Brand

ULANZI

Small lights, 21 € to 46 €

Where it turns up

LED video lights and on-camera flashes, between 21 € and 46 €.

What a pocket light is measured on

Output in lux at a stated distance, not lumens and not LED count — because what matters is how much light lands on the subject a metre away. Then the colour temperature range, the accuracy index, whether it dims smoothly and what it runs on.

Why the distance in the figure matters

Light falls off with the square of the distance, so a lux figure without a distance beside it is not a measurement. A panel claiming 1000 lux at 0.5 m gives 250 at a metre, and the two numbers describe the same lamp.

Where a small light wins

Filling a face in a café, lighting a product on a desk, adding a rim light to a talking head. On a stand at three metres it is nothing; at forty centimetres it is the whole exposure.

Every ULANZI unit reviewed here

LED video lights

ULANZI K20 key light, 10 W, 600 lumens, 192 LEDs

10 W · 600 lumens — a luminous flux, not an illuminance · 2500K to 9000K · 192 LEDs behind an 11 inch panel · 120 degree beam · CRI above 90 · 0 to 100 per cent brightness · edge-lit · magnetic remote with 7 channels and 30 m range · metal C-clamp for desks up to 50 mm, height 30 to 80 cm, 360 degree ball head

An 11 inch key light that clamps to a desk and comes with a magnetic remote reaching 30 metres, for 48 € — publishing 600 lumens, which measures total light output rather than what lands on a face.

Best for: A desk for streaming or calls, where the clamp, the remote and an 11 inch soft source matter and a mains socket is always within reach.

≈ £47 / 46 €

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On-camera flashes

ULANZI SL01 mini flash, GN8, four power levels

Single-contact hot shoe · GN8, no sensitivity or coverage stated · 6500K · four manual levels from 1/8 to 1/1 · about 375 flashes at full power · no head movement published · no zoom · no metering support, manual only · 250 mAh internal cell, charged in about an hour over USB-C · no radio

The cheapest flash of the five here at 23 €, with four power levels and a cell that charges over USB-C — and a guide number of 8 published without either of the two conditions that would make it comparable.

Best for: A little fill light on a mirrorless body where the flash has to be pocketable, and the photographer sets the power by hand.

≈ £23 / 21 €

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Each amount in a write-up is what the listing showed when that page was written. The figure next to the product is pulled in as you read, and it is the one that counts.