COLBOR CL100 is a 100W two-color COB LED light. It is similar to many other COB-style lamps with Bowens-S mounts.
The light is in Kelvin color, can be adjusted in the range of 2700-6500K, and can be powered by a flight safety battery.
COB lamps seem to be all the rage at the moment, mainly because of their versatility. It makes sense to have a luminaire that can be used in various lighting scenarios, especially for single operators, small crew members, and anyone who needs to remotely power the lights through a flight safety battery. I recently reviewed a lot of lamps of this shape, and I think this is because they are becoming more and more popular.
On the surface, COLBOR CL100 looks like a good budget lighting solution, so let's see how it actually performs.
The concept of this kind of light is very simple. Make a multifunctional COB fixture, which can be operated by flight safety battery without draining your wallet. The only problem with this concept is that there are already a large number of other similar style lamps from more well-known manufacturers on the market. You should never discount lights from manufacturers you have never heard of before, but it does make it more difficult to attract potential buyers.
In Newsshooter, every product is reviewed in the same fair and independent way, and no one gets preferential treatment. COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color will be reviewed in the same way as all other lights I have reviewed.
The manufacturing quality of COLBOR CL100 does not inspire confidence. The housing is made of lightweight ABS material, but compared to other similar lamps I reviewed, it doesn't seem to be that sturdy. That being said, this is a "budget friendly" lamp, so you can't expect much. To be fair to COLBOR, most budget lamps at this price also don't tend to have top-notch manufacturing quality.
The controller is built into the luminaire, but has a separate power supply. This is not too small, and COLBOR already contains cables of the right length.
The cable to the power supply is long enough so that you can place the fixture at a height of 200 cm/6.56 feet while still keeping the power supply on the ground.
COLBOR does not provide you with any way to connect the power supply to the lamp holder, because there are no hooks or lanyards on it, as you can see on some other lamps.
The dials and buttons on the fixture have a reasonable touch and are easy to use.
In terms of design, it looks quite similar to most other COB fixtures. It is essentially a rectangle with a COB and modifier mount in the front. The lamp certainly won't win any style or design awards.
In terms of design, it looks very similar to Godox SL100Bi dual-color LED video light.
As I mentioned before, the design consists of a lamp holder and a separate power supply. This is quite common for lamps such as this. It is better not to have a separate controller and to be built into the luminaire. This allows you to quickly set up and put away the lights.
The power supply that comes with the lamp is quite large.
Many LED lights on the market, including COLBOR CL100, use COB technology. COB stands for "Chip On Board", where multiple LED chips are packaged together as a lighting module. The advantage of COB LEDs using multi-chip packages is that the light-emitting area of COB LEDs can contain multiple light sources within the same area occupied by standard LEDs. This results in a significant increase in lumen output per square inch.
The biggest problem with COB LED lights is that unless you diffuse them, they look very bright and are not suitable for direct lighting talents. You need to clearly consider this when judging how much output you have when used with reflectors.
COLBOR CL100 is made of lightweight ABS material and weighs 1.1 kg/2.43 lbs. As I have already mentioned, the controller is built into the lamp head and only has a single AC adapter. The light weight means you can use it with a lightweight light stand.
The dimensions of the fixture are 20.2cm x 11.6cm x 11.7cm / 7.95" x 4.56" x 4.6".
The lamp itself is quite compact, it is packed in a storage bag with all accessories and power cord. Considering that we are talking about a $200 lamp, this storage bag is pretty good.
So how does the weight compare to other similar devices?
COLBOR is lighter than most competitors, but I think this is definitely reflected in its build quality.
COLBOR is not equipped with a yoke, but with a ratchet-type adjustable mount. If you use an Allen key to loosen the four screws, you can remove them from the fixing device.
This bracket is fine and can be safely locked. I am not the biggest fan of the ratchet arm, but it can get the job done. I would prefer to see a more robust metal mounting system.
The rotation angle that can be obtained when using the fixture is quite good.
If you place a large lighting regulator in front of the light fixture, it will become more difficult to lock the adjustment knob. The lamp holder interface can barely support a large-size softbox, and I am worried that it may eventually fail over time.
If you want to use an umbrella, there is indeed room for the installation handle to insert the umbrella.
The power of COLBOR CL100 is 100W, so it is easy to operate the light remotely for a long time using a flight safety battery.
The lamp can be operated using an AC adapter or through an optional V-lock battery board.
The optional V-shaped battery board must be connected to the lamp holder. This battery board is well-made and has a D-tap socket on the side, in case you still need to use a V-shaped battery without its own D-tap port to power the light.
It is equipped with a D-tap to 3-pin power cord with a length of 60 cm/23.6 inches.
Now, a strange thing I noticed is that when you run the light through the V-mount battery, the battery icon on the LCD screen shows that the battery is empty. To say the least, this is very confusing.
It is a bit strange that COLBOR uses a V-shaped battery board solution. Many people who buy a $200 lamp may not own a V-lock battery. It may make more sense to provide a battery board that uses dual Sony NP batteries.
The rear LCD screen is very basic, it only displays the light output intensity, Kelvin color temperature, fan status and battery icon as a percentage.
Certain elements shown on the display are everywhere. Look, is this really a big deal? Well, it depends on the end user. This bothers me personally because it shows a lack of attention to detail. Again, this is a "budget friendly" lamp, so in terms of build quality and attention to detail, you will eventually get what you pay for.
The actual brightness of the screen is so low that it cannot be seen outdoors. Even indoors, unless you place it at eye level and look directly at it, it will be difficult for you to see the screen.
You can only change the output percentage in 5% increments, which is not ideal. Kelvin color temperature can be adjusted in increments of 50K.
The menu is very basic, but you can adjust the fans, groups, and various FX modes included.
With good light, you don't have to read the manual to learn how to operate it. You should be able to open it and use it immediately. In this respect, the lamp is quite simple and easy to operate.
Unable to control the lights through the app. However, you can use the included remote control to control it.
The remote control is beautifully designed and reminds me of the original Apple TV remote control.
The remote control requires two AAA batteries, but COLBOR is not included in the kit. Now, pairing the remote control with the light fixture is a bit tricky and overly complicated. You must disconnect the CL 100 from the power source, then plug it back in and turn it on. Then you need to point the remote control at the fixture and press and hold the EFF mode button on the remote control for three seconds. I tried this many times, but I couldn't get the remote control to pair with the light.
It turns out that the instructions included are completely wrong! What you really have to do is turn on the light, and then long press the 60s button on the remote control until the light starts to flash. Then you have to turn off the light, unplug the power cord from the light, then plug it in again, and then long press the EFF button on the remote control.
The entire pairