A crowdfunding campaign has been launched for Valo, an LED flash and video light that is wireless, modular and programmable. The Valo is designed to have all the best features from both LEDs and speedlights, such as smartphone remote control, wireless radio triggering, hotshoe sync and adjustable colour temperature.
According to Jari Laaksolahti, its Finnish creator (“Valo” means “light” in Finnish) the Valo differs from other photography lights on the market because it uses LEDs with a high colour rendering index (CRI) and because it does not require cables or adapters to link multiple panels together. The brightness, 4,000 lux at one metre, is less than from a typical speedlight, but as an LED light the Valo has no recycle time and can be its own modelling lamp.
Features
- Flash or continuous lighting modes
- Adjustable colour temperature from 2700–5200K
- Triggering via hotshoe, PC port, optical slave or radio
- 90+ CRI LEDs with zero recycle time
- Android and iOS remote control (whether this is WiFi or Bluetooth is TBA)
- Internal battery charged via USB: 4000+ full-power flashes or 1 hour of video from one charge
- Connect several Valos together magnetically in sync
- 3/8-inch mounting socket
- Open-source Arduino firmware
- 60° beam angle
The Indiegogo project hopes to raise US$55,000 throughout June, and if successful the products will ship in December 2015. A single Valo starts at $139 but you can pledge to buy sets of up to eight at a time. Accessories are planned for the future. Click here for more information.