Maxima Rapida Portable 200W COB Review

The Maxima Rapida is a high end light designed by filmmakers to work simply and effectively even in rugged outdoor conditions. It carries an iP56 rating, is fully portable due to the V-mount plate, and produces high quality, accurate light and surprisingly high levels. It is also fully designed and manufactured in-house by Maxima in Italy. It is a beautiful light…but you will pay for it, with a base price of €1,199.00. Is it worth the big bucks? Check out my full video review below or peruse my notes in the brief article below.

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Thanks to Maxima for sending me a review sample of the light. They have had zero input in my review and did not see it before public release.

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Specifications

200W COB LED
Ip54 (dust sealed, and splash resistance) – no full immersion
Pro-foto-compatible – (Bowens via locking ring)
CRI up to 98 and TLCI up to 99
2600-6800 Kelvin
Up to 200W (via AC or V-mount*)
V-mount 14.8 V / 26 V connection (only get up to 150W with 14.8 V)
Includes on-board AC driver
23,000 lumen output
Non-conductive composite body
1.8 kilo weight
Made in Italy – 100% by Maxima

Tests

I ran a series of tests on the Rapida using a Lux meter at a one meter distance. I tested it on AC power with the bare light, using a beauty dish/reflector, and then with a small softbox with a diffuser in place. I then tested it with a 14.8 V V-mount battery, which limits output (full output requires a 28 V V-mount bettery, which I don’t have. Finally, I used an inexpensive but non-portable Neewer CB200 (my review here) with a similar output rating for a benchmark. Here are my results.

My conclusion when seeing the variance with the beauty dish/reflector in place is that the Rapida has a broader spread of light with the bare lens (as reflected to a lesser degree in the softbox output), but the when the light is focused (via the reflector), it is actually producing a higher quantity of light than the cheaper COB light (with higher accuracy).

If you would like a deeper dive into the various “white sheets” of tests for color accuracy, check out the gallery here.

[Show as slideshow]

Run Time

Out of curiosity, I wanted to test how long the Rapida would run on a basic 99Wh V-mount battery (the kind that is widely and cheaply available). I found that I needed to run the output at about 80% to avoid overloading the lower capacity battery, but at that level I was able to run the light for 55 minutes before the V-mount hit zero. This is certainly a usable amount of time, and obviously using a larger capacity v-mount would extend that runtime.

Things I Liked

Great light quantity and quality
I like the integrated handle
Everything feels well made, including the Pivot Mount
The V-mount-centric design makes for a clean workflow
Lots of light.
Nice bag
App is basic but works well.

Things I Don’t Like

EFX in app seem to be for other units (can’t get them to work)
Expensive ($2169 USD)

Conclusion

The Maxima Rapida is a well designed light that is easy to carry due to both the nice case and the integrated handle while also being very easy to use. The design around the V-mount makes it easy to swap batteries or use the included 200W AC Driver that is built into a V-mount style design. The shell is very tough, and the weather sealing makes it easy to use in adverse conditions. It delivers a high quantity of accurate, clean light at a range from 2600-7000 kelvin, and the simple knobs are instantly usable without having to dive into menus (hurray for simplicity!) But the light is going to cost you, running €1,199.00 (or nearly $1400 USD).

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GEAR USED:

Purchase or explore Rapida in the USA https://maximaledamerica.com/collections/rapida or Europe https://maximaled.com/product/maxima-rapida/

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