Accessories

Michael Topham tests a small and powerful LED light with Bluetooth

THERE are times when it can be a good idea to carry a small, portable LED light in your kitbag to help pick out a subject in low-light or lighten any shadowed areas. JOBY’s Beamo is designed for photographers and vloggers who’d find this type of light useful and it presents a benefit over Manfrotto’s Lumimuse range of compact LED lights in that it has a robust aluminium shell that’s waterproof to a depth of 30m (100ft). At full power the Beamo offers 1500 lumens of brightness with a constant colour temperature of 5100K. If full power is a little overpowering you can choose from four reduced power settings and the light is intelligent enough to remember your last chosen setting so you don’t have to spend time adjusting the brightness next time you turn it on. The spread of light is impressive for a spotlight so small and when you’d like to soften the intensity, such as when shooting portraits or still life, you can use the supplied diffuser that pushes over the front.

On the base of the Beamo you get a 1⁄4in x 20 thread that can be used to attach it to various mounts, plus it has two cold shoe mounts, which with the supplied cold shoe adapter lets you mount it directly to your camera’s hot shoe. At full brightness I found the battery lasts for 40 minutes before a recharge is required, whereas you’ll get around 100 minutes of use at 50% brightness.

Charging the device couldn’t be simpler. Open the catch at the side, remove the weatherproof seal and plug in and charge using the supplied USB- C cable. Alternatively, users may wish to take advantage of wireless charging using a compatible wireless hub. Downloading the myJOBY app (available for iOS and Android) and connecting the Beamo to my smartphone via Bluetooth revealed that functionality extends further. From the app you have the option to set the brightness precisely by a percentage level, you can control up to four Beamos at once, save settings for future use and turn it into a flash or a strobe. The pairing was made instantly with no discernible lag when settings were adjusted and a blue LED confirms a successful connection.

Verdict

The Beamo is a really intuitive LED light to use. It’s powerful for its size, maintains a natural white colour temperature across its brightness range and will stand up to serious abuse, whether it’s used above or below water. It gets very hot when it’s used at high power for long durations and I’d have liked the diffuser to clip on to provide a bit more reassurance that it won’t fall off. Overall though, it’s a well priced, portable LED light that offers great durability.