We Review the World First Remote Control Lighting System: Falcam Move LightGo

If you’re a one-person workforce or operating with a small crew on picture manufacturing, you’ll know the ache—particularly with regards to lights setups. It can also be some of the irritating portions of a shoot. It’s now not with reference to turning a mild on. It’s the consistent want for micro-adjustments: tilt it somewhat extra, feather it to the threshold, lift it upper—handiest to comprehend the attitude’s off and you have got to deliver it backtrack once more. When your mild is far up there, you by no means in point of fact understand how a lot to tilt till it’s already within the air.

This is the place Falcam, a sub-brand below Ulanzi, steps in to modify the sport. Their newest free up, the Move LightGo, is the sector’s first motorized lights gadget for directional changes. Designed with motorized tilt and pan features, it permits customers to keep an eye on the right positioning in their lighting remotely. No extra mountaineering ladders or shouting to somebody around the room. Just press a button and modify your mild from the place you stand. It’s easy, but it surely solves an actual downside—particularly for small workforce productions. That more or less time and bother stored is a huge deal.

Build Quality

The Move LightGo feels unusually forged correct out of the field. It doesn’t wobble or shift round when powered off. The construct evokes self assurance, particularly when mounting your mild prime up. Weighing in at 1.7 kg, it’s now not precisely featherlight, however bearing in mind what it does—supporting lighting as much as 6 kg—I believe it’s fairly appropriate. It is made with a mixture of aluminum alloy, ABS plastic, and stainless-steel, with a plastic frame paired with an aluminum alloy Bowens mount and stainless-steel tripod mount. It’s a wise combine that helps to keep the full construct robust with out going overboard on weight.

Once fastened, it holds its place beautiful smartly even if your mild is tilted to an excessive perspective. I’ve to mention the counterbalance feels smartly idea out. That stated, the additional weight method you’ll need to pair it with a forged mild stand and keep away from the inexpensive trip stands in any respect prices, or you’ll possibility it tumbling over—having a virtually 5 kg setup in general suspended within the air isn’t a comic story. Another reassuring contact is the dual-point locking gadget on the tripod mount. It grips the sunshine stand firmly and is helping save you slippage all through far off rotating changes.

Features

Despite being a easy product, the Move LightGo packs in considerate options which can be obviously designed with real-world utilization in thoughts. For starters, it provides dual-axis motion with as much as 170 levels of tilt and 450 levels of pan. The prolonged tilt axis is particularly helpful to conquer tilt obstacles when the use of better mild modifiers, which is a pleasing contact you don’t understand you wish to have till you notice it in motion. The 450-degree panning prohibit may be designed to stop cable twisting, which is superb for any individual who’s bored with untangling energy cords mid-shoot.

The motion is exact, easy, and unusually robust. I examined it with my heaviest mild, the Godox AD600 with its battery, and it treated it with out breaking a sweat. It delivers 2.5 Nm of torque for pan and 15 Nm for tilt, which you’ll be able to if truth be told really feel when resisting the motor manually.

Falcam claims the Move LightGo helps 95% of Bowens-mount lighting. The mount is removable, so you’ll be able to go away it connected for your mild for sooner setup and more uncomplicated delivery. In my opinion, this modular design additionally hints at possible destiny enhance for different mounts.

The unit contains two USB-C ports: one for energy, one for the far off gadget. Since it attracts energy by means of USB-C, you could have versatile powering choices—from V-mount batteries to USB PD chargers or quite a lot of energy adapters that paintings together with your lights apparatus. However, those energy adapters are bought as a separate accent. 

Notably, it doesn’t come with a integrated battery. While this would possibly look like a drawback, it’s if truth be told a smart decision for individuals who trip ceaselessly and transfer apparatus via luggage check-in. The resolution to put out of your mind the integrated battery additionally not directly extends the usefulness of the product past the lifetime of lithium batteries as they degrade. Instead, it makes use of a supercapacitor to retailer momentary energy, permitting you to securely reset or reposition the lever to a default lock place to stop tools harm after powering down.

There are much more considerate touches. The ¼” ARRI finding hollow provides you with room to increase the unit’s usability with different equipment or use the cable straps to assist stay issues protected. This guarantees your energy or far off cables gained’t come out in the event you stumble upon one thing. A reminiscence preset function may be constructed into the unit, letting you save and recall explicit positions with a unmarried contact, which is fantastically useful for repeated lights setups.

You can keep an eye on it in 3 ways: stressed out far off with a 3 m cable, 2.4 GHz wi-fi far off with as much as 30 m vary, or by means of Bluetooth with the app, providing you with a 10 m keep an eye on vary. I might suggest getting the wi-fi far off in case your funds permits, because it provides a continuing manner of controlling the unit and has superb vary and a 24-hour standby lifestyles on a typical 18650 battery. The construct is chunky, however in a great way, because it feels sturdy and gives a forged grip. That stated, the UI may use some enhancements. Certain menu pieces, like adjusting the channel, use the “button up,” and adjusting the unit tag quantity makes use of the scroll button. Pressing the “OK” button does now not revert to the former menu, whilst urgent the menu button does now not deliver you to the sub-menu however to the primary display screen—smartly, it is simply moderately complicated.

