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SmallRig RC-60B Self-Powered COB LED Light Review - 3400maH Built In!
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Feb 4, 2024
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares an in depth review of the SmallRig RC-60B Self-Powered COB LED Video Light with 3400maH of Built In, the ability to run off power banks, V-mount, and more! | Check out the details from the tests at | Purchase the SmallRig RC-60B @ SmallRig http://tinyurl.com/buyRC60B | B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/42mNzD2 | Adorama https://howl.me/clwU3ZzgStK | Amazon https://amzn.to/47Vc8Z9 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3ShX7L9 | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3SCwnX7 | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/48TDikq Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/ Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge Adorama: https://howl.me/cjU0LKdp3LN Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18 Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro and Concept 1:56- Features
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here to give you a look at a really unique Cobb LED light
0:16
for video and even for portrait work that comes from SmallRig. This is the RC-60B and it is unique from other such units that I have reviewed before for
0:26
a couple of reasons. Number one, it is obviously unusually compact and portable
0:30
It weighs just 650 grams which is about the weight of, say, one of my Sony mirrorless cameras
0:38
And obviously it's compact enough that it can be dropped into a camera bag in a pretty typical lens slot
0:43
But what is unique about this little LED light on top of that is the fact that it has a built-in
0:51
battery pack and so it allows you to pump out a whole lot of light but running it right
0:59
off the internal battery. And that internal battery will give you about 75 minutes of runtime at 100% in eco mode
1:05
or about 45 minutes-ish of full pop in its full not eco mode
1:13
It also gives you options because the power source is USB-C to power it from a V-mount
1:19
type battery, from even a power delivery power bank that has a sufficient standard
1:24
And so it gives you a lot of versatility and then of course you can use an AC adapter and
1:28
plug it into the wall as well. On top of that there is a very reasonable price of just $199 US dollars for this and
1:37
as we're going to break down in our conclusion, that's a great value when you consider the
1:41
fact that V-mount batteries that have the typical output or battery capacity of this
1:47
only run about $20 less. And so there's a lot of value here and we're going to explore that along with some of the
1:53
tests that I've done to see if it holds up to the marketing claims
1:57
But to break down some of those marketing claims, there is a built-in 34 mAh battery
2:03
which is basically the equivalent of about a 50 watt hour V-mount battery
2:07
And so the claim is, which we'll test, 45 minutes at full power or 75 minutes in eco mode
2:14
It has a type C power delivery fast charging and so you can charge up to 100 watts power
2:21
delivery into it. When I threw it on one of my power banks, I was charging more in the 60 to 70 watts
2:30
Now you'll charge faster at the beginning and it slows down a little bit at the end
2:34
as it tops off the battery, which is pretty typical like with V-mount batteries as well
2:40
As mentioned, you can power it from a variety of different sources, which is extremely useful
2:46
It weighs in at 650 grams or 1.4 pounds and it is rated at 11,200 lux at one meter and
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that is using the included reflector. It is bi-color and so you have the ability to range from 2700 Kelvin on the warm end
3:06
up to 6500 Kelvin on the cool end. And as mentioned, it is COB or chip on board, which allows for greater efficiency and just
3:16
kind of cleaner output of light. Now there are a couple of things that we'll break down as far as what's included
3:23
What is included is a nice custom nylon carrying case. There is a clip here that allows you to really easily just add on a battery if you're wanting
3:35
to have external power like a V-mount battery. I'm using a V-mount battery from SmallRig, but you don't have to
3:43
So it just can easily clip that onto the back and then you can have the V-mount battery
3:49
attached and run the power output into that and it's very, very simple
3:53
So that clip there is included and it has a fair bit of movement to allow you to use
4:00
different types of V-mount batteries there. Included, it does have a run-and-gun type handle if you want to
4:07
This is obviously a video light you can use on the fly, very, very useful
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Then of course it has a standard attachment if you're going to want to go on to a typical
4:17
light stand of some kind going down to where you'll mount on the top of that
4:22
Actually at the moment I just have a quick release plate on there because I've been throwing it on like portable travel tripods to have the ability to run power on the fly
4:32
The little mini reflector is included as are a couple of power cables, USB-C to USB-C
4:38
ends, both a short one, which is perfect for connecting the battery to a V-mount battery
4:44
to the back of the light without having a lot of cord dangling around, and then a longer
4:48
about three meter or 10 foot one that you can run to the AC adapter
4:53
Now not included is this mini softbox, which by the way I love
4:59
It's nice and compact but gives you some real options for shaping the light
5:03
It comes with a diffuser or a honeycomb that'll run you about $39
5:09
Then of course if you're wanting to run off AC power or you want to quickly adapt it
5:13
they do sell a 100 watt output power delivery type power brick AC adapter here
5:20
It's actually a really nice one and that's a nice amount of power so you can use it for a variety of other things
5:24
That'll cost about $45, $46. By the way I do really like the fact that the custom case here actually leaves a spot
5:32
for something like that adapter there. So anyway you can travel light, a lot is included here
5:38
Okay in this series of tests I'm going to be using a Lux meter and I'm going to be testing
5:42
the light output at a variety of distances and in different configurations
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So what we'll do is we're going to get Lux readings at one meter and then at three meters
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We're going to get them with the softbox attached. Right now there's a diffuser on there
