The Wonder Cube – Lume Cube

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Photography is about light.  We strive to capture light – the play of light and shadow and the color created through light.  And when the natural light doesn’t cooperate, we try to shape the light through reflectors, strobes, and man-made sources of light.  The latter gets complicated, though.  Many photographers are overwhelmed by the additional complexities of using strobes (speedlights, flash units, etc…), not to mention the expense of the strobes themselves, wireless triggers, and control units.  It can all add up very quickly.  A second challenge is space – sometimes the challenge is getting light into a spot where there isn’t much room for light stands or the lights themselves.  But what if you could have a LOT of light from a tiny, tiny source that could be put just about anywhere…even under water?  Welcome to the Lume Cube – the coolest light I’ve ever met!

I encourage you to interactively experience the Lume Cube via my video review here:

Lume Cube 1500 Lumen LED Light Review | Waterproof Brilliance

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One of my friends over at B&H Photo mentioned the Lume Cube to me in an email as something worth looking at.  When I saw the amount of light output from a wireless, rechargeable source (equivalent to my LED worklight that I use when doing renovations!) I was immediately intrigued.  I asked that one be sent to me for review.  Until the day that it arrived I fully expected to receive something roughly the size of my worklight (logical, right?).

Creativity Unlocked!

I was truly shocked when I opened the little box and discovered a 1.5″ inch (35mm) cube that easily fit in the palm of my hand.  That’s when I really started getting excited, because I realized that compact size (and incredibly portability) would open up a whole new world of possibilities…and it has.  Take, for example, this shot of a steaming cup of tea.

I wanted to use light to enhance the steam rising off the mug.  I also wanted the glass mug to be illuminated from the back and some spill light on the bubble wrap I was using to to create a bokeh backdrop.  This would have challenging use traditional lighting source, but not with the Lume Cube.  I simply dropped it behind the mug firing up.  The light caught the rising steam, illuminated the amber color of the tea, and bounced back to illuminate my backdrop.  The only light source here outside of the available light was one Lume Cube.  Very cool!

Or how about illuminating bubbles in a bathtub from underneath?  The Lume Cube is waterproof down to 100 feet, so not only is it a very cool light source to bring along with snorkeling or scuba diving, it also means that you can put a fixed light source where you want…even if that spot happens to be underwater!

The fact that you can control the amount of light output remotely via Bluetooth means that even if it is under water you still have complete creative control over the light output from the Lume Cube.  I’ve also found a lot of use for a powerful, controllable source of light for quick projects, like, for example, shooting macro shots of jewellery.  This would be a tremendous asset to a wedding photographer.  I shot the following shots using the Lume Cube as the sole source of light and either an iPhone or iPad’s screen as the reflective surface – very easy for the wedding photographer to have along!

One other way that I’ve found the Lume Cube useful is by placing it facing the camera when shooting product shots that I’m lighting from another source.  It could provide starring or a flare effect to replace that of the sun.  By the way, it is color balanced at a daylight temperature of 6000 Kelvin, which means that it is very easy to set your white balance in your camera and get consistently great color with it.  Or, as I’ve done here, you can play with the color temperature to get a cinematic look.

I’ve also used it as a light on the background to increase the bokeh or bring out the background.  The fact that it is so small makes it easy to hide!

By the way, it also works perfectly satisfactorily as a light source for portraits.  I threw one Lume Cube in a softbox and got the following portrait result:

I know that I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the creative ways that such a small, versatile light source can be used.  I look forward to exploring various projects using the light from the Lume Cube in the future.  I have ordered a couple of them for my own use.  I also plan to bring them along for fill light when I shoot outdoor video.  A couple of them would create enough light to lift the shadows on my subject a bit and create more separation from the background.  The small size combined with the fact that the Lume Cube has a standard tripod mount on the bottom means that it is very easy to use with something like a Joby Gorillapod to attach it to trees, railings, or something else handy to position the light where you want.

Build Quality

The build quality on the little Lume Cube is exceptional.  It has a rugged metal housing that is clearly designed to take a beating.  It feels dense and very well constructed.  There is a little port on the back that can be unscrewed with a coin or screwdriver that provides access to charging port.  The robust port cover is to assure the Lume Cube remains waterproof.  Be sure to firmly tighten it after charging.

