GLOXY POWER BLADE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Gloxy Power Blade at a glance:Rechargeable battery with 10-hour battery lifeIn-car battery charger suppliedWireless remote controlLight range of 3-10 metresIn recent years, LED panels have been used more and more by photographers. The panels come in all shapes and sizes, and are used to provide a bright and constant source of light.Unlike square and rectangular LED panels that tend to spread a large pool of light, the Gloxy Power Blade creates a narrower beam of light, and consists of 298 LEDs grouped together in a strip mounted within a tube. Just like the fictional lightsaber weapon used in the Star Wars films, there's a handgrip that provides a solid grip, with three buttons to control operation. These comprise directional up and down buttons to set the LED power output between ten settings, and an on/off button that doubles as a mode button to set it to a variety of flashing modes rather than constant illumination.The top of the Power Blade unscrews, enabling the supplied cylindrical filter to be fitted to increase the warmth of the colour temperature, while it's also possible to wrap different coloured gels around the tube and secure them with sticky tape.Set to full power (20W), the Power Blade offers continuous light for just over an hour before it runs out, and I was able to recharge it fully via the mains in 3 hours. The 1⁄4in tripod thread is extremely useful for mounting the Power Blade on a tripod, but the buttons are rather fiddly to use — a simple on/off switch would be preferable to its small on/off button.