Interestingly, whilst the app has a shorter keep an eye on vary, it if truth be told provides smoother controls. It keeps responsiveness, and while you swipe diagonally, it handles each tilt and pan in combination—one thing the bodily far off doesn’t enhance. That little element by myself makes it value conserving the app put in.

Real-World Usage

As somebody who ceaselessly runs solo or works with a small workforce for all my picture and video paintings, the Move LightGo has confirmed extremely useful. The talent to regulate your mild perspective remotely and exactly whilst having a look at once via your viewfinder with out an assistant is a game-changer. It eliminates the guesswork and loyal back-and-forth, particularly in fast moving setups. For one-person productions, this type of potency is valuable.

There also are some distinctive use circumstances that I’ve began to find through the years. One of them is swinging the sunshine for impact—just about unimaginable to tug off easily with out assist. I even controlled to trace a shifting topic by means of panning the sunshine all through a shoot, which spread out ingenious chances I hadn’t regarded as sooner than.

I might assume the Move LightGo in point of fact shines in constant studio environments. Imagine having the ability to mount your lighting completely and depend only at the far off for repositioning. It’s absolute best for creators with a multi-light YouTube or livestream setup.

In phrases of movement efficiency, it’s very responsive and relatively exact. At default pace (pace 100), the lean covers 170° in about 18 seconds, whilst the pan rotates a complete 450° in kind of 15 seconds. Even with heavier lighting just like the AD600, the movement remains easy and strong, and not using a sag. It additionally has a just right counterbalance even at most tilt angles.

That stated, with a complete setup (mild, modifier, battery, and the Move LightGo), you’re simply hitting 5 kg. A heavy-duty mild stand is very important. Use broad leg spreads, and handiest lift it vertically. As the motor rotates, the middle of gravity might shift, and issues can get wobbly speedy in case your stand isn’t strong. That being stated, you must even be very cautious when shifting the sunshine stands round, as it might probably get beautiful heavy and off-balance.

The motor noise, particularly at the tilt axis, is noticeable. Left-right rotation is quieter, however the up-down movement emits a noisy mechanical whine. This is usually a downside when rolling audio, equivalent to all through interviews or quiet scenes. If you are adjusting lights between takes, then it’s now not a subject matter.

A couple of minor usability problems surfaced all through my in depth use. The LED standing mild is situated on the again, which isn’t visual when putting in place from the entrance. The port structure is cramped, making plugging/unplugging cables really feel awkward—particularly when each ports are in use. The reset button may be arduous to succeed in on this situation, although the latter can be much less of a subject matter since you’ll in all probability be the use of the button after powering down and unplugging it when resetting.

Besides that, I did run right into a minor annoyance as there’s no visible pan perspective indicator. Unlike tilt, which is visual, it’s simple to lose observe of pan orientation. More than as soon as, I’ve fastened it to a nook handiest to determine later that it used to be already close to its rotation prohibit, which intended I needed to redo the setup simply to reorient it correctly.

Last however now not least, the more than one unit preset serve as, which I couldn’t check. In idea, a number of devices can also be synced by means of the similar channel/ID and precipitated to transport concurrently. Sounds promising, however I’ll need to revisit this as soon as I am getting extra devices. For now, we can need to take their phrase for it.

Summary

What I Liked

• Solid, exact, and strong tilt and pan actions

• No sag at excessive angles

• Multiple powering choices

• Wireless far off with lengthy battery lifestyles

• Air trip–pleasant design

• ¼” ARRI finding hollow for equipment

• Detachable mount for future-proofing

 What Could Be Improved

• Add peak extension capability

• Include pan/tilt orientation signs

• Support diagonal motion on bodily far off keep an eye on

• Add mount compatibility for umbrella modifiers

• Improve far off keep an eye on UI and button structure

• Better LED indicator visibility

• Release mounting accent to at once mount the unit into a set place as a substitute of depending on mild stands

The Falcam Move LightGo is a type of uncommon merchandise that fills an overly explicit however ceaselessly lost sight of hole in manufacturing workflows. It doesn’t attempt to reinvent lights however as a substitute smooths out the little ache issues that many people have simply discovered to are living with. Being in a position to remotely modify mild angles, particularly for solo shooters or small crews, eliminates numerous pointless back-and-forth and makes the full procedure simply that bit extra environment friendly.

While there are some minor problems just like the motor noise, tight port structure, and the added bulk, it’s completely comprehensible as this can be a first-generation product. Innovation hardly ever comes with out a couple of trade-offs, and I believe Falcam has performed a forged process introducing one thing new to the marketplace.

I might in particular suggest this for studio homeowners or fixed-location setups, the place the added weight and house are much less of a priority. Personally, whilst I in point of fact revel in the use of it, I nonetheless to find myself debating whether or not to deliver it alongside for location shoots, because it does, in the end, absorb additional bag room, and the load can stack up temporarily if I’m working more than one devices.

That stated, the Falcam Move LightGo priced at $249 is a smart step ahead in lights keep an eye on and an indication of considerate and sensible inventions.