I reviewed the Godox FL200R, and I might never use rigid panels again

The Godox FL200R is a square 2′ x 2′ full-colour flexible LED panel designed for video, broadcast, and cinematic production. Several versions of the light are available, and the one I’ve looked at in this review is the R version, essentially meaning it has RGB and full-colour control, not just the ability to adjust colour temperature from cool to warm.

The light itself is aimed at those taking a step up into semi-pro or professional lighting and needing one lighting source that not only offers superb illumination but also plenty of adjustment and flexibility. The Godox FL200R sits in the mid-range and offers an affordable and slightly flexible LED panel. It’s very easy to fit into difficult locations. It’s also far lighter and more robust than fixed LED panels, and once the support structure is clicked into place on the back, it offers a sizeable source of illumination that far outstrips many other panels within this price range.

Many other full RGB panels can feel slightly gimmicky, but there’s a real feeling of professionalism about the FL200R. It’s made from exceptionally high-quality materials. As you put in all the poles and then mount them onto the lighting stand, it feels as robust and solid as any professional rig. However, because of its materials, it’s far lighter and much easier to manoeuvre into position, which in my opinion makes it far more valuable than LED lighting panels that cost many times more.

What I also really like is the fact that it has full RGB built in, and this doesn’t seem to affect the brightness of the panel in any way. It means that you don’t have to mess around with gels or special lighting effects. All you need to do is go to the control panel or the supporting app, adjust the LED to the colour, saturation, and brightness that you want, and you’re done—no clipping on annoying gels or having to double up to get the exact colour you want. Here, you can do it all with the simplicity of a touchscreen app.

While there is a support structure that enables you to use this like any other panel, one of the things I really liked about the design is that, with the aid of a couple of standard clamps, you can clamp this light into some quite tricky locations. Because of the flexibility that the panel enables, you can fit it to the curves and corners of rooms where other panels just wouldn’t fit. It lets you get much further back into the scene to produce some really effective lighting.

It’s great to see there are a few options in the range, and as a starting point, the square-format 2′ x 2′ panel is a great place to begin if you’re a small- to medium-sized business needing to film professional-style interviews. If you’re taking that professionalism up a notch, it’s great that this range has larger panels ready to go. From the outset, just opening these panels up and taking a look shows you how much potential they have.

The build of the LED panel is quite unlike any other I’ve looked at. It’s flexible, but not in a cheap way. The materials are robust, with a strong fabric weave around the outer edge and heavy canvas used for the backing.

Surprisingly, the panel itself has quite a bit of flex to it. So, if you want to bend it into a corner or follow the shape of a curved wall, that’s perfectly possible. It has the sort of flexible rigidity you get with many thick ground mats. In each of the corners are little eyelets that can either be hung on hooks, pinned to walls, or form part of the more rigid mounting structure that can be attached to the back, allowing for traditional LED panel mounting.

The main light feels well-made. Once you get over how thin and lightweight it is compared with equivalent lighting options, you start to see just how flexible and versatile this light is. While it’s a 2′ x 2′ light, the actual dimensions for the bare light body are 25.08″ x 25.08″. With a single cable coming out of the light, it fits into the dedicated controller, which measures 6.06″ x 5.04″ x 9.13″. The light itself weighs just 1 kg, and the controller 2.8 kg, so by all means, it’s a very lightweight system.

What I really like about the way this is rigged up is that because the controller and power adapter are separate from the LED light, the LED itself is very lightweight, making it easy to position. You can strap the electronics elsewhere, giving you more versatility. Even on the lighting stand, you can just hook it onto a lower adjuster to lower the centre of gravity, which helps with stability when in use.

Getting the light set up is simple enough. As it’s flexible and foldable, you do need to put in a support structure to use it properly. If, as I did, you use it freestyle initially, you can just use some hand clamps to clamp it onto whatever you have around. For one filming project, I literally hooked one of the eyelets onto a screw in the wall, which gave me a very easy way of throwing illumination into the room from a high vantage point without thinking about lighting stands.

Using a more controlled setup, you simply fold open the light, flip it so the LEDs lie flat to the surface, and then click in the mounting structure. This uses tension to create a very rigid, flat light, giving you exactly what you’d expect from most flat-panel LEDs. The great thing is that, for the cost, you’re getting a panel that’s at least half again, or even double, the size of an equivalent-cost unit.

Once the pole support structure is in place, the light becomes very rigid. You can pop it onto a standard lighting stand and use it as normal. For this review, I also used the diffuser and grid, which simply Velcro onto the outer edge. At about 23 inches in depth, they produce a good diffuse light, and the grid does a great job of focusing the light onto your subject.

