Amaran Ray 120c vs 360c: Where the Extra $240 Goes

The Amaran Ray 120c ($368.99 CAD) and Ray 360c ($608.99 CAD) share the same OmniColor colour engine, so colour quality is the same on both. The extra $240 buys output and a built-in power supply, not better skin tones. Buy the 120c for solo, close, mobile work: desk, podcast, run-and-gun, battery days. The 360c has no battery option. Buy the 360c when you light from further back, fill rooms, or push through heavy diffusion where wall power exists.

Both sit in amaran's Ray line, launched in late 2025. The 120c is our best-selling light of the year at Filmgear Canada. The 360c is the one buyers stare at longest: triple the wattage on paper for $240 more. Here is where the money goes.

The decision in one table

Same colour engine, so what does the $240 buy?

OmniColor is amaran's multi-emitter engine: red, green, blue, indigo, and soft-white in one COB. The indigo pushes colour rendering past typical bi-color LEDs. Curtis Judd measured the 120c at SSI 84 tungsten and 82 daylight with a Sekonic C-800, and compared the engine to Aputure's far pricier BLAIR, which sits around 85. Amaran's own bi-color Halo family measures 74 in daylight.

Every Ray runs this engine, which is why the comparison is simple. The $240 buys watts, reach, and a built-in power supply, not a single point of colour accuracy. Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter liked the line enough to start replacing his own Aputure fixtures with Rays.

Power is the real fork in the road

The 120c is the mobile one. It runs from a USB-C PD source or amaran's magnetic Peak battery. In Caleb Pike's runtime tests, a SmallRig 212 USB-C PD battery held full daylight output for about 1.5 hours; a Peak battery managed about 27 minutes. The Peak suits short setups, and full output calls for a 140W USB-C PD source per the reviewer notes. The trade is the external brick. Owners on r/videography name the brick and its short cord as the annoying part of ownership, and a steep downward tilt under a big softbox can hit it; Caleb Pike's workaround was pulling the brick off its mount.

The 360c takes the opposite path. The power supply is built in, so the whole plan is one IEC cord to the wall. No brick, fast rig-up. The cost is absolute: no battery option exists. Owners buy it expecting a DC input and find none; it comes up in amaran user groups often enough that we say it before anyone asks.

Build quality: the 360c's handle, said plainly

The 360c's yoke handle is plastic and it does not ratchet. You loosen it, re-angle, and retighten. It is the piece that feels built down to a price, and Caleb Pike called it out in his Ray-series review. If that bothers you, the Ray 660c ($988.99 CAD) fixes it with a metal yoke, aluminum ratcheting handle, angle markings, and a junior-compatible pin; our Ray 360c vs 660c guide covers when to step up.

The 120c's quirks are smaller: one 1/4-20 mounting point, and a brick that mounts one way only, the source of the tilt issue above. Not dealbreakers, just things owners find in week two that you should hear in week zero.

What both lights give you

Beyond the engine, the two share the family toolkit:

• IP54 splash resistance, so drizzle on a BC location does not end the shoot.
• The FlowTurn control knob, a motorized detented dial both Curtis Judd and Caleb Pike rate as genuinely useful.
• NFC pairing: tap your phone on the fixture to pair in Sidus Link, even powered off.
• An HFR mode: locked at 50% output or above, the Rays support 1/1000s shutters and 240fps, which Curtis Judd had not seen on other LEDs.
• Quiet cooling: Curtis Judd found the fans barely spin below 60% output.
• A native 70° beam, tighter than most COBs, which is why Ray-specific optics matter. Curtis Judd cautions against heavy Aputure-class modifiers on these yokes.

One packaging note: the 120c ships with the Octadome 30, a small softbox. Reviewers are blunt about its size and so are we: fine as a hair light or over small products, too small to key a person. Budget for a real modifier either way. The clamp-ring mounting lets you hang a big softbox one-handed, Caleb Pike's favourite design detail in the line.

Where the 120c wins

• Price, twice. The light is $240 cheaper and its optics are too: $84.99 and $28.99 versus $179.99 for the 360c's Fresnel.
• Battery mobility the 360c simply does not have. No accessory closes this gap.
• Size and weight. It lives in a backpack next to your camera. The 360c lives in a case.

Where the 360c earns its $240

• Headroom through diffusion. Triple the rated wattage is what survives a double-diffused softbox. One B&H owner review calls it "a great key and fills a 5' octa really nicely"; another mounts it high with the amaran Fresnel to fake window sun in a one-light studio.
• Distance. Keying from the back of a room is a wattage problem, and 120W runs out sooner than you expect.
• The one-cord rig-up. No brick, no USB-C anxiety, nothing dangling off the stand. Park it, plug it, shoot.
• A real jump for 300c upgraders. Newsshooter reports amaran claims over 80% more output than the old 300c. Owners add a fair caveat: inside a big softbox the visible gap narrows.

Where neither is the right buy

Neither Ray fights the sun. If your real problem is overpowering window light or exteriors, you are shopping a class up, starting at the V-mount Aputure STORM 400x ($1,499.99 CAD). If you never touch colour and want the cheapest clean white key, the bi-color Halo 100x ($238.99 CAD) undercuts even the 120c. Our Halo vs Ray guide covers that fork, and our 2026 LED video light buyer's guide maps the field.

Which one for your job

How we compare

We did not lab-test these lights. Colour numbers are Curtis Judd's Sekonic C-800 measurements, hands-on findings are Caleb Pike's, and ownership friction comes from owner reports on Reddit and in amaran groups. The rest is what we see at Filmgear Canada: what sells, what comes back, what customers ask in our Vancouver showroom. We compare published specs and our listed prices only.

Amaran Ray 120c vs 360c FAQ

How do I run the Amaran Ray 120c on batteries?

Two ways: a high-wattage USB-C PD power bank, or amaran's magnetic Peak battery. In Caleb Pike's tests a SmallRig 212 PD battery ran full daylight output for about 1.5 hours; a Peak battery managed about 27 minutes. Full output calls for a 140W USB-C PD source, so check your bank's rating.

Is the Ray 360c worth the extra $240 for interview work?

If your interviews happen where wall power exists and you shoot through real diffusion, yes: the 360c stays bright inside a softbox and runs on one cord with no brick. Colour is not a reason to upgrade. Curtis Judd measured the Ray engine holding SSI 82 even dimmed to 1%, so a dimmed 120c keys a close interview just as cleanly.

Can the Ray 120c and 360c share modifiers?

No. The 120c takes the amaran Mini Fresnel and Mini Reflector made for the 60c and 120c; the 360c uses the larger amaran Fresnel shared with the 660c. If you own both lights, budget for both sets. Softboxes are sized per light too, so check fit before assuming anything carries over.

Should I buy the Ray 120c or the Halo 100x?

The Halo 100x ($238.99) is bi-color: white light only, lower cost. The Ray 120c adds full colour plus measurably better accuracy, with Curtis Judd measuring SSI 82 daylight against 74 for the Halo family. For weddings and documentary we usually point people to the Ray. Our Ray 120c vs Halo 100x guide walks through it.

Updated July 2026. Prices are our listed CAD prices at publication; check each product page for live pricing and stock. Filmgear Canada · Vancouver showroom · ships Canada-wide.