Inside is a now highly standardized mini-USB port.  A charge cable (but not an AC adapter) is provided (with a standard sized USB plug on the other end).  The Lume Cube will completely recharge in about 90 minutes.  It should be noted that connecting to the Lume Cube via the app gives you an exact readout on the remaining battery life.

On that note, let’s talk about the app.  There is a free version for both IOS and Android that will allow you to remotely control two Lume Cubes simultaneously, and a Pro Version of the app ($3.99) that allows you to control up to 5 of them independently.  Pairing is quite simple, though you should be aware that you will need to have the serial number of each cube (found either on the back of the packaging or in the included quick start guide booklet).  After that the syncing process is very quick – just press the right button on the Lume Cube to enable Bluetooth and open the app.  If you do phone photography, the Lume Cubes will automatically sync with your phone’s camera to provide strobe flash for it.  You can also control the output of each Lume Cube for fixed lighting, too, and you can smoothly ramp the power up and down while getting feedback on what percentage the light is at.  The app itself is pretty limited in functionality, however, and this is the one area where users are mostly likely to be critical.  Here’s hoping there will be added functionality in the future.

Beyond this there are actually two buttons built into the Lume Cube to control output.

The left button is the video mode (fixed lighting) mode, and pressing it will cycle through ten brightness settings.  The right button (flash) will turn off the video mode, but also enables other tricks.  Pressing it once will turn on Bluetooth to enable syncing.  Holding it down for three seconds unlocks yet another trick; it enables an optical sensor and the Lume Cube becomes a slave flash that will sync with your camera for stills photography up to 1/8000th second (you will need to have a main flash [like the onboard flash] to trigger it).  The Lume Cube has a significant amount of light output, so this could come in hand to provide some off camera flash for more flattering results.  The Lume Cube has a lot of tricks up its tiny sleeves!

Downsides?

You can probably tell that I’m pretty excited by this little cube.  My criticisms are far less passionate than my praise, but here’s a few minor gripes.  At maximum power the battery life isn’t incredible.  Expect about 30 minutes of light output.  That figure jumps to 1 hour at 90% and 2 hours plus at 50% output, though, and even longer at lower levels.  The upside here is that the Lume Cube is already very bright at 50%.

The Lumecube is designed with heat sinks in its metal casing, so most of the time I didn’t notice heat issues.  When I put it in a soft box for a while at maximum output, however, I did notice that the metal housing was uncomfortably (not quite painfully) hot to the touch.  If you have it in a tight space at high output for a while you might want to handle with care.

The final potential objection some buyers might have is the price.  It is $79.99 at B&H Photo, though you save $10 if you buy a pair of them ($149.99).  They can also be bought as a four pack and there are already a variety of accessories for them (some designed for use with a GoPro) here.  These are a great companion to a GoPro because of their compact nature. Beside the black model I’ve reviewed they can also be had in gunmetal grey and silver finishes.  The small size of them might make them seem more expensive, but the reality is that there is a LOT of tech packed into that small package.  It is perhaps the portability of them that most makes them worth the money!

Conclusion

I have no problem giving the Lume Cube a ringing endorsement.  The value of such a small yet powerful source of light is obvious, and the robust, waterproof build only ups the ante more.  I’ve already had a blast using the Lume Cube, and know that I’ll have even more fun with two of them.  I feel like the creative uses of the light is limitless.  Some things are just cool, and the Lume Cube is one of them.  If you’ve got a photographer on your shopping list, buy them one of these and watch their face light up.  And if you are buying for yourself, prepare to have some fun capturing the light that the Lume Cube produces!

Gear Used:

Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera (Body Only)
Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD (in Canada) (Use code AMPLIS52016DA to get 5% off)
Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD (USA and World)
In Canada: Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Macro Lens here. (use code AMPLIS52016DA to get 5% off)
In the USA and World: Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD (F017)
Adobe Lightroom CC Software for Mac and Windows (Boxed Version)
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Alien Skin Exposure X (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)

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