The concept of a small, versatile, yet professional quality light had not yet hit the Content/Imaging market, so we went to work. Thirty days & $229,000 later, the Lume Cube team began the process of producing the light you now know (and may own!) today. Here we are, 2019, a few years later launching the long-awaited update to the light that changed it all. We’ve listened intently to our customer's feedback, explored the latest available technology, and put together a product we are THRILLED to bring to market.
Riley Stricklin, a member of the co-founding team from day one when Lume Cube was a lofty idea on a whiteboard amongst a few friends in the garage, shares some personal insight about the advancements made in Lume Cube 2.0, why it’s an improvement to the current unit.
What is the Lume Cube 2.0?
Lume Cube 2.0 is the enhanced and improved version of the original light that made us who we are, the Lume Cube. We’ve taken every critique, criticism, and wish from our current customer base and incorporated them into this new edition. We are VERY proud of this product and the incredible technology we’ve been able to fit into it’s small and durable body.
What are the main improvements compared to the original Lume Cube?
- Color Temp
- Lens & Beam Angle
- Run Time
- Manual Controls
- Increase/Decrease Brightness
- Secret Low Light Mode
- Heat Output
- Optical Sensor (Flash Capability)
- USB-C Charging / Charge Cap
- Accessories Included
The Lume Cube 2.0 looks similar to the Original Lume Cube, was that a strategic decision?
ABSOLUTELY YES. We have over 100,000+ customers who own the Lume Cube and have an entire range of accessories that fit the Lume Cube. We strategically chose to keep the same form factor so the customers who own the Modification Frame and Accessories are able to upgrade to the Lume Cube 2.0 and continue using all the creative accessories they already have. We all know how frustrated the market gets when Apple changes up their charging/connection ports (forces you to buy all new cables for your home, car, etc), so we wanted to ensure we didn’t cause any unnecessary purchases for our customers. BUT make no mistake, every single internal component from the LED to the Battery to the Charging Ports have been upgraded.
The manual buttons got a makeover… What changed with the buttons?
Turning On/Off has seen an improvement manually. You’re now required to hold the power button for 3-seconds to turn the device on/off. In the original, you simply tapped the power button to turn the light on, which led to lights turning on in customers' camera bags & running the battery down when they weren’t expecting.
One of the most common requests (or complaints) about the manual buttons on Lume Cube 1.0 was that the buttons only went 1-direction...UP. You could only increase your light level and not decrease. If you accidentally went brighter than you needed, you would have to cycle all the way around to reach the lower settings (i.e. 80 > 90 > 100 > 10 > 20, etc). In Lume Cube 2.0, we’ve changed that! Now, you have FULL CONTROL both increasing and decreasing your light by 10% increments. No more cycling, simply adjust as your heart desires (and we’ve even added logos to indicate which direction is which)
But wait...THERE’S MORE! We included a little “easter egg” in the button controls for Long-Exposure photographers. Now, with a 3-second hold of BOTH buttons, the Lume Cube 2.0 will switch from illuminating in increments of 10% (10% > 20% > 30%, etc) to SINGLE PERCENT ADJUSTMENT (i.e. 1% > 2% > 3% > 4%, etc).
This allows long-exposure night photographers to customize their light output to ensure no matter how long of an exposure they are doing, they won’t blow out their image. SO COOL!
Why should I upgrade from my original Lume Cube to the 2.0 version?
As much as we dearly love the original Lume Cube (it made us who we are), there’s no hiding from the fact that it was designed in 2015/2016 with the technology available to us at that time. While we’ve used the same body to ensure customers could use the same accessories, we’ve pursued every upgrade we could fit into the unit. From the lens to color temperature, to average run time, and even the included Accessories make this a superior product.
Anything you may not have loved about the Lume Cube is likely improved/fixed/upgraded in the Lume Cube 2.0, so if you enjoyed the original Lume Cube we guarantee you’ll be mind blown with Lume Cube 2.0!
How do the LED specs compare to the original Lume Cube? What is new and why?
COLOR TEMPERATURE:
While maintaining a similar brightness (the brightest portable content light on the market), we’ve improved the color temperature to be a true 5600 Kelvin Daylight (previous Lume Cube was 6000K-6500k). This makes things such as skin tones much more accurate as well as allows you to use the Lume Cube 2.0 in a larger variety of shooting locations as it looks more natural in competing for ambient lighting
LENS / BEAM ANGLE / HOT SPOT:
The original Lume Cube had a 60º Beam Angle and a hexagon component built in to amplify the light output. While this was a GREAT feature for those using GoPro or needing a focused spot of light, we realized the majority of Lume Cube users were using Lume Cube in Photo & Video applications. As a result, we’ve redesigned the Lume Cube with a completely custom new lens which provides an 80º Beam Angle, completely erases the Hot Spot that you might find in the original Lume Cube, and leads to incredible soft fall-off on the edges, all while maintaining the same incredible output & LUX! I must say, it truly is a beautiful light output
IMPROVED CRI (Color Rendering Index):
This is one of the biggest improvements in LC2. The original Lume Cube had a CRI of 85 which many core image creators were critical of (CRI relates to how TRUE the rendering of the colors you are illuminating will be - i.e. if I’m illuminating a model and she’s wearing a Red Shirt, how “true red” will it show in the image. A low CRI will give a tint to the color and not look natural, whereas a CRI of 95-100 will allow the shirt to look it’s truest Red color). Lume Cube 2.0 has a CRI of 95+ which we’re incredibly excited about, allowing a near-perfect rendering of the true colors in your image.
