Review: SmallRig RF 05B Portable Zoom Video Light
- Stephen Knight
- 1h
- 8 min read
Many photography and video light manufacturers offer 10W or 12W portable zoom spotlights. SmallRig have introduced the smaller, cheaper, and lighter RF 05B with 5W of power. How does this light compare to the larger and more powerful zoom lights?
Disclaimer
The SmallRig RF 05B was sent to me for an honest and impartial review.
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Design and Construction
The SmallRig RF 05B is relatively small bi-color photography or videography zoom/spotlight. It has adjustable correlated colour temperature (CCT) to adjust between 1900K warm white to 8000K cool white. The zoom range is 17 to 65 degrees. There is a compelling range of light shaping options included - a diffuser, barn doors, snoot, spotlight, 10 gobos, 10 film slides, and 3 gels (red, green, and blue). A USB-C charging cable, manual, and carrying bag are also included. At the time of writing the SmallRig RF 05B retailed for US$39.
The length is 130mm, with a head diameter of 40mm. The light's weight is 215g (no attachments). The light has an internal battery (presumably an 18650 Li-ion) rated at 2600mAh with USB-C charging. The battery is claimed to last for 125mins on 5W mode. An 8W boost mode is also available, with a runtime of just 23mins.
The light has 3 buttons, and an OLED display. The user interface is explained in more detail in the next section. It is IP65 rated, so should be able to be used in the rain.
The RF 05B appears to be aimed more at the miniature photography market, though it can be used for portraits as well. It has great potential for the illumination side of long exposure light painting and night photography due to having adjustable CCT, zoom, snoot, and diffuser. It isn't suitable for creating light trails as the 40mm head diameter is too large for light painting tool systems.
Product photos of the SmallRig RF 05B showing the lens, tail USB-C charging port, tripod thread on the underside, and accessories in the packaging
SmallRig RF 05B optical accessories including spotlight/gobo projector, snoot, diffuser, and gobo/film slide.
User Interface
The SmallRig RF 05B has three buttons (Power, Up, and Down) and a small OLED display.
Long Press Power - On/Off.
Click Power when On - Toggle between CCT (Default) and Brightness adjust mode.
Up/Down - Increases or Decreases CCT or Brightness.
Press Up/Down together - enter/exit Effects mode. (Use Up/Down to cycle through Effects). Effects include SOS, Paparazzi, Lightning, Party, Broken Bulb, TV, Flame, Fireworks, Pulse, Cold and Warm Cycle, Brightness Cycle, Explode.
Press Power/Up together from CCT mode - enter/exit 8W Boost mode. Only CCT can be adjusted in Boost mode. There is a small display which displays the CCT, Brightness, or Effect parameters. The display also had a 4 point battery charge indicator. Zooming of the optics is a simple push/pull motion. This is adequate stiffness to allow the zoom mechanism to stay in place.
SmallRig RF 05B has three buttons, and an OLED display.
Beam, Output, and Runtime
The RF 05B has an interesting LED, which appears to be quad core, with warm white emitters within the centre of the core, and cool white emitters on the outside of the core. By adjusting the ratio of light from the cool and warm emitters, the CCT can be adjusted from 1900K very warm white, to 8000K cool white. Unlike the 10W zoom light with white, orange, blue, and red LEDs, and 12W zoom light with RGBWW emitters, this light doesn't have any colour LEDs, only adjustable CCT (bi-color). However, given that I mainly use the white light output on my 10W and 12W zoom lights, I don't think this is a bad thing! There are however red, green, and blue gel filters available with the light. Due to the centered LED, the beam is perfectly circular, unlike the slightly off-centre/elliptical beam on the RF 10C. The zoom lens is of an aspheric design.
The SmallRig RF 05B's LED optics at warm white and cool white,
CCT, colour rendering index (CRI), and tint (DUV) were tested with an Opple Light Meter Pro 3, at 5W output, with the centre of the beam aimed at the light meter.
Warm White 3000K zoomed - CCT 2887K, CRI 94.7 Ra, Tint -0.0211 DUV.
Daylight White 5600K flood - CCT 5088K, CRI 98.9 Ra, Tint -0.0152 DUV.
Daylight White 5600K zoomed - CCT 5714K, CRI 99.3 Ra, Tint -0.0166 DUV.
Cool White 8000K zoomed - CCT 9481K, CRI 100 Ra, Tint DUV -0.0036 DUV.
The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is excellent, at around 95 Ra or more. The CCT seems to be rather approximate, and decreases in flood mode. The light has a strong magenta tint, with a very negative DUV. Whilst this "rosy" tint is far more pleasant than a green tint, I would like the light to be more neutral for better matching with other light sources.
For brightness, I tested both illuminance and lumens. Illuminance is the preferred photometric for comparing lights for photography and videography, as it measures the brightness of an illuminated object at a specified distance. All tests were at 100% brightness, except for the RF 05B boost mode tests.
