Litratorch Adventure LED Light and Smart Phone Bundle REVIEW
When taking product photos or action photos lighting is always going to be the key to every successful shoot. I personally own twelve studio lights. I don’t use all of them at the same time because I just don’t have the room to keep them all out. And, sometimes, the larger lights are just too much for your product. Fortunately, there is a new trend with photo/video lighting and that’s micro lighting. There has been an emergence of pocket-sized lights that provide an enormous amount of light for your setup. These lights are fantastic for pickup shots, tabletop photography, and mobile photos. This is where the LitraTorch comes into play. Size is not a problem for this micro studio light. It’s a compact powerhouse that can give you help in a wide range of photography.
DETAILS
The LitraTorch is a pocket-sized photo and video light. It measures 1.5 x 1.5 inches and provides 800 lumens of continuous, high-quality light. The light is waterproof (up to 30ft) and drop proof (810 Mil-spec) and features aluminum body construction. You can choose to mount it using one of several methods. The first option is to use one of the two 1/4–20 camera mounts, the second is by using the embedded magnet, the third is a GoPro Mount and the final option is to use the belt clip. Each torch comes with a white diffuser, silicone sleeve, belt clip, GoPro 1/4–20 finger mount, and a USB Charging Cable. We also had the added benefit of the LitraTorch smartphone mount and a tripod handle from the Smart Phone bundle that LitraTorch offers.
The LitraTorch has several levels of lighting. Using its 2200 Lumens you have the option to use it on Level 1 (100 lumens), Level 2 (450 lumens), Level 3 (800 lumens), or Strobe (2200 lumens). The light has an ultra wide beam angle and 5700K Daylight Temperature. LitraTorch is flicker free and has a smooth, blended light.
USER EXPERIENCE
The LitraTorch comes in a pretty standard box for a smaller item. The outside of the box has a picture of the product showcased along with the company’s logo. It’s a pretty minimalist box while still being nicely branded. Inside the box, you find the LitraTorch and its accessories. The smartphone mount and tripod handle were packaged separately in generic plastic bags. My first thought when I unpacked it was how miraculously small this light was. I’ve used the Lume Cube, another microlight, in the past and found LitraTorch to be amazingly similar, but very different at the same time. LitraTorch has a simple, single operation button on the light. When you use the multi-function button, it lights up with a green LED ring. As described above, there are three power settings — low, mid, and high. There is also a strobe effect, which ends up being quite annoying to me. You have the option of how you want to mount it, whether or not you want to use the diffuser, and what level of lighting you want to use. That’s pretty much it. It’s a very simple operation for a very powerful light.
I used the LitraTorch in a number of settings. One such setting was our standard white box where we take product photos. In this setting, there is an overhead light that takes care of most of the lighting, but there are still some shadowy areas that the LitraTorch can help eliminate. I found it quite useful in this respect because I could use it to produce some quick fill lighting without the hassle of setting up another full-size studio light. I also used LitraTorch on location outdoors to brighten up our patio. You can see the results below. The spread of the LitraTorch is absolutely amazing and quite surprising for such a little light.
The accessory bundle that we opted to add-on was helpful, but I’d like to see the tripod have rubber feet on it. The tripod is very compact and allows the light to sit low on a surface but there are no pads on its feet. This causes it to slide around if it’s being used on a tabletop. The battery life seems to be pretty solid. In my uses, I was testing it out in short bursts rather than longer shoots, but if you are using the light on its highest setting, it should last around 30 minutes with it being constantly on. You will know when the battery is running low because the LED right around the power button will start showing red (when it’s below 20%).
CONCLUSION
I really enjoy the LitraTorch. Unlike its competition, the one button function works much better than the two on the other device. I believe the competition to get much hotter to the touch and as for as brightness the LitraTorch is hands down the winner for me. I think every photographer and videographer should own one of these super small wonders — even as a just in case light. I think people will find some very creative ways to use it in all sorts of shots.
For more information, visit litra.com.
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Originally published at macsources.com on April 13, 2018.
