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The Maxima 7 flicker-free LED light is a 1200 PAR HMI equivalent with 700 Watts of power

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LED lighting technology has come very far over the last decade. It’s replaced the more traditional incandescent “hot lights” we used to see in video, movie and photography studios. The Maxima 7 is a new 5600K Chip-on-board (COB) LED light that’s the equivalent of a 1.2K HMI that lets you pretty much recreate the sun on your set.

It’s being developed by a company in Italy, and while there are other 1.2K equivalent LED lights out there on the market, this one wants to separate itself by form factor, light output and versatility. It even has a Bowens mount to let you use softboxes and other modifiers.

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The tiny light that can; an INSSTRO C1 RGB LED review

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Light – the most important thing in photography.  Without it, we have nothing but darkness.  Some of us like to capture and bend the natural light to our needs. While others love to craft a scene with artificial lights.

If you love adding in your own light then its a nice time to be a photographer.  Lights are getting smaller, more complex and often include their own power.   Freeing us from wires and bringing more creative freedom.

My second RGB capable LED was the INSSTRO C1, and this is what I’ll talk about today.

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Relio² 2020 Edition comes with more portability, practicality and accessories

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Relio first launched in 2015 via Kickstarter. It was one of the first tiny lights on the market and came in a variety of preset white balances with a moderately high CRI plus various colour options. In 2018, it was updated to Relio², with higher CRI and more configuration options for working with multiple lights. Now, they’ve taken it a step further with Relio² 2020 Edition.

Once again, Relio has taken to Kickstarter to fund the project, and it’s over 1,150% funded. It doesn’t have long left to go, though, only a few hours, if you wanted to jump in on it yourself. They promise more portability, practicality and accessories – albeit 3D printed. Which is a little disappointing given the price they’re asking.

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Godox vs Godox – How the FV150 LED flash compares to regular speedlights and strobes

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LED flash has had a bit of a bumpy start the last couple of years. A number of products have come out, but they’ve not been very good. At IBC in September, Godox showed off their new FV150 LED light which features a built-in LED flash function. Rob Hall has had his hands on one and while this isn’t really a review, it’s an interesting discussion on the topic of LED flash and how they compare to more traditional strobes or speedlights.

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Using Lumiee LEDs for light painting

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I guess it’s a sign of the times, but I get sent far more LED lights to test than any other light…. even though I never personally use LEDs.

When I say I don’t use LED lights, it’s not because I have a dislike for them, but for me, they have limitations that I struggle to deal with when I shoot what I shoot. If you’re after some affordable continuous light for video work that looks natural and emulates everyday lighting, then LEDs are your first and smartest choice. But for what I do, which is often very controlled and saturated colour work that is anything but natural, I’m going to stick to the control and power of flash for now.

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Rosco’s MIXBOOK is the “world’s first” digital gel swatchbook

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Gel and lighting manufacturer Rosco has released the MIXBOOK. They say that it is the “world’s first digital swatchbook”. If you don’t know what swatchbooks are, the physical Rosco gel swatchbooks are essentially sample books of the different gels and materials that Rosco makes.

But as LED lighting has become more popular, and particularly coloured LEDs, demands have changed. Rosco’s MIXBOOK digital swatchbook is essentially the digital LED equivalent of the original gel swatchbooks. It’s a handheld LED unit (although it has a 1/4-20″ socket, too) that can create just about any colour of light you can imagine.

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Lightcore is a 5800 lumen LED light for video that’s smaller than a speedlight

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The problem for many photographers making the move to video is that there’s generally a lot more gear, and most of it’s much bigger than the gear they’ve been using for photography. Especially if they work on location, and particularly when it comes to lighting. Well, Lightcore is here to help fix that. At least the lighting part.

Being funded through Kickstarter, Lightcore is a 5800 lumen LED light that’s smaller than a speedlight, and offers flicker-free operation even at 1% power shooting 120 frames per second. It claims the equivalent combined power of 8 60 Watt tungsten incandescent bulbs, and offers a CRI of 97+.

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Manfrotto announces the water-resistant Lykos 2.0 bicolour on-camera LED light

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While billed as an on-camera LED light for video, the new Manfrotto Lykos 2.0 is a pretty powerful 2-in-1 LED light panel that can also be quite handy for photography, too. And, of course, you can take it off your camera if you wish.

It’s a bicolour LED ranging from tungsten to daylight and it’s water-resistant, but not waterproof, meaning you can use it outdoors even in not-so-great weather. Its array of LEDs feature built-in lenses, to optimise efficiency, and it can be controlled from your Android or iOS smartphone, too.

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Spiffy Gear has launched Lumiee, a $45 cinema grade wearable light

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Spiffy gear has released some pretty interesting products over the years. Products like the Light Blaster and, more recently, as they’ve started getting into the world of LED lighting, Spekular. Now, they’re expanding their LED lighting range with a small, wearable LED light called Lumiee.

Lumiee is what they’re calling a “slap light” and as the name suggests, it works like those slap bracelets many kids had in school back in the 80s and 90s. Lumiee is available in two flavours. One is a cinema grade 95+ CRI bicolour LED while the other is a “mood-generating” RGB LED light.

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