For years, I’ve been using these LimoStudio lights that I purchased as part of a kit off Amazon. The kit included the two lights you see on each side of me with the large soft-boxes but also included two additional umbrella lights as well as the stands for each. Not only did the kit include the four lights, but it also came with a green screen and the stands and frame for hanging that as well!
I think I purchased the entire kit for about $150 dollars and have been using the lights and green screen for years. I haven’t had any issues with them and the only thing I’ve ever done to improve my setup was purchase brighter CFL bulbs for the two soft-box lights that I use with my green screen.
However, as you can see, they take up quite a bit of foot space with their large soft-boxes as well as the feet of the stands to make sure they don’t tip. When I purchased these, LED panels weren’t quite as affordable as they are now, nor as popular. While the prices have gotten better, the most popular option for streamers, the Elgato Key Light, will still set you back $199 US Dollars.
Not wanting to spend $400 dollars on new lights, I’ve just continued using the lights I already have. While they take up a bunch of space, they do the job and do it well. However, recently a company named GODOX reached out to me to see if they could send me one of their LED Key Lights to take a look at. Since I was interested in switching to LED anyways and specifically wanted desk mountable lights, I thought why the hell not and next thing ya know, I’m sitting here with this light next to me making this review.
So… this is my review of the GODOX LEDP260C Key Light, a competitor to the Elgato Key Light at half the price with a ton of great features! As of the time of making this video, it currently costs $99 US Dollars on Amazon compared to Elgato’s at $199.
ROLL THE INTRO!
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There is one big way that the Elgato beats the GODOX light in my opinion that I want to mention right off the bat. The Elgato ecosystem.
Unlike the GODOX, the Elgato Key Light can integrate not only with your computer directly to control things like the color temperature as well as the brightness directly from your PC using Elgato’s software, but it can also integrate directly with other Elgato products like their Stream Deck allowing you to do some pretty cool stuff with just the press of a button.
While this isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for me as I don’t use a ton of Elgato’s products to begin with, I do think it’s important to mention as if you are already invested in their ecosystem, it may be worth the extra cost in order for everything to play nice together and just work!
The GODOX does come with a remote that allows you to adjust all the settings without needing to access the light and both offers similar specs in terms of brightness, color temperature ranges, and build quality. This means how you plan on using the light and whether you are already tied in to the Elgato ecosystem is what’s going to be the bigger factor when deciding which one will work better for you!
Where the GODOX really excels though is the fact that it offers much more features that allow the light to be used not just for livestreaming but for any purpose you may have when it comes to creating content. And it costs half the price!
For example, you can change the settings for the Elgato key light with your smartphone using Elgato’s app if you want to use it away from your PC. However, the GODOX has a separate remote that you can use if you’re wanting to use this product somewhere else and not tie up your smartphone. Not only that, but if you don’t feel like using or bringing the remote, you can change all the settings on the GODOX directly on the back of the unit using the controls and LCD screen built right in to the light. With the Elgato, you must use their app, there are no physical controls on the light. While this isn’t a huge issue, out in the field, it’s still much nicer to just be able to walk up to the back of the light and make some quick adjustments if needed.
Also, not only can the GODOX light be plugged in via AC power like the Elgato, but it can also run off of Sony NP-970 Camera batteries allowing you to run the light even if you’re using it in a place where you don’t have an electrical outlet!
The GODOX also uses an industry standard connector that that allows you to mount it to universal light stands and tripods whereas the Elgato uses their own standard for mounting thus making it more difficult to just throw it on a light stand or tripod if needed.
The included remote can operate the light from up to 65 feet away using WiFi between the light and remote control letting you adjust settings easily even from a distance. It also allows you to change between 6 different groups as well as 16 channels within each frequency group which is a huge deal to professionals as you may also be using other things triggered via WiFi like camera flashes or your phone’s WiFi connected to your DSLR or Mirror-less camera.
It features 260 LED lights, 128 yellow and 128 white, and can be adjusted from 100% brightness all the way down to 10% brightness with max lux of 2050 if you’re using 3300K or a lux of 2200 if you’re using 5600K.
Speaking of Kelvin values, you can adjust the color temperature of the GODOX light from a warm yellow temp of 3300K to a nice cool blue or daylight temp of 5600K. I will mention here that the Elgato Key Light does offers a little bit better range with a range of 2900k to 7000k but honestly, both have good enough temperature range to allow it to match either tungsten or daylight light sources.
The GODOX also features a CRI or Color Rendering Index of 95+ for each of their panels. The scale goes from 0 to 100 and having a higher CRI rating means that the the light should produce better, or truer, colors. Any CRI rating of higher than 90 is considered high and should provide you with colors that are more true to life. For example, here on screen are some images showing you the difference between light with a lower CRI rating vs a higher CRI rating. We can see the same fruit looks entirely different and more vivid and brightly colored with a higher CRI rating. Even the person and colors on the color card look more true to life with a higher CRI.
In regards to the Elgato Key Light, I know they use OSRAM LEDs which come in a variety of CRI ratings of either 80+, 90+ or even 97+, however, I’ve reached out to Elgato to get confirmation as to which LEDs they are using, however, as of the time of recording this video, I’ve not gotten any response which honestly makes me a bit SUS…I’ve been playing way too much Among Us. In all honesty, they could have a high CRI rating as well.
In terms of weight, the GODOX comes in at about 2.8 pounds with the panel and desk mount combined whereas the Elgato claims to have a weight of 2.86 pounds according to their website. The GODOX panel is a little larger at approximately 528mm wide by 390mm tall and is a bit thicker at about 70mm. Compared to the Elgato which is approximately 350mm wide by 250mm high with a thickness of 30mm. So both come in at about the same in terms of weight yet as mentioned previously the GODOX offers more features thus making the panel a touch larger in size. However, overall both seem to be built really well and from good materials that seem like they will last for quite some time so no complaints against either in this department!
The bottom line is that the Elgato key light was built with a streamer in mind when it was designed and things like controls on the lights or being able to run off battery power just weren’t included features as honestly it does make more sense to just control the lights directly from your PC if you’re using them for streaming. However, in my opinion, if you’re spending this much on a light, I’d much rather be able to use the light for other purposes besides just streaming.
And sure, while you can use the Elgato key light for other purposes and even use adapters and stuff to mount it to normal tripods and use their app to change settings instead of physical buttons, the GODOX is just superior in ease of use when it comes to anything that doesn’t require you sitting directly in front of a PC and using the light.
Again, if you’re already tied in to the Elgato ecosystem, it may make sense to pay the extra money and get the Elgato key light, but even if you are, is it really that big of a deal to use a remote to adjust the settings of your light and then the ability to use it more freely with other creative projects as well? Especially at half the cost plus with the extra features you get?
That’s a question only you can answer, but in using this GODOX light, I can say that while I love Elgato’s products and think they produce some high quality gear, it just isn’t worth the extra cost to me or the lack of features when compared to the GODOX key light.
Obviously, as with most of these types of reviews, I’ve not had the light long enough to speak on what typically is the most important aspect of any product. Longevity.
However, if you’re watching this video at a later date then when I published it and want to get an update as to how it’s performing later down the line…
I do stream every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday over on TwitchTV. Link here on the screen or down in the description below!