Godox Litemons LE300BI Review : This is EPIC
My indepth Godox LE300BI Review
Hello and welcome to my Godox Litemons LE300BI review where I will be talking you through my experiences with this awesome light over the last few weeks and why this is great for both photographers and videographers.
This light is amazing value for money considering it’s quality of light and output intesity, then you have remote control via the Godox App or DMX, the awesome build quality and of more so come on let’s get into it I will talk you through its features and my experiences with it.
Table of Contents
Below is my full Godox Litemons LE300BI Review video if you would prefer to watch this review.
Disclaimer : Godox did send the Litemons LE300BI out to me for this review but I was not paid to review it and these are my own honest thoughts on this super bright COB light.
Price
One of the first things I always look at in a review is a products price and at the time of doing this review the Godox LE300BI was officially retailing at around $300.- which is very good value for money for a unit of this quality. But there were several special offers available listing this unit for approx $250.- which is a pure steal.
Now I have also been given a 10% off Godox discount code KIERANHAYESPHOTOGRAPHY for the Essential Photo and Video website so if you are based in the UK or Europe you can pick up a nice deal there.
If you are based in the USA or worldwide then Amazon (here) might be your best bet at grabbing a bargain.
What’s in the box?
Build Quality
Now speaking of quality that is the first thing that’s jump out at you about this light, the build quality is incredible just look at the solid metal case in the photos above, this is really solid and the only plastic parts are the back carrying handle and the backplate where the screen and controls are located, more about them in a minute.
The light stand adaptor is also metal and there is a nice big locking handle (that’s plastic btw) and there is also a built-in umbrella slot. So, ya the overall build quality of this unit is fantastic, now getting back to the back panel or control panel.
We have a nice sturdy on/off switch that has a good solid click and a really positive feel to it. The control buttons again feel positive and tactile with a nice confirmation click when pressed home. The display is sharp and easy to read and navigate via the twist and push dial, this makes menu navigating super simple just press the menu button and turn the dial to select the option you want and then press in the dial to enter that option… It’s just so intuitive and easy to use.
Robustness is next on the list and this unit has been rock solid so far for me and as I say rock solid the one thing I haven’t mentioned yet is its weight and this beast of a unit weighs 2.9kgs and a good bit of that weight is coming from the seriously strong metal body, which all helps to reinforce that this unit well last for a long time yet, but going from past experience with Godox and by their reputation I am guessing this light is going to just keep going.
Inputs and outputs.
You have a DMX input and output for external control of the light or you can also use Bluetooth to control this unit via the Godox app more about that later though.
Then there is a USB port on the base of the unit this usb port is for firmware upgrades and you can also use it to power units via its 5 volt 1.5A output so that could be handy at times also.
Why this light is great
Now before I say anymore I want to explain what I said earlier about this being great for photographers and obviously videographers then too. I have used constant video lights for photography before and while they worked they were never great and part of that was down to me using 150 watt and 200 watt units and they simply weren’t powerful enough and the light from them also wasn’t accurate enough which is incredibly important too of course.
Using constant lights is great for photography as you can see exactly where the light is falling, there is no more guess work, so when I am shooting 100 pairs of glasses like this.. that will save me an awful lot of time on a shoot and hey time is money…
For example at a meter away from the product I can still shoot it at F8 at ISO 100 and around 1/125th of a second so that’s great. Or if want to use a large diffuser for softer light and still keep my ISO low you can still do that with this unit.
The Bowens mount is again huge as this opens up a massive selection of third party modifiers to you and your work, from soft boxes, beauty dishes, lanterns etc.
If you are like me you are probably not into the gimmicks but there are a few things on your shortlist for a good light and mine are…. light output and its quality of course… controls or remote access…. robust build or reliability….. fan noise…. and finally value for money, everything else after that is just a bonus really.
Light Quality and output.
The advantages of this light for us videographers are firstly the colour accuracy and at CRI 98 and TLCI 98 this light is awesome. Coupling that up with the 300 watt output giving you 58,900 lux at 1 m with a reflector fitted (at 5600K, there is a slight change in output power levels depending on the colour temperature but that’s normal).
Speaking of Colour-temperature this unit has a range of 2,800 K to 6,500 K which gives you great flexibility to match ambient light on set or for a bit more creative lighting.
What I find this extra power is great for is talking head shots where you might want a nice soft natural look so we have a nice gentle fall off to our light. So I use the LE300BI with a 1.2m octobox and I set it 3 or 4 meters back from the speaker depending on the effect you want of course, this gives me a nice soft fall off of the light on my subject then, which looks far more natural. Or if want more harsh or aggressive lighting go closer with a lot smaller modifier and the fall off will be far greater then. That’s another area where the extra power of this light comes in handy.
External Control
Looking at control now and we have a few different options here as we can use Bluetooth with NFC one tap pairing and we also have DMX control ports too with a loop through output, Bluetooth is great for solo creatives or for remote lighting locations like when the light is setup on extended overhead shots or where there is little to no space and the light is crammed in against a wall, you can just pop open the app and change settings instantly.
To connect your phone just pair up the light and you can control everything from there even the FX modes.
FX MODES
The LE300BI has 11 built-in FX modes: we have Flash, Lightning, Cloudy, Broken Bulb, Television, candle, Fire, fireworks, explosion, welding and SOS.
The great part about these effects is you can also control the speed of the effects as well as the output power of course. I show you them working in my video review further up the page.
Fan Noise.
This brings us to noise and as I shoot my youtube videos in a small studio here me fan noise is a pet hate of mine… the LE300BI has an Ultra-quiet fan though with a few modes… we have fan off, auto , medium or high.
Fan off seriously limits the output power of this unit as with the fan off we are also seriously limiting the cooling power too.
Auto has the fan on low power up until 10% once you go over that the speed and noise increases so for shooting in small rooms below 10% for me is fine or using fan off mode all the better.
medium power again limits the output power and high puts the fan on full power all the time and the output power is not limited in anyway then. So let me show you what the noise level is like now, I am going to talk now at a normal volume level and then stop so you can hear the fan noise
Looking at value for money now and for what you get you are getting an awful lot of light and good quality light at that, so ya in my eyes it’s great value for money and should last for years to come.
Review Conclusion
So that’s basically everything I can say about this unit… but if I were asked to sum up this light in one sentence I would say “If you’re a photographer/videographer looking for a single light that can serve well across portraits, interviews, content creation and hybrid workflows, the Godox Litemons LE300BI is a very compelling choice. It hits the sweet spot of flexibility, build quality and features and all at a budget-friendly price.
Now if you’re working in very large spaces or needing a very long throw you may still need higher-powered lights and if so then check out the 600 watt LE600BI version or adversly you might be working in smaller spaces and not need the 300 watt output of this unit so go for the 200 watt LE200BI version.
See you out there,
Kieran.
Godox Litemons LE300BI Review : Incredible value at $250.-
In this Godox Litemons LE300BI Review I talk you through my experiences with this light over the last several weeks, how to use it and it's features.
4.7
Pros
- Robust build quality
- Outstanding light quality
- Value for money
- Bluetooth and DMX control