There are so many small video LED lights on the market now, and the AndyCine R1 Pocket LED caught our eye with some of its surprising features. It’s one of the few, if not the only LED Light in its class to offer full RGB color control and built in Effects. It costs just $69 – AND most importantly it’s color accurate. TLCI 95 anyone? So is it the Best Cheap RGB LED Video Light? Let’s go check it out!
Buy the AndyCine R1 LED: HERE (Support our Channel)
Why This RGB LED Light?
What sets this LED apart from most of the other small LED lights we’ve used is that it has Full RGB control – with 360 colors selectable from the menu. Red, Blue, Green, etc.
This gives it a lot more functionality over a standard bi-color LED light, as you can use it as an accent light in a film; or, to light a car interior where you have minimal room to setup larger lights.
The AndyCine R1 LED light also has Built in Effects like Lightning and Police Light. It’s sort of like a miniature ARRI Skypanel. The R1 also has a strobe effect, an RGB Chase, and an emergency vehicle setting incorporated as preset lighting effects.
In CCT mode you can dial in your Color Temperature from 2500 Kelvin to 7000 degrees Kelvin -which is a nice wide range. And as far as color accuracy, this pocket RGB LED light has a CRI rating of 97 and a TLCI rating of 95 which is very high, and on par with lights costing much more.
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LED Light: BRIGHTNESS & BATTERY
The AndyCine R1 LED is really bright for its size, and we were able to light an interview using just 2 of these lights. I taped a paper towel to the front Key Light which softened it up a bit. And I added a second R1 for the hair light.
You can run the R1 RGB LED light at full brightness for 2 hours on the internal battery. And it will run about twice that at 50% power. To get a full charge it takes 3 hours to get to max charge from 0%. This pocket LED light also supports fast charing through USB-C. Having an internal battery is not a typical feature in other LED lights, and for us makes it one of the best cheap RGB LED video light fixtures we’ve used.
SIZE: Smallest RGB LED Light?
Another thing we like about this little RGB LED light is that it’s small and lightweight – just 200 grams – about the same weight as an iPhone, and just a little shorter. We were able to gaff tape the AndyCine R1 to our car’s visor to light the driver. You can also put this small LED light in a lot of places that you couldn’t put a larger light like a Quasar tube or a 1×1 LED.
This small RGB LED Light also nice and portable so you can put it on a Steadicam rig or a small Gimbal to add a little fill light in the front as well. It’s a pretty versatile light, and we’re glad we added 2 of them to our kit.
LED Light MOUNTING
The AndyCine R1 has a ¼ 20″ screw on the bottom so you can mount it on stands or to any type of clamp that has a ¼ 20″ screw. It’s also small enough to gaff tape it as well in certain situations.
AndyCine R1 LED: MENU
The menu system is really intuitive which is something we also like about it. You press the side button to select between brightness and color temperature. And it has a mode button on top that navigates you between the 3 modes: Hue, CCT, and FX.
To charge the light, it has an integrated USB C input, and comes with the cable. It also comes with a small carrying case, and a cold shoe adapter to mount it to your camera. It’s a pretty nice little kit for the price.
RGB LED Light: CHARGING ANOMALY?
The one design choice that we didn’t love about the light is, when you charge the internal battery, the light actually flashes every 5 seconds or so. This ended up blinding us a few times when we forget it does this. And when charging them onset, we had to make sure to put them face down on a table, so, the light didn’t flash into the scene. Kind of an odd choice, and would be nice to be able to turn that flash feature off while it’s charging the internal battery.
Is AndyCine R1 the Best RGB LED Light?
Alright well we hope this review on the AndyCine R1 RGB LED Light was helpful. Do you think it’s the Best Cheap RGB LED Video Light? What are your favorite RGB LED lights for filmmaking?
If you’d like to buy the AndyCine R1 it’s currently just $69 and any purchases through the links help support our channel: BUY IT HERE.
We think having these types of small RGB lights in your kit can really set your cinematography apart and open up your options for creative filmmaking. We’ve started to accent a lot of our scenes with colors more now that RGB lighting has gotten more affordable. And this light is one of the cheapest LED Lights and best performing Small LEDs we’ve used. We haven’t seen any other LED lights under $100 that offer RGB color control and built in FX like the AndyCine R1 light does.
If you’d like to see some other cheap LED Lights Viltrox makes a very nice Bi-color LED that’s even cheaper, and if you’re looking for tube LEDs, the Quasar Crossfade LED lights are some of our favorites. Let us know what you’d like to see in our next video in the COMMENTS below. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you every Tuesday and Friday with new videos on Filmmaking.
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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:
LED LIGHTING
-AndyCine R1 RGB LED Light – https://amzn.to/3dUimOh
LED LIGHT ACCESSORIES
-SmallRig Super Clamp for Light – https://amzn.to/2JFvusr