In 2022, I got more and more into video and photographic lighting.

It was part of my quest to get outside my box of being a “natural light” photographer, and instead own up to what it really meant: I was afraid of lighting.

So when the Colbor CL100X came in the mail (Full disclosure, Colbor sent me this light, but didn’t dictate any conditions and will not see this before I publish it), I was excited because from what I could tell, it’s a budget-friendly, portable and powerful-enough LED light that looks simple to use.

SIGN ME UP.

One of the reasons I never got much into lighting was the intimidating factor of just getting started. There are SO many YouTube videos and articles out there that tell people to “BUY THIS” or “BUY THAT,” and I was confused about where to start.

The CL100X, for those who don’t do much light, is a fantastic place to start.

First, it’s small and compact, the entire kit fitting neatly into the included carrying case.

Beyond that, you throw the Bowens mount on the light, attach it to a light stand and power it up. You can use the included reflector, or mount a favorite softbox or umbrella.

From here you can manually control the light in a simple, easy way. Scroll the top dial for power, scroll the bottom dial for color temperature.

And that is… literally all you have to do, and you’ve got a powerful, high-quality light to use in the studio.

Here, I chose to put on my favorite Godox Parabolic Umbrella and took it for a spin shooting portraits in the dark hallways outside of my friend’s studio.

With almost no effort, just arranging the light (near a hallway outlet since I didn’t have a portable power supply), I was able to get some fantastic shots like this:

Product Examples

Here are some examples of the CL100X used for product shots.

Cooling

When throwing out a lot of light, the fan kicks in, but it’s honestly very quiet even when it starts to spin a lot. There’s even a “Quiet” mode for the fan, dropping the decibels a lot if you’re concerned about the fan being heard on camera for video users.

Modular Ability

One of the cool aspects of this light is the ability to “stack” these things together. They call it a Light Neural Network, and I think it looks pretty cool but didn’t have a chance to check it out since I only have one of these (so far).

Want to know more?

(These are NOT affiliate links, if you care about something like that!)

Learn more: https://link.colborlight.com/Jerred-CL100X

Purchase:

Amazon: https://link.colborlight.com/JerredZ-Amazon-CL100X

BH Photo Video: https://link.colborlight.com/JerredZ-bh-CL100X

Specifications