Nanlux Evoke 900C 940W LED RGBACL Spotlight

Aug 14, 2023

Nanlux has announced its new flagship fixture, the Evoke 900C. This is a 940W LED RGBACL Spotlight, with a CCT range of 1,800-20,000K with full +/-G/M adjustability.

The Evoke 900C is Nanlux's first high-powered RGBACL spotlight and it sits in an interesting place as it falls right between 600/700W fixtures and larger 1200W options such as the Evoke 1200.

The Evoke 900C is claimed to deliver high-quality light with an even beam. It can be used as a soft or hard light source by attaching lighting modifiers.

The Nanlux Evoke 900c, just like the ARRI Orbiter and Prolycht Orion 675 FS, doesn't use any white LEDs. Instead, all of the different color LEDs are blended together to produce white light. Hive Lighting has also been using 7 LED-chip blending. Instead of the traditional 3 colors, Hive uses red, amber, lime, cyan, green, blue, and sapphire. The advantage RGBACL has over RGBWW is that it is capable of giving you a larger CCT range and it can produce more saturated colors with more output. RGBWW lights tend to struggle to create saturated colors like yellow and they don't always have as much output when generating saturated colors. They can also have a large drop-off in output at different CCT settings.

There is a lot of debate and argument over what is better. Certain lighting companies will tell you that RGBACL is better, while others will tell you that RGBWW is better. I don't have any horse in this race, so I am not influenced by what lighting companies say.

Even though I think usability and color accuracy are more important, most people want to know how much output a light has, so let's get that over with.

Above you can see the claimed photometric data for the Evoke 900C.

According to Nanlux, the Evoke 900C is claimed to be able to output 12,940 lux @3m / 9.84′ (when set at 5600K, with its 45° reflector). If we use the inverse square law, that means that the Evoke 900C can output 116,460 lux @1m / 3.3′.

So how does that stack up against other high-powered COB spotlights? Well, let's first look at its closest competitors, the Prolycht Orion 675 FS and the Aputure LS 600c Pro.

*Not tested

**Independently tested

As you can see, the Evoke 900C has substantially more output than both the Prolycht and the Aputure, but it is also drawing 222W more than the Prolycht and 180W more than the Aputure. The beam angle on the reflectors for both those lights is also wider than that of the Evoke 900C.

Ok, so what about if we compare the output to other similar COB fixtures when used at 5600K? Below you can see the results:

* Independently tested

** Not tested (claimed output)

As you can see the Nanlux Evoke 900C is certainly no slouch when it comes to output, even when compared to lights like the Aputure LS 1200d Pro and Nanlux Evoke 1200.

If you want even more output, you can couple the Evoke 900C with the Nanlux F-35 10° Fresnel Attachment. If you do that the claimed output when setting the fresnel at 11° is a whopping 389,430 lux @1m (5600K).

The Nanlux Evoke 900C draws 940W. Below you can see how that compares against the ARRI Orbiter, Aputure LS 600c Pro, Aputure LS 600x Pro, Aputure LS 600d, and Nanlite Forza 720 and 720B. I have also included the Aputure LS 1200d Pro and Nanlux Evoke 1200 as well. Please remember that some of these lights don't feature RGBWW capabilities.

As you can see, the Nanlux Evoke 900C's power draw sits basically in between lights like the Prolycht Orion 675 FS and the Nanlux Evoke 1200.

The power supply for the Nanlux Evoke 900C comes with a quick-release device and it can be securely mounted on a light stand or truss by using the included quick-release clamp.

The light comes with a 7.5M DC connection cable as standard and 10M and 12M connection cables can be purchased separately.

The Nanlux Evoke 900C weighs in at 30.95 lb / 14.04 kg (including yoke frame). This does make the light pretty heavy and you need to be aware of this. This is certainly not a fixture you can use with a run-of-the-mill light stand.

Like a lot of high powered COB spotlights, the Evoke 900C is split into two components. You have the light head which weighs 7.7kg / 16.98 lb, and the power supply which tips the scales at 4.5kg / 9.92 lb. If Nanlux went with an all-in-one design, you would have ended up with a very heavy fixture that would have to be used with very heavy-duty lightstands. There are pros and cons to having a single light head instead of a light head and a separate power supply/controller.

The light retains the same weatherproof performance as the Evoke 1200 and it has an IP55 rating for both the fixture and the power supply.

So how does this weight compare to other COB spotlights such as the ARRI Orbiter, Aputure LS 600c Pro, Aputure LS 600x Pro, Aputure LS 600d, Nanlite Forza 720, Nanlite Forza 720B, Prolycht Orion 675 FS, Nanlux Evoke 1200, and Aputure LS 1200d Pro? Below you can see:

* Doesn't include the weight of the yoke frame

Essentially if you look at the weight comparison above, the Evoke 900C weighs about the same as an Aputure LS 1200d Pro and it is a few kg heavier than a Prolycht Orion 675 FS.

