A video light is an essential purchase if you’re serious about improving your video content. Being able to control your own light is a genuine game-changer when it comes to shooting better video, and modern lights aren’t all expensive studio kits. There are lights on this list designed to work with phones or small cameras that are available for seriously budget-friendly prices, making great-looking video more accessible to everyone.
I’ve picked out a mix of the best video lights in this list, based on the DCW team’s reviews and testing. You’ll find inexpensive lights for social media, high-end lights that wouldn’t look out of place on professional film sets, and everything in between – meaning you should be able to find the right setup that works for you. After all, even if you’ve got one of the best cameras for video, your content is still going to look amateurish if it’s not adequately lit.
You can navigate to the bottom of this page to learn more about my criteria for picking lights for this list, as well as our testing procedure for video lights. In each entry, you can also click through to our full reviews to see the lights in action and get a complete sense of whether they’re going to be right for you.
Ben is responsible for all the testing on Digital Camera World and across the entire photography portfolio at Future. He's our go-to guy for technical insight, with years of experience trialling and testing kit. Here he brings his expertise to recommending the best video lights.
The quick list
Small but extremely powerful, Rotolight's NEO 3 Pro is one of the best video lights you can buy. It delivers a full range of colors with loads of special effects and electronic filters, all available via the touchscreen.
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Offering portable power at a reasonable price, the Zhiyun Molus X100 should suit travelling filmmakers, videographers, and vloggers who want an extra light source to keep in their backpacks.
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The Zhiyun Fiveray FR100C is a heavy-duty hand-held light wand that lets you dial in stylish neon hues for a creative look and offers decent battery life. Bear in mind, though, that its fans can get a little noisy.
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A daylight lamp that offers excellent value for money, the Amaran 60d S is perfect for any videographer who doesn't need anything too fussy. It packs a great deal of punch for its size.
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This heavy-duty handheld light offers a huge range of colors and cinematic presets programmed by professionals. It's also bright and rugged enough to be used outdoors, making it great for locations.
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This tiny light is a great, premium option for social media creatives – as well as attaching via MagSafe, it is capable of producing up to 36,000 colours, letting you get really precise with your effects.
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Neewer's HB80C light offers a broad range on the Kelvin scale, and also lets you manually dial in your own hue, saturation, and intensity values, or pick from industry-standard (digital) gel filters.
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With a dedicated music mode that allows it to pulse in time to a beat, the Zhiyun Molus G200 is an ideal portable video light for anyone planning on making music videos.
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Pumping out a lot of power from a small package, the Zhiyun Molus X60 is a great video light with easy-to-use, dial-based controls. There's also a useful, well-thought-out accessory system.
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For directing a more focused beam, the Nanlite Forza 60C is a great spotlight. It manages not to run too hot, despite the intensity of light it produces, and there's a range of creative lighting effects.
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Offering superb color fidelity, the SmallRig RC 350D COB LED Video Light also boasts a 149,000 lux output, making it well-suited to the demands of a professional shoot. Its cooling fans are also near-silent.
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Lightweight and affordable, the Godox ML60II Bi outputs a decent amount of illumination without a significant cash outlay – or it can also work as a great secondary light.
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The best video light overall
The Rotolight Neo series has proved immensely popular as it essentially combines a video light with a hotshoe flash in one unit that can sit on top of your camera, whether you are a videographer or photographer.
The Rotolight NEO 3 Pro builds on the success of the preceding NEO 3, adding 25% more power, an in-built flash trigger compatibility, and more effects. It delivers a full range of color in both modes, with full RGBWW options, and comes in various kits, bundled with a selection of accessories that vary according to the configuration you choose.
Small but powerful and extremely versatile as a constant LED light, the Neo 3 Pro delivers a full color range in both constant and flash modes, with a huge range of electronic color filters and special effects, all available via a simple and intuitive color touchscreen menu. Maximum flash output is disappointing compared to a ‘proper’ flashgun; however, the NEO 3 Pro is a brilliant solution for anyone who needs to shed a little extra light on both stills and video capture.
Read our full Rotolight NEO 3 Pro review
The best video light for travel
The X100 is a revelation for content creators who are constantly on the move. This light is super compact and portable, and can be set up almost anywhere instantly with its optional battery (available in the combo kit). The 100W power is bright enough for all close-to-medium-distance situations, such as to-camera or studio shoots. It is a shame there are no lighting effects for a content creator-aimed light, though. The light gets quite hot with extended use, but the DynaVolt fan does a great job at keeping it cool.
The light can be powered by USB-C PD, a dedicated power supply, or an optional battery pack, making it easy to get great lighting on the go. The accessory system is well thought out, with a range of good-quality accessories from Zhiyun, as well as a Bowens mount adapter.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus X100 review
The best light wand for video
The Zhiyun Fiveray FR100C Light Wand is compact enough to carry in your kitbag, and, thanks to its 100W output, it will illuminate the darkest locations. Its rechargeable battery should keep it shining for the duration of your shoot, and the control dial enables you to adjust color temperatures to match the location’s available light, or you can dial in neon hues for a more creative look.
