Ikan Canvas Bi-Color Flexible LED Lights

ikan canvas flexible led

Ikan has a new portable lighting kit that aims squarely for the traveling filmmaker. The Ikan CB8 Canvas Bendable Bi-color LED is flexible panel lights that come with a few features that stand out among the sea of flexible LEDs out there. And in the kit, you get three of these lights, plus a carrying bag and stands.

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The Ikan CB8 is light weight, bendable, rollable, and generally easy to transport. It’s shaped like a 2×1, but is actually 20×10 inches. There are 336 LEDs, each with a 120 degree beam angle, and half of the diodes are dedicated to 2800K and the other to 6500K. It has a CRI of 95 and a 96 TLCI rating.

Each CB8 also comes with a light stand mount, that slips into the back corners of the mat. And a softbox and egg crate that attaches to the front of the panel with velcro.

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The CB8 is 300W equivalent and comes with a controller box that a 6 foot cable, to hang from a light stand (as a counter weight) or place on the floor. The controller accepts V-mount batteries in addition to Sony NP-F batteries, which is a huge advantage over other flexible light kits.

You can somtimes get away with adding a Sony NP-F to V-Mount adapter, but you have to careful about total power coming into it, so it doesn’t always work with every light. Having the Sony battery plates standard on the CB8 receiver is nice indeed.

Ikan CB8 Canvas Flexible Light Kit

In the kit, Ikan includes three of everything that comes with one CB8 light. But they also provide a carrying case to fit the entire kit, along with three CP light stands.

ikan canvas cb8 kit

Overall, this looks like a pretty decent flexible light kit that’s convenient and portable. The bicolor feature is certainly nice, but it’s at the expensive of overall output. We’re not sure what the stated output of the CB8 is, except that it’s a 300W equivalent. However, if there are 336 LED diodes, that means that it has 168 daylight diodes.

Comparatively, the Westcott Flex Bicolor 1×2 has 560 total LED diodes, so 280 daylight bulbs. Its stated output is 3500-3900lux at 1 meter, with 100W. So, it’s hard to know how much these lights compare in terms of output alone. The Westcott model is more of an industry standard by now, but the Ikan CB8 comes in at about 1/3rd the cost.

We’re happy that there are more flex lights on the market, as we think they are the way many filmmakers are going. A little while ago we reviewed some of the flexible LED lights out there, and we ended up buying a few and have been using them for productions that require air travel. They’ve been very handy and a great alternative to more heavy 1×1 LED panels.

Ikan CB8 Canvas Light Kit –B&H Photo Video