I'm gonna show you the Godox SL150W II and how this version fixes all the main issues people had with the original？
The two most popular lights over the past few years have been the SL60 W and the SL150 W. They're essentially unbeatable for the price but there was one main issue with them that kept them from being universally loved and that was and still is the fan noise. So what if I told you that this new version is completely silent. There are other significant upgrades to this light besides the fan. So, at the very first versions of the original SL150 W, the fan noise was just extremely loud. The return rate for those lights was so high that godox upgraded the fans and those to be quieter and they were a little better but there were still some issues with quality control. So, it's kind of hit or miss whether you got a good unit or a bad one. The bad thing is kind of tarnished the reputation of the SL series and made people stay away from them a little bit. When the FV series of lights came out, it had a new design for the body and the fan and it was not only quieter but it was a lower pitched and smoother fan sound as well.
All that leads me to the SL150W mark 2. It essentially uses an identical fan and bodies the FV series lights. It fixes the main issue that people had and the fan is much quieter. I'm gonna play an audio comparison of the SL 60 W followed by the FV 205 and the SL 150 w mark 2 so you can hear the fan noise difference. I boosted the audio levels the same across all three lights so they're more audible but you can compare the difference in the fan noise. So, as you can hear the sl150w mark ii is quietest out of all three of these and it's the quietest Godox light out of all six that I own. So not only is the fan a lot quieter but the biggest thing is that you can now manually turn this fan completely off. There's a single dedicated button on the back that lets you toggle the fan on and off and the only catch is that when you turn the fan off you're limited to a certain brightness. That's to keep the unit from overheating and when I measured this with my sekonic C 800 and when I turn the fan off the brightness dropped from 6,780 lux to 2,450 lux.
So, the difference is about one and one-third of a stop so I got 36% of the total power output when I turn the fan off with this light and the funny thing is that that is the same brightness as the godox SL60W. Now turning the fan off isn't a new feature with Co B lights. For example, there's the NAND light 460 which you can turn the fan off and you get about a third of the overall power with that light as well. Granted that's a 60 watt light so the overall brightness is much less than this light. There's also the pixel C 220 and you can turn the fan off with that light but it'll automatically turn back on as the light heats up.
There are some others out there with similar features but I don't think any come close to what the godox SL150 W mark ii can do at the same price really quickly I want to mention that godox is releasing the UL150 sometime soon and that is a completely fanless design so it's going to be a quiet 100 percent of the time. There are some significant differences between the UL150 the SL150W II and the other lights in godox line. So apart from the fan noise, what else has changed the next most important thing to me is the build quality and the design the light the build quality of the original SL150W was not bad but this one is just a step up. The materials feel great it's a lot sleeker and easier to use and it just feels really solid I've had the FV204 a while and it's been my favorite light to use anytime that I can and this light borrows the two best things about that design in the body design and the fan upgrade.
On top of that, this also adds the ability to manually turn the fan off which is awesome. The only thing that FV series has over the SL mark II is that it has flash functionality it's useful in some situations but it's not as bright as a dedicated flash so I would still recommend getting studio strobes for photography and continuous lights for video. The price difference between the SL 150w mark 2 and the FV 150 is only $10 so you'll have to decide for yourself but for me I think the ability to turn the fan completely off is a bigger priority than having some extra flash functionality. Another nice feature that they added to the mark 2 of this light are the built-in effects the original didn't have any effects and this one has a few including things like simulating lightning, a flickering TV set and a burning out light bulb. As far as brightness goes the mark 2 version is not much different than the original SL150 W. I measured both with my sekonic C 800 and the difference in Lux translates to one third of a stop.
One important note is that the original SL150 W had a minimum brightness of only 10% but sometimes 10% was still too bright. The sl150 ii lets you go down all the way to 1% and also uses a new reflector design that's more efficient than the original, so you do get a little bump when you're shooting into external diffusion or bouncing it off another surface. So, I wouldn't choose this light over the original SL150 W if you're specifically looking for more brightness because I don't think that's one of the upgrades that makes it a significant change from the original. I also measure the color accuracy of this light against all my other godox lights and it's right in the same range as all those. My specific light came in at 5,759 Kelvin so it's right in that plus or minus 200 Kelvin range that you can expect from most LED lights. I got a CRI of 96.9 with our nine our 13 and our 15 values of 90.3, 9.97 nine and 95 so all good for rendering skin tones.
I also got a TLC I of 97. For the TM thirty, I got an RF of ninety two and an RG of 101 and this light does have a slight magenta tint but LED lights typically green up over time in my experience so this light should actually become a little more accurate the more that you use it. For the SSI I got 72 versus the D 55 daylight standard which is not quite as good as some of the high-end lights that are typically closer to 74 or 75 but considering this light is less than half the price it's a small difference. The sl150 mark ii comes with a new remote so instead of the RCA five it's the RCA six and there's not that many differences. The RCA six can control the SL mark two series as well as the FV series lights.
It also just gives you more options with channels and grouping. You probably already noticed but the yolk and the mounting bracket on the sl150 w mark II is much sturdier design. The mark ii does a much better job with large and heavy soft boxes. The sl150 w mark one goes for $235 and that might drop over time with the release of this light and the cost of the mark 2 is $339 you can also get the 200 watt version of the mark II light for $439 dollars and the200 watt version of the mark I is going to be 350, so it's about a hundred dollars difference between the mark one and the mark two versions and i think the price difference is well worth it, so the SL series both the mark I and mark II as well as the FV series light do not support v mount batteries the VL and UL series lights do but it's kind of a trade-off because on these lights the power and the controller is built into the head unit.
Personally, I prefer it that way because that way you just must light and one you have the VL or the UL series lights you have the light, the controller, the AC adapter and two or three extra cords. It is something to consider if you think you'll really need to be mount support and future. So the one thing that I really wish they would have added with this light is a case, it doesn't come with any case at all but I can understand why it still meant to be a low-budget light and adding a case would be another $50 or so and the original SL 150 W didn't have a case so it's not like it's a downgrade. Overall, I think the change they made to the mark ii version of this light make it the ideal light for somebody that still wants something on a budget, don't want something more flexible than the entry-level 60 watt lights.
Obviously this light's gonna be brighter than the SL 60 w which doesn't have a mark ii version at least not yet but apart from the brightness this is a big upgrade and every other way, in my experience 60 watt lights work really well in controlled environments but usually they're just not bright enough to be used for much else. I really like how godox is kind of focusing on the sweet spot of 150 watts. it's still within budget for most people and it's gonna be bright enough that it's not something that you'll have to upgrade soon in the future. What do you think are the upgrades in the mark ii version of this light worth it to you or will you stick with the SL 150 w mark I or go with a different brand completely?
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