Its fans can get a little noisy, presumably to cope with that intense light in such a small package, which is something to be aware of for sound recording.
See our full Zhiyun Fiveray FR100C review
Best value video light
This light offers some of the best value for money for videographers who need quick, simple, and portable illumination. Priced to compete with the likes of Zhiyun and Neewer, the Amaran 60d S is a daylight-balanced key light that's durably built and easy to use. It comes with a reflector dish, a diffuser, a light stand adapter, and spigot, and you have the option of using either the mains power supply or the battery adapter.
I wasn't hugely impressed with the supplied light-control accessories – you can buy a better reflector for a fairly trivial additional expense – but the light itself is excellent. Output is powerful, packing a lot of punch for its size, and while you may prefer bi-color output, it tends to come at the cost of power. For a simple, strong key light, the Amaran 60d S offers incredible value.
Read our full Amaran 60d S review
The best video light for filmmakers
This powerful, hugely versatile yet lightweight portable LED lighting panel is an upgraded version of the AEOS 2, which in turn was a radical redesign compared with the original AEOS. Capable of delivering millions of colors, it also comes loaded with cinematic presets programmed by the likes of Roy Wagner (Nightmare on Elm Street, House M.D., Ray Donovan) and Stefan Lange (Batman, Tomb Raider, No Time to Die). For filmmakers, it's one of the best video lights around.
In use, the AEOS 2 Pro is intuitive and well-designed. Its color touchscreen offers smartphone-like sensitivity, and allows you to choose your gels with impressive accuracy – what you see is what you get. It provides improved punch over the previous AEOS 2, to the tune of a 25% brightness boost, and you really do feel this when comparing them side by side. It can be used outdoors on location shoots, which is another boon for filmmakers.
The AEOS 2 Pro is a hugely impressive piece of tech. It represents a hefty investment, but it’s a joy to use and a top performer, making it worth the money.
Read our full Rotolight AEOS 2 Pro review
Best video light for creative experimentation
Although it’s a tiny light designed for social media creatives, the Harlowe Sol 5 Spectra packs in an impressive amount of power and functionality. It is primarily designed for smartphones and offers MagSafe attachment, but can also be used free-standing on a mini tripod if you don’t have an iPhone. It’s not the most powerful light source, producing around 220lm; however, it is impressively versatile. As it’s an RGBCW light, the Sol 5 offers a broad spectrum of 36,000 colours, as well as the standard bi-color range.
If you purchase the light as part of the more expensive Creator’s Kit – which, cost aside, I would recommend doing – you’ll be able to make use of the range of modifiers, like Harlowe’s Magic Lenses that let you alter the texture and quality of the light. It also comes with a faux-leather carrying bag, making the kit easier to transport to locations.
Unlike many smartphone accessories, which are often cheap bits of plastic, the Sol 5 Spectra feels like a premium product and is something that Harlowe (formerly Hobolite) has become known for. This light is constructed from aircraft-grade aluminium, and while this does add to the cost, I think it’s worth it. The only real downside to the Sol 5 is that its comparatively low power may not be enough for your needs, especially if you’re working with a proper camera setup rather than a smartphone. If that's the case, Harlowe's more powerful Iris light could be worth considering.
Read our full Harlowe Sol 5 Spectra Creator Kit review
Best video light for color range
The Neewer HB80C 80W LED is a reasonably priced light that offers a generously broad color range. Its color scale of 2500 to 7500K takes you from a warm candelight look to a cold daytime color cast, and it's a wider range than many of the more expensive lights on this list. You can also dial in custom Hue, Saturation, and Intensity values, or use the circular color picker to choose from a selection of industry-standard Lee color gel filters.
Powered by a built-in battery, the Neewer HB80C 80W LED is a nimble light for use in a range of shooting situations. Its raw power output of 80W isn't as high as many of the other lights on our list, but is powerful enough for plenty of standard video purposes, especially when you attach the (supplied) reflector via the Bowens mount. One thing also worth noting for video users is that the light offers several specialized animated effects, such as an explosion effect, and the Music Sync mode allows you to sync it to the beat of a track.
Read our full Neewer HB80C 80W LED review
Best video light for music videos
The Molus G200 LED light is far too bright for my specific needs as a videographer, but if you need to light a subject from a distance, then it is well worth considering (especially thanks to its ability to boost the default 200W output to the max 300W). It will suit professional corporate and studio-based filmmakers more than social media content creators, who might be better off with the cheaper and smaller Molus X100.