While I didn’t have to worry about the weather, it’s great to know that the build quality has been improved, with IP54 certification in weatherproofing. This means it can withstand dust and splashes. So, if you’re working outside and it starts to rain, you should be okay for at least a few minutes.

Considering the size, dimensions, power, and price, this FL200R lamp is definitely aimed at the mid-range to entry-level professional videographer, looking for an LED panel with a full RGB array that offers far more than most other options on the market.

The most obvious feature of this LED panel is that it’s foldable and flexible. That means, for a 2′ x 2′ panel, it will fold down into a very neat carry case, which is exceptionally easy to transport, stack, and store.

It also means that, unlike bulky and more rigid LED panels, it’s a lot more flexible in how you can mount it. So, if, for instance, you’re in a car cabin and need to create some downlighting, it’s thin enough to stick to the roof of the car above the driver and passenger to get really nice downlighting effects. Likewise, in any very cramped situation, because it’s really no larger than a picture frame and so thin, you can pretty much just attach it to the wall with the cable running to the controller. This gives you far more flexibility in how you use it. During this test, I actually had it inside a tank and was able to use that illumination for some photography with a wider spread than the usual tube lamps I would use.

There are several key lighting features to the FL200R, including full bi-colour lighting, meaning you can adjust the colour temperature to fit the ambient lighting in whichever location you are. But then it goes further, offering full RGB, so if you want red, green, or blue lighting, or anything in between, there’s plenty of flexibility and adjustment there too.

One of the things I really like is that Godox has gone to the extreme of making gel modes. So, if you want to mimic traditional lighting gels, those are all possible as well, great for adding mood and atmosphere. Through the app, it’s very easy to locate exactly the lighting effect you want. If you don’t want to use the app, then everything can be done through the slightly bulky controller with a simple carousel mechanism. The small LED on that unit is relatively easy to follow, and if you’re using this day to day, it all makes sense fairly quickly.

Alongside the standard lighting and RGB modes are 14 built-in FX, giving you lighting effects like candle, TV flicker, fire, explosion, party cycle, and more. So, if you’re filming and need to add lighting effects to your scene, you can do this on the fly using just the one panel.

Showing that Godox is really pushing the boundaries of LED lighting, they’ve also included multiple dimming curves. This just means that the way the light dims can be changed to suit different lighting conditions; you have linear, exponential, S-curve, and logarithmic, depending on your needs.

As mentioned a few times, the light is fully compatible with the Godox Light app, which gives you full flexibility over the control and use of the light. It also enables you to group them with others, so if you have several of these units and need to adjust them all at the same time, you can. It’s extremely useful. Obviously, a light at this level includes CRMX/DMX wireless communication, which is a good feature for professional users. There’s also DMX512/RDM wired control support, again, something studio and broadcast users will particularly appreciate.

Another feature I’m starting to see more often on LED lighting is green/magenta shift adjustment. This enables you to fine-tune colour balance for broadcast, excellent for professionals, though possibly beyond the needs of most standard users.

As technology and software update, it’s nice to see there’s a USB-A port for firmware updates. So if Godox releases new features, added effects, or other modes, a simple firmware update will access them.

Throughout this test, I’ve run the panel solely through AC power, due to the adapters I had available. However, if you want to run it from another power source, such as a V-mount battery, that is also possible.

When it comes to the quality of design and build, this is a very impressive light. If I were going out into the market now, starting from scratch with my lighting gear, the Godox FL200R would definitely be one of the key components I’d look to buy.

When the Godox FL200R was released, it had instant appeal, but I was slightly dubious about whether it would be as good as some of my fixed lighting gear, especially the Rotolight Anova Pro 2 I use at present. To be honest, the Godox FL200R is a very different kind of light. However, it took less than an hour to remove it from the case, set it up, and start using it before I realised that this is a light I’ll be returning to on a regular basis.

Over the month I’ve been using the light, it’s gone from just being impressive to exceptional. I’ve used it on two or three professional shoots, partly to put it through its paces, but also because it was the best option available. The fact that it’s foldable, packs down into a small, neat case, is exceptionally robust, and doesn’t require babying when thrown into a van after a shoot is a huge bonus. The build quality is just in another league.

I’ve been shooting video for over 30 years, and I’m well accustomed to solid lighting gear, as well as that heart-dropping moment when one of the lights suddenly topples and smashes to pieces. It hasn’t happened for many years, and I think the last light I saw destroyed was an old Redhead. But once you’ve seen an expensive light hit the deck, you’re always that much more careful, double-checking everything. These days, I use lighting that’s robust and can take a knock or two. Because of the design and weight of the FL200R, if it did topple from a standard lighting stand, I don’t think I’d worry too much. The flexible nature of the LED panel just makes it that much more resilient compared with traditional lighting forms.

From the outset, this light impressed. Its flexibility means I could just use standard clamps on the corners to pin it into place, getting it to sit in a curved corner, for example, where standard lighting is awkward. And because I didn’t need to use a lighting stand, I could just clamp it in place, leaving plenty of room. At one point, we even considered using Blu Tack to stick it to a wall. With a bit of Blu Tack, it did get a relatively decent purchase to the wall, although the weight was pushing the limits a bit for the adhesive it held, which was surprising, although probably not best practice.

For more professional lighting, of course, you need to add the diffuser, and for that added level of professionalism, the grid. At that point, the full unit’s weight starts to add up, and a proper lighting stand is required.

Getting the support structure in place and adding the diffuser and grid takes around 3 to 5 minutes. It’s one of those satisfying setup processes where you can catch up with the rest of the crew as you each prep your gear. The whole process feels good and solid. Even the electrical connectors are of professional broadcast quality, giving robust connections throughout.

Powering up the light, the illumination was impressive, registered at 8071 lux at 5600K without the diffuser. The colour accuracy is also strong, with a CRI ≥ 96 and TLCI ≥ 98, ideal for video and film work where colour accuracy is essential.

Checking colour accuracy with the Datacolor light meter confirmed this is an excellent panel, matching some of the more professional lighting I was using. With a small adjustment of the bi-colour temperature, everything matched in, especially with the RS60Rs I was using in combination.
There are just so many things about this light that really stood out. The flexibility of how you can mount it was a big part of what made it so good.

The ease of adjusting the colour temperature, either through the Godox Light app or directly on the control panel, was another. I wouldn’t say the control panel is the easiest thing to use. You do have to push buttons and rotate dials to get the exact settings, and if you miss a setting, it’s a little awkward to go back and readjust. But with the app readily available, there’s really no reason to use the panel directly at all.

Another point is that you can wire this straight into a DMX board and control it from there, once again removing the need for the control panel, other than to supply power. And because it’s separate from the light, it’s easy to manoeuvre and adjust. To be honest, it’s exactly what I’d expect from my professional lighting systems.

One of the features I really liked was the robustness of the wireless communication. Even in a busy show environment with lots of people and wireless traffic, the communication between the lights was solid, making things much easier.

Used as a small main light or a fill in larger productions, this 2′ x 2′ option is exceptionally good. The size makes it ideal for close-up work. For a larger interview, though, you’d want at least two panels, one for each subject, rather than just using a single panel. While this panel is larger than most fixed units, in a professional environment, you’d again want to step up. It’s nice to see there are options for that within the Godox range.

But if you’re looking for a main light for smaller productions and interview setups, and, as I said, couple it with RS60Rs, you’ll have a powerful and relatively affordable lighting solution that really delivers. Throughout my testing, working with other videographers who like to see what new kit I’ve got, I have to say one or two walked away seriously considering, if not already buying, one or more of these panels.

If you have any doubts about switching from a standard fixed LED panel to one of these FL200Rs, or the other shapes and sizes available from Godox, then throw your doubts away, because this is one of the best lighting solutions that has ever been available.

Aimed at the mid-range, the cost is by far one of the most affordable for a semi-pro or entry-level pro lighting solution. Essentially, it’s a drop in the ocean when it comes to production costs, yet the quality of the build and the light it produces means it can be used for everything from broadcast to film production without too many issues.

The quality of the illumination is exceptionally good, especially when you put on the diffuser and the grid for close-quarter interview work. And if you couple this with more lights, as I did with the RS60Rs, you have a lightweight entry-level interview kit that just works exceptionally well. With the wireless communication or the Light app, it all links together and just makes sense, making it a perfect option if you’re working on your own.

For larger productions, the flat panel and flexibility make it incredibly easy to use. The fact that you can wire it into a DMX board makes it even more versatile. The one thing I would watch is the colour temperature and brightness. While it is pretty accurate, if you’re using more professional lighting alongside it, you may need to do a little tweaking to get everything to match perfectly. But then, if you’re working in a professional environment, your lighting technician will handle that for you.

One of the other things I really liked about this lighting setup was that you can power it directly via AC mains or through a power station using one of the V-mount options. However, if you’re working away from mains power and don’t want to carry a power station, it does offer the ability to plug in a V-mount battery. While I didn’t have time during this test to try out that flexibility with the V-mount batteries, it is something I’ll be exploring in the near future. I’ll also be going a little more in-depth on some of the features.

I really do feel the FL200R, and the series of lights when paired with the RS60s, makes a very powerful option to meet the needs of almost any videographer looking to conduct interviews, vlogs, or smaller productions.