When we think of the name Atomos, it’s usually in relation to monitors and recorders like the Atomos Ninja (buy here) or Atomos Shogun (buy here) lines of products. But they’ve expanded out into lighting with the Atomos Sun Dragon (buy here).
They’re not taking the usual route of starting with Bowens mount monoblock style LED lights, though. Instead, they’ve gone for an RGBAW LED strip, which they say is 99% accurate to the spectrum of light put out by the sun.
Atomos Sun Dragon – 99% sun-accurate
A lot of companies seem to have started including lighting gear in their product lineups. Companies that don’t traditionally make lighting. Companies like Zhiyun, Viltrox and SmallRig all seem to be lining up to add them to their range.
Atomos is just the newest company to branch out, but they’ve done something quite interesting. LED strips are common in the DIY and home automation markets but not so much in the world of photography and video.
The last LED strip we saw released by a company in the industry was Aputure’s Amaran SM5C LED strip (buy here), released in 2022. The new Atomos Sun Dragon, however, appears to be in a very different league, especially when you look at the price tag.
Aputure’s RGB offering costs a mere $89, while the Atomos Sun Dragon costs $999. That’s a significant difference in price. But there’s also a difference in capability. The Atomos lights add Amber and White to the usual RGB. They’re also much more densely packed, with more control options.
RGBAW vs RGB
We all know that “white” light can be made by mixing red, green and blue lights. It’s the basic principle on which colour television has worked since its inception. It’s the principle still employed by TFT and OLED displays today.
A simple RGB setup, however, doesn’t necessarily produce the accuracy required for lighting a subject to film it. Some manufacturers add white LED beads to their lights to take over when the user wants white, leaving the RGB side of things to help compensate for the green/magenta shift feature.
The Atomos Sun Dragon sports white LED beads, but it also has amber LEDs to help fill in some of the gaps in the light spectrum. Amber has started to become more popular over the last couple of years as RGBLAC LED lights (Red, Green, Blue, Lilac, Amber and Cyan) have started to hit the market.
Atomos says these help to produce a light output covering up to 99% of the sun’s visible light spectrum. The LEDs are also so densely packed that you don’t see the micro-shadows popping up around your subject, for a smooth, single seamless shadow.
Flexible LED Strip
Like the Aputure Amaran SM5C mentioned earlier, the Atomos Sun Dragon is a single 5-metre LED strip. Another similarity they share is that the strip can’t be cut. It might sound odd to want to be able to cut it, but it’s pretty common with the typical LED strips you find on Amazon for general use around your home.
Of course, those generic LED strips you find typically don’t have great colour – even some of those claiming to be “high CRI”. Most of them also aren’t weather-sealed or waterproof like the Atomos Sun Dragon – although a few are. After all, if you’re going to be putting LED strips around your garden, you want to know they’ll survive a bit of rain.
The Atomos Sun Dragon are IP68 waterproof down to a depth of 1 metre and weatherproof for pretty much anything you can throw at it. This means you can use them on any set, indoors or out, and ensure high colour accuracy every time with a CRI of 99 and TLCI of 98.
Remote Control Options
But that isn’t the only advantage they offer over other strips on the market. The Sun Dragon comes with an active controller to ensure the right LEDs light up at the right powers along the strip. But you’re able to control it wirelessly, too.
Basic control (brightness, colour, hue, etc.) for the Atomos Sun Dragon LED comes with Atomos AirGlu RF devices. This includes devices like the Atomos Ninja and Shogun series monitors and recorders – presumably with the Ninja/Shogun Connect accessories.
There’s also an app for iOS and Android, as well as the usual DMX connectivity. So, you can control multiple Sun Dragon strips from a single standard DMX control panel.
The 5-metre length of the LED strip weighs less than 1kg, allowing you to mount it to just about anything without risking catastrophic structural failure of that thing. And its flexible nature lets you mount it in just about any shape you desire.
It’s an interesting-looking light, but it’s definitely intended for higher-end sets. If you’re just looking for a strip for the background on your YouTube videos, the Amaran SM5c mentioned earlier is probably the better deal.
Atomos Sun Dragon Specs
LED Arrangement5-colour (RGBAW)
Colour AccuracyCRI 99/TLCI 98
Lumens2000 end-to-end
High Density LEDsNo micro-shadows
Power80W for 5 metres
ConnectivityWireless VMX/BT/WiFi/Ethernet & Atomos AirGlu RF
ControlWired Atomos controller included, Ninja & Shogun series with AirGlu, iOS/Android DMX apps, multi-light support, DMX control panel support
FlexibilityBends to a radius of 30cm
Water & dustproofIP68 to 1 metre submersed
Dimensions5m long, 3cm diameter
Weight1kg for 5 metres
Price and Availability
The Atomos Sun Dragon is available to pre-order now for $999 in a 5-metre length. Shipping is expected to begin in June.
