The Best Lightweight Lighting Kits For Self Shooters
Lighting is hands down one of the single most important factors in creating a great looking image. And that’s true across all styles of filmmaking and video production. Whether you are working on high-end film and TV sets, creating a promo video for a new product, or even making a short funny video to post to social media, lighting can drastically change the look and feel of what you’re creating.
Good lighting can highlight or mask details from your image and with good lighting, you can even get amazing results from lower end, consumer-focused camera sensors.
Choosing the right lighting for any job will become an essential part of working on any project as a filmmaker, and it’s even more important if like me you’re a self-shooter who wears more than one metaphorical hat at a time!
Having lighting that you can rely on and is easy to carry, as well as fast to set up, will make every shoot you work on a far more enjoyable experience. Not having to stress about being near a power source or having to worry about which piece of equipment to leave behind will save you time on set and speed up your workflow whenever you need it most!
So here are my top choices for lightweight lighting kits that I personally love!
best lightweight lighting kits in 2021:
Neewer Dimmable Bi-colour 480 LED Light Kit
Pros -
Affordable, great value, very portable
Cons -
Loses colour accuracy when dimmed, not as bright as other systems
GVM 800D RGB Video Light Led Panel Light
Pros -
Good light output for size and price, full RGB lighting
Cons -
App for making adjustments can be confusing, light stands are flimsy
Falconeyes RX-18T Roll-Flex LED Video Light
Pros -
Flat and flexible, can be mounted into tight spaces regular lights can’t fit
Cons -
Difficult to use with additional lighting modifiers
Godox S30 Focusing LED Spotlight 5600K
Pros -
Fantastic output and colour accuracy
Cons -
Lights of this size have limited uses but they do what they are designed to do very well
LUXCEO Q508A LED Light Wand
Pros -
Versatile, bright and very affordable
Cons -
Not fully RGB, no battery indication
Aputure AL-M9 Amaran LED Video Light
Pros -
Very portable, great quality, very bright for its size
Cons -
Battery life could be better
Aputure AL-MX Mini LED Video Light 2800K-6500K
Pros -
Variable colour temperature, great output
Cons -
Heavier than AL-M9, battery life could be better
Best Video Lighting Kits 2021
1 - Neewer Dimmable Bi-colour 480 LED Light Kit
For years now Neewer has been producing cheap, readily available products for pretty much every aspect of film and photography. I have plenty of their equipment and can say that you definitely get incredible quality for what you pay when it comes to their gear. While I haven’t used these exact lights on a shoot in a while I can almost guarantee you won’t be disappointed in picking a set up and using them on your next shoot.
They are very easy to power up, either with mains electricity or by using readily available Sony NP-F batteries directly on the back of each panel. With them being bi-colour you can easily switch the white balance between daylight and tungsten to match the lighting you find yourself working with.
I’ve found that once dimmed the lights lose a little of their colour accuracy but that is a small drawback compared to the price and portability of these lights.
Best budget lighting kit
Neewer Bi-Colour Light Panels
2 - GVM 800D RGB Video Light Led Panel Light
Lights like these provide an absolutely incredible level of versatility when lighting a scene. The ability to not only make changes to your white balance super quickly but also to be able to tap into the full spectrum of RGB lighting can give you a lot of options to light a scene creatively.
These light panels are easy to bring along to any set, can be powered by mains or battery and can quickly be adjusted via an app on your phone. No more having to get up and walk backwards and forwards checking your changes in camera!
The panels are large enough to give good shape to your subject, but if you want to have a softer look you will still need to add some form of lighting modifier. Using a sheet of diffusion or bouncing the light off a nearby white surface should be enough to soften it enough for your needs.
Overall, the versatility of these lights is absolutely incredible and I would highly recommend them to anyone considering creative documentary-style work!
Best value led lighting kit
GVM 800D RGB LED Panel Lights
3 - Falconeyes RX-18T Roll-Flex LED Video Light
This light is absolutely mind-blowing in what it is capable of. Granted it is a much more niche light than the others so far, but it is no less amazing for it.
Sporting the ability to bend around itself this light can fit into almost any space. It’s perfect for filming in tight interiors, mounting onto a ceiling, or even inside a lampshade!!
Being bi-colour and dimmable gives you the flexibility you need to make the most out of this light without needing any gels or bulky external dimmer packs.
Admittedly this flexible panel light might not have a place in your kit, but if you regularly find yourself working on creative short films or more conceptual films then this light is definitely worth considering. Being able to hide and mount it almost anywhere is an invaluable asset, plus the ability to literally wrap the light around your subject gives incredible results!
most versatile led light
Falconeyes RX18TD Bi-Colour Flexible LED Panel
4 - Godox S30 Focusing LED Spotlight 5600K
Spotlights like this one are often overlooked by many filmmakers as they would rather opt for a much larger and softer source of light. I personally think spotlights like this one are a necessity for anyone who shoots and produces their own content. Smaller lights like the Godox S30 are perfect for adding shape to a subject by either side or backlighting them, resulting in beautiful hair and rim lighting.
The internal focusing lens in this spotlight allows you to either flood the room with light or create a hard, defined circle of light for your needs. There are also lighting modifiers designed for this style of light so if you feel like the light is too harsh there are easy ways to soften it too.
The Godox S30 is set to a daylight balanced light which initially may seem like a drawback, but for a light of this size, it is very easy to add a gel to it in order to warm it up to a tungsten look if you need. However, when you consider that a light like this is perfect for lighting dark wedding receptions or adding shape to a subject then the ‘drawbacks’ don’t seem that major at all.
Best spotlight led
Godox S30 Focusing Spotlight
5 - LUXCEO Q508A LED Light Wand
Originally I used to think light wands like this were just a gimmick that photographers used to do light paintings with. After getting the chance to use on in a professional setting though I quickly changed my mind. You see, light wands are an incredibly effective (and much cheaper) alternative to purchasing vertical strip light modifiers which give great directional lighting.
The Luxeco Q508A may not be the most comprehensive and feature-rich light wand on the market but what it lacks in dialling in full RGB colour values it makes up for with its ease of use and versatility. This light is perfect for adding a strip of light to the side of a face, adding shape to a product, adding a splash of colour to a background, or moving across a small scene for very dynamic lighting
.It’s not an essential part for a lighting kit but it will absolutely unlock a new level of creativity for you potential setups.
best value light wand
Luxeco Q508A Light Wand
6 - Aputure AL-M9 + AL-MX Mini LED Card Lights
Aputure is probably my favourite brand for LED filmmaking lights. They are always innovating and always listening to what their customers want from their lighting kits. That’s why I can comfortably recommend both of these tiny, yet mighty palm-sized lights. Yes, that’s right, palm-sized.
I picked up the Aputure AL-M9 to help add a small splash of light to the background of some interview scenes, but that’s not all it can be used for. The size of both of these card lights means they can be placed almost anywhere a regular light can’t.
For such a small source of light, they pack such a punch that it is very easy to use them to light night scenes, use as a small fill light, or even to add a splash of light to the edge of a subject.
So why do I recommend both? Well, they are almost the same product but with the difference of the AL-M9 being a constant daylight white balance, whereas the AL-MX is bi-colour. If it came to it I would choose the older M9 over the MX purely because it’s smaller and lighter, however at this size I think both of these lights are something that belongs in every filmmaker’s camera bag.