The Maxima Spectra is the latest fixture from the Italian lighting manufacturer. The Maxima Spectra is claimed to deliver studio-grade cinematic lighting in a lightweight, battery-first design.
It weighs in at just 1.4 kg / 3.08 lbs, and it is 19cm / 7.48″ long, and its form factor almost makes it look like a small-sized digital cinema camera. Maxima Spectra was designed with an integrated, all-in-one body, so that you don’t need any cables (if you are running it via a battery).
It features direct V‑Mount battery support, Profoto and Bowens mount compatibility, a claimed output of 25,000 lx @1m /3.3′ and a CCT range of 2600K to 6800K.
If you use it with the optional Maxima Fresnel in spot mode, the claimed output is ~170.000 lux at 1m / 3.3′.
In an age where full color fixtures have become increasingly popular, some readers may well question the validity of owning a 5600K fixture or even a Bi-color one. That is certainly a legitimate concern; however, we used tungsten and daylight-only fixtures for decades, and that never held us back. Sure, a Bi-color fixture is not going to be as versatile as a full color one, but it really depends on your use case requirements as to whether or not you need full color.
The Maxima fixtures have been some of the most color-accurate fixtures I have ever tested.
Power it via a Flight Safe V-mount battery
The design allows you to power the light directly from a Flight Safe V-mount battery or mains power. You simply attach the power supply to the V-mount receptacle to use mains power or take it off and directly attach a V-mount battery.
Whether powered by V‑Mount batteries or AC, Spectra is able to deliver the same output. You can switch between mains power and a battery in under 5 seconds. With an efficacy of 125 lm/W, it operates for nearly an hour at full power on a single 145 Wh V-Mount battery.
Thanks to the three battery operation modes, Spectra is compatible with the widest range of V-Mount batteries available on the market. Battery operation mode is selectable by the user via the LCD touchscreen and is designed to accommodate batteries that provide 100W power output (ECO mode) through the full 200W setting (HIGH DRAIN mode) for more powerful batteries.
Thanks to Maxima’s patented thermal-management system, Spectra delivers class-leading efficiency (~125 lm/W), supporting extended run-times on battery while reducing energy consumption and environmental impact. All the materials and components of Maxima are manufactured in a zero-waste industrial process completely carried out in Italy, which also allows re-circulation of components after end-of-life.
According to Maxima, the Spectra features advanced fan management for quiet operation, from 19 dBA to 32 dBA.
Integrated Microlens with 90° beam angle
The Spectra features an integrated Microlens with 90° beam angle for
wide coverage with no visible mosaic effect.
What is GaN?
The Maxima Spectra, just like the Furiosa and Maxima 6 GaN, are the world’s first LED lamps driven by gallium nitride circuitry, which makes it capable of having a very high lux-to-weight ratio, best-in-class efficiency, and high CRI color rendition. GaN semiconductors are inherently more efficient than silicon, so less energy is expended as heat, resulting in a more efficient system with a higher power density (smaller volume).
According to Maxima, the patented, full copper heatsink combined with advanced thermal management puts Maxima 6 GaN at the top levels of performance charts, both in terms of brightness and compactness.
The increased efficiency obtained with GaN circuitry and the innovative thermal management subsystem is claimed to guarantee consistency and peak performance for years.
Thanks to the Gallium Nitride circuitry, you can operate the Maxima 6 GaN with any third-party DC source (like Bebop, FXLion, ARRI, etc.) from 35 to 75 V.
Gallium Nitride is a binary III/V direct bandgap semiconductor that is well-suited for high-power transistors capable of operating at high temperatures. Since the 1990s, it has been used commonly in light-emitting diodes (LED). Gallium nitride gives off a blue light used for disc-reading in Blu-ray. Additionally, gallium nitride is used in semiconductor power devices, RF components, lasers, and photonics. In the future, we will see GaN in sensor technology.
In 2006, enhancement-mode GaN transistors, sometimes referred to as GaN FETs, started being manufactured by growing a thin layer of GaN on the AIN layer of a standard silicon wafer using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The AIN layer acts as a buffer between the substrate and GaN. This new process enabled gallium nitride transistors to be producible in the same existing factories as silicon, using almost the same manufacturing processes. Using a known process allows for similar, low manufacturing costs and reduces the barrier to adoption for smaller transistors with much-improved performance.
To further explain, all semiconductor materials have what is called a bandgap. This is an energy range in a solid where no electrons can exist. Simply put, a bandgap is related to how well a solid material can conduct electricity. Gallium nitride has a 3.4 eV bandgap, compared to silicon’s 1.12 eV bandgap. Gallium nitride’s wider band gap means it can sustain higher voltages and higher temperatures than silicon MOSFETs. This wide bandgap enables gallium nitride to be applied to optoelectronic high-power and high-frequency devices.
The ability to operate at much higher temperatures and voltages than gallium arsenide (GaAs) transistors also makes gallium nitride ideal power amplifiers for microwave and terahertz (ThZ) devices, such as imaging and sensing, the future market mentioned above.
ADVANTAGES OF GALLIUM NITRIDE
The value proposition for GaN devices consists of four major points:
Reduced energy costs – Because GaN semiconductors are inherently more efficient than silicon, less energy is expended as heat, resulting in smaller system sizes and material costs.
Higher power density (smaller volume) – Higher switching frequencies and operational temperatures than silicon result in lower cooling requirements, smaller heat sinks, conversion from liquid-cooling to air cooling, eliminating fans and reduced magnetics.
Higher switching frequency – The higher switching frequencies for GaN devices allow smaller inductors and capacitors to be used in power circuits. The inductance and capacitance scale down in proportion to the frequency – a 10X increase in frequency produces a 10X decrease in the capacitance and inductance. This can result in an enormous decrease in weight and volume, as well as cost. In addition, higher frequency can result in less acoustic noise in motor drive applications. High frequency also enables wireless power transfer at higher powers, more spatial freedom, and bigger transmit-to-receive air gaps.
Lower system cost – While GaN semiconductors are generally higher cost than silicon, system-level cost reductions result through the use of GaN by reducing the size/costs of other components such as passive inductive and capacitive circuit elements, filters, cooling, etc. Savings range from 10-20%.
Mounting & Profoto and Bowens Compatibility
Spectra supports direct mounting of Profoto accessories and compatibility with Bowens through our Bowens Locking Ring and other popular light modifiers.
Its 12-point, double cheese plate and integrated PivotMount 2.0 allow seamless rigging with boom arms, stands, mini-tripods, and various accessories. The dual aluminum cheese plates can be used for overhead and floor mounting. It features 12 mounting points in 1/4” and 5/8” sizes, plus 2 locating-pin points.
There is also a Step-less stand adapter with 180° rotation for very precise positioning and integrated “briefcase” mode.
Control & App
The fixture offers advanced control of all the features, including effects and battery optimization, through the built-in LCD touchscreen, and you can also make changes to parameters by using the free iOS and Android app.
Pricing & Availability
The Maxima Spectra is now available to purchase for 799 €.
It comes with a 2-year warranty with repair and upgrade service in the EU.
Specifications