5:59
We'll remove that and test it with that. We'll use the standard beauty dish which is going to increase the output
6:04
But then I'm also going to test the eco mode compared to the full output capacity and then
6:10
I'll also test it to see if there's a difference between running off of the battery in full
6:15
power mode and then running it off of an AC adapter. So we'll get Lux values for all of those things so we can see how much light that this
6:23
RC60B is actually producing. So amongst those tests that I ran I did a variety of things with the Lux meter and so
6:30
I determined the light output at various color temperatures from 2700 mid-range at about
6:37
4500 and then at 6500 Kelvin. What I found is that the cooler the light goes and so up to the 6500 range the more
6:46
and more light output, total out light output you get. And so your maximum is going to be right close to the source
6:52
I got 356,860 Lux at 6500 Kelvin so about 20% more light intensity than what I got at
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the 2700 range. So if you want lots of light output go cooler rather than warmer when you choose your light temperature
7:10
As far as testing the light output in the full versus eco mode, in eco mode at a 1 meter
7:17
test distance I got about right under 12,000 Lux whereas I got about 17,500 Lux in the
7:25
full mode and obviously further out at the 3 meter mark those two figures were 917 versus
7:32
1375 Lux. And so you get about one third more brightness in the full versus the eco mode though obviously
7:40
at the cost of some additional battery life. Now I tested the light output using different power sources and so I used the AC adapter
7:49
that one that I mentioned earlier. I used this small rig V-Mount battery
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This is a 99 watt hour V-Mount battery and then I used the built in battery in the unit
8:00
itself and what I found is that there was obviously a little bit of range with the brightest
8:07
light output coming from the AC adapter followed fairly closely by the V-Mount battery and
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then lagging a little bit behind was the built in battery on this
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So if you want to get max light output using an AC adapter is going to give you the most
8:21
and a V-Mount battery will get you pretty close to getting that both of those being
8:25
a little bit more than the built in battery itself. Now in terms of how long the battery life held up, when I tested it at 100% output
8:34
in eco mode I got 72 minutes in my test. So about three minutes less than the claim which you know is fairly close so I'm not
8:43
going to quibble over that. When I did the same test on the full output not eco mode I got 44 minutes though that
8:50
is with a caveat. So they claim 45 minutes I got 44 but what I found is that after 32 minutes the light
8:57
output actually dropped a little bit. It automatically stepped down to help to preserve battery life and so that is kind of a no-no
9:05
to me because if that happened right in the middle of a particular shot it really could
9:09
ruin the shot. So I don't love that thing and that is one place where I'll knock it on
9:14
I tested it using it for portrait lighting and that's where I really love using the softbox
9:20
and using the softbox with the diffuser allowed me to get quite close to the subject or in
9:25
this case I was the subject and had someone else taking the photos and so I got a really
9:30
nice diffusing of the light and obviously the ability to control the output and the
9:34
color temperature all of that was nice. I actually quite like using fixed lighting for portraits particularly with a single subject
9:42
Also worth noting is that this light does have a CRI rating of 97 plus so color accuracy
9:48
was good for that as well. I've used it for several of my video episodes to this point and I liked it just fine
9:55
Now I found that at my typical operating distance having the diffuser on cut the light output
10:01
down too much and so I continued to use the softbox but I used it without the diffuser
10:07
and I loved that. I liked it better than using the included reflector
10:13
You can get brighter light output and so if you're wanting to light a big area this is better
10:18
If you want softer light output I like something like this better for shaping the light but
10:23
everything worked fine as a part of that. I also did test it does have nine different effects modes and I tested those though I
10:32
mean that's pretty standard fair at this point but I will say you have several options
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You can control the intensity, the kind of the duration of the effect itself, you can
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you know tweak color temperature, things like that. Not all that hard to operate and so that is you know it's fine
10:49
I think it's mostly a gimmick for most people but at least it's there you know no harm no
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foul if you don't want to use it. So let's talk about some things that I like and some things I don't like
10:58
Things I like I love the portability of this light. It really can be easily used handheld
11:03
You can throw it into your camera bag it's easy to bring along. I love the flexibility, the ability also to run that running gun from the internal battery
11:12
You know if you're not needing to shoot long format you know 30 to 40 minutes of maximum
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light output and then of course if you're using at lower levels which most of the time
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frankly you're going to be means that you can get much longer run time out of that and
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so it makes it very very useful for getting running gun type footage
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So I love that. I do love the that it comes with the carrying case and that they thought of you know making
11:37
the space for something like the you know the power delivery adapter even if you know
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it is an optional item but I appreciate the fact that they thought about that and made
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space for it. By the way that space is typically just filled with a very easily removable kind of foam
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insert you know but it had the space that fits that perfectly
11:55
