Why the modular Godox ML80Bi is now my go-to compact video light

The Godox ML80Bi is a compact bi-colour COB LED video light, as the name suggests, directly aimed at the video market and with a price that will suit the entry-level user, be that small business or home. The price and ease of use also make it a great option for education, especially if you run workshops, as its simple design and approach make it easy to use, but more importantly, extremely flexible.

The light itself is the bi-colour option, and there is a full RGB option available as well. This essentially enables you to adjust the colour temperature to match the ambient light, be that daylight or artificial.

There’s also plenty of adjustability over the brightness, taking it from a very discreet fill all the way through to your main 80W light to illuminate your subjects. It is small, so even with the light modifiers, it’s really designed for close-up work. If you have an interview situation and you need some backlight, main light, or fill light, then one, or even better, three, of these units make a really good compact lighting solution that’s easy to transport and exceptionally quick to set up.

What’s more? The light itself comes in three parts. You have the main lighting unit that contains the COB LED, then you have the battery pack that slots onto the back, and on the front, you have a small Bowens-style mount that enables a whole host of accessories and light modifiers to be quickly attached to the front.

On the base is a quarter-inch thread, so it can be mounted onto a tripod. If you don’t have a dedicated lighting stand, then in the small carry case that comes with the LED light, there is a more standard lighting stand mount, which makes it a perfect partner to the 3 Legged Thing lighting stand.

The Godox ML80Bi is an LED light that has been primarily designed for entry-level videographers but will also be suited to anyone who shoots still life or any other work where a small, compact continuous LED light would be advantageous, and a great alternative to flash.

The Godox ML80Bi arrives in a small semi-hard case and, as you unzip the lid and open it up, all the components lie neatly laid out inside. It’s well thought out, and this is something that Godox has really succeeded in with its products recently, essentially supplying you with almost everything you need to get started, and all in a very attractive bundle. This means you can just purchase the product and then go out and get started without needing to provide additional bags or cases to neatly keep all your lighting gear safe.

The actual light is compact, and it has an interchangeable battery part that clicks into the back. If you’re going out on an all-day shoot and you know you need plenty of power, you can either purchase additional battery packs or use PD power to power the lights. It is worth noting that the power input is a little more substantial than your average power bank, and something along the lines of one of the Ugreen power banks is probably a much better idea, as it seems to need at least 20W output.

When it comes to the size and weight, the barebones light measures in at 96 × 91 × 74 mm and weighs 519g, although once the light modifier is put on the front and the lighting stand adapter is added along with the battery, it actually measures 96 x 91 x 175 with the standard zoom lens reflector (ML-Z) attached to the front.

When you take a look at what’s actually in the box, you essentially get the light body, the battery (ML-BA), the zoom lens reflector (ML-Z), a protection cover, a holder (AD-E2), the USB-C charging cord, a storage bag, and a very useful instruction manual.

What I also really like about this Godox range is that they’ve really thought about the accessories that are available. There’s a huge array, including a variety of softboxes, light lanterns, magnetic barn doors, magnetic diffusion kits, V-mount battery adapters, NP-F battery adapters, and even an LED projection kit with an array of gobos that can be quickly attached.

The one thing to consider is that this is an entry-level model, so it is made from plastic, but that plastic is of really good quality. What was surprising as I started to use the light is that it also has several connectivity options. When it comes to adjusting the colour temperature or brightness, you use the small control panel on the side, and this is consistent across the full range of Godox LED lights currently available. What’s surprising here is that even at this price level, it includes Bluetooth connectivity, so if you have the app installed on your phone, you can then control the light directly from your mobile.

The feature set of this small light is impressive, and Godox has really thought about the design to make it modular and easy to use, with interchangeable batteries, the ability to plug in NP-F batteries with the optional adapters, and a huge array of lighting modifiers that can be quickly attached to the front.

It has a maximum output of 80W, which is good and bright for this style of light, especially considering its size. It’s also bi-colour, with a colour temperature range from 2800K to 6500K, and you can adjust the brightness all the way from 0 to 100%.

As well as standard illumination, there’s a series of 11 FX modes built in, so if you’re shooting video and want to add some lightning into your scene, then you can pick the FX mode set, and the light will start to flicker accordingly.

There’s also the ability to connect with the Godox Light app, so if you want to control this alongside some of your other lighting, that is perfectly possible. Just add the light to the app, and it will appear in the array alongside all your other Godox lighting.

While this is an entry-level light, the build quality and design will actually appeal to professional users. It’s just so well thought out. Like the impressive RS60 I looked at recently, it really shows that Godox has gone from being a relatively affordable camera accessory manufacturer to one that now leads innovation, especially when it comes to these LED COB lights.

One of the standard accessories that comes with the light is the ML-Z zoom lens reflector, which is able to boost the output illumination of the light by up to 10 times. This means that, at 5600K colour temperature, at one metre, it produces 29,600 lux, essentially challenging 100W lights.

Alongside the included ML-Z zoom lens reflector, there’s also a huge array of magnetic diffusion options and barn doors that can all be quickly attached and detached from the zoom lens. Once the zoom lens is removed, it reveals a small Bowens-style mount with a Bowens adapter also available, which enables plenty of other accessories, reflectors, and light modifiers to be easily attached.

