Top Lighting Picks

Published March 27, 2023

Need to put a light in your backpack? Need to shoot something quick with no setup? Tiny lights are AMAZING and there are a bunch of good ones. Here are my favorites:

Portable Lights

Shop Portable Lights Now

Aputure MC – $89

Tiny little light panel with a serious punch. Fully RGB with a built in diffusor. And don’t forget the rear magnets for easy mounting!

Aputure B7c – $56

The coolest light bulb you’ve ever seen. Fully RGB and battery powered! Charge it by putting it in a socket, but take it out and the light keeps going for hours.

Aputure MT Pro – $199

This is a compact, 1-foot tube light with individually addressed pixels, allowing you to do multiple colors at once. With magnets on the back, an included gridbox, mounting holes for tripods, and built in pixel effects, this thing does just about everything.

Key Lights

Shop Key Lights Now

Probably the most important on this list are the lights that light YOU while you are filming videos. Getting that smooth, flowy light across your face at the perfect color is vital.

Amaran COB 60D – $149

This is one of the smallest and most affordable professional key lights you can buy. It’s tiny, color-accurate, and SUPER bright. Use the dial to control the brightness level from 0-100%. Plus, if you want the bi-color version, they have a 60X made just for you.

Aputure Light Dome SE – $99

A nearly 3-foot dome diffusor to spread the light smoothly across your face. The larger the diffusor, the smoother the light, the hotter you look. It’s just science ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Entry Level Softbox Light – $69 (2-pack)

If you’re still experimenting with content creation and want to start off small, there are plenty of low level softboxes. These simply have a large bulb inside a large diffuser. Don’t expect too much out of these, but sometimes, it’s all that you need.

Tube Lights

Shop Tube Lights Now

I remember just a couple years ago looking for tube lights and seeing the cheapest one at nearly $1000! Now there are so many options and so many different features! These things look so cool in the background of your videos. Here are my favorites.

PT4c – $139-$429

These are brand new and they are the best tube lights I’ve ever seen. They come in 1’, 2’, and 4’ sizes with fully addressable RGB pixels inside (you can set different pixels to be different colors). Go all one color, set your custom design, or go with all their pre-built pixel effects. Whatever you decide, it’s gonna be BRIGHT.

LUXCEO P120 – $185

Here is another 4-foot tube light that is much simpler and less than half the cost. If you’re just looking for a single color tube to sit behind you in your videos, this is perfect. It’s plenty bright AND it’s water proof. Go do some cool stuff in the rain with it!

Panel Lights

Shop Panel Lights Now

Got a small space? A desk up against a wall? Just want something small and easy to manage? Panels are dope. Here is a guide to my top 4 light panels that I use.

NEEWER LED Panel – $57

Simple, low-budget, bi-color LED panel. Great for getting started. Comes with a built in battery if you need it on the go, too!

Elgato Key Light – $180

A staple in the streaming world. Premium light diffusion, app/stream deck control, insanely bright. Take the budget panel and make it pro.

Amaran P60c – $349

Looking for a panel for some more professional needs? Here is a full RGB panel by a pro-lighting company. It comes with a diffusor and a grid and a bunch of other professional tools through their app!

Aputure Nova P300c – $1699

Ok, for real? I really only put this one in here for fun. This thing is bonkers and was built to compete with other massive panels that can cost up to $5000. It’s fantastic and it’s so bright that I’m pretty sure you can see it from space. Not for your average creator.

All-Time Favorites

Shop The Favorites Now

Amaran 200D

A 200W daylight-color keylight. I throw the Light Dome SE (see above) on it with the grid and my lighting is perfect. The 100D would also work fine because I NEVER turn it above 50%.

Amaran PT4c

Awesome tube lights. Once you start using them, you have a hard time shooting a video without them. Check out more info on them in the Tube Lights section

Aputure B7c

I’ve used these little bulbs as practical lights behind me, as permanent RGB fixtures, or as unique handheld lights when I’m feeling like getting some extra comments about why I’m holding a weird light bulb. I have 4 sitting around the office.

Aputure MT Pro

It’s small but it’s powerful and versatile. Definitely my favorite light in a pinch.

Latest Posts

Comments

This post currently has no comments.