'Ice light'

I've written a product review of the budget version of the Westcott Ice light for any of my thrifty photographer friends that might want to get one.

I purchased a knock-off version almost a year ago now, (not sure which one) which I just had to have because it looks like a light saber. I'd seen other photographers using this beauty and I love me some continuous light.

The battery sits in the handle, you plug in and charge and it has an amber cover so you can choose warm or cool light. Like the pucka version you can buy some barn door accessories to flag the light, I'm not sure if I'm using it enough to do this. It also comes with a remote but that's not super important to me.

Below is a quick pros/cons list, bear in mind this is for a knock-off version so folks spending the extra on a real one might not encounter these problems.

Pros continuous light Mains rechargable battery Can plug lead in to the mains and use when the battery power is low Can turn power up/down Portable Didnt break when I dropped it from an almighty height

Cons Low battery life (I've bought a couple of spares to charge) Thread to attach on tripod doesn't seem to be deep enough Not as bright as flash No indication of battery level

Application

It doesn't stand up to studio strobes, even on lowest power the LED light barely shows up as fill. I haven't tried it as a daylight fill yet because the battery wasn't charged enough (see cons).

For product photography it's just ideal, I tend to hold it in one hand; shutter in the other and with the wand shape it really gets light into all the little nooks and crannies of tiny jewellery and what not.

As a sole light source it's not bad either, below is a behind the scenes shot and me having a go with it as a back light.

Light painting is something the 'ice light' does excel in. Finally I can see a use for the strobe function - serious epilepsy warning when you accidentally turn it on though.

Below are some examples brought to you with the help of Natt and Ola, I didn't have a tripod with me so excuse the poor quality but you can see the interesting patterns it makes.