7 Day Shop 135 LED Video Light

I have been using this for a couple months now, during that time I have had ample opportunity to use it on several different kinds of shoot.
So to answer the most relevant question first - Is it worth its price (currently £33.99 incl delivery in the UK)?
Short answer - Yes

It has several features which make it worthwhile, and even without those it would still be a decent buy for that price.

You can vary the amount of light output by use of 2 switches on the back of the light. This means it is not infinitely variable but has a decent number of 'steps' (12) so I didn't find this to be an issue.

It has 2 powering options - 6AA batteries OR 2 Canon NB-3L      
There is a mounting plate for these included and you can actually insert this while the light is loaded with AA batteries, which means you can have a 'spare' power source ready to go at all times in the light.

There is a switch on the back of the light which allows you to select which batteries to use as well as giving access to the lights internal charging option. This is the best part for me, the light is also a charger which can connect via its mini USB port to any USB charge/Hub/Computer you have handy. So you can charge with a simple USB cable and not worry about using another 'wall wart adapter'. This was particularly relevant when I was in Japan as I wouldn't have wanted to fit another charger and power supply into my bag. On top of that if you need to remove the batteries to charge them there is a much higher probability they will not be put back in leaving you on a shoot with not batteries.

On each edge there is a mounting point which allows these lights, (and also the smaller version of this light) to be joined together to form a panel with as many lights as you need. The connector also mounts onto the shoe mount found on most DSLRs & video cameras, on the underside of the connector is a hole which allows the light to be screwed onto any standard tripod or Gorilla Pod (which is where this light spent much of its time!).

The light emitted is at 5500k which is in the right range for sunlight and daylight balanced fluorescent bulbs. This one of the few areas for improvement I can see. Light is not always at this colour temperature, (although I favour having a cool light if I have to choose) it would be a great if there was some provision for colour gels to be mounted in front of the light. That way the lights colour temperature could be modified for any situation quickly and easily. It is still possible to tape a gel to the front but it is always less fuss to be able to just drop one into a simple slot on the front.


Finally here is the video review with some sample time-lapse footage at the end and underneath a night test in my garden -










Click here to visit the 7 Day Shop product page

LomoKino un-boxing

The LomoKino has arrived!
As with all Lomography cameras it comes in a very nice box, I opted to get some iso 800 color lomo film to test it out along with some iso 3200 Ilford Black & White I always keep to hand.

YakTrax Pro - Snow grips for shoes

Given the impending 'Big Freeze' I thought it would be a good idea to get hold of some snow grips, mainly due to the fact my wife is pregnant and I would like her not to fall over and break something on the ridiculously icy pavements we have had for the past 2 years.

As an aside 2 years ago we were leaving her parents house after dinner and a man (a inebriated man with a very smelly kebab) fell over on the ice next to our car. We went to see if he was okay but he couldn't get up, turns out he broke the bones in his shin/ankle so bad the pierced the skin leaving his foot wobbling about at the end of his leg.

Now he may have been drunk but it doesn't take much to fall over and I was shocked at how thoroughly snapped his leg was.

On that pleasant anecdote I give you the Yaktrax Pro!



These strap onto your shoes and apparently increase traction on ice and compacted snow dramatically. The 'Pro' version seen here adds a strap across the toe of you shoes and is about £4 or £5 more expensive than the standard YackTrax.

Now there are many different makes of snow grips for shoes, most opt for metal studs/spikes.
The Yaktrax are a bit different as the have a system of clever metal coils which bite into the ice/snow and give grip in all directions.

Crucially they are reported to be fairly easy to walk on when surfaces happen to be free of ice/snow. This is great as the pavements can be very variable and also when going shopping taking them on and off every 5 minutes would could get tedious, most spike/stud based systems leaving you rocking around on ice free surfaces.


Unfortunately we have no snow or ice to test them out but I will post an update when the conditions allow for testing.


P.S. we called an ambulance, wrapped some blankets around him and kept him conscious till they arrived so all was ok in the end...

LomoKino - Analogue 35mm 'movie' camera

I have just ordered a LomoKino!

Very curious about this, it is a crank driven movie camera that accepts normal 35mm films!

There will be a full review and test footage when it arrives... hopefully soon....