A Music mode, which flashes the light in sync with audio, such as music or clapping, could be useful to some content creators; however, there's a lack of animated preset light effects (such as Lightning or Flash), which are often included in similar COB lights. Overall, the G200 is a compact, robust, and high-performing key light for serious video production, but it may be overkill for more casual videographers.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus G200 review
Best video light for portable power
The 60W power on offer here is bright enough for most close-to-mid-distance situations, such as to-camera video, with the added advantage of producing a broad spectrum of colors with a simple twist of one of its two control dials. These dials, which also function as pushbuttons, allow you to swiftly transition between different color temperatures and brightness levels with just a few clicks, saving you the time it would take to adjust them manually. Color alterations are also integrated into animated effects, like Disco or Hue Loop, adding a dynamic element to your video productions.
The X60 RGB can be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth, enabling you to use the ZY Vega app to modify its colors and intensity with just a few taps. The app also allows you to sample the color temperature in your shooting location using your smartphone’s camera, and then quickly and accurately adjust the LED to match that color temperature.
The Zhiyun MOLUS X60 is one of the best options for content creators who are constantly on the move, don’t have a lot of space, or are looking for a simple but incredibly functional lighting source.
Read our full Zhiyun Molus X60 review
The best spotlight video light
The Forza 60C is undeniably expensive, but when it comes to accurate and creative color rendition, this powerful yet compact LED outperforms many of its rivals, thanks to its advanced RGBLAC color technology. I also enjoyed its wide range of creative animated lighting effects, though these will be of more use to creative video drama producers than to photographers.
Despite the intensity of light funneling through the attached reflector, the LED didn’t run too hot (and I didn’t notice any distracting fan noise), so I could quickly pack it away at the end of the shoot without a long cool-down period. This is one compact, powerful, precise, and versatile LED.
Read our full Nanlite Forza 60C review
Best video light for professionals
The powerful SmallRig RC 350D COB (chip-on-board) LED Video Light is the perfect accessory for a studio or location-based shoot, combining a strong key light output for talking heads-style interviews with a collection of special lighting effects to enhance dramatic productions. Its relatively silent fans won’t give your sound recordist any concerns. It's an expensive device that will suit the needs of a high-end video producer rather than a hobbyist vlogger.
If connectivity is important to you, then note there were a few issues with controlling the light using the companion app. It is on the pricier side compared to some of its competitors, but its features and build quality go some way towards justifying a higher price.
See our full SmallRig RC 350D COB review
Best budget video light
As its name indicates, the Godox ML60II Bi is a bi-color LED. Rear buttons/dials change the colour temperature output between 2800K and 6500K, for warmer or cooler lighting, respectively. You can use this to complement existing light sources on location, or mimic daylight in a studio environment, for example.
There are 11 video effects available that cycle through the color temperature range of 2800K to 6500K, evoking the light produced by the cold blue sparks of a welding torch or the warm flicker from a candle, for example. However, you can’t change the hue of the color output. Therefore, there’s no option to produce full color video effects, such as the red and blue flashes of a police car.
As a 70W LED, the Godox ML60II Bi isn’t as powerful as some lighting solutions, but it can still provide a decent degree of illumination, and can be powered by two NP-F batteries for handheld use. It is predominantly constructed from plastic, which helps with its portability but makes it more fragile than some metal-bodied lights.
See our full Godox ML60II Bi review
How to choose the best video light
To choose the right video light for your needs, these are the main things to take into account:
Power supply: Can the light be powered from the mains, a battery, or both? The latter will enable a more versatile set-up, enabling you to film both indoors and outdoors.
Color temperature: Look out for the colour temperature range; a wide range is preferable as this will give you both warm and cool light options to match the ambient light you are shooting in, or the effect you’re trying to create.
Modifiers: Check to see if the light comes supplied with any modifiers in the box. These could include diffusers to soften the light or filters to change the light’s color.
Flicker-free: Some LEDs show a fluctuation in brightness, known as flicker. The best lights are flicker-free, providing a constant level of brightness.
Bluetooth: The inclusion of Bluetooth technology in your light will allow you to connect to a smartphone and remotely control adjustments, including brightness and color temperature.
How we test video lights
At DCW, we test a huge variety of photo and video equipment, including cameras, lenses, and accessories such as video lights. Our process involves both real-world and lab testing – for video lights, we measure brightness output and compare it to the manufacturer's claims. We also consider factors such as portability, color temperature range, and lighting modes to assess how useful the light will be to working videographers. Learn more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World.
FAQs
Why do you need a video light?
A video light offers consistency, providing the same quality and level of light from shot to shot. While daylight is certainly bright enough to shoot video with, it's neither predictable nor consistent, and the quality of your shots can dramatically change if the sun moves behind a cloud between takes. With a dedicated video light, you can set the exact brightness and colour of the light you want.
Are LED lights good for video?
Yes. LED lights offer an excellent balance of high brightness, low power consumption and strong consistency, making them excellent for video use. The majority of the lights on this list are LEDs for this reason.
What is the best entry-level video light?
If you're looking for your first video light, you're best off getting a complete lighting kit. While this adds a little to the cost, it means you'll get all the necessary accessories to use your light straight out of the box, and won't find yourself missing something essential like a stand or a power adapter.
