NANGUANG
LED VIDEO LIGHT - Portable lighting for your iPad, iPhone and digital
cameras of any size…
© 2012 BOB SKIDMORE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BOB SKIDMORE
CORRESPONDENT
Proper lighting is an important part of shooting stills and videos. It
sharpens detail, improves color reproduction, eliminates shadows, and decreases
graininess, or video noise associated with digital photography. Many digital
cameras lack the ability to add effective portable additional lighting. So
here’s a solution that works.
The Nanguang CN-160 is a portable LED light source incorporating 160 LEDs
at a color temperature of 5400 Kelvin (K). Included in the kit are three
attachable filters: Spotlight Effect, Diffuser, and 3200K for indoor use.
(TIP:
5400 degrees Kelvin is considered the average color temperature for outdoor
lighting. Naturally, this varies with the time of day and sky conditions. A
3200 K temperature is considered typical lighting consistent with an
incandesant light source. When possible, it is suggested that external lighting
devices be as closely matched to the color temperature of the surrounding light
source. In today’s digital world
it is possible to make some corrections after the fact with programs like
Photoshop for stills, or hue adjustments in video editing software, but you
can’t beat having it correct the first time.)
What is color temperature? Color
temperature is a characteristic of visible light
that has important applications in lighting, photography, videography,
publishing, manufacturing, astrophysics, horticulture, and other fields. The
color temperature of a light source is the temperature
of an ideal black body
radiator that radiates light of
comparable hue
to that of the light source. To the non-techie, all you
really need to know is to match the external light source to the available light
as close as possible. Some cameras even do this automatically within reason.
Since today’s digital products such as the iPhone, iPad, and mini
digital cameras are small and lightweight, a light’s physical size becomes a
major consideration. The CN-160 with all its illumination (3’ at 900 Lux – 15’ at 40 Lux) weighs in at under
one-pound. It has a hot shoe, can be powered by 5 AA batteries, which is my
choice or camcorder batteries such as the Sony’s NP-FH70, NP-FM55H, NP-F550 or
a Panasonic CGR-D16S. Such batteries have a shelf life of two or less years.
What’s missing is a connection for an external AC adapter since battery runtime
is 70 – 90 minutes.
(TIP:
AA batteries are lightweight, inexpensive and readily available worldwide.
Camcorder batteries such as those previously mentioned, are expensive, bulky,
require charging, and offer no advantage unless you already own them.)
The CN-160 is a well-designed light source that includes a linear
“remaining charge” indicator and rotary switch that serves as a handy dimmer as
well as on/off switch. Mounting can be accomplished with a shoe, optional L
bracket, or mounting bar. In the case of smartphones or iPads, the use of an
optional iStablizer smartphone tripod mount or iShot G8 Pro adapter for iPads with
camera mounting bar easily adapts the camera for mounting the CN-160 to the
light. Any way you use it, the CN-160 is an effective, feature packed light
source at a low price with an average service life of 50000+ hours. When
mounted on the L bracket, it increases the stability and feel of the camera
resulting in shake-free images.
CN-160: Price varies. For more info go to: http://bit.ly/MEMnm8
L bracket camera mounting bars are available at most
camera supply stores. istablizer: http://bit.ly/Quqcjc
iShots: http://bit.ly/PCBkJb
GADGETEER’S
RATING: *****
Bob Skidmore is a freelance
writer, who may be contacted at bob.thegadgeteer.skidmore@gmail.com, or followed at twitter.com/bskidmore for the latest gadget industry news. He does not
represent, or endorse any of the products he reviews and his opinions are
solely his points of view and not those of the manufacturer. The manufacturer
generally supplies products at no cost for the articles and no other
compensation is received. THE GADGETEER is highly selective as to products he
feels worthy of review so as not to waste the reader’s time, thus the reason
for many superior ratings.
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