LED Light Fixture Outputs

My never-ending quest of self-improvement, and finding the best tools I can afford, has led me here. I compiled this table of LED spotlights in the hopes of finally settling on the best option, for me, of upgrading from the Aputure 600d fixtures I currently own. I need punchy full color spots that won’t break the bank or pop a fuse.

After Nanlite announced their FC-1200C fixture earlier this month, I decided now would be a good time to start looking. I was confused by a few things and posted this question on the B&H website:

“The output of the FC-1200C compared to the FC-720C, both in 5600°K with 45° reflector at 1m, is only about 1/3 of a stop; 14,220 lux vs 11,400 lux. So, what’s the point? A 1200w draw vs 720w for only 1/3-stop doesn’t seem worth it.”

The response I got from a B&H staffer named Rob was less than helpful:

“The Nanlite FC1200C RGB LED Spotlight is very similar to the Nanlite FC720C RGB LED Spotlight (BH #NAFC720C). The output with no reflector on the 1200 at 3 m 5600K is 6960 lux / 647 fc, and the 720 at 3 m 5600K is 5040 lux / 468 fc. The 1200 has a wider spread, meaning it will work better with larger modifiers.”

That’s still less than half a stop of difference. See how Rob’s response is less than helpful?

Since I gotta do it myself again, I came up with this adorable table to compare fixtures setup for the most typical lighting scenarios I find myself in: interviews, music videos, and narrative films, where I need a large soft source for pleasing modeling and skin tones, and also lighting the background environment and maybe throwing in some dapple. So, naked lights, with reflectors, with fresnels, and also, for comparison, some lighting units I already own, some of which are not spotlights.

Light	Price **	Light Engine	LUX @ 5600ºK / 3m
STORM XT52	$13,700	BLAIR	22,080
STORM CS32	$6,990	BLAIR-CG	15,000
STORM 1200x	$2,990	BLAIR	8,490
STORM 700x	$1,690	BLAIR	6,370
Evoke 1200B	$2,337	2700–6500ºK	5,258
FC-1200B	$1,290	2700–6500ºK	2,986
FC-1200C	$1,490	Nebula C4 RGBW	6,960
STORM 1000c	$2,990	BLAIR-CG	6,300
FC-720B	$499	2700–6500ºK	5,680
FC-720C	$599	Nebula C4 RGBW	5,040
Rayzr 7 *	$1,539 (2018)	5600°K	18,579 (see Fresnels)
LS 600d *	$1,390 (2022)	5600ºK	2,600
LS 60d *	$299 (2023)	5600ºK	1,096 (see Fresnels)
PavoSlim 240C *	$1,290 (2025)	RGBWW	2,050 (w/reg diff)
STORM 80c	$599	BLAIR-CG	721
FC-120C *	$318 (2026) (w/softbox)	RGBW	857 (417 w/reg diff)
PavoSlim 120C *	$799 (2024)	RGBWW	310 (w/reg diff)
PavoSlim 60C *	$599 (2024)	RGBWW	137 (w/reg diff)
Pico *	$24.90 (2026)	RGBW	47 (20 w/diff)

With reflectors:

Light	45/50/55º refl	30/35º refl	15/25º refl
STORM XT52	68,400 (50º)	124,400 (35º)	222,000 (25º)
STORM CS32	–	106,000 (30º)	–
STORM 1200x	22,500 (45º)	41,800 (30º)	96,100 (15º)
STORM 700x	–	18,670 (35º)	27,190 (25º)
Evoke 1200B	18,570 (45º)	–	61,030 (26º)
FC-1200B	15,620 (45º)	–	–
FC-1200C	14,220 (45º)	–	–
STORM 1000c	14,200 (45º)	31,000 (30º)	70,000 (15º)
FC-720B	12,690 (45º)	–	–
FC-720C	11,400 (45º)	–	–
LS 600d *	8,500 (55º)	–	–
STORM 80c	–	1,924 (35º)	–
FC-120C *	1,255 (45º)	–	–

With Fresnel lens:

Light	Spot (10/15º)	Flood (40/45º)
STORM XT52	177,500 (CF16, 10º)	31,700 (CF16, 40º)
STORM 700x	56,200 (CF10, 10º)	11,900 (CF10, 40º)
Evoke 1200B	49,940 (11º)	13,010 (45º)
FC-720B	27,850 (FL-20G, 10º)	12,670 (FL-20G, 40º)
FC-720C	24,620 (FL-20G, 10º)	11,140 (FL-20G, 40º)
Rayzr 7 *	96,068 (18°)	18,579 (50°)
LS 600d *	29,300 (F10, 15º)	11,440 (F10, 45º)
LS 60d *	7,602 (15º)	1,096 (45º)
FC-120C *	3,372 (FL-11, 10º)	1,809 (FL-11, 45º)

Update: September 30 — I settled on the Nanlite FC-720C for its punch at 5600ºK at 3m in its 45º reflector, its RGBW Nebula C4 light engine, familiar size, lite weight, Bowens S-mount, and sale price of half the cost of the 600d when I bought mine in 2022; I could buy four FC-120C lights for the same price of two 600d lights, and the Nanlite ones are brighter and full color.