Lumie Muse with an orange filter attached
Manfrotto Lumie Series LED lights at a glance:
- Lightweight continuous LED lights
- Rechargeable Li-Ion battery
- Tripod and hotshoe mount included
- Price: £44.95-£99.95
- Website: www.manfrotto.co.uk
Manfrotto Lumie LED lights make up a new range of compact, inexpensive and high performance lights for the enthusiast photographer. They sit below the high-end Manfrotto Spectra range of LED light panels.
Rather than having lots of small LEDs, the Lumie range features Manfrotto’s new super-bright surface-mount LED technology. In simple terms that means fewer, bigger and brighter LEDs than the Spectra models. There are three sizes of the Lumie light available: the smallest is the Lumie Play that features three LEDs, while the medium-sized Lumie Art has six and the largest, the Lumie Muse, has eight. As you’d expect, the bigger the unit the more light power it’s capable of outputting.
Rather than taking AA or AAA batteries, the Lumie series has a Li-Ion battery that recharges via Micro USB. This is a big advantage, as the unit is more convenient and considerably smaller when compared to similar AA/AAA battery-powered models. However, it’s worth noting the rubber plug to protect the micro USB port isn’t attached and is very easy to lose. But apart from this, the build quality is excellent.
The 3-LED Lumie Play
Manfrotto Lumie Series LED lights – Key features
Tripod and hotshoe mount
The Muse comes with a ball-and-socket mount, while the Play and Art have fixed forward-facing ones
Snap-fit attachments
Colour balancing filters are included and help adjust the colour temperature of the light. These simply snap-fit onto the front.
Manfrotto Lumie Series LED lights – Our verdict
For shooting small, still-life subjects or adding some light into product photography, the Lumie Play and Art are very useful tools, while the Muse is suitable for both these kinds of projects but is also big enough to act as a fill-in for larger subject matter like portraiture. The light coverage is very good and means that, for videographers and photographers alike, these are superb continuous lights.
SCORE: 5 out of 5
Optional extras
Lumie Series Accessory Classic Filter Kit
Price: £12.95
Designed to give the lighting more creative potential, this set of eight comprises primary green, red and blue and a blue and orange colour balance filter, plus soft, medium and heavy diffusers.
Lumie Series Accessory Portrait Filter Kit
Price: £12.95
The portrait kit consists of eight filters and diffusers perfect for portraiture. These are pink rose, peach, Tuscan sunset, summer tan, amber sunrise, blush, and a soft and silk diffuser.
Lumie Series Accessory Multicolour Filter Kit
Price: £12.95
This collection offers eight vivid coloured filters to use for creatively lighting a subject. Unlike Manfrotto’s other filter kits it doesn’t come with diffusers or colour balances.
