Portable studio light is a necessary tool for outdoor photography shooting, video recording, or live streaming. Today’s blog is a buying guide talking about what you need to consider when choosing one, and how to enrich the kit and built your lighting setup.
- How can a compact-size illumination tool improve your work？
- Five things to consider when buying a portable LED studio light
- What should be included in the photography lighting kit?
How can a compact-size illumination tool improve your work？
Once you have a fine LED light, it stands for the fact that you have one of the most adaptable illumination tools at your disposal. Video lighting equipment throwing out continuous, steady light may be a big plus to your image whether you're shooting photos or films. Modern LED panels make it simple to exactly obtain the appearance and feel you desire in the image by allowing you to adjust the intensity and color temperature. Product photography can offer different colors and modes for innovative expression. For portrait shooting, it can show the natural skin color of the human model.
Five things to consider when buying a portable LED studio light
1. What’s the size and weight?
To measure whether a light is portable, the first and most basic is to look at its size and weight. Here’s the comparison table about materials, dimensions, and weight of COLBOR CL60 and CL100 lighting series.
|
Product |
CL60 |
CL60M |
CL60R |
CL100 |
CL100M |
|
|
Body Material |
Aluminum Alloy+ABS |
ABS |
Aluminum Alloy+ABS |
|||
|
Dimension(mm) |
140*80*90 |
202*116*117 |
152*80*90 |
|||
|
Weight(g) (Light & Base) |
550+160 |
600+160 |
1100 |
800 |
||
CL100 series is a little heavier than the CL60 series, but its overall weight is about 1kg. For an adult photographer, it’s the weight and size that you are able to hold up with the hands, thanks to the sturdy yet lightweight materials of aluminum alloy and ABS they use. Using the carrying bag, the portable photography studio light and other accessories in the package will be all loaded neatly, such as COB protective cover, power adapter, Bowens mount reflector, and so on. When all the kinds of stuff turn into a small packing bag, it will not give you a lot of burdens and is very portable and convenient to take to outdoor shooting activities.
2. Does the brightness performance meet your need?
While some photographs just require a quick burst of illumination to create the atmosphere, lengthy shots and video productions call for constant lighting that is focused on the people. To suit a variety of demands and to draw attention to the finer features of both human models and inanimate things, there are several sorts to select from, each providing a particular style of lighting.
3. Does it have a good heat dissipation system?
Portable studio light for video shooting of continuous type all face the same problem -- which is heat dissipation. Unlike strobe and flash which issued a moment and then immediately stop, they need to maintain a long period of constant illumination. So this uninterrupted luminescence will inevitably lead to the release of heat energy, that is, the LED temperature rise. Compared to traditional solutions like fluorescent or tungsten types, LED spotlights and other varieties of kinds generate less heat. Many fixtures increase the temperature of the surrounding air and even include built-in fans to keep them cool.
4. How the portable studio light solves the noise problem?
Some people may ask why my lamp makes noise when it is illuminated. Noise problems are usually born by heat dissipation problems. This is caused by the internal cooling fan working. This drawback may not be obvious when shooting photos, but when it comes to shooting video, you have to start paying attention to this problem.
- Best buy product recommended: COLBOR Portable studio light review
Youtuber Kaddr did an accurate test and practical use evaluation of the COLBOR CL100. He used a precise decibel tester as well as a thermometer to measure the temperature and the sound emitted when the CL100 was in operation. The results show that the light's smart and quiet cooling system is very effective, with almost no adverse effects on the shooting. You can watch the video for more details.
5. How long will its battery last at a time?
What we are looking for is not just a portable studio light for outdoor photography, but a small yet powerful product. This means it’s not only in terms of its maximum output of lux and lumen, or the variety of functions but also in terms of the time it can continue to run. If you have higher ambitions, you may consider purchasing an external battery for recharging. CL100 series and CL60 series all adapt the Type-C quick charging, supporting stable replenishment in a short time and letting your work keep going fluently.
What should be included in the photography lighting kit?
1. Assistant lights like fill light or ring light for specific shooting demands
If you are professional enough, and often have different shooting needs and more scenes or backdrops, then you need not just one, but a whole set of equipment to build your portable studio light setup. And that should include the main light, the fill light, as well as the ring light specifically for portrait shooting.
2. Fixed support like a monopod or tripod for a better angle and position adjustment
Photographers usually fix it on a stand with a certain height, so that the it can shine down from the top. Adjust the angle and various positions in advance, such as the classic three-point lighting setup, etc., to help the smooth progress of the later shooting.
3. External power source for long time outdoor activities
As mentioned earlier, when you shoot for a long time and keep the light source in a high output state, it will definitely run out of power quickly. Here we advise you to buy a high-capacity external v-mount battery as your compact power source in the portable studio light kit, for those like COLBOR CL220 of max. 220Wh power output. It not only has multiple ports to charge the light at the same time but also your camera and microphone. With the cheap v-lock plate, you can also easily attach it to your studio light's pole.
4. Modifiers for different usages for changing the lighting effects
It is a strong force and you can soften that with softboxes and other diffusers, which results in a more gradual change between the bright and dark portions of the image. By diffusing it, one may capture an image without it having the glaring flash appearance while still producing a catchlight, avoiding a shadow, or avoiding any number of other situations. In the lighting products at the Moman Online Store, a major of on-camera panel lights come with a diffuser as a free gift in the case, and the portable studio light is packed with a reflector, which works the same way.
