Using the best video lights will instantly lift the visual quality of your content, whether you're recording footage or streaming live. While natural light is totally unpredictable, these devices will create a consistent and pleasing light for your subject.
The best video lights are a great addition to one of the best cameras for video as they allow you to balance exposure levels in a scene, retaining more detail in shadows and highlights. You can also use them to create effects, using different colors to evoke different moods or even to simulate things like a flickering TV or the blue flashing light of an emergency vehicle. Lights can help you tell a story.
They don't have to be bulky and expensive, either: a video light can be something as simple as an LED panel that fixes to the hotshoe of a camera. In our guide to the best video lights below, we've picked out a range of affordable but capable units that any videographer can make use of.
So whether you're working with a mirrorless camera, DSLR setup or shooting on your camera phone, read on to discover the best video lights available today, and the facts and figures you need to choose the right one for you.
The Rotolight NEO 3 builds on the success of the preceding NEO 2, adding a raft of impressive new features. Both models deliver flash output as well as constant lighting, but the NEO 3 delivers a full range of color in both modes, with full RGBWW options. It comes in various configurations and kits and accessories will vary according to which you choose.
Small but powerful and extremely versatile as a constant LED light, the NEO 3 is a quantum leap forward from the NEO 2. It delivers a full color range in both constant and flash modes, with a huge range of electronic color filters and special effects, all available via a simple and intuitive color touchscreen menu. Maximum flash output is disappointing compared to a ‘proper’ flashgun but, even so, the NEO 3 is a brilliant solution for anyone who needs to shed a little extra light on both stills and video capture. For more details, read our full Rotolight NEO 3 review.
The X100 is a revelation for content creators who move around a lot, this light is super compact and portable and can be set up almost anywhere instantly with its optional battery (available in the combo kit). The 100W power is bright enough for all close to medium-distance situations such as talking to camera or a studio shoot. It is a shame there are no lighting effects for a content creator aimed light though. The light can get also quite hot with extended use, so you need to think about storage if moving around frequently, but the DynaVolt fan does a great job at keeping it cool.
Cool features like PD USB-C, as well as a dedicated power supply offer improved versatility. If you choose to get the optional battery pack, then this makes it even easier to get great lighting on the go. The accessory system is well thought out, with great quality accessories from Zhiyun as well as a Bowens mount adapter.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus X100 review for more details.
The Zhiyun Fiveray FR100C Light Wand is compact enough to carry in your kitbag but thanks to its 100W output it will illuminate the darkest locations. Its rechargeable battery should keep it shining for the duration of your shoot and the control dial enables you to adjust color temperatures to match the location’s available light or you can dial in neon hues for a more creative look.
Its fans can get a little noisy to cope with that intense light in such a small package, which is something to be aware of for sound recording.
This powerful, hugely versatile yet lightweight portable LED lighting panel is a radical redesign compared with the original AEOS. It gives you 16.7 million colors of light to play with, instead of just various degrees of white. And that goes for both constant lighting and flash, the latter with a high-speed sync option. The interface is also completely overhauled, with the addition of a color touchscreen that makes it quick and easy to access a huge range of lighting options, digital filters and special effects.
The AEOS 2 is available in several kit configurations: the cheapest 'Basic' kit only includes a mains power adaptor and no battery, although the light does come complete with a good-quality diffuser dome. The Explorer Kit adds a battery and charger, plus a padded soft case. Next up the price ladder, the Masters Kit doubles up on lamps and diffusion domes while also adding light stands and a padded soft case, but this time batteries aren’t included. Top of the range is the Ultimate Kit, which is essentially the same as the Masters Kit with the addition of two batteries and chargers.
Even the cheapest AEOS 2 Basic kit is still a hefty investment, but it’s a joy to use and a top performer, making it worth the money. For more details, see our full Rotolight AEOS 2 review.
The Molus G200 LED light is far too bright for my specific needs as a video maker but if you need to light a subject from a distance then it is well worth considering (especially thanks to its ability to boost the default 200W output to the max 300W). It will suit professional corporate and studio-based filmmakers more than social media content creators, who might be better off with the cheaper and smaller Molus X100. Music mode could be useful to certain connect creators but I imagine that it’s not a deal breaker for most people. The lack of animated preset effects (such as Flash and Lightning) is disappointing, given that they are featured on other similar COB bi-color lights.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus G200 review for more details.
The 60W power is bright enough for most close to mid-distance situations such as talking to camera, and the DynaVolt fan does a great job at keeping it cool. Neat features like PD USB-C, as well as a dedicated power supply offer improved versatility. The accessory system is well thought out, with great quality accessories from Zhiyun as well as a Bowens mount adapter.
The X60 RGB offers the added advantage of producing a broad spectrum of colors with a simple twist of one of its two control dials. These dials, which can also function as buttons, allow you to swiftly transition between different color temperatures and brightness levels in just a few clicks, saving you the time it would take to manually adjust them. The color alterations are also integrated into animated effects like Disco or Hue Loop, adding a dynamic element to your video productions.
The X60 RGB can be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth, enabling you to use the ZY Vega app to modify its colors and intensity with just a few taps. The app also allows you to sample the color temperature in your shooting location using your smartphone’s camera, and then quickly and accurately adjust the LED to match that color temperature.
