This is the Kinotehnik Practilite 602, a light I used for many years for wedding filmmaking and absolutely loved. And this is the Practilite 632, an upgrade to the 602 that was so big they skipped 612 and 622 and jumped right to 632.
In this video I am going to review the Practilite 632 from the perspective of a wedding filmmaker and tell you if it is a good light for you to buy, whether you need to light reception dance floors or you are a filmmaker who needs a good spotlight. And do not worry, I know I made a video a while back about the Aputure 60x, which I consider to be the biggest competitor to this light, so we are going to compare that one too.
For the sake of ethics, I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by Kinotehnik or Aputure or anyone else, but Kinotehnik did send me this light early, before it was released, so I could test it out and make this review for you.
It Looks The Same As The 602
The first thing you will notice is that these lights are virtually identical, and that was by design. The weight and size of the 632 versus the 602 are basically unchanged, so if you have used the 602, upgrading should feel very familiar.
In fact, you may be wondering why you should upgrade at all. Here is where things get really interesting, because while Kinotehnik have not changed much about the exterior of this light, they have made some really big upgrades to the internals, which is what you are most likely going to care about.
New Fresnel Lens And Brightness
There is one big difference going from the 602 to the 632, and that is the Fresnel lens at the front of the light. This is brand new, and whenever you combine that lens with the higher output LED assembly Kinotehnik have managed to cram into this light, I am pleased to tell you that the 632 is now approximately three times brighter than the 602.
So yes, if one of your complaints about the 602 was that you wished it was a bit brighter, the 632 is a huge improvement. I especially appreciated the added brightness whenever I filmed a wedding and used the 632 to light the dance floor. The room was very dark with all the lights turned down, and the 632 easily punched through, giving me really great moody lighting on the dance floor, which I think looked awesome.
Regardless of which camera you are using or what ISO you are trying to hit, this light should be able to get bright enough for you to light pretty much anything.
Power Options
As a plus, Kinotehnik have also managed to make the power supply for this light even smaller than it was with the 602.
And if you decide to use battery power, which you can very easily set up with a four pin XLR to D-Tap adapter, Kinotehnik have told me the battery life is virtually identical to the 602. In my testing at a wedding, I ran the 632 for several hours off battery, and at the end of the night my battery was still saying it was essentially at full charge, which is awesome.
Boost Mode On Battery
What is also awesome is that the 632 has a brightness boost mode that can now be run off battery power. By default the 632 supports setting the white balance anywhere between 3000 and 6000 Kelvin, but if you choose to use boost mode, the light switches to 4500 Kelvin and gets significantly brighter.
I would keep in mind that this white balance is not always ideal if you are working with other lights, so you are going to need to make sure that 4500 Kelvin works with the rest of your lighting.
Beam Width
Going back to that lens at the front, more than just making the light brighter, it also results in a pretty big difference to the beam width you can get, and that is something you may not be as happy about.
One reason I loved the original 602 is that it was able to create such a wide beam of light. If you are filming a wedding reception in a tight room where you do not have the option of setting your light up super far away from the dance floor, you could put the 602 right next to the dance floor and still focus the beam wide enough to light the entire thing.
That changes a bit with the 632, because whereas the 602 had a maximum beam width of 75 degrees, which is pretty darn wide, the 632 only has a maximum beam width of 60 degrees.
That is noticeably tighter, and while it is still dramatically better than the 45 degree maximum of the Aputure 60x, I still wish Kinotehnik had been able to keep the same beam width, because that was such a strong selling point for the 602.
As it is, whenever I tested the 632 I found it was still plenty wide enough for the relatively average width dance floor I was filming. But if you are someone who commonly finds themselves filming very tight wedding receptions where you need a very wide beam, that is where you may want to forego both the Aputure 60x and the Practilite 632 and go looking for a 602.
Thankfully, the width of the beam is only half the story, because this new lens can also focus the light to an even tighter 10 degrees, which is the same as the Aputure 60x. So if you are filming someone giving a toast and you want a very focused beam on them, to backlight them or hair light them for example, you can easily do that with the 632.
The Same App, Which Is Awesome
Another reason I originally loved the Practilite 602 was the incredibly easy to use and intuitive app, and I am so pleased to tell you that the 632 uses the same app in exactly the same way. To control the 632 with your phone over Bluetooth, all you have to do is open the app, and your phone will automatically connect to the light and be ready to change things like brightness or white balance in a few seconds.
Compare that to Aputure’s Sidus Link app. While Sidus Link is more robust in regards to setting up and labeling specific lights, and I think it works great for a studio setup, if you are filming a wedding and you need to adjust your lighting settings incredibly quickly, the Practilite app still wins easily.
Modifiers, And One Really Unique Option
Going back to the front of the light, there is one other nice change, and that has to do with modifiers. Just like the 602, the 632 supports Profoto four inch studio head modifiers, as well as one softbox that Kinotehnik themselves make.
That is okay, but if I had one wish for the 632, it would be for this light to include a Bowens mount adapter in the box, just like Aputure does with the 60x. At this point the Bowens mount is pretty ubiquitous, and there are so many options out there for softboxes and other modifiers. While a spotlight like the 60x or the 632 is never going to be as versatile as, say, an Aputure 300x or 600d, it is still great to at least have the option of using a spotlight with a softbox. Kinotehnik, make a Bowens mount adapter for this light and people are going to love it. Please. I will have one too.
We are not quite done talking about modifiers though, because there is one other thing Kinotehnik has made to work with the 632, and this is pretty cool. On the front of the 632 there is now a 77mm filter thread. Yes, just like the front of most camera lenses.
That gives you a lot of interesting versatility, including the ability to add things like gradient filters or ND filters to the front of your light. It is a really cool way to adjust the light coming out of the 632, and while it does not make up for the lack of a Bowens mount, I do think it is pretty cool and fun to play around with.
The Price, And Should You Buy It?
Overall the Practilite 632 is a very nice evolution from the 602, keeping the small and compact size while greatly improving brightness. But what about the price? Here is where things get more complicated.
At the time of making this video, the Practilite 632 costs about $1,200. For context, whenever I bought my original 602 in 2018, that light cost around $950, which was definitely expensive, but there also was not much in the way of competition for compact bi-color spotlights.
Now, with the 632 at $1,200, there is a lot of competition, most significantly the Aputure 60x, still coming in at a little over one third of the cost at $420 at the time of making this video.
So here is the way I see things. If you are looking for a purpose built spotlight that is super compact and gets super bright, with a fantastic app that is very fast, and most importantly money is no object, meaning you want a good light no matter the cost, then I think the Practilite 632 is a great choice and it is a light you are going to absolutely love. You can buy the Practilite 632 at B&H here.
Otherwise though, for most filmmakers, the Aputure 60x is still the king. It may be bigger and bulkier than the 632, and its beam angle may not be as wide, but it comes with the Bowens mount adapter in the box, it is more versatile overall, it integrates really well into Aputure’s ecosystem of lights, it has an app even if it is a bit slower, and oh yeah, did I mention it is almost a third of the cost?
Do You Use YouTube?
Speaking of cost, I have something for you that is actually free. If you are a wedding filmmaker like me and you are watching me on YouTube, which I assume you are, I would love to help you out with your own YouTube channel. So I created a free guide called YouTube Tips for Wedding Filmmakers, and it is going to give you some of the biggest techniques I have learned over the years to help you get more views, likes and bookings from YouTube. It is completely free.
I colored everything you see here with my color presets. If you want to go deeper, I have filmmaking courses here, and here is my full list of filmmaking gear.
Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!