Many smartphones have a bright enough LED flash for many photo and video capture situations. However, if you want to ensure clear footage, regardless of the ambient lighting situation, relying on a phone’s LED flash just isn’t going to get you those desired results. You need a separate camera light for that and there’s plenty out there that take advantage of the iPhone’s MagSafe connector for mounting them. The Harlowe Sol 5 is a new MagSafe camera light that just may be the most flexible we’ve seen in the category.
Rated at 360 lumens at the highest setting, the camera light gives you a more powerful alternative to the stock LED flash on your phone. More than that, though, it offers plenty of flexibility in light position and angle, allowing you to not just illuminate scenes, but provide you with creative options when lighting everything up.
The Harlowe Sol 5 mounts to the MagSafe connector of any iPhone, immediately giving you a much bigger LED panel on the back of your mobile device. You can use it directly in that position, although what really makes it special is the ability to reposition the light at a variety of angles, so you can use it in more creative ways. The main lighting head is actually connected to the mount using a hinge and an extendable arm. That means, you can extend the arm to place the light in various positions, so it doesn’t always have to sit in the same spot as the MagSafe connection, while a swiveling design lets you face the light in a variety of directions across a 360-degree angle (very useful if you want to use the light to illuminate your selfies).
Since it uses a MagSafe connection, you can also easily reposition the mount, so the arm sticks out anywhere along a 360-degree angle. Want to put the light below the camera lens? You can do that. How about putting it as far away from the lens as possible? You can do that, too. Like we said, it’s a very flexible lighting solution.
The Harlowe Sol 5 has two preset brightness settings: standard (200 lumens) and boost (360 lumens). Do note, the boost mode will only keep it at that level for 30 seconds, after which it will revert to the standard setting. There’s also a dial for more granular control of the brightness, as well as a second dial for adjusting the color temperature between 2,700K and 6,500K. There’s an integrated diffuser to ensure it delivers soft, even lighting, while a built-in mirror on the mount lets you frame yourself when using the rear-facing cameras for self-shots, which we imagine to be very handy.
The integrated 1,000mAh battery is rated for 1.5 hours of use at full brightness between charges, with a full charge taking around 45 minutes when fully drained. Other features include an all-aluminum build for lightweight durability, a packed size of just 3.1 x 2.7 x 1.1 inches, optional gel filters, optional additional lenses (magic, Fresnel), and compatibility with the outfit’s Tabletop Tripod.
The Harlowe Sol 5 is available now, priced at $79.
