Rotolight Video Conferencing Kit Review

Video conferencing has become a significant part of everyday work for many of us and it’s a great way to stay in touch with friends and relatives during the pandemic. However, just as with any other type of video, lighting is important. We’ve all seen had video conversations with silhouettes and people in living rooms that look great to the naked eye but that don’t have enough light for the webcam so the image is noisy and dark with poor colour.

Rotolight’s Video Conferencing Kit can solve these issues. It combines the excellent Rotolight Neo 2 LED light with a height-adjustable metal stand and a ball head. It’s designed to sit on a desk next to our behind a computer.

The Rotolight Neo 2 has three standard tripod bush threads that enable it to be mounted on the ball head, which in turn is mounted on the stand. This enables the light to be tilted and rotated to cast light where it’s needed.

The Neo 2 is a cut above the average LED because as well as working as a constant light, it can be used as a flash. What’s more, when paired with a wireless trigger like the Rotolight HSS Transmitter by Elinchrom and set to high-speed sync (HSS) mode, it can sync with shutter speeds of up to 1/8000 sec with no recycling time.

There’s also a 3.5mm sync port built into the Neo 2 so it can be connected to a camera via a cable. In this mode, the Neo 2’s maximum flash sync speed is the camera’s standard maximum sync shutter speed – usually around 1/125sec or 1/250sec.

While anyone wanting to use the Neo 2 purely to provide light during a vide conference will only be interested using it as a constant light, the flash capability is useful for photographers wanting to get more from their kit. You can read more in our Rotolight Neo 2 review.

Rotolight provides a mains cable with the Video Conferencing kit, but the Neo 2 can also be powered by six AA batteries.

Before you can use the Rotolight Video Conferencing Kit for the first time you need to screw the stand pole into its base and then attach the ball head to the top of the pole. Then you’re ready to attach the Neo 2 light to the ball head.

There are three attachment points, but it makes most sense to use the one at the bottom of the Neo 2 so that display on the back is correctly orientated.

While there are better tripod heads available, the one supplied with the Video Conferencing kit is perfectly adequate for the job. It enables you to move the Neo 2 into the right position and then lock it tight.

At the other end of the stand, the base is made from solid metal and it keeps the light upright, it won’t get knocked over easily.

With the stand at its shortest length, the bottom of the light will be about 28cm above the desk it’s standing on. At its longest length, the light is 43cm above the desk. That’s a great range for laptop computers, but if you’ve got a large desktop computer such as a 27-inch iMac, you can’t get the whole of the light above the screen.

That’s not a major issue because it generally looks better to have the light off to the side, and you’re unlikely to want to look directly at the light. However, in dark conditions using the light to one side can result in deep shadows on your face. If your computer is next to a white wall you may be able to bounce the light to get a more flattering result, but the easiest solution is to use two Rotolight Video Conferencing Kits.

The lock that allows you to adjust the length of the telescopic stand is made from glossy plastic, which feels a bit cheap. It does the job it’s required to do, but I wonder how long it will last.

While it has some sophisticated technology and features, the Rotolight Neo 2 is very easy to use. For video conferencing, you’re only likely to want to adjust the brightness and/or the colour temperature of the light. These are adjusted using the two red knobs on the back of the light.

The knob on the left adjusts brightness, with values running from 0 to 100%, while the right-hand knob adjusts the colour temperature from 6300-3150K. A red display on the back of the Neo 2 shows the brightness or colour temperature depending upon what you’re adjusting.

While you can set a specific colour temperature, for most video conferences it’s probably best to just adjust the value until you like the way you look.

Rotolight supplies a pack of four filters with the video conferencing kit that can help you create the light you want. Of these, the 216 white diffusion and 250 half-white diffusion are the most useful as they soften the light further.

To fit a filter, simply twist the clear cover that’s in front of the Neo 2’s LEDs so that its notches align with the retainer tabs and it can be removed. Then lie the filter over the light and refit the cover.

I routinely use two Neo 2 lights for video conferencing and they make a huge difference to the results that I get. They give consistent lighting so I look more or less the same whether I’m in a webinar during the day or at night.

Using just one Neo 2 produces much better video than using no light, and with careful positioning of the light as well as using the diffuser filter, the shadows aren’t too harsh.

Of course, the results vary enormously depending upon your situation. However, if you ever struggle to get a decent look in a video conference because the light in your room is too low or conversely, the sunlight is too strong, a Rotolight Video Conferencing Kit should help.