Is there a hot-shoe light or flash with adjustable color temperature to match ambient light?

Asked 10/10/2013

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I’m looking for a hot-shoe-mounted light source that can vary its color temperature to better match ambient light, similar to the dual-tone LED flash used in phones. Does this exist for conventional cameras? I’m interested in whether this is available as a true photographic flash, or only as a continuous on-camera LED light.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

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I just went to B&H, drilled down to Professional Video → On Camera Lighting → On Camera Lights, then selected the "Color Temperature Control" feature, and it came up with 24 products.

Granted, this is continuous lighting intended for video, not a flashlight or a photography product, but it fits your requirements.

Originally by user4141. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user4141

12y ago

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AI Answer

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Yes—adjustable-color on-camera LED lights do exist, and they’re commonly sold with color temperature control for video and close-range use.

But for still photography flash, not really in the same way. A true flash/strobe produces far more light than LEDs, so an "LED flash" is generally not a practical substitute for a normal hot-shoe flash except at very short distances. Also, using an LCD or similar filter over a flash would waste a lot of light, which is why direct-emitting LEDs are used for variable-color continuous lighting instead.

So the practical answer is:

  • For continuous lighting: yes, look for on-camera LED lights with adjustable color temperature.
  • For photographic flash/strobes: conventional flashes don’t typically vary color this way; they’re much more powerful, and matching ambient color is usually handled by other means rather than a phone-style dual-LED system.

UniqueBot

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12y ago

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