I also was really pleasantly surprised by the included cables. I've mentioned that they are really nice links but the quality of the cables is you know
12:03
obviously a cut above your typical cable. These are serious cables that deliver a good flow through of power and so I appreciated
12:11
that and I appreciated their links both of which I think are extremely handy and the
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fact that they included both is is great. The battery, internal battery life is long enough to not be a gimmick
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It's long enough to actually be useful. I appreciate that. I appreciate the quantity of light that this little light can produce
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It's enough again that it's not a gimmick. It is usable in a wide variety of situations
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Obviously you would need probably multiple of those if you were you know lighting a larger
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set area you might want multiple lights but of course you probably knew that already
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So I appreciate that. I do love the compact softbox. I think it's good value for money
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The fact that it comes with a few modifiers and it is extremely useful so I appreciate
12:54
that and again it's good quality of light. I've mentioned this has a pretty good quantity of light but that is good quality of light
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and when you collapse it down it's actually quite a small footprint as well and so again
13:07
I appreciate that. The unit itself is very quiet. It is in eco mode
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It's only running at about 23 decibels and then it ramps up to 26 decibels which is still
13:20
quieter than your refrigerator and so even in sitting in the same room I could hear it
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if in an otherwise silent room but it sounds basically just like a little bit of light
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kind of white noise so not obtrusive at all. It shouldn't be an issue for you
13:36
The price is really really fantastic. The price at $200 and having that built in battery, the fact that you're paying about
13:46
$20 more than what you would for a similar output V-Mount battery means that that's a
13:51
fantastic value for that and of course I love the fact that it's USB-C charging
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It means you just have a lot of different options for charging it even on the fly in
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a vehicle. You know the list goes on and on so that is fantastic
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So let's talk about some things that I don't like. I know this has seemed pretty rosy at this point but there are a couple of issues
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One of them I think that is fairly critical and that is number one that there is no remote
14:17
control of this. There's no Bluetooth app. There's obviously nothing like DMX type control
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There's no remote control and so that means that if you're going to make changes to the light output or color temperature you've got to actually access the unit to do that
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That's not great because it means that it might limit where you're going to position it
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If you're going to put it up high it's going to be a pain to access it and so this is not
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a great light for that kind of thing. It obviously does also not have a Bowens type mount
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This is much much smaller. I checked and the Bowens diameter is actually wider than what this whole unit is
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So that means you're working with some proprietary accessories and so there's going to be a limited
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number of accessories for it and they are ones that you're going to have to buy from
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SmallRig because they're only going to fit this size. So that might be a bit of an issue though it's kind of understandable with how small
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the unit itself is. The fact that in one of my tests I saw that the light output dropped to try to preserve
15:20
light, I don't like that. I would actually prefer it run out faster than the claimed time which is what it would
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do if it didn't do that. But I would prefer that and have consistent light output until it goes dead rather than
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it kind of throttling back a little bit. So I'm not crazy about that
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But in conclusion I do love both the versatility and the portability of this light
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I love the various powering options for it. You know again there are a couple of accessories that aren't included but they're also priced
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reasonably and you can buy both of those and the light itself and still be under $300 which
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really to me gives a fair amount of value for it. And the fact that it's $20 more than a similarly sized V-Mount battery makes me feel like this
16:08
is a really strong value. And I just love the versatility of the light and so I've used this light a lot and I will
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use it a lot going ahead because it's really really easy to use. I think that's what a lot of us are looking for
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I'm Dustin Abbott and so if you want more information you can look in the description
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below to my written review and there I have a lot more details about the various tests
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If you're interested in that information Lux values it, you know a whole different variety
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of things so you might want to check that out. There's also some buying links there
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As always thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in