The Zhiyun MOLUS X60 is probably one of the best options for any content creators who move around a lot, who don’t have a lot of space, or just need a simple but incredibly functional lighting source.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus X60 review for more details.
The Forza 60C is an expensive bit of kit but when it comes to accurate and creative color rendition this powerful yet compact LED outperforms many of its rivals thanks to its advanced RGBLAC color technology. We also enjoyed its wide range of creative animated lighting effects though these will be of more use to creative video drama producers than to photographers.
Despite the intensity of light funneling through the attached reflector, the LED didn’t run too hot (and we didn’t notice any distracting fan noise), so we could quickly pack it away at the end of the shoot without a long cool-down period. A compact, powerful, precise, and versatile LED.
Read our full Nanlite Forza 60C review for more details.
The powerful SmallRig RC 350D COB (chip-on-board) LED Video Light is the perfect accessory for a studio or location-based shoot, combining a strong key light output for talking heads style interviews with a collection of special lighting effects to enhance dramatic productions. Its relatively silent fans won’t give your sound recordist any concerns. It's an expensive device that will suit the needs of a high-end video producer rather than a hobbyist vlogger.
If connectivity is important to you, then note there were a few issues with controlling the light using the companion app. The light is also on the pricier side compared to some of the competition, but its features and build quality go towards justifying a higher price.
The Hobolite Iris Iris shares the same distinctive and beautiful retro design as its larger siblings (the Hobolite Avant and the Hobolite Mini), with a curved aluminum grey body adorned with brown faux leather panels. At only 5W of power the Iris is the smallest and weakest LED in the Hobolite range, producing the equivalent of 300 candles worth of illumination at 300 Lumens. This makes the Iris more suitable for the mobile phone videographer who needs to mount their accessories via the screw-thread on a cage (such as the Rode Phone Cage). In our test the Iris was able to add a wash of color to portraits from a couple of feet away, making it more suitable for intimate portrait photography. In a dark room the Hobolite Iris was powerful enough to add dramatic fill or key light at a distance and its harsh shadows could be softened by popping the supplied magnetic Frosted Dome onto the front of the light.
The Hobolite Iris can be purchased as a standard kit, but the Creator Kit that we tested is packed full of magnetic modifiers that give you more control over the look produced by the LED.
The Iris is a bi-colour LED, so it can only change its emission colours between a warm 2700K and a cool 6500K. However, you can slide one of the four supplied Gels into the light to produce a wide range of creative colors. Thanks to the modular accessories that ship with the Hobolite Iris Creative Kit you’ll be encouraged to experiment with a range of looks and effects!
Some LEDs (such as the Zhiyun Molus B500) - are relatively heavy and cumbersome. Being dependant on mains power they are suited mainly for studio work. As a 70W LED the Godox ML60II Bi isn’t as powerful as the 500W Zhiyun Molus B500, but it can still provide plenty of illumination (up to 23300 with its reflector attached). The Godox ML60II Bi is much lighter than the Molus B500 and it can be powered by attaching two NP-F batteries to the AK-B01 NP-F Battery mount supplied with the Kit 1 option. This means that owners of the Godox ML60II Bi can enjoy the best of both worlds by illuminating a shoot with a handheld LED on location or by mounting the light on a stand in the studio.
As its name indicates, the Godox ML60II Bi is a bi-color LED. This enables you to use the rear buttons/dials to change its colour temperature output between a range of a warm 2800K to a cooler 6500K. This means that you can complement existing light sources on location or mimic daylight in a studio environment for example. Unlike some of the lights in this guide (such as the Zhiyun Fiveray FR100C) you can’t change the hue of the Godox ML60II. Therefore there’s no option to produce full color-based video effects such as the red and blue flashes of a police car. However, the Godox ML60II Bi does have 11 video effects that can cycle between the color temperature range of 2800K to 6500K, so you can evoke the light produced by the cold blue sparks of a welding torch or the warm flicker from a candle. This should make the Godox ML60II Bi appeal to video makers who need to add interactive lighting to their productions.
To make it portable the Godox ML60II Bi is predominately constructed from plastic, which makes it more fragile than the metal body of the Zhiyun Molus B500. However this difference in build quality is reflected in price as the Godox ML60II Bi is far cheaper..
FAQs
What factors should you consider when buying a video light?
To choose the right video light for your needs there are a number of things you need to take into account. These include:
Power supply: Can the LED be used by both a mains plug and a battery? This will enable a more versatile set-up and enable you to film both indoors and outdoors
Color temperature: Look out for the LED’s colour temperature range; a wide range is preferable as this will give you both warm and cool light options to match the ambient light you are shooting in or the effect you’re trying to create.
Modifiers: Check to see if the LED comes with any modifiers in the box. These could be diffusers to soften the light or filters to change the light’s color temperature.
Flicker-free: Some LEDs show a fluctuation in brightness, known as flicker. The best lights are flicker free to provide a constant level of brightness.
Bluetooth technology: The inclusion of Bluetooth technology in your LED light will allow you to connect to a smartphone and control adjustments like brightness and colour temperature remotely.
