When we saw the Maxima 7 in development last year, there was a lot to be excited about. It's now finally available for pre-order, while the smaller, more indie-friendly Maxima 3 has started shipping.
Maxima 7
Maxima 7 is a powerful 10" 5600K LED that punches 45,000 lux at 1m, and with the fresnel reflector, you get 470,000 lux at 1m. It's a 1200W HMI equivalent, has a separate ballast, high CRI/TLCI, a full copper heat sink to keep it cool, an adjustable beam angle, flicker-free dimming, a controllable app available for iOS and Android. It can be your go-to hard light or you can put a softbox in front of it to diffuse the source. Plus, it's light enough to carry around (approximately 20 lbs) and draws only 750W. If you want to read more about it, check it out here.
The one thing we didn't know was the price—until today. The Maxima 7 is priced at €3,990 (approximately $4,772 USD) for the carbon-kevlar body and €4,990 ($5,968) for the all-metal body, and is expected to ship this December.
The cost puts it higher than the ARRI True Blue D12 and Molpar 1200W HMI Par, which isn't great news, but somewhat understandable as a new company. There's going to be some R&D costs attached to early models until the company stretches their legs.
You can learn more about the Maxima 7 here.
Maxima 3
Credit: Maxima
For most independent creators, especially those working with Aputure, Hive, Nanlite, and others, the Maxima 3 is going to be more your speed. The Maxima 3 is a 300W LED available in 5600K or 3200K options. It's an 8" fresnel with all the same bells and whistles as Maxima 7 but as a lower light source. At 15° with the fresnel reflector, it offers 153,000 lux at 1m and 19,700 lux at 3m.
The fixture is focusable, offers flicker-free dimming is 10-100%, high CRI/TLCI, has an integrated mobile app, and weighs about 12 lbs with the fresnel. The cost? €1,899 (approximately $2,272 USD) without the fresnel and €2,499 ($2,995) with the fresnel. The cost is for either 5600K or 3200K, and Maxima offers three different stand mounts: a male 28mm, a male 16mm, and a female 16mm.
Both fixtures come in higher than their competitors. The Aputure LS 600 Pro is only $1,890 and offers similar power to the Maxima 7. The Aputure LS 300d II with the fresnel 2x can produce up to 90,000 lux at 1m and it only costs $1,099.
What it's going to boil down to is the quality of light you're getting with Maxima and how much noise there is. If it's significantly better than the competitors, then the extra cost might be warranted.
You can find more about the Maxima 3 here.
