Jay Juliano Takes Chroma CL33RGB and CL36RGB Lights for a Spin
As a now retired Certified PPA Professional Photographer with over 30 years experience I was pleased to write this review when asked by ProMaster. My focus had been on weddings, portraiture, and events. These days I spend my time on landscapes, table top, product shots, and macro photography.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their Chroma CL33RGB and CL36RGB LED lights. Most photographers will tell you that they’d rather have good light than a good composition. Lighting makes or breaks any image from macro to landscapes and everything in between. Well thanks to these two ProMaster affordable, easy to use, convenient portable lights you too can take your macro, tabletop still lives, and video to a new level!
Both the Chroma CL33RGB and the CL36RGB offer Bi-Color at various kelvin temperatures as well as 360 distinct color hues with 0 -100% saturation control along with (20) and (17) videocentric effects. All easily controlled with (3) buttons/wheels. They have CRI ratings of 98+ and 95+, respectively. Color science can be fairly complex. On the CRI rating spectrum 95 and above is considered excellent and professional level color rendition. That’s good enough for me!
These lights have an internal li-ion battery and are easily charged via a USB-C outlet or even your car’s charger. They came to me nearly fully charged and I never had to re-charge either one during my shoot, which included both still and video images. Don’t want to have to worry about losing charge? Just keep them plugged in during your shoot and you can run them indefinitely.
ProMaster very cleverly built in (3) cold shoes into the small sized CL33RGB allowing you to add accessories such as an audio microphone or as many as 3 more lights to quadruple your output! The CL36RGB wouldn’t balance well with multiple accessories added to the side but it has one key cold shoe right on the top, allowing for an audio microphone or another light.
Let's talk spec’s and what’s in the box:
Output Power: 100 lux at 3' / 1m
Luminous Flux: 300 lm
Output Adjustment: 0 - 100%
Color Temperature: 2500K - 8500K +/-200K
Color Accuracy: CRI 98+
Beam Angle: 120 degrees
Battery: Internal li-ion 3.7 V / 2,000 mAh / 7.4 Wh
Dimensions: 2 5/8" W x 3 1/8" H x 1 3/16" D / 67 mm W x 79 mm H x 30 mm D
Weight: 3 1/4 oz / 92 g
Included in box:
1 Chroma CL33RGB Connect LED Light
1 USB-C to USB-A charging cable
1 Soft white diffuser
Output Power:28 lux @ 10’/3m, 200 lux at 3’/1m
Output Adjustment: 0 - 100%
Color Temperature: 2,500K - 9,000K +/-200K
Color Accuracy: CRI 95+ & TLCI 95+
Beam Angle: 120 degrees
Minimum Charging Input: 5 V / 1.0 A
Maximum Charging Input: 5V / 3.0 A
Battery: Internal li-ion 3.7 V / 5,000 mAh / 18.5 Wh
Dimensions: 5 7/8" x 3" x 5/8" | 149 mm x 76 mm x 16 mm
Weight: 7 oz | 198 g
Included in box::
1 Chroma CL36RGB LED light v2
1 USB-C charging cable
1 Soft Grid
1 Cold foot
1 Soft white diffuser
CL33RGB
Specs are specs but what you really want to know is are they worth my money and will they get the job done? I used both of these lights in every shot you see represented in this blog post and nothing else. That right there says YES they get the job done! However, let’s get in the weeds.
I used these lights for small sized table top shots and a macro shot as you can see. I also mounted them to my camera and walked around the inside of my house shooting video in various lighting applications typically at a distance of 6-8’.
I shot all my still images at ISO 100 and my video at ISO 2500. ISO 100 offers me the highest quality image with my Sony A7RV camera but is the least light sensitive. ISO 2500, on the other hand, is very light sensitive but does introduce grain into a video or still. Because stills aren’t moving I can take as long as an exposure as I like, at any aperture by simply adjusting the shutter speed. However, with video the subject is moving, (as with my product 360 degree shots) requiring a small aperture for depth of field and a faster shutter speed. All that equates to the ISO of 2500.
I love using the CL33RGB for still work. I like using the included diffuser, but it does reduce either light's output by about 1 full stop. There is no included grid with this light but in my macro shot of the feather and soap bubble I placed it to the side as a main light and it didn’t spill onto the background. If that was a problem, it’s very easy to tape a piece of white cardboard on either side and narrow your beam that way.
What makes it so great for macro work is its small footprint. I can literally place it anywhere around my tabletop subject and it’s out of view of the camera while still illuminating the image. At 3.25 oz I can clip it to a flex arm and use it for overhead lighting…..NICE!
Macro Shot (CL33RGB Main light, CL36RGB backlight with Red Gel setting):
I fell in love with the larger CL36RGB. It offers me all the power I need for any size table top, still life and macro shot while being lightweight and pocketable. Obviously I used it as a main light but I also used it as a background light to add separation from the subject or color. You can purchase a white cardboard background and turn that into 360 various colors with this light at the flick of a dial. The color saturation is gorgeous without the need for Photoshop. That alone will pay for this product many times over. How cool is that! With ¼”-20 port on the bottom or a detachable cold shoe adapter it can be secured by camera, flex stand, light stands, or simply table top.
Grid on the CL36RGB
I tested the included rubber slip on grid with the CL36RGB. I’ve used grids in the past on small continuous lighting from other manufacturers and wasn’t all that impressed. Not the case here! I was thrilled at the way this grid narrowed the light preventing the dreaded “spill over” effect from a broad output beam. It was quite discernable.
Although ProMaster intends it to be used for both still and video work I preferred the power of the CL36RGB for video instead of the CL33RGB. It offered me much more latitude in my settings and distances. Now having said that I understand I am a photographer not a videographer. A true videographer could probably get more out of it.
Special Effects Mode
Below I'm just quickly cycling through the (20) special effects on the CL33RGB. The CL36RGB has (17) similar effects. Admittedly they do blur into each other during my video, but I'm sure you get the idea.
How I set up each shot:
The Light Attendant App
I downloaded this app through Google Play Store onto my smartphone (available for iPad, iPhone or Android). It was intuitive and both lights were loaded onto the app in minutes. Simply point the app at the ProMaster light and it’s instantly on your phone allowing you wireless control. This app will spoil you. From the comfort of your chair you find yourself making any pinpoint lighting adjustment wirelessly to either bi-color or RGB color as well as control of the special effects. Probably through an error I was making I did have trouble “un-pairing” the apps initially as they were operating in tandem. Obviously that’s a problem until I realized that, much like strobes, you can put each light on its own group or channel. I simply programmed two different channels in about 10 seconds and problem solved! I now had individual control, from my smartphone, over each light. Of course, you can also forgo the app and operate these lights manually.
Conclusion
Both are small, pocketable, and lightweight. Providing excellent lighting solutions to a myriad of situations with both bi-color and RGB color at economical prices. I switched from strobes years ago for my in studio portraits and table top work to continuous lighting. I own large LED light panels for those larger jobs requiring greater light output but they are cumbersome, impractical and hard to place where needed for small tabletop and macro work. That’s where the CL33RGB and the CL36RGB shine. Placed with pinpoint accuracy, and appropriately, you can turn your shots from the mundane to wall hangers!
I have purchased ProMaster products in the past and none have failed me. Some with about 12 years of fairly frequent use. I’ve come to believe in the name and the personal support that comes with buying from a local ProMaster independent dealer.
Jay Juliano
I’ve been in love with photography for the past 30 years. Once a professional photographer now a serious amateur for the past 15 years. I travel throughout New England looking for images that ultimately create appealing, attractive, interesting wall art.
Posted May 29, 2024