Just to be crystal clear, some of these lights listed above don't have RGBWW capabilities. I am simply giving you a reference as to how it compares weight-wise to other similar-styled fixtures.

I wanted to also mention that the yoke frame that comes with the light features a 15-degree offset design which helps with the tilt adjustment range.

Apart from CCT mode, the Evoke 900C incorporates color modes such as Advanced HSI mode, RGBW mode, XY coordinates, and a GEL mode. The fixture also features 15 special effects to simulate lighting effects in real situations with all parameters adjustable via onboard controls, the NANLINK APP, and DMX/RDM controls.

Speaking of DMX, a mode called RGB (No Dimmer) has been developed exclusively for virtual production under DMX/RDM control. This mode opens more channels for color calibration.

By removing the dimmer channel and adding a Gamma responding option at the same time, lighting control for virtual production becomes easier and more responsive. The Evoke 900C has the built-in Ethernet control upon Art-Net/sAC protocol for the first time, facilitating the integration into Unreal Engine's lighting system, and enabling fast and accurate responses to virtual environment changes in real-time.

Unlike a lot of other high-power LED spotlights, the Evoke 900C doesn't use a Bowens mount. Instead, Nanlux has followed the same path as ARRI and is using its own proprietary mount. This means you will have to purchase lighting modifiers that have been designed specifically for this fixture.

Why a proprietary mount? Well, that is a simple question to answer. Because of the size and the type of light the Evoke 900C is, there is no way a Bowens mount would have made any sense. Nanlux needed to use a very strong, robust, mount with a locking mechanism to support the weight of attached accessories. Nanlux's NL mount is the same one that is also used on the Evoke 1200.

There is a small locking pin that you have to pull out to remove anything that is attached to the Evoke 900C.

Above you can see how the mount system works on the Evoke 1200. In this example, I am removing the Evoke 1200 from the F-35 Fresnel. In a way, it is almost like removing a lens from a camera mount, just on a lot larger scale!

From prior experience I have found the NL mount to be very robust and nothing you attach to it wobbles around. It has been designed to support a lot of weight.

Yes, a Bowens-S mount would have allowed for a far wider array of affordable light modifiers to be used, but given how the Evoke 900C works, and the fact it has to support quite a lot of weight, a proprietary mount was the only real option Nanlux had.

The fixture utilizes an upgraded 3.5-inch full-color screen, and there are 4 buttons and 3-knobs for making adjustments and navigating the menu and settings. Nanlux has also given the fixture a wired control port for easier control when the light is rigged up high. There is also a WS-RC-C2 Remote Controller.

As I mentioned earlier, the light also can be controlled via DMX/RDM, Art-Net/sACN, LumenRadio CRMX and the NANLINK APP.

Just like the Evoke 1200, the 900C utilizes a large fan to keep the fixture cool. According to Nanlux, the 900C uses a new adjustable fan control system with four modes: SMART, HIGH FULL SPEED, LOW SPEED and OFF. Nanlux states that the noise level is 25dBA when used in its SMART mode.

The automatic switching fan speed when using the SMART mode monitors the ambient temperature and adjusts the fan accordingly. So what are the limits of the fam modes?

The Nanlux Evoke 900C will be available in a few different kits. Below are the prices;

How does the price compare to other high-powered COB spotlights on the market? Below you can see:

As you can see, the Evoke 900C is the most expensive out of all of these fixtures, but it is the only RGBACL light with a power draw above 900W. It is more expensive than the higher power draw Nanlux Evoke 1200/1200C and the Aputure LS 1200d Pro, but none of those lights are RGBW or RGBACL.

There's a wide range of lighting modifiers and accessories that will work with the Evoke 900C.

The Evoke 900C certainly looks like a very capable light and it is the first time we have seen an RGBACL spotlight with this type of power draw. It looks to have a good feature set and plenty of output. It will be interesting to see how this new light is viewed and whether or not potential buyers would choose this over a Prolycht Orion 675 FS or an Aputure Aputure LS 600c Pro Light Storm.

Matthew Allard is a multi-award-winning, ACS accredited freelance Director of Photography with over 30 years' of experience working in more than 50 countries around the world.He is the Editor of Newsshooter.com and has been writing on the site since 2010.Matthew has won 48 ACS Awards, including five prestigious Golden Tripods. In 2016 he won the Award for Best Cinematography at the 21st Asian Television Awards.Matthew is available to hire as a DP in Japan or for work anywhere else in the world.