REVIEW SmallRig RC350 & RC450

REVIEW SmallRig RC350 & RC450

These SmallRig RC350B and RC450B lights are professional lights for video makers, but also photographers who are serious about their work.

In the last article we showed the SmallRig Control panel 3980 for controlling these lights, and today we're going to show just the lights that relate to the previous article.

Today we're actually going to look at the Smallrig RC350B and RC450B.

These lights have COB LED in the name, but not everyone knows what that means. COB diodes are LED chips encased in a layer of phosphor. This allows the LED strip to shine not spot by spot with individual diodes, but all over with the same intensity.

Let's start right away with the boxes! Both contain a 55-degree hyper-reflector, protective cap, manual in eight languages, power cord, power adapter, and the RC350B and RC450B lights themselves. The bag is not only a quality material at first touch, but it's also sturdy, nice and the lights won't get hurt in it.

Both of these lights can be controlled remotely with both the app and the SmallRig 3980 control panel that you get free with these lights. Both the RC350B and RC450B have a Kelvin range from 2,700K to 6,500K, plus nine different lighting effects with the ability to change speed via the frequency button. The interface and controls are simple but work very effectively. The two most important knobs we have here are located on the back of the light. We can turn the CCT knob to adjust the color temperature with a very subtle transition. With the INT knob, the intensity knob, we can in turn adjust the brightness.

The effects here have a dedicated button for selecting them, and what's cool is that even when you have the effects on, you can manually change both the brightness intensity and the color temperature using the aforementioned buttons. Both lights operate at 50 and 60 Hz with an input voltage of 100-240 volts from the adapter.

The great thing is that there's a standard Bowens bayonet for mounting third party accessories such as umbrellas and diffusers, which are available from many manufacturers. Like any SmallRig light, these lights can be controlled remotely via SmallRig's SmallGoGo app, which has a range of up to 100m from the light. Both lights are of high quality construction and not just because they are partly made of lightweight but strong aluminium.

The housing feels sturdy even though the top is made of plastic. There are grilles on the top and bottom to give the lights enough room to ventilate and not heat up. The volume for both lights does hover around 30dB at a distance of one metre. The mounting adapter for the light is completely made of aluminum, which is a plus because very often this is the weakest point of many low-budget lights and softboxes that have a plastic adapter and handle. The tightening handle is strong, but at the same time it can be easily loosened for quick adjustment of the light angle, as well as the screw for mounting it on the stand. The CRI, or Color Rendering Index, is 96 on a scale of zero to one hundred, which is very good. And for those who don't know, the standard is around 80.

Now let's quickly tell you the differences. Total weight including accessories and bag for the RC350B is 7.9Kg, while for the RC450B it's 8.5Kg. The noise level of the integrated fan at a distance of 1m is only about 28dB for the RC350B which may sound like noise in an empty room with no people, while for the RC450B it is about 32dB which is roughly like whispering. At 5600K, the maximum intensity at 1m distance for the RC350B is 115,000 lux with the reflector installed, while for the RC450B with the same conditions it is 121,000 lux. S

probably the biggest difference here is in power, because the three hundred and fifty is the smaller brother of the more powerful four hundred and fifty despite the same dimensions.

The last thing in which these two lights differ is the prices.

You can buy theRC350B starting from 24 800 CZK HERE.

RC450B from 30 300 CZK HERE.