On 19 August Godox announced the KNOWLED AD88, an 8×8 ft electronically adjustable diffuser: 2300×2300 mm of surface that goes from hard to soft light without anyone climbing a ladder to swap the fabric. It is the big brother of a family that so far topped out at small panels (AD21, AD32, AD33) and, judging by the way the sets we serve actually run, it is the first one in the range that really speaks the language of a film crew.

How it works

Think of a variable ND applied to diffusion: the panel changes its optical properties as the voltage it receives changes. The external controller — 83×46×150 mm, 287 grams — takes 12-20V 35W in and feeds the panel between 0 and 54V. You drive it from the physical buttons on the controller, from the KNOWLED app over Bluetooth (up to a claimed 30 metres) or over DMX/RDM and CRMX. That last option is the one that matters, in our opinion: diffusion ends up on the same desk that already runs the fixtures, without another remote hanging off the gaffer’s belt.

There are four transition speeds. In practice, that means going from hard to soft can become an effect within the take, not just an adjustment between setups.

The published numbers

  • Diffusion surface: 2300 × 2300 mm (8′ × 8′)
  • Diffusion weight: roughly 3.7 kg
  • Controller: 83 × 46 × 150 mm, 287 g
  • Power: 12-20V 35W, works off V-mount batteries
  • Control: onboard controller, KNOWLED app, DMX/RDM, CRMX
  • Operating temperature: -20 to 45 °C
  • Suggested price: 1,299 dollars for the AD88, 1,999 for the AD88 K1 kit

The detail that concerns us in Europe

Godox states plainly that the adjustable diffusion is not sold in the United States — a patent matter around the technology — while it remains available in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and South America. It is rare for a new tool to reach us before it reaches Los Angeles, so we may as well take advantage: anyone shooting in Italy can put it on the list right now, without waiting for the US market to decide whether the product makes sense.

The problem it solves on set

An 8×8 with silk rigged on it is the kind of object nobody enjoys touching once it is set. Changing the diffusion grade means stopping everyone, opening the frame, pulling the fabric, rigging another one and re-checking the level: ten minutes on a good day, more if the frame is high or there is wind. Outdoors on the Adriatic coast, or up on the Gran Sasso, those ten minutes cost daylight that does not come back.

With a panel you can dial from the desk, diffusion becomes a parameter like fixture intensity. Anyone working on interviews and faces — documentary, corporate, fashion — benefits first: you finish the lighting watching the monitor instead of guessing it from the top of a ladder. Our advice is to plan it alongside a powerful source, because diffusion always takes something away: in front of an Aputure LS 600x Pro or a Nanlite Forza 720 there is headroom left even at the softest setting, while with smaller heads such as the Aputure LS 300X you are better off staying close to the subject.

Buy it or rent it

At 1,299 dollars plus frame, brackets and battery, a modifier like this only pays for itself if it leaves the shelf every week. For most of the productions we see in Abruzzo — one commercial, one short, three days of documentary — the maths says rent: you pay for the day you actually need it, instead of storing a motorised 8×8 that gathers dust between projects. If you have a shoot coming up, take a look at the rest of our lighting and camera inventory in the meantime: on location, most lighting problems get solved by the right source long before they get solved by a new modifier.

Official source: KNOWLED AD88 product page. Trade verification: Newsshooter.