Illuminance:
3000K zoomed - 1320 lux/1m
5600K zoomed - 1468 lux/1m
8000K zoomed - 1360 lux/1m
5600K zoomed BOOST - 2104 lux/1m
5600K flood - 240 lux/1m
5600K flood BOOST - 336 lux/1m
5600K spotlight/gobo projector (flood) - 52 lux/1m
5600K spotlight/gobo projector (flood) BOOST - 76 lux/1m
Note: my light meter tends to over-estimate lux by 25%. The SmallRig RF 05B has pretty impressive illuminance given the relatively low 5W power, and is certainly bright enough to be used a photography key light if required (at medium to high ISO settings). The bi-color LED likely helps increase the illuminance per watt compared to the individual white, red, orange, and blue LEDs in the RF 10C. The comparison section will go into more detail here. Even on Boost mode, the RF 05B never becomes too hot to touch. Unlike most flashlights, the RF 05B has a stable brightness throughout the runtime.
The spotlight/gobo projector doesn't have a condenser, and thus loses a lot of light, resulting in a relatively low illuminance. It works best at flood. It is thus only really useful for miniature photography work, and maybe head portraits. There is also noticeable field curvature on the gobos, and as there is no focus, the gobos will be increasingly out of focus as light to subject distance increases. The mainly space themed film slides are fun, but again due to low brightness and lack of focus, work better for miniature photography. I found the gobo/film slides very fiddly to work with due to their small size. The barn doors and snoot are quite useful for beam shaping.
Lumens:
5600K 100% zoomed - 86 lumens.
5600K 100% flood - 210 lumens.
Beam shots using the SmallRig RF 05B's barn doors, film projector, and gobo projector.
Comparison with 10W and 12W Zoom / Spotlights
I decided to test the SmallRig RF 05B against the SmallRig RF 10C, and Photoolex 12W Zoomlight Pro. All tests were at 100% brightness, except for the RF 05B boost mode tests.
Illuminance:
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K zoomed - 1468 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K flood - 240 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K Spotlight/Gobo Tube - 52 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K BOOST zoomed - 2104 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K BOOST flood - 336 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 05B 5600K BOOST Spotlight/Gobo Tube - 76 lux/1m
SmallRig RF 10C 5600K zoomed - 464 lux/1m.
SmallRig RF 10C 5600K flood - 250 lux/1m.
Photoolex 12W Hard Light Lens Flood: 592 lux/1m
Photoolex 12W Hard Light Lens Zoom: 3640 lux/1m
Photoolex 12W Spotlight/Gobo Tube (Flood): 796 lux/1m
Note: my light meter tends to over-estimate lux by 25%. These lights were all tested with the same light meter.
If you just look at illuminance alone, the RF 05B appears to outperform the RF 10C. However, the RF 05B has narrower flood and zoom angles (despite a similar specification), which will cause that increase in illuminance per watt. The downside being a limited maximum beam angle. At the same zoom angle (edge of beam filling the height of a room from 2m away) at 5600K, the RF 05B was 432 lux/1m and in Boost mode 624 lux/1m, and the RF 10C 444 lux/1m. So for the same zoom angle, the RF 05B can actually go brighter than the RF 10C, this likely due to the LEDs in use on the RF 05B. Due to this decent brightness, the RF 05B is certainly useable as a spotlight - for example when photographing or videoing a wedding dance. The much larger and heavier Photoolex 12W has similar flood and zoom angles to the RF 05B, and due to the extra power, does output more light.
Things change when you start using gobos, which is one of the main uses of photography/videography zoom lights. The RF 05B has medium sized gobo projections, but with relatively low brightness. I would recommend these for miniature photography only. The RF 10C has a wide zoom angle, and is my preferred option for gobo projections for portraits. Due to lack of focus, the gobos will be increasingly out of focus with distance, but within approx. 2.5m light to subject distance, the gobos are sharp enough. The Photoolex 12W has a bright gobo projector, with focus, but a very narrow (almost too narrow) field angle. It is thus limited to head portraits only. The 12W light can technically be used with gobos from 10W zoomlights, but due to the LED design, there is a lot of edge artifact.
Comparison between the SmallRig RF 05B (white, appears blue in the photos due to auto WB), RF 10C (orange), and Photoolex 12W (red). Left to Right - Flood; Zoom; Gobo projection (RF10C at flood).
Comparison between the SmallRig RF 10C and RF 05B with zoom and flood beam profiles.
There is no "single best" portable zoom light for photography and videography. The SmallRig RF 05B is a great lightweight option for illuminating night scenes with adjustable CCT, for use as a spotlight, and gobo projections for miniature photography. It is the only one of these zoom lights that is compact enough to be used as a conventional EDC flashlight, and I am looking forward to using it for night and urbex photography. The SmallRig RF 10C is by far the best option for portable photography gobo portraits. The Photoolex 12W has some interesting frosted and color lenses, but due to the very narrow gobo optics, it doesn't get used anywhere near as much as the SmallRig RF 10C.
Conclusion
Positives:
Excellent value for money.
Decent brightness, comparable to 10W zoom lights.
Compact and lightweight.
USB-C charging.
Easy to use.
Large CCT range.
High CRI.
Good range of beam shaping options.
Negatives:
Tint is very magenta.
Gobo and film projections are realistically limited to miniature use.
Gobo and film slides are very fiddly to use.
The SmallRig RF 05B is an interesting compact zoom light for photography and videography, with brightness that can rival larger and heavier 10W zoom lights when being used as a spotlight. It has high CRI, adjustable CCT, and a useful range of light modifiers. For gobo and film projection use, it is more limited for miniature photography.