Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
So I recently purchased a Yongnuo YN-360 (link goes to B&H) handheld LED light-bar, light-wand or whatever you want to call it, and wanted to post a little review. For those who have been waiting I apologize for the delay but life-stuff sorta got in the way. Anyhoo, from here on out, I will be referring to the Yongnuo YN-360 (link goes to Am-a-zon) as simply, "the 360".
If you're not familiar with such things, the 360's main competitor is probably the Westcott "Ice Light" which sells for five-hundred dollars (USD) and I'm spelling that out so there's no confusion. Five... Hundred... Dollars. If that seems like a lot of money to spend on a handheld LED light, you're not alone; I thought so too. In fact I think it's safe to say the biggest draw the '360 has going for it is that it retails for less than $80 (USD).
Okay, so I think the biggest question on anyone's mind who is considering buying a '360 is, simply... "Is it worth it?" So I'm going to address that right off.
Obviously this is very subjective topic but here's what I can tell you having had a few days to play with the '360. The build quality is, in my opinion, quite good. If you own a Yongnuo flash of recent manufacture it's very comparable. The entire unit is made of plastic but it's good plastic. The 360 feels solid overall but not the sort of solid that tells you this is something that's going to take outright abuse. My 360 did take one somewhat nasty fall, from about three feet, landing with "smack", face down and it sustained no sign of damage. Made my heat skip a beat, but the 360 is fine. There are no rattles when you shake it and it has a reassuring weightiness to it. It has some design features that strike me as well-thought-out; like using magnets to secure the orange "filter" bar to both the front of the unit (for when in use) and the back (for when not in use). It's a small thing, but it's something you notice. Another small thing is it's nice that the output adjustment has both a "Fine" and "Coarse" output, the adjustment knob has detents, the buttons "click" when pressed (I'm big on tactile feedback). Lastly, the 360 has Bluetooth connectivity (more on this later because it's sweeeeeeet!), there's a 1/4" threaded "tripod socket" in the bottom that accepts industry standard tripod plates (nice thinking, Yongnuo!) so you could, if you wanted to, attach your 360 to the tripod you already own with QD plates you already own.
There are some annoyances however and here's The Big One: For whatever reason the 360 does NOT ship with any kind of power source. Batteries NOT included. Neither is an AC adapter included; I don't know why. And yes, this means you will be shelling out more money for a a battery and charger. Yes, this is annoying. Now that we're all over the fact batteries are not included I will go on to tell you the 360 accepts the very common Sony NP-F series of batteries. Actual Sony batteries as well as knock-off brands are easy to find on Am-a-zon, B&H and eBay. These batteries come in different sizes and larger ones will last longer than smaller ones. I bought two batteries and a charger from Am-a-zon for just under $35:
2 NP-F750 Batteries w/Charger
^^^ These are the "medium" size NP-F batteries, the 750's; the 550's are smaller and less expensive but do not last as long as the 750's do. Each 750 battery is supposed to last about two-hours in the 360 at full power; I have not tested this but that's what I've read. There are plenty of other options for batteries and chargers; the link is simply one suggestion. It's what I bought and so far, so good. You can also get an AC adapter if you think you need one. I don't have a link for that.
So... What else to say about the 360? Well, there are two white-light temperatures to choose from (3200K and 5500K), which is pretty standard; but the $80 YN-360 also has Red, Green and Blue LED's; meaning you can shine a whole lot of pure Red, pure Green or pure Blue light wherever you want it. It also allows you to blend all three channels to create pretty much any color you want. To do this you dial-in how much Red, Green and Blue you want using values from 0-99. Doing this takes time and it's not a terribly intuitive way to go about it; still it does work and once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. Still there's another way and it's freakin' cool.
If you have a iOS or Android powered smartphone you can download an app from Yongnuo that allows you to control the color output of the 360 right from your phone.
You can download this (essential, IMO!) app from their website, here: Yongnuo 360 Phone App.
The app installed on my Samsung/Android phone without a problem. The app then connected with my 360 in a flash and made adjusting the color as easy as dragging my finger across the screen of my phone. As I did, the light on the 360 changed instantly as I watched. The interface looks like this, just drag the white circle around the color wheel to adjust the output:
......
.....
