Today I'm taking a look at this GVM 2 light kit.
It is a panel rather than a fixed single point source of light,
so you get some interesting options with this style of light.
Also, it is full RGB with bi-color support.
Keep in mind that GVM did send me these lights to try out and I will be keeping
them for potentially using them in future videos.
They have this two light kit, but they also have a three light kit if you're interested in that.
There are some potential benefits to having three lights instead of two.
Included in this light kit are the two lights, two stands,
two barn doors, two diffusion panels, and the two power adapters with a case.
Besides the benefit of having a panel instead of a single point source of light,
you also can adjust these lights down to one percent power all the way up to 100, of course!
Adjusting light through the control panel is very simple. Three buttons.. two dials.
Main thing is the mode button. So we've got rotate,
which relates to the two dials. This is the simplest mode.
Currently we are in the RGB mode... hue, saturation, and then we have the bi-color mode.
You can use the other dial to adjust the power setting or that dial,
that presses down, you can use that to adjust the color temperature.
It's really nice because sometimes.. some situations.. you're in a cramped space
you don't need a ton of light. With these you can really get down and dial it in.
The main functionality you need to keep in mind it has bicolor support.
In my case I usually use 5200 kelvin. Then you have the full
RGB.. gives you the full gamut of colors that you can adjust and use.
It'd be good for backlights or whatever you want.
These barn doors are nice because they give you
the option to adjust the light without having to add any additional modifiers.
Kinda just give a little slit there of light if I want that.
The barn doors fully come off.
I did notice they were pretty tight from the factory,
but you can use a hex tool to take those off easily.
These lights are set up as individual bulbs,
so the benefit of this diffusion panel is to make it a little bit less noticeable.
Here's a quick example of with and without diffusion. On one side
just the bare bulbs. You can see the individual sources there. There's some dark portions,
but with the diffusion it's definitely a lot more uniform.
On the sides here you have tabs that keep the diffusion panel in there when you don't want
it to shift to the side. Maybe you have the panel vertical. You can pull these out. They lock in...
Let's go for some specifications of the light. It has 1128
little bulbs in there. Of course that's split between the RGB and the bi-color.
Color rendering index of greater than or equal to 97 percent. I don't have
any way of testing that or verifying that, but that's their official claim.
3200 kelvin to 5600 kelvin with a bi-color mode.
It is possible to run the lights with batteries.
They use the Sony NP-F style, two of them. So we can quickly try that out...
The power switch is a three way toggle. You've got the battery, the ac adapter, and then off.
It is very nice that you are able to use batteries.
Mobile situations, maybe go outdoors, you could use these panels if you want. Of course,
they're not any type of water proof or resistance, I assume.
It is possible to link the lights together. In this case I have this one in slave mode...
So if you have the other light in the master mode it can control this one.
One more time.. master mode. This would be the main control unit.
I'll put this one in the master mode. Right now you can see
it's in green. Now we're in the master mode, but then I need to adjust the channel.
See it just changed as I switched to the proper channel.
If you weren't able to run AC to a backlight or something you can use batteries, but another one
use it in the control mode that's closer to you.. or something...
One thing to take note of with the AC adapters, the short end is definitely from
the ac adapter to the light itself. Where this light is
is where you would have the ac adapter kind of touching the floor.
Going from the wall to the ac adapter definitely has a lot more length to it.
Panel lights like this provide a lot of interesting possibilities right from the start
because you have a larger source of light from the get-go instead of using any type of modification.
You're getting a panel in this case, which is nice, but you can always
put some type of diffusion between that and you. It will use some of the light,
but in this case definitely seems like I have enough power for that.
You can use one for a fill on my face and then more of a side light for the other one!
And you've got the diffusion panel,
the barn doors, so a lot of options from the start to adjust your lights.
You can get the standard lighting and adjust it as you want with the bi-color
color temperature adjustment, but also RGB to do backlights or whatever else
you want with the uniqueness of getting full different colors for your videos or photos.
Build quality feels pretty good so far. The back panel on the light itself is aluminum. Some of the
knobs and things are plastic. This support beam that attaches the light to the adapter is metal.
The actual adapter itself for the light stand connection is metal, but the knobs are plastic.
The light stands.. I think I would call them sufficient.
They're not going to be the most amazing ever. They don't have any type of
spring-loaded or cushioning system to them, so you have to be careful.
Just make sure they're fully tightened and ready to go before letting go of the light.
It does come with these velveted bags for the lights and the tripods.
GVM does have a smartphone app that you can use to control these lights wirelessly.
I was able to get it working, but I did have some issues here and there. You have to register
an email address before you can actually access the control panel to pick a light and adjust it.
As far as I can tell you can't adjust both of them at the same time, but hopefully in
the future they will be improving that app. I have given them my feedback.
Anyways, that was a look at these GVM 1500D
lights as a two light kit. They do have the three light kit as I mentioned.
And also... they did send me these lights I will
be keeping them. Potentially using them for future videos.
Of course, I paid tax on all of the things I received from companies, so it's never free!
Scott of Photography Banzai.
I hope you enjoyed the video, thanks!