Packing 150 watts of power into a COB light that’s less than six pounds and doesn’t use a ballast is no easy feat. The Nanlux Evoke 150C LED spotlight achieves just that, while utilizing the Nebula C8 light engine for impressively accurate colors. The LED market is more crowded than ever, but we gave the Evoke 150C a spin to see what makes is stand out and what we’d change in future iterations.
Portable and Powerful
The first thing you’ll notice about the 150C is its size. At only 8.2 x 5.7 x 5”, the light is noticeably smaller than all the other Nanlux COBs currently on the market. Those stepping up from prosumer offerings might not be as blown away by its compactness, but they should be quite impressed once they turn the light on and see the kind of punch it produces. Use the included 45° reflector and get an even more powerful beam, with official specs declaring it capable of 22,230 lux at 3.3’. There’s a reason the 150C is grouped with the premium Evoke line. It’s more than capable when used in a controlled studio, or on location as a lightweight fill, kicker, or accent light.
Nebula C8 Colors
The other big draw here is the new 8-chip Nebula C8 light engine that mixes red, deep red, amber, lime, green, cyan, blue, and indigo. With it, the 150C is capable of a massive 1000 to 20,000K color temperature range, as well as +/- 200 green/magenta tint shifting. That unlocks tons of possibilities and adjustment modes, including CCT, HSI, RGBW, XY, and Gel. Lacking a ballast is a plus overall, but it does mean control dials are on the back of the light itself and not always easy to access. I preferred controlling the light through the NANLINK smartphone app. Though I didn’t run any 1-to-1 tests to compare the Nebula to competitors, I did find the colors coming out of the light to be vivid and accurate on-camera, as well as unified with the rest of the Evoke line.
The Whole Package
Other features will be familiar to Nanlux users: versatile control methods including DMX and LumenRadio CRMX, IP66-rated housing, 0.1% increment dimming, built-in effects, and high accuracy scores (CRI 98 , TLCI 98). Good additional accessory options include the 2.4 GHz wireless remote or the LAN Extension Ethernet adapter. The biggest disappointment for me is that the 150C is only compatible with FE and FM-mount accessories at the moment. A FE Bowens adapter is in the works, but we don’t yet have an ETA. For those who have already invested in Bowens softboxes, Fresnels, and projection attachments, this can be frustrating.
The Evoke 150C is a smart offering from Nanlux, packing premium features into a compact fixture. It should work well for prosumer videographers looking to step up their game or gaffers looking to build out the smaller end of a versatile lighting kit. The custom carry case is a great addition as well. For more information about the Nanlux Evoke 150C, including features, specs, and highlights, be sure to check out the detailed product page.
