Kelvin Play Pro RGBACL LED First Look at Cine Gear 2023

The Kelvin Play Pro RGBACL LED Pocket Creative Panel Light is the latest product from the Norwegian lighting company. This is different from the Kelvin Play that was announced at NAB 2023.

We caught up with Kelvin at Cine Gear 2023 to take a closer look.

Above you can see our interview with Kelvin at NAB 2023 where we looked at the Kelvin Play.

We will have an interview with Kelvin about their new Play Pro at Cine Gear 2023, so make sure you tune in for our coverage.

The Kelvin Play Pro is a professional entry-level fixture that utilizes the same light engine that powers their Epos 300 and Epos 600 fixtures. It is very similar to the previously announced Kelin Play. The biggest difference between the two lights is that the Play Pro has an IP rating of 65 and the ability to use wireless DMX (CRMX from LumenRadio).

We will have a full interview with Kelvin from Cine Gear so please check back later in the day.

Just like the larger Epos 300 and Epos 600 fixtures, the Play Pro features a very industrial design. It is beautifully made and constructed and you can see that Kelvin has paid a lot of attention to detail. The whole premise of the Play is that you get a light with the same build quality and color accuracy as the company's larger fixtures.

The entire light casing, including the dials, is made out of high-grade aluminum.

As I mentioned earlier, the light also features an IP65 weather rating. An IP65 rating means that your product is protected from water projected from a nozzle from any direction.

The whole ethos behind Kelvin's range is to make lights that all match and integrate seamlessly together. In a lot of ways, the Play Pro was designed as an entry-level professional fixture to get you into Kelvin's range.

The Play Pro features a very intuitive and easy-to-use operating system and the dials are extremely tactile and well-made. The fixture is CCT adjustable from 2,000 – 20,000K and it has full +/- G/M adjustment. There are effects, gels, HSI, RGB modes, etc.

Apart from the onboard controls, the light can also be controlled via the Kelvin Narrator Bluetooth app or DMX.

The light features Kelvin's sophisticated 6-channel RGBACL light engine Cantastoria, which produces a full spectrum of colors within the 2,000 – 20,000K range. The Cantastoria Engine utilizes Red, Green, Blue, Amber, Cyan and Lime. As I mentioned earlier, this is the same light engine that is found in Kelvin's flagship products.

The Play Pro doesn't use any white LEDs, instead, it mixes all of those different color LEDs 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.

The Play Pro tips the scales at 350g / / 0.77 lbs which makes it the same weight as the Play.

The Play Pro has multiple 1/4-20″ mounting points so you can easily mount it to light stands, small arms, etc. You can also attach multiple Play Pro units together if you need to create a bigger source.

The back of the Play Pro features strong magnets so you can attach the light directly to metal surfaces. This is something we have seen other manufacturers do in the past, but it is always nice to have multiple mounting options available.

The light draws 18W of power and it features an in-built battery. You can also power or charge the Play Pro via its USB-C input. According to Kelvin, the Play Pro can be run for up to 3 hours at full brightness.

There is also a large array of modifiers available for the Play Pro.

By using magnets you can actually stack various modifiers by adding additional frames. I like this design and the versatility it allows.

Kelvin is a new lighting brand developed by LED technology company Rift Labs from Scandinavia. Rift Labs has been manufacturing award-winning cinema lighting fixtures and lighting software for the global video and photography market in video and photo since 2010 and they have sold more than 50,000 products.

The headquarter of Kelvin is located in Oslo, Norway with offices in Berlin and they will soon open an office in New York.

The Kelvin Play Pro RGBACL LED Pocket Creative Panel Light with Wireless DMX Kelvin Play Pro 3-Light Kit in Case with Light Modifiers, RGBACL LED Pocket Creative Panel LightLink: https://www.kelvinlight.com/product/play_pro_rgbacl_led_panel_pocket_light_kit_3/ Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13qpkId4lHFakh8vKg-hYS9ZSCiueioO3?usp=sharingKelvin Play Pro 8-Light Kit in Case with Light Modifiers, RGBACL LED Pocket Creative Panel LightLink: https://www.kelvinlight.com/product/play_pro_rgbacl_led_panel_pocket_light_kit_8/ Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yZEq176fp1K8Y4p__pfC_FMkbTT_8tQW?usp=drive_link

The Kelvin Play Pro has a starting list price of $349 USD, however, until June 30th, 2023 users will be able to pre-order the light for only $229 USD from authorized Kelvin dealers in the USA and the Kelvin Store, with similar offers available in Europe, the UK, Australia, Canada and Taiwan. The light is expected to start shipping in early September.

It's also available in kits of 3 or 8 including a charging case.

The Kelvin Play Pro 3-Light Kit is $1,499.00$1,099.00 USD excl. tax 26% OFF (ends June 30).

The Kelvin Play Pro 8-Light Kit is $3,999.00 $2,599.00 USD excl. tax 35% OFF (ends June 30)

The deals end on June 30, 11:59PM PST, or while supplies last (whichever comes first).

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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.