Workmanship and operation

The Rollei Lumen light bar * is shipped with a high quality soft case with Rollei imprint.
The soft case contains batteries, chargers, power supply unit, light bar and screw-on 1/4 inch handle. A high-gloss local language instruction manual is also included.
The batteries come 80% pre-charged and can be used directly.

The light bar can also be placed in this soft case with batteries inserted.

In addition, a fabric cover is included, which can be put over the lamp including the batteries. I like to call this cover “the condom”. The condom is super practical if you don’t want to take the whole bag and the included accessories with you, but only the light incl. handle and batteries prepared for use.

The scope of delivery and the well thought-out transport options alone make it clear: this is not a cheap product. It claims to be a thoroughly thought-out solution, whether in the studio or on the road. This is also evident in the mounting options:

The light bar has two 1/4 inch threads with which the light can be connected to the supplied handle or a tripod: One for mounting the lamp horizontally, one for vertical orientation. Depending on the orientation in which the lamp is mounted, the light cast and the resulting shadows can thus be influenced. More about this later.

The light is pleasantly heavy. It has a high quality plastic housing. The lamp feels good in the hand, but not too heavy, when held by the handle. However, after a longer time of handling the handle, it can happen that it jerks loose in the 1/4 inch connection. You then have to tighten the handle again. Personally, I can live with that.

However, the lamp is too heavy to attach it directly to the camera on a hot shoe adapter. For such cases, the lamp should be attached to a suitable camera cage.

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135,28 EUR

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Controlling the lamp

On the back of the Rollei Lumen light bar * there is a settings display, two pressable control wheels and two selector switches for the modes “Off”, “Mains operation” and “Battery operation” and white light (CCT) and coloured light (RGB).

The display is illuminated and, together with the two clickable control wheels, looks extremely valuable. The feel gives good feedback and allows fine adjustments. Superbly done, Rollei!

In the white light mode, we can fine-tune the colour temperature in Kelvin. A symbol also shows us which light colour (artificial, sun, cloudy, candle, etc.) this setting comes closest to. Of course, the brightness can also be controlled.

In colour mode, the colour tone can be adjusted on the luminaire by means of a 360-degree selector. In addition, the saturation of the colour and the overall brightness can be adjusted. As an alternative to the 360-degree selector, predefined colours can be selected.

The selector switches, on the other hand, look and feel extremely cheap. It hangs loose and is made of light plastic. This switch does not fit in at all with the rest of the lamp’s otherwise high-quality appearance. The feel of this switch is terrible, it could have been done better. At both of my lamps the colour/white switch doesn‘t really attach in one position, there is no feedback at all. Terrible.

We have triple freedom of choice when it comes to controlling the lamp:

• Option 1: Control via the integrated controls and the display.
• Option 2: Control via Bluetooth using the Lumen app on the smartphone.
• Option 3: Control via DMX

Immediately after unpacking, I put the lamp into operation. I downloaded the Lumen app and started it. On my iPhone, the app asked me for Bluetooth access rights. I granted Bluetooth access and the lamp was connected immediately.

“How the hell did they do that?”, I asked myself. It went so smoothly, I didn’t expect it to. I would have thought I would have had to at least find and pair the lamp manually, but the app did that on its own. Great success. That is intuitive usability and excellent user experience. Nicely done.

When it comes to having the light bar permanently installed in the studio, it may also make sense to control the lamps via a DMX controller. No problem, because each lamp has a DMX input and DMX output in the form of an RJ45 socket. I don’t use this, but I tested it with a DMX controller lying around. It works perfectly, but I couldn’t get the colour temperature for white light right with DMX. But I only tried it out for 3 minutes out of curiosity.

Regardless of where the lamp is operated from, it remembers the last settings when it is switched off and on again. Even after a loss of voltage.

How does the Rollei Lumen portable light perform in photo shooting?

As described at the beginning of this article, the orientation of the Rollei Lumen light bar * can be freely selected. This applies equally to photo and video purposes:

The horizontal position of the light distributes the light over a larger target area. Shadows become softer. Ideal for portrait photography or the illumination of video recordings – but more about that later.

