the severity, could be difficult to correct in post-production, so that was another trade-off for the size and weight savings. The Timpani doesn’t exhibit any of these color issues. By industry-standard CRI and TLCI metrics, it puts up stellar performance numbers, matching, and in some cases exceeding, fixtures that cost significantly more. Each light includes a serialized photometric sheet denoting its performance, as measured from the factory.
Hands On
The full functionality of the Timpani probably exceeds the scope of this review, because there is so much that this light can do. Looking at it from the front, the design, smartly, doesn’t deviate from what anyone should expect from a 1x1 light fixture. It has an understated matte-black look with red accents via the yoke knobs. The rear of the light is dominated by a black anodized aluminum heatsink with a V-mount battery plate bolted to it. Below that are the LCD screen, DMX in and thru jacks (the thru jack is not self-terminating, and will require a DMX terminator plug if it’s the last light in a chain), and control cluster featuring two rotary encoders and several buttons. I found the display readout to be clear, and the encoders are nice and responsive with a positive click for each incremental rotation. It’s clear that Luxli intended this to be a professional’s tool.
Light output quality is as expected from a 1x1 panel. It’s a soft light, though not too soft, and very even on subjects. The tight coverage of the 672 individual lighting elements ensures that. However, if you are a stickler for shadow rendering, I would recommend using a silk, bounce, or softbox to eliminate micro-shadows inherent to the multi-source design of this panel. As a soft light, it won’t replace a hard source like a Fresnel or a par in a kit or a studio setup. But, in my experience, most people are shooting with softer lights in most situations these days.
A V-mount battery plate is built-in and connects to the light’s 4-pin XLR power input. I suspect many users will power the light this way out of convenience, should they have the batteries available, because there are no cable runs to contend with. It’s good that the Timpani comes with battery-power facilities out of the box, because no one will wonder about plate compatibility. However, you’ll need a V-mount adapter or a replacement plate if you have a stock of Gold mount batteries. While some LED panel solutions have plates built into controllers connected via cable, I prefer the integrated design. It’s neater overall and doesn’t leave any cables dangling.
In Use
With such heavy demand for Timpani fixtures here at B&H, I was fortunate to get some hands-on time with one. Surprisingly, I could fit the fixture with the yoke attached, two large V-mount batteries, the power adapter, and a light jacket (for the rain that never fell) into my average-sized backpack. I brought a small light stand along inside my tripod bag. Despite the weight, I greatly preferred this arrangement to lugging around a large lighting case.
To use the light, I subwayed to the Bronx, where I met up with a couple of friends who, fortunately, had volunteered to help me test the light. We ran through a few scenarios around my friend’s apartment, as the light changed from daylight, to dusk, to nighttime. Regardless of the quality and color of the light, I found the Timpani 1x1 able to keep up with the changes. At no point did I feel like the output of the fixture lacked in light quality. Perhaps the most unexpectedly fun aspect of the light is the RGB mode. Using a bold color as your sole light source really gives you an opportunity to get creative and convey emotions through the color of light alone. Also, the unpredictability of using strong colors encouraged me to experiment more than I expected. Check out the video below to get an idea of this light’s capabilities. I only had time to scratch the surface of all the features available on the Timpani, but after using it as a creative tool, it becomes quite addictive!
One feature that I loved, and one that will sure be appreciated by pros in the field, is the ability to control the light via a mobile device using the free Luxli Conductor app (iOS, Android). Being able to adjust settings while the light was up on a stand or otherwise out of reach was a very welcome convenience. The app also adds useful functionality. I could sample colors in each scene using the camera on my iPhone, automatically turning the Timpani into a fill light that seamlessly blends with any light source, be it the sun or a sodium-vapor lamp. In the sunset scenario in the video above, I had sampled a sunset from a photo that I took. Even though it was cloudy outside, I could successfully mimic the look of golden hour.
As a filmmaker, I have very little experience with RGB lighting in the projects with which I usually get involved. However, here is something that I took away from this hands-on experience as a teaching moment to myself, and perhaps you, the reader, can benefit from it. When exploring super-saturated colors in the RGB mode, I was not fully cognizant of how that color was really recording in the camera I was using—in this case a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera. Most cameras do a good job of representing colors that we see in everyday life; however, with bold colors generated by an RGB fixture, it’s anybody’s guess how that will affect your setting and subjects if you don’t have an accurate monitor. My advice, if you want to use this light to its full potential: be sure to have a high-quality monitoring setup where you can see how your camera is rendering the colored light output.
Conclusion
So, is the Luxli Timpanin 1x1 truly a light to rule them all? For most productions that a freelancer or small production company would take on, it certainly comes close. The light is bright and its output has a very attractive quality, and that’s not even discussing its flexibility as far as its RGB capabilities. It’s hard to find any fault in the light in terms of its functionality. This is an exciting time for filmmakers or anyone interested in lighting. Luxli has a real winner on its hands with the Timpani, and I’m looking forward to discovering where the company is going with its ever-growing orchestra of lighting products.
Considering adding a Luxi Timpani RGBAW LED panel light to your lighting kit? Take a look at this quick overview of the Timpani, or check out 10 creative ways to use this panel light. Read on to learn more about using the Timpani’s RGB mode to match your existing light sources, or to select your choice of 150 Lee gels in filter mode.
Need the flashing lights of a patrol car for your episodic police procedural, a flickering firelight for a camping-alone-in the-woods horrorfest, or the strobing of a ravenous paparazzi mob? The Timpani does all this and more in its integrated Special Effects mode. Get some tips on how to build a light kit with the Timpani and learn about its four operating modes, DMX features, and physical build in this broader Timpani overview.