What your favorite new feature in the Lume Cube 2.0? What made you add this feature in?
I’m going to cheat as usual and give 2 answers. It may be simple, but my favorite feature is the new buttons allowing you to both increase and decrease your brightness levels. As someone who uses Lume Cubes ALL THE TIME (naturally), it was one small little thing that added time and effort to shooting (counting 1, 2, 3, etc trying to determine which brightness level I was actually at). The new button control allows you to easily adjust downward & decrease brightness without looping the entire controls. It’s a HUGE advantage to the daily Lume Cube user.
The LED output of course! The new color temp and the beam angle is unreal, it’s so clean!! When you put the two next to each other and shine them against the wall, it’s a massive improvement. We’re really stoked on this one.
What is the run time on the Lume Cube 2.0 and how do you charge it?
CHARGING: Lume Cube 2.0, like most current electronics (Apple computers, GoPro’s, Samsung, etc) is charged via USB-C...finally!! We’re glad to finally make the upgrade and leave those Micro-USB cables behind.
RUN TIME: 1 hour and a half on 100% brightness and 2 hours and a half on 50% brightness.
What is included inside the box?
We’ve opted to give massive value to the consumer and include an array of useful photographic accessories inside the box. See below for the value we threw in!
- Lume Cube 2.0
- DSLR Shoe Mount for mounting to cameras
- Modification Frame for mounting all Gels & Diffusers
- 1 LEE Filters Zircon Range White Diffuser for Softening Light
- 1 LEE Filters Zircon Range Warming Gel for warming color temp to approximately 4500K
- USB-C Charging Cable
Do you have a personal favorite use for the Lume Cube 2.0?
Over the years I’ve gotten really into Video and participate in a lot of the Lume Cube Video Productions & even do some of the editing for our Social Media & Product Videos. The new 5600K color temp and included Diffuser/Gel have been perfect on some of our recent productions. Popping it on a little Gorillapod and adding some fill light to a scene has absolutely SAVED us these last few weeks (the 5600k color temp specifically as it allows the light to look nice and natural when doing some interview projects).
Does the Lume Cube 2.0 have slave flash capability? Has it improved from the Original Lume Cube?
YES, it does and YES it has! You actually may not have even noticed there was an
Optical Sensor on the original Lume Cube as we didn’t do much to promote it since it, unfortunately, wasn’t in the ideal position (front of the cube). When using it, unless, in a completely controlled lighting environment, you would have to fire your flashes straight at the front of the original Lume Cube. In most scenarios, Flashes will be behind the camera or to the side (2-3 point lighting setup) and the Lume Cubes will be hidden in the scene. We decided to move the Optical Sensor to the top of the cube in between the two buttons. Being on TOP of the cube & adding a crystal sensor that increases the light sensitivity, the Lume Cube 2.0 can pick up a flash from 360º and fire. This makes the 2.0 version much more effective in the flash environment! The Flash Duration can still be controlled within the Lume-X App which makes creativity endless!
How durable is the Lume Cube 2.0? Still waterproof?
Fortunately, since we used the same body, it’s still nearly BOMB PROOF! Run over it with your car, throw it against the wall, it’ll be fine I promise!! Regarding Waterproofing, we’ve actually pulled back from 100 feet to 30 feet. This product specs are geared towards image creators, so we found most of our underwater photographers/waterproof uses were within 6-10 feet of water, so added a 30 ft (10 meters) waterproof capability. For those wanting to go deeper, the Lume Cube 1.0 is still your best bet!
What kind of content creator is the Lume Cube 2.0 for?
Lume Cube 2.0 is for the photographer who’s looking to get more professional lighting without adding weight to their bag or impacting their wallet. For $89.95, Lume Cube 2.0 customers will not only receive the latest and greatest in LED technology, but also receive a range of accessories including a Camera Mount for video/photo/vlogging, a softening diffuser, a warming gel, and a Modification Frame to add any future Lume Cube accessories & modifiers. See below for a few prime examples of creators who will LOVE the Lume Cube 2.0
- Traveling Photographer or Videographer
- Wedding/Event Photographer or Videographer
- Product/Toy Photographer
- Vlogger/YouTuber
- Water Photographer (surf, pool, fashion, etc)
- Astro/Adventure/Landscape Photographer
