A light so tiny it can fit in your wallet (literally: it's about the dimensions of a credit card, and not that much thicker), the Aputure MC RGBWW LED Light perfectly suits a lightweight, smartphone-based shooting setup. In addition to the lightweight and compact nature of the lighting suite, which makes it a top candidate for on-the-go lighting, the product is also powered by a USB cord. Brightness does drop to around 1,100 lumens at each end of the 3,150-6,300K temperature range, but this is the only issue we found.

NEEWER Magnetic RGB Video Light, 360° Full Color RGB61 LED NEEWER Magnetic RGB Video Light, 360° Full Color RGB61 LED

The Sidus Link mobile app gives you another method of controlling the light, and the 60X features a range of special effects, including Paparazzi, Fireworks, Lightning, Faulty Bulb, TV, Pulsing, Strobe, Explosion, and Fire (all with adjustable color temperature control).

Midway through a shoot, the light fell from the surface of the table it was located on top of, on account of the table legs giving way unexpectedly. The Westcott FJ400 Strobe Backpack kit makes it to the top of our best portable lighting kit list for several reasons. The universal trigger is a great idea, and Westcott is one of the few manufacturers that offers this. The i4T EX 400W is compact and comes with a backlit LCD screen that is easy to read even in strong light.

NEEWER Light Stand Carbon Fiber with 180° Reversible Legs, 1/ NEEWER Light Stand Carbon Fiber with 180° Reversible Legs, 1/

The sturdy sides are opaque, which lets the internal LED arrays provide an even stream of light across the object inside.

The Vision 4 is a manual flash, so you will have to work out the power settings on your own, but it does have a Multi mode that lets you sequentially fire up to 15 flashes in a row. In TTL mode, when you change your camera settings, the light power settings change to give you a proper exposure.

NEEWER 2 Packs Portable Photography Lighting Kit Dimmable

Before we get to the specific picks, here are some terms and features you should understand before you head out into the market. The U-shaped brackets make positioning the angle of these lights easy, and they are a good choice for shooting in smaller spaces. The LED indicators make it very easy to know what your monolight is doing, and the recharge time is decent.

The most elaborate setups take time and effort to break down and setup so you’ll want to leave them where they are once you have everything dialed in. This powerful, hugely versatile yet lightweight portable LED lighting panel is a radical redesign compared with the original AEOS. We include options for different budgets and experience levels, so whether you need a cheap continuous light, a high-end strobe, or anything in between, we’ve got you covered. They include a High Speed Sync flash mode with double the power of the maximum continuous light output, and special effects to emulate flickering fire and emergency vehicle lighting. will now last for about an hour and a half at 100% brightness, and while this will be reduced a bit if Bluetooth is turned on, it's still very good.

Portable Lighting Kit for Photography (8 Picks in 2023) The Best Portable Lighting Kit for Photography (8 Picks in 2023)

Power consumption is also pretty heavy at 300W, which is more than an equivalent unit from the likes of Rotolight. If the AEOS 2 isn't yet available where you are, the original AEOS (below) can still be found new, and for significantly less money than the AEOS 2. The set-up comes complete with 4 color filters (2 red, 2 blue, 2 yellow, and 2 white), each offering up a unique effect. The original AEOS was introduced as kind of a big brother to Rotolight’s compact hot-shoe mountable NEO 2 LED light.Because it doesn’t rely on included or built-in lights, this box offers a lot more creative freedom than some others on the list. It is important to note that the color filters must be used in tandem with the white diffuser to offer the best lighting. It’s not cheap, but it’s also not the most expensive portable strobe out there (it’s much cheaper than Profoto lights, for example), and it comes with a collapsible Rapid Box Switch Octa-S softbox light modifier. The AD600BM offers excellent value for money, and it’s a good all-around manual strobe that will suit a range of photographers.