Zhiyun FiveRay M40 LED mild panel: Easy and efficient

Easy however efficient will be good. The Zhiyun Fiveray M40 LED panel has no menu, two knobs, and an amazing trying daylight LED mild. Let’s have a more in-depth look!

Notice: Zhiyun despatched the FiveRay M40 LED panel to evaluate and hold. Nonetheless, this can be a utterly unbiased evaluate. All ideas about this LED mild are our personal.

Professionals

• Very straightforward to make use of
• Intuitive, easy controls
• Variable controls for brightness and coloration temperature from 2700K-6200K
• USB charging
• Minimalist design
• Seems to be a strong construct
• Pocket-size and light-weight

Cons

• White letters on the orange dials are more difficult to see in low mild as a result of they lack distinction. I didn’t discover this to be a difficulty for adjusting the controls however it bears mentioning.

Zhiyun FiveRay M40 — Technical specs

All the technical specs for the Zhiyun FiveRay M40 are from the printed proprietor’s guide that got here with the sunshine.

• Most Energy Output: 40W
• Illuminance (Most Energy): 14000 lux
• Colour Temperature Vary: 2700K-6200K
• TLCI: >=97
• CRI (RA): >=96
• LED Chip: 88PCS (cool mild chips + 88PCS heat mild chips)
• Charging Time: 1H50min
• Runtime (Most Energy): 29 min
•  Operation Temperature: 14-104 Diploma F (-10-40 Diploma C)
• Charging: 32-113 Diploma F (0-45 Diploma C)
• Extension: 1/4″ (6.35mm) Threaded Gap
• Battery Capability: 2S/2600MAH
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 5.37 x 3.06 x 1.14″ (136.5 x 77.8 x 29mm)
• Weight: 11.28 oz (320g)

Zhiyun FiveRay M40 — Ergonomics and construct high quality

Ergonomics are wonderful. It’s straightforward to activate and off or activate the management dials at varied angles from both the rear or the entrance. You additionally don’t want to understand the dials in any respect. You possibly can flip them very simply with the facet of your finger from both facet. I actually just like the simplicity of the structure of the controls specifically. The unit doesn’t have a menu. I don’t see this as any situation in any respect.

The size of the sunshine are small, not a lot bigger than a 4.7″ iPhone SE 2020, though it’s after all noticeably thicker.

Aren’t you glad you utilize dials

There are two orange-colored dials. These are simply seen with low mild. Nonetheless, the temperature markings and proportion of brightness have been tough to see in low mild. As a result of the unit’s dials are so easy to make use of, I didn’t really feel this was a lot of a difficulty.

One dial is labeled “CCT.” This controls the temperature of the sunshine. The opposite is labeled “Dim.” This turns the unit on and off and gives 0-100% management over brightness. When the unit is about at most, it appears extraordinarily shiny, and might run on a completely charged battery for 29 minutes.

The 4 small lights situated close to the dials point out the battery stage.

Construct high quality

The sunshine feels strong within the hand. All components look like machined effectively. The dials really feel tight and don’t wiggle. The swivel appears solidly constructed as effectively. The unit has a fan, and subsequently vents, so like all digital machine of this kind, you wish to hold it away from liquids and moisture. I don’t consider I might use this close to any spray of the ocean water.

The Zhiyun LED panel has a built-in fan which operates quietly. Throughout use at room temperature indoors, the fan kicked on after two minutes. When turned off after which turned again on, the fan turned again on once more for a quick second till the unit had cooled down. The fan was quiet sufficient that I felt that until you’re doing very very quiet materials, microphones wouldn’t choose up the sound. The fan operates on temperature, adjusting the cooling energy for no matter is required.

The LED panel can function whereas charging.

Zhiyun FiveRay M40 — Within the area

High quality of sunshine

The sunshine has a coloration temperature vary of 2700K-6200K, producing moderately heat tones to chill tones. The sunshine was pleasing and produced no strobing or flicker when video was employed on an iPhone SE 2020 or a Pentax Okay-1 DSLR digital camera in video mode.

Controls, menus and show

The controls are instantly straightforward and easy to make use of. You would actually hand this to anybody and they’d know how one can function it nearly immediately.

I like that the sunshine means that you can management every thing between the 2 temperatures moderately than having discrete coloration settings the best way many LED mild panels do.

For that matter, the brightness operates equally. Utilizing the Dim Dial, you may have management from 0-100% for brightness.

Due to the shortage of exact controls, in the event you require excellent consistency of both brightness or temperature when both photographing or capturing video, this unit will not be the only option for you. Different LED mild panels provide both a menu with particular percentages and even an app in your cellphone to regulate brightness and coloration. The sweetness right here is within the simplicity.

The included paper person guide states that you could be use “Zhiyun Gimbal Instruments” to improve the firmware. This includes connecting to the pc by way of the included USB cable. You might carry out this improve when the unit is powered off.

Battery life

When totally charged, the LED panel has a run time of 29 minutes when working at 100% brightness. The unit operates whereas charging.

Mounting

The FiveRay M40 has two ¼” screw holes, permitting you to mount it vertically or horizontally on a tripod, digital camera, or digital camera mild stand. The swivel means that you can place the sunshine with out having to maneuver the stand.

Setup

As soon as I mounted the sunshine to the sturdy Oben CTT-1000 tabletop tripod, it took me just a few seconds to dial within the brightness and the colour temperature. As a result of the controls are so easy to function, it was only a matter of turning a few dials. Bam. Carried out. Good and fast.