Vertically aligned, I can focus the light on a specific target strip. Ideal for artistic lighting designs, low-key and still life lighting.

The brightness of the lamp can be adjusted in one hundred 1% percent steps. This is granular enough for all lighting situations.

In June, I was commissioned by a client to photograph the new bus stops they had produced and installed in a municipality. Let’s face it, a bus stop is not exactly the most exciting subject. So I came up with the idea of taking the photos in the dark and colour lighting the modern bus stops with the Rollei Lumen light bars. The result is something to be proud of.

Rollei Lumen light bar as Video Illumination

The Rollei Lumen light bar * does not flicker when shooting in 30p, 25p, 60p, provided that the 360° rule is observed. Flickering is neither visible with battery operation nor with mains operation. That was my biggest concern.

For video recordings in my “YouTube studio” I used to use 4 Samtian TL-600AS studio lights distributed on two lamp tripods. They were often too bright.

Two horizontally mounted Rollei Lumen light sticks now take over this job. The brightness of the 4 lamps used before is not quite reached, but that was simply exaggerated and hurt my own eyes on full brightness.

My Rollei Lumen light bar * emitts perfect brightness, flickerfree and looks much better and stable, than my former light setup.

Conclusion and recommendation

The Rollei Lumen light bar * does what it is supposed to do. For around 120€, we get a versatile and largely high-quality product that is very well thought out, from the menu navigation to the carrying bag. The light quality is impeccable. Colours are mixed cleanly, the light is soft and cast shadows are not distracting. For such a compact device, the performance is super.

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

Even if the workmanship and the material of the lamp are largely okay, the wobbly and not properly engaging selector switches are a horror. That is already the biggest minus. But you can live with that and the lighting result is not affected by it.

I particularly like the fact that it can be used for both video lighting and photography. In my eyes, this is the most solid, affordable and versatile solution at the moment.

All links marked with * in this post are Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you purchase through these links, we will receive a commission. Nevertheless, this review is real and not bought. I could recommend any other studio light to you, but I am really enthusiastic about the Rollei Lumen product series and don’t want to miss my lights for photo and video purposes anymore.

Der Beitrag Testing the Rollei Lumen LED Stick for photo and video erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Good studio equipment for a small hobby budget

For a long time I concentrated exclusively on landscape and travel photography. Also, because for a long time I simply had no room to set up a hobby studio. After transforming the winter garden into a large office and workroom, the space problem was solved and finally, especially in the dark and cold season, I was able to devote myself to studio and portrait photography.

As an ambitious hobby photographer, I have equipped myself with technology that serves its purpose and is not unreasonably expensive. Certainly there is more professional equipment, but for my first steps I didn’t want to spend more than 400€ to set up a reasonably well equipped “photo studio”.

In the following I report among other things about used products of various manufacturers. At this point I would like to clarify that I do not have any business relationship with these companies. I have researched and tested a lot and would like to share my experiences on this topic. However, in the following I will use affiliate links to the Amazon products as compensation for my work. However, my recommendation of these products is sincere and independent.

Continuous light vs. flash light

In my studio I have about 4m x 6m meter space available. The used lighting devices should provide enough light within these dimensions. The first decision I had to make was whether I wanted to work with flashlights or permanent lights. Laziness triumphed, I decided to use continuous light.

Continuous light makes it easier for me to adjust the camera because the lighting conditions are always the same and I don’t have to deal with the situation-dependent setting of a flash system. When using continuous light, I don’t have to wait for the flash to recharge between shots.

Even if a flash system provides more light energy than continuous light for a short time when triggered, continuous light is sufficient for my 24 square metre studio.

In addition, a complete, good flash system would have been considerably more expensive than my continuous light setup. One day I’ll also be doing studio photography with flash, but not today.

Background and Backdrop

As background, also called Backdrop, I got a white and a black fabric background from NEEWER.

We need the white background for high key photography because it distributes the available light evenly in the room, the black background for low key photography because it “swallows” superfluous light and does not reflect it.

The backdrop doesn’t just hang on the wall in the background, but runs out on the floor. Thus, transitions between wall and floor are not noticeable in photos.

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• Schlaufentasche nur auf einer Seite zum Drapieren oder Aufhängen

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• 10 x 20FT / 3 x 6M Hintergrund, perfekt für das Fernsehen, Videoproduktion und digitale Fotografie
• Stangen Tasche auf jeden oberen Rand erlaubt es, drapiert oder aufgehängt zu werden

Amazon

I hung both backgrounds on cheap curtain rods and hooks from the hardware store. The cost is about 40€.

If you like, you can also use tripod systems like the following for fixing. However, I would have lost important studio space due to the tripod feet of the suspension, which is why I decided to mount it on the wall.

Special offer

Walimex pro Teleskop Hintergrundsystem L 120-307 cm breit, Fotohintergrund System 102-256 cm hoch, Lampenstativ 5/8'' Spigot, für...*

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−21,17 EUR 88,73 EUR

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Before using the backgrounds, you should either smooth them with an iron or wash them first, then dry them in the dryer and hang them up without wrinkling immediately afterwards. The second option saves tiresome ironing.

With the white background it is much more important that no wrinkles are visible, with the black background we can mostly neglect wrinkles.

Continuous light for hobby budget

First I bought two soft and reflector boxes with energy saving lamps from NEEWER. With this I wanted to lay the foundation stone. The light boxes are stretched like an umbrella and have a strong reflective coating inside. 5 45W energy saving lamps per box produce sufficiently strong light. The light boxes can either give off “hard” light, or by attaching a white fabric curtain “soft” light, which we need for portrait photography.

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Amazon

With these two light sources I was now ready for low key photography, in which a single light source is sufficient.

The light output of my umbrellas was good, but the umbrellas take up too much space even when stowed away. That’s why I next bought a LED permanent light system from SAMTIAN, which is more space-saving to store and can also produce both “hard” and “soft” light.

The LED systems have further advantages over conventional lamp lighting systems:

• LED systems can be dimmed in brightness
• LED systems allow regulation of colour temperature (cold light/warm light)
• LED systems can also be operated mobile with rechargeable batteries
• LED systems are more energy-efficient
• LED systems can be adjusted by remote control
• LED systems are slimmer and do not interfere with the image

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In my opinion, the manufacturers mentioned are the classic “China manufacturers”. To be honest, at the beginning I had doubts about the choice of these products. But the devices always fulfil their purpose. I thought to myself, “What can you do big wrong with lamps?” At the same time, I was worried that the lamps might flicker a lot. In the end I dared to order.

Sure, there are a few places where you will notice the cheapest price on the product. For example, the power cables could be longer, the tripods a bit more stable and the controls a bit more valuable. Nevertheless, these points don’t harm the purpose of the devices and the price has to come from somewhere.

Meanwhile I’m so convinced of the LED systems that I wouldn’t use regular lightboxes anymore. Sooner or later I will replace the softboxes completely with LED components. My original doubts that the LED systems could possibly flicker or emit bad light were quickly dispelled after the first tests.

With a total of 4 light sources I was now perfectly equipped for both high key and low key photography.

My High Key Setup

In the High Key environment I use the two reflector screens with continuous light for the illumination of the background. Sometimes with and sometimes without soft diffuser. So that the big boxes don’t protrude into the picture, I placed them on the floor.

The two LED systems illuminate the actual object by means of the soft diffuser included in the scope of delivery. This makes portrait shots appear evenly illuminated and soft.

My Low Key Setup

In the low key area I only use the LED systems. I can adjust the brightness of these systems conveniently by remote control, because in a low key environment less light is often more. I also like the possibility to influence the colour temperature of the light.

For a better distribution of reflections I bought a foldable reflector shade with which you can set some accents for the illumination.

Special offer

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• Dieser Reflektor passt auf alle gängigen Reflektorhalter
• Fünf Oberflächen: Gold, Silber, Weiß, Schwarz und Durchscheinend

−9,30 EUR 27,69 EUR

Amazon

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere. 

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag A low budget setup for high key and low key photography in a hobby studio erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.