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Lume Cube Bicolor LED Light Review (GoPro Hero 10 Setup)
If your looking for an alternative to the Gopro Light Mod read this Lume Cube LED light review to see if it suits your needs as a video / photographic light.
I’d suggest this light for those particularly interested in table top setups, vlogging and live video streaming in particular.
This light is not however suited for outdoor activities as it has no waterproofing.
What Is A Lumecube?
Lumecube the company specialise in LED lighting for a broad range of setups, from vlogging, live streaming, action cams and even drones. Check out their full range of lights on their official website.
Their Panel Mini light which we’re taking a close look at today is a bi-color LED panel light. All packaged into a compact 3.58” x 2.18” x 0.45” (WxHxD) body not much bigger than a credit card.
The light comes with:
- USB-C Charging Cable
- DSLR Mini Shoe Mount
- Silicon White Softening Diffuser
LED Lights
The Panel Mini is what is termed “Bi-color” meaning the 60 LED light emitters inside the panel are a combination of both daylight balanced and tungsten color temperatures.
Having a 50 / 50 split between 3200k & 5600k LED lights (60 in total) means you have the ability to adjust the light’s color temperature between both. This is great for photography in mixed light or switching locations from outdoors to indoors.
Lumecube specify the Panel Mini provides 550 lux of brightness at around half a meter, in practice I’d say this is more than enough for close-up photography and vlogging as a POV light.
Form Factor
As you can see from the pictures, the Panel Mini is a slim unit measuring only 0.45 inches or 11.43 mm in width, small enough to slip into a pocket.
I tend to use my Panel Mini mostly for close-up product photography both indoors and outside. The panel takes up very little room inside a photography kit making it a great choice for travelling.
On the right side facing the panel you’ll find the controls for the light, plus a USB-C charge port.
Controls For The LED Light Panel
The Built-in intelligent LCD screen display (See above picture) shows battery life, brightness in 1% increments and color temp.
The controls are all that you need to operate the Panel Mini with ease. The Power button with its bluish hue acts as a Mode button once the light is switched ON. Switching between the adjustment of color temperature to brightness output is just a matter of pressing the Mode button.
The current Mode selected is depicted by an arrow (See Picture above) next to the relevant display. Moving the adjustment dial up or down for each Mode changes the brightness (displayed in percentage) or the color temperature.
Battery Life
The rechargeable lithium polymer battery will run for the following times. You can of course power the panel via the USB-C port from say, a power bank for example for extended times.
- Up to 14 hours at 1% power
- Up to 2 hours at 100% power
The battery run times automatically update on screen when the adjsutment dial is used to change settings in real time.
If you happen to run the light for too long the LCD display does show a “HOT” warning. I personally didn’t test this aspect as I only have the light running for up to 5 minutes at a time.
Mounting The Light Panel
A DSLR Mini Shoe Mount comes supplied as part of the package. The shoe mount can be rotated 360 degrees and 90 degrees in the vertical plane. Having this flexibility allows you to angle the light onto the subject being photographed.
The body of the panel has several ¼ x 20 thread inserts in which the supplied shoe mount or any 3rd party ¼ x 20 thread will screw into. Having two thread inserts lets you position the light in both landscape and portrait.
Typical Uses & Setups
The Lumecube Mini is great for table top setups as shown in the picture above alongside the GoPro Hero 10. The Silicon White Softening Diffuser (supplied) offers a diffuse soft light to photographic subjects.
With the ability to adjust the brightness and color temperature the light is great for live video conferences and as a webcam.
The Panel Mini is mounted to the GoPro Media Mod in this picture.
Final Thoughts
Lumecube are mostly aiming this light at the DSLR market. It does also work very well alongside some of the latest GoPro cameras too.
GoPro Recording in 4k video at higher frame rates allows you to crop into the frame and export at 1080p. This flexability gives a GoPro an advantage over many low to mid range DSLR cameras.
For the vloggers out there, the Panel Mini is a better option than the GoPro Light Mod in my view. The brighter output has a longer throw of light on skin tones from distance being one advantage.
With the silicon diffuser fitted the panel emitts a soft light which is ideal for product photography and other close-up pictures.
If your thinking of getting a compact sized light to add to your GoPro accessories kit, the Panel Mini is certainly worth considering.
Last update on 2024-03-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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