Manfrotto Lumimuse 8 Bluetooth
Andy Westlake ponders the value of an iPhone-controllable LED light
Manfrotto’s Lumimuse range of compact on- camera LED lights first appeared three years ago, and we like them a lot for providing good- quality light in a portable package. They come in three sizes, with three, six or eight LEDs, for £50, £75 and £105, respectively. Now, Manfrotto has updated the top- end model by adding Bluetooth, which allows you to control the light’s output from an iPhone using the free Lumimuse app (unfortunately, there’s currently no Android version).
Aside from Bluetooth, this light is identical to the standard Lumimuse 8. At 87x60x25mm, it’s small enough to carry around all the time, thanks to its built-in rechargeable battery and use of surfacemount LEDs. It weighs 140g, but still feels nicely made with a sturdy casing. A large button on the side turns the light on and off, and steps through four brightness levels. But holding this button down now also fires up the light’s new trick: Bluetooth connection to an iPhone. My first reaction to this feature was ‘cool!’, swiftly followed by ‘why?’. If you have a light on top of your camera, surely it’s easier to control it directly, rather than dig out your phone?
The answer lies in the functionality of the Lumimuse app. First, it gives continuous control over the light’s brightness, notionally down to 1% output, allowing finer balancing of your lighting. Second, it allows control of multiple lights: not just additional Lumimuse 8s, but also Manfrotto’s more-powerful Lykos Daylight and BiColour units when fitted with Bluetooth adapters. Third, you can adjust them all while visualising the effects live using your iPhone’s camera, if you wish. This might sound useful only if you’re planning on shooting with your phone, but it’s just as handy if you want to configure a multi-light set up while observing the effects with your camera in live view.
Verdict
Manfrotto’s Lumimuse 8 Bluetooth is a fine little LED: it’s compact and gives excellent light quality. Impressively, the LEDs show absolutely no change in colour over their entire brightness range. Using my Sony Alpha 7 II and Adobe Camera Raw, I measured their colour temperature as 6000K; reasonably close to the 5500K specified on the box. There’s no green or magenta shift, and all the shades on an X- Rite Colour Checker Passport test target were rendered accurately. The iPhone control is a handy option, especially with multi-light set ups. However, if you’re just using a single light on your hotshoe, the cheaper non- Bluetooth version makes more sense.