One of the things that I really like about the Godox lights I’ve seen recently is the app connectivity. Using the Godox Light app, you can take complete control. The unit also has the ability to plug into the wired DMX/CRMX ecosystem for greater and more professional lighting control.

As the light can be used in a variety of different scenarios, the included battery pack that fits on the back can supply up to an hour of illumination, making it a superb option for outdoor work. Because of its small size, it’s highly portable. As well as being mounted on a standard lighting stand, you can also hand-hold it.

The first thing to say about the Godox ML80Bi is that it is a great set for beginners. It’s relatively inexpensive, and the build quality and entire package—coming in that semi-hard case with pretty much everything you need to get started (aside from a decent lighting softbox)- enable you to get up and running quickly.

As I unpacked all of the elements of this modular light, I popped the battery onto charge. It actually took a little longer to fully charge than I’d expected, so I left it for a good two hours before it seemed to be fully topped up.

Clicking it into the back of the light and attaching the zoom lens that comes with the unit, it all seemed good and solid. I put the lighting stand adapter into the base and popped it onto a 3 Legged Thing lighting stand, which seemed to be a perfect partner to this compact light.

Switching on the light requires the usual combination of a button press and mode dial rotation before you get into the main menu, which enables you to opt for whatever lighting you want, from direct illumination to all of the FX modes. Once you get used to the carousel nature of the interface, it is very easy to use. I set the light to about 50% with the colour temperature at 5600K.

Checking that brightness and illumination with the Datacolor light meter, it showed that at one metre, the illumination came in at 5500 Lux, and the colour temperature was rated at 5460K, so pretty good, but not 100% perfect.

As I started to use the light on a couple of projects, the one thing that really stood out immediately was just how small and lightweight the whole ensemble was. It was just really easy to move into position as needed. With an array of lighting modifiers available, it’s very easy to adapt the lighting exactly the way that you want. Through this test, I actually had one of the Godox mount LED projection units to use alongside. This is an extremely high-quality piece of kit, and using gobos in the filter holder really did add to the flexibility of what you could do, something I would highly recommend, with the review coming up soon.

For the most part, I coupled this with the ML-SF50 octagonal softbox, which is ideal for interview situations and content creation. This diffused the light beautifully, and with that 80W COB LED providing plenty of power, there’s plenty of flexibility over what you’re able to do with this light. With just a single unit, you can actually create some really good lighting effects for a basic setup. For anyone just starting out, this one light is a perfect option for all types of scenarios, with the only real thing that you need on top of the basic lighting kit being the ML-SF50 for greater diffusion and light spread, and, of course, a decent lighting stand.

In use, I loved the flexibility, but what really stands out, alongside other Godox lights, is the Godox Light, so that you can control it from your mobile phone rather than having to use the onboard menu system. It’s just really easy to use, and if you’re standing behind the camera, it enables you to get a good idea of how the lighting is going to look without having to move.

I also liked the fact that I could use external power sources alongside the light. Although I didn’t have either of the NP-F or V-mount battery adapters, I was able to plug into the USB-C port with an external power source. It took a while to get the right power source connected, and if I were to be using these professionally, or even just for fun, I probably would opt to buy one of those other power adapters, just to give myself a little bit of fallback on the main battery.

Once again, Godox has proved that they are a dominant force within the lighting arena. This compact, modular lighting system is absolutely superb. It’s now one that I will recommend if people are looking for a basic power unit for their video work. It’s also an ideal option if you are a photographer and looking for a constant light that you can use for portraits and still life work. It’s just so small, flexible, and powerful.

But what really stands out about the light is just the pure volume of accessories available. So whether you’re shooting video interviews, pieces to camera, product work, or you’re even out in the field, this small light is perfectly adaptable to all sorts of use scenarios.

With a light at this price and so well conceived, it really is difficult to find any real negative, but if we are being really harsh, then I’d say that the small ML-BA battery only provides around 60 minutes of use at full power, and the charging times for this are relatively slow. The other point is that, obviously, with a light of this small size, whilst there is plenty of venting and heat dissipation, the internal fan does kick in. Whilst it isn’t overly loud, it is noticeable after a few minutes. Although when I listened to the content back, I couldn’t really hear it, and it’s easy enough to remove, especially with the latest AI-enhanced wireless microphone systems.

If you’re looking for a really cheap lighting solution that offers professional quality, then for me, the Godox ML80Bi is one of the best solutions available at present.

The Godox ML80Bi is an exceptional lighting solution for video and, for that matter, photography. It’s small, lightweight, and pretty much self-contained, with its ease of use and Godox’s depth of thought into the product that they supply.

I like the modular design. It enables you to adapt the lighting to your exact needs. For myself, working on content for camera jobs, the ability to film pieces to camera using the small softbox and to be able to adjust the lighting using the Godox Light app without needing to stand up from my position when presenting just makes it an exceptionally easy solution.

For lighting set-ups that are more advanced, the fact that you can then attach the projection unit or one of the multiple other accessories to the front so easily really does elevate its use. I used projection classes as well as a few recent setups to create lighting effects on the background, it really was an exceptionally useful tool and replaced some of our older and far more expensive lighting solutions to create far better and more reliable results.

Once again, Godox has proven its dominance in the lighting market, and this small entry-level LED COB light is just exceptional value for money at this price, and really is very hard to fault.