Our popular Spring into Summer Event is rolling along and we want to highlight a product from one of our amazing sponsors, Lume Cube.
Today, I am stoked to share with you a versatile flash & video lighting device. It’s the Single Cube from the amazing people at Lume Cube. I hadn’t used this product much before, but definitely will be going forward.
From their website:
“Made to fit your lifestyle, whether you’re loyal to Apple or Android, the Lume Cube is ready to pair with your smartphone. Our free app lets you control flash, duration, and brightness of multiple cubes.”
It’s light, super durable, waterproof, and ridiculously powerful and if you want to travel “light” this is a must have. It’s simple to use and it’s a great addition to anyone’s gear bag. You can control the device remotely using their free app for iPhone® or Android®, which is also super simple to use yet totally powerful. One of the things I didn’t know at the time of this recording is their CTO (Color Temperature Orange) 4 Pack is a great add-on accessory for the cube. It comes with 4 different warming gels which are much more practical than the quick fix I show in the video.
The team over at Lume Cube is also offering ON1 customers FREE SHIPPING for a limited time! Use code ON1SPRING at checkout. Enjoy!
Product Spotlight – Lume Cube
May 26, 2017 • 14488 Views • Posted by Hudson Henry
20 comments on “Product Spotlight – Lume Cube”
On May 28, 2017 at 12:56 pm pandcswaim wrote:
Hudson,
I’d seen these before but was having a hard time believing they could be as good as this. I had been thinking of using them in strobe trigger mode for back light effects, but it looks like they are much more versatile than that, especially with the color filters (note, “lighthouse” attachment appears to be also required to use these filters). I just received some 15mm Small Rig carbon rods with 1/4″ screw attachment blocks that I have adapted for an arca clamp and 7mm shaft clamp for a lightweight shoot through umbrella. This looks to be a versatile way for me to offset these from my camera l-bracket or remote mount a pair on my tripod. Thanks for the review. At 3.5oz it just seems too good not to carry at least one in my travel kit.
On May 28, 2017 at 2:26 pm Hudson Henry replied:
It’s wildly powerful durable and light. It does have to see your flash pretty dead on to work as a remote optical slave.
The lighthouse looks really cool. I’ve got one on the way and I’ll let you know how it works. I always keep a sheet of color temperature orange gel with me and some tape in case I need to warm a light up in a pinch though… 😉
On May 28, 2017 at 1:58 pm David Price wrote:
Hi
Perhaps it is just my PC? But, I could not get the video to play, which is a shame, because judging from Pandcsaim’s comments the video must be a good one.
Sorry.
On May 28, 2017 at 2:04 pm David Price replied:
Yes it was just my PC or rather my internet connection. i.e. sold as 70 MB/s, but routinely crashes as everyone else in the street downloads another movie to less than 0.5 MB/S.
On May 28, 2017 at 2:27 pm Hudson Henry replied:
🙁 I hope they fix that for you.
On May 28, 2017 at 6:26 pm Adam Rubinstein wrote:
My assumption is that the pre-flash on Canon E-TTL would inadvertently trigger the cubes? I’m wondering since they work through BT whether they could be triggered by those routes instead? They say something about triggering the camera via the app and that this will activate the cubes as flash. Did you try that and what cameras will that work with? What a neat idea though. What kind of real – life duration do you get out of the cubes before having to recharge them?
On May 30, 2017 at 11:49 am Hudson Henry replied:
The app trigger is a phone camera app. I ignored it because it didn’t allow manual control of camera settings and instead focused on the optical slave function. The slave feature lets you set the duration. i could imagine TTL pre-flash setting it off, but for multi-flash setups I’m always in manual so it isn’t a problem for me. Keep in mind that you need to have the flash very much visible to the front of the cube to set it off. In many situations it may work better as a hot-light than a strobe.
On May 29, 2017 at 4:40 am Bengt Cederman wrote:
Hi Hudson Nice stuff, a tip though, don´t forget to bring with you an extra fully charged power bank. If you have any experience with macro led ring flashlights, let us know. There are a lot in the market but how good/bad are they?
On May 30, 2017 at 11:51 am Hudson Henry replied:
That right light question will be a good question for our guest coach in June… 🙂 I tend to travel with a single SB900 and some very lightweight modifiers since everything is on my back.
I usually have a good sized Anker batter backup with me for my phone that also works quite well for this and my GoPro. That’s solid advice.
On May 29, 2017 at 11:53 am Petr Krenzelok wrote:
While small, the cube is round. I bought Aputure AL-M9. Nicely pocketable, but cube seems to be much more powerful.
On May 30, 2017 at 11:51 am Hudson Henry replied:
Powerful it is!
On May 31, 2017 at 1:39 pm pandcswaim wrote:
Hudson,
Looking forward to seeing how you like the lighthouse. I was thinking about epoxying four neodymium disk magnets (.1″ dia x .06″ deep) to the front of the lume cube so that I could use the filters stacks without the lighthouse (just so I don’t have to carry one more thing). Otherwise it’ll be gel sheet. Let me know if you think that might work, or if there are other benefits of the shell. I’ve heard that there is a shutoff thermistor in the cube and it will shut down if it runs too hot, and that the shell may extend the run time due to better heat dissipation–I can’t personally confirm any of this, perhaps its only a problem with the light cranked up all the way in Death Valley!
On June 1, 2017 at 12:44 pm Paula Buermele wrote:
Hi Hudson,
I was intrigued by your demo and my lume cube arrived today. I am looking forward to getting out in the field with it. I also bought the 360° Hot Shoe Mount and attached it to my selfie stick and then the cube to the ball head gadget on the hot shoe mount. I can now point the light in any direction and extend my reach by the length of the self stick. Cool stuff.
Paula
On June 3, 2017 at 2:45 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Fun Stuff.
On June 2, 2017 at 11:32 am rdbimages53@gmail.com wrote:
Hudson,
This looks very useful. Thanks for pointing it out. Would you give me more info on that color tape you used for indoor lighting? Not familiar with it and I didn’t understand what I should be getting. Do you have a specific link I could look at?
Thanks,
Bob
On June 3, 2017 at 2:51 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Sure, It’s not tape it’s colored gel that any lighting professional would use in front of a light to change it’s color. You can grab it in cutable sheets at any studio supply store, or order it here. I’m using CTO (color temperature orange) gel. You can get it in…
1/2 orange: (http://amzn.to/2s5pbr2) or full orange: (http://amzn.to/2qM6Dbr)
I use a bit of gaff tape (http://amzn.to/2rE78ru) at each end to affix it. Gaff tape is like duct tape that can be used and reused without leaving a sticky residue behind.
On June 6, 2017 at 9:26 am rdbimages53@gmail.com replied:
Thank you for the links, Hudson. I just received my LumeCube. Man, it is bright on the highest setting. Looking forward to using it for my still life photography.
Bob
On June 2, 2017 at 8:22 pm Alan Smallbone wrote:
I have two lume cubes and use them mostly as hot lights. I also have two lighthouses that just got here. They did not mark the different diffusers so you need to figure it out. Best way they told me and it works is to put them on a sheet of paper with type and you can then label them from there for future reference. The Lighthouse is a worthy addition, I am going to order more modifiers for them. The bluetooth connection to the lights is useful to adjust the light intensities remotely once you have places them for your shoot.
Alan
On June 2, 2017 at 8:31 pm Alan Smallbone wrote:
I don’t think you need to wait for rugged situations to use them, they are easy to carry for a quick off the cuff portrait. At low powers they are good for light painting, I use my had to cover the light, then quickly to the light painting and then put my hand over it again like a shutter. On thing at the high intensities, which I rarely use it gets quite warm quite quickly. They also make good video lights. I think the diffusers which are now available will help a lot and make them a lot more flexible.
Alan
On June 3, 2017 at 2:53 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Totally agree. Super useful for this type of use when traveling light. They’re also a worthy addition to any dive housing. Much cheaper, lighter and less finicky than the made for underwater lighting out there.
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