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ARRI settles its patent lawsuits with Rotolight over user-customisable lighting effects

“ARRI has agreed to a settlement with Rotolight”, a joint statement between the two companies begins. In September 2021, ARRI began legal proceedings towards Rotolight, amongst others, disputing the validity of their lighting effect patents. The challenge came in view of what ARRI called “myriad prior art”. Basically, it’s been around for years, so what’s Rotolight done that’s actually new and patentable? They argued that it was “not new, but rather state of the art”.

They argued that the patents should never have been issued in the first place. That the company’s “advances” were nothing more than building upon known technical solutions that had been “well established in the market for many years”. Well, ARRI and Rotolight seem to have figured things out because they’ve reached a settlement, and the patents still stand.

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Rotolight goes back to crowdfunding to launch the new NEO 3 Pro and AEOS 2 Pro LED lights

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After a successful campaign in 2021, Rotolight has gone back to Indiegogo to launch their new NEO 3 Pro and AOES 2 Pro LED lights. The new lights bring some added features over the non-pro versions, including the “True Aperture Dimming” feature from their Titan LED lights, a bunch of Masters of Light Presets and wireless trigger compatibility with Godox, Profoto and Elinchrom flash systems.

Both lights also boast 25% more light output than their predecessors, making the NEO 3 Pro what Rotolight claims to be “the brightest LED on-camera light ever made”. The lights feature RGBWW LEDs offering up to 16.7 million colours including 2,500 gel filters from LEE and Rosco. They offer a range of quick-access Kelvin presets from 3200K up to 6300K with a 99% CRI for maximum colour accuracy.

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How to shoot portraits in natural light and enhance them with LED lights

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The vast majority of us learn photography with the aid of natural light. Whether we started years ago with our parent’s film camera, or whether you found your passion for photography thanks to your smartphone, natural light was most likely the sole source of light in your shots.

For many, making that first step into the world of controlling the light can be a daunting one. Which light should I use and how do I learn to use it? Regardless of whatever light you choose though, one of the simplest first steps, is to use that supplemental light in conjunction with natural light and in this article I aim to show you a simple method of combining your lights with the ever-faithful natural light.

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Rotolight launches world’s first electronic smart softbox

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British LED lighting manufacturer, Rotolight has unveiled the world’s first electronic ‘SmartSoft™ Box’. It sounds pretty fancy but it’s basically a diffuser attachment for its AEOS 2 LED lights that allows users to vary the degree of diffusion produced by controlling an electric current passing across its surface.

According to the press release, the SmartSoft will allow users to electronically adjust diffusion, focus and spread without the need for gels or additional modifiers.

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Vibesta wins preliminary ruling in design lawsuit, Rotolight ordered to retract allegations

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Back in May, Rotolight began legal proceedings against competing lighting manufacturer, Vibesta for alleged infringement of its intellectual property. The dispute was over the design of their Peragos Disk light, which they alleged infringed on design patents (amongst other IP) of the Rotolight Neo 2.

Now, Vibesta has announced that they’ve won a preliminary ruling on the case brought against them by Rotolight in The District Court of The Hague. They say the court ruled that the Vibesta Peragos Disk did not infringe on Rotolight’s design, and isn’t a slavish imitation of Rotolight’s Neo lights.

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Rotolight begins legal proceedings over alleged patent infringement and copyright theft

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Rotolight has today begun high court proceedings against Vibesta B. V. and F&V Photographic Industry B.V. for alleged infringement of its intellectual property. The dispute has arisen over the release of the Vibesta Peragos Disk light, which looks remarkably like the Rotolight Neo 2 on first glance.

The Vibesta Peragos Disk was launched in the last couple of days, and several websites that had previously announced its launch have now taken those articles down. While there are a few differences in functionality between the two lights, there are some pretty obvious visual similarities, too. And those similarities don’t just extend to the product design. Vibesta appears to have used Rotolight’s own marketing images, too.

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Real life impressions of the Neo 2 LED light suggest there still leaves a bit to be desired

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The Rototolight Neo 2 seemed to cause a little controversy when it was first announced. The specs on-paper didn’t look all that great. Rotolight were quick to respond and dispute the assertions being made against the Neo 2. Now, it’s out in the wild, and videos are starting to show up to see just how it compares.

For example, this one from photographer Luis Gabrial, who compares the Neo 2 with a Godox speedlight. Testing their output side-by-side with the Sekonic L-858 meter. And I have to say, it doesn’t give me much confidence in the Neo 2’s ability.

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Does the Rotolight Neo 2 live up to the hype? This photographer doesn’t think so

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I wrote about the announcement of the new Rotolight Neo 2 a couple of days ago. Looking at the specs, I wasn’t really all that impressed for my own needs. I have Spekular and Aputure lights for video, as well as Nikon & Godox lights for stills (all of which support HSS). So, for the cost, and limited power, the Neo 2 just isn’t worth it for me. So, I didn’t pay much more attention to it.

Photographer Rob Hall, though, has had a couple of days to really consider the specs of these lights and what they mean for photographers. Are they really the revolutionary product that the fancy marketing would lead us to believe? Or is it all (low powered) flash and no substance? Rob, at least, doesn’t seem particularly impressed, if this video is anything to go by.

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Rotolight’s teams up with Elinchrom to bring high speed sync to the world of LED lighting

This was a bit of an unexpected announcement. At least, it was for me. Although, I admit that I haven’t really followed the world of LED lighting that closely since setting my sights on getting a set of Spekular lights. The LEDs I do tend to look at are generally more aimed toward video than stills. While LEDs can be great for certain photography applications, they’re not that useful for what I want to shoot.

The new Rotolight Neo2, though, designed in collaboration with Elinchrom, is squarely aimed at stills shooters. An industry-first, all in one, High Speed Sync flash and continuous on-camera LED light. The unit boasts compatibility up to 1/8000th of a second and 85,000 full power flashes on a set of AA batteries. It also feature a built in 2.4Ghz Elinchrom Skyport receiver.

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