Lighting and accessories company Harlowe (previously Hobolite) has announced a new bi-color LED light, the Harlowe Sol 5, aimed at content creators. The company changed names shortly after IBC, during which they debuted a 40W Mini Max LED light. Now, they are back with a beautiful new light that packs a lot of punch and has some pretty cool features. Let’s take a look!
Be seen in your best light
Harlowe empowers creators with a new light that can attach to the back of your iPhone via a MagSafe connection. The 3-watt light, dubbed “Sol 5,” can extend, telescope, and flip orientation. The chargeable, bi-color LED light also dims from 0-100% and has an adjustable color temp from 2700K to 6500K. The flexible head, as mentioned, can spin a full 360-degrees, so you can still use either facing camera. And just in case 3 watts is not enough power, you can enable “Boost Mode” functionality to get a continuous 5.5 watts output for 30 seconds.
You’ll find a lot of features packed into this little light. Here is a full list of specs on the Sol 5:
- CCT: 2700K – 6500K
- CRI: 96
- Power: 5.5W (Boost Mode), 3.5W (Standard Mode)
- Luminous Flux: 360LM (Boost Mode), 200LM (Standard Mode) (@6500K)
- TLCI: 99
- Input (AC) 100-240V, 50~60HZ
- Input (DC) 5V
- Battery 3.7V 1000MAH, 3.7WH
- Dimming: 0-100%
- Operating Temperature: 14~104°F
- Control Methods: Onboard
- Color: Brown Faux Leather
- Boost Duration: 30s
Designed for creators on the move
The Sol 5 is made out of lightweight aluminum with brown leather accents. But perhaps where this light shines brightest, pun intended, is in the Travel Kit.
Lighting People – On Location
In this practical 4-hour workshop, master cinematographers Paul Atkins, ASC, and Stephen Lighthill, ASC, share tips and tricks on how to achieve naturally looking lighting on location, both outdoors and indoors, in front of a diverse audience of filmmakers from all over the world.
The Travel Kit includes the light, an attachable softbox, and a zip-up carrying bag. The magnetic softbox is ideal for beauty portraits and close-up lighting to help diffuse the spread evenly. I could see the use-case for this light for vloggers, even if only to use as a catch light in the eyes. You probably wouldn’t want to use it as your main key light, but as a supplemental light, I’m sure it would work great.
The Sol 5 measures 79.8×68.6×26.9cm / 3.14×2.7×1.06 inches when folded and weighs only 108.9g / 0.24 lbs. It can run up to 1.5 hrs on a single charge. If I’ve missed any specs you might be looking for, or if you just want to look at the Sol 5 in a little more detail, you can find everything you need on Harlowe’s website.
If you’re interested in purchasing the Sol 5 Travel Kit, you can do so for $159. If you would prefer the solo light, it is $79. Also worth mentioning is that you can buy the magnetic softbox separately for $39, so if you just want the light and the softbox, that total brings you to $118.
What are your thoughts on this new Sol 5 light from Harlowe? Is it worthwhile, or is it not powerful enough for what you need? I’m interested to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
