Polaroid BrightSaber Pro: a light wand for the studio & on location

Polaroid's battery-powered LED light sabre claims to be "the easiest and most affordable way to get a perfectly lit shot".

Polaroid BrightSaber Pro

A new LED light stick, the Polaroid BrightSaber Pro has been announced, claiming to be “the easiest and most affordable way to get a perfectly lit shot, whether on set, in the field, or anywhere in between”.

The BrightSaber adds to a growing category of battery-powered LED lighting wands, which, much like the more expensive Westcott Ice Light are being touted as a portable and versatile soft light source for video and stills photography.

Polaroid BrightSaber Pro

Primarily putting out daylight-balanced 5800K light from 298 diodes, you can switch to tungsten-balanced 3200K light thanks to a removable orange sleeve that wraps around the lighting tube. The wand weighs 22 ounces (620 g) and can be either handheld or mounted on a light stand or tripod, thanks to a 1/4-inch threaded socket.

It is a continuous lamp but there are some (probably pretty gimmicky) flashing strobe modes too, in case you want to do some light painting or signal SOS during a photo-shoot or something.

Polaroid BrightSaber Pro

The unit comes with a handy infrared remote control, which doubles as a universal wireless shutter release for certain Canon, Nikon and Pentax cameras — a nice little bonus.

You can buy one of these things now for $169.99, down from $500 (yeah, right), available on Amazon.

What’s the competition? In case you’ve not been keeping track, other LED light sabres are available. They include:

Can you see yourself adding one of these things to your kit? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

David Selby
David is a keen photographer and has been editor of Lighting Rumours since 2010. When not writing about lighting, he works as a data scientist at the University of Manchester, UK.
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