So I guess that's about it, at least for now... If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll update this review in the future as I have more time to use the 360. So far I'm very happy with mine and wondering if I shouldn't order another. Having two of these could be a lot of fun.
.....
If you're not familiar with such things, the 360's main competitor is probably the Westcott "Ice Light" which sells for five-hundred dollars (USD) and I'm spelling that out so there's no confusion. Five... Hundred... Dollars. If that seems like a lot of money to spend on a handheld LED light, you're not alone; I thought so too. In fact I think it's safe to say the biggest draw the '360 has going for it is that it retails for less than $80 (USD).
Okay, so I think the biggest question on anyone's mind who is considering buying a '360 is, simply... "Is it worth it?" So I'm going to address that right off.
Obviously this is very subjective topic but here's what I can tell you having had a few days to play with the '360. The build quality is, in my opinion, quite good. If you own a Yongnuo flash of recent manufacture it's very comparable. The entire unit is made of plastic but it's good plastic. The 360 feels solid overall but not the sort of solid that tells you this is something that's going to take outright abuse. My 360 did take one somewhat nasty fall, from about three feet, landing with "smack", face down and it sustained no sign of damage. Made my heat skip a beat, but the 360 is fine. There are no rattles when you shake it and it has a reassuring weightiness to it. It has some design features that strike me as well-thought-out; like using magnets to secure the orange "filter" bar to both the front of the unit (for when in use) and the back (for when not in use). It's a small thing, but it's something you notice. Another small thing is it's nice that the output adjustment has both a "Fine" and "Coarse" output, the adjustment knob has detents, the buttons "click" when pressed (I'm big on tactile feedback). Lastly, the 360 has Bluetooth connectivity (more on this later because it's sweeeeeeet!), there's a 1/4" threaded "tripod socket" in the bottom that accepts industry standard tripod plates (nice thinking, Yongnuo!) so you could, if you wanted to, attach your 360 to the tripod you already own with QD plates you already own.
There are some annoyances however and here's The Big One: For whatever reason the 360 does NOT ship with any kind of power source. Batteries NOT included. Neither is an AC adapter included; I don't know why. And yes, this means you will be shelling out more money for a a battery and charger. Yes, this is annoying. Now that we're all over the fact batteries are not included I will go on to tell you the 360 accepts the very common Sony NP-F series of batteries. Actual Sony batteries as well as knock-off brands are easy to find on Am-a-zon, B&H and eBay. These batteries come in different sizes and larger ones will last longer than smaller ones. I bought two batteries and a charger from Am-a-zon for just under $35:
2 NP-F750 Batteries w/Charger
^^^ These are the "medium" size NP-F batteries, the 750's; the 550's are smaller and less expensive but do not last as long as the 750's do. Each 750 battery is supposed to last about two-hours in the 360 at full power; I have not tested this but that's what I've read. There are plenty of other options for batteries and chargers; the link is simply one suggestion. It's what I bought and so far, so good. You can also get an AC adapter if you think you need one. I don't have a link for that.
So... What else to say about the 360? Well, there are two white-light temperatures to choose from (3200K and 5500K), which is pretty standard; but the $80 YN-360 also has Red, Green and Blue LED's; meaning you can shine a whole lot of pure Red, pure Green or pure Blue light wherever you want it. It also allows you to blend all three channels to create pretty much any color you want. To do this you dial-in how much Red, Green and Blue you want using values from 0-99. Doing this takes time and it's not a terribly intuitive way to go about it; still it does work and once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad. Still there's another way and it's freakin' cool.
If you have a iOS or Android powered smartphone you can download an app from Yongnuo that allows you to control the color output of the 360 right from your phone.
You can download this (essential, IMO!) app from their website, here: Yongnuo 360 Phone App.
The app installed on my Samsung/Android phone without a problem. The app then connected with my 360 in a flash and made adjusting the color as easy as dragging my finger across the screen of my phone. As I did, the light on the 360 changed instantly as I watched. The interface looks like this, just drag the white circle around the color wheel to adjust the output:
......
.....
Take that, Ice Light!!!
So I guess that's about it, at least for now... If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll update this review in the future as I have more time to use the 360. So far I'm very happy with mine and wondering if I shouldn't order another. Having two of these could be a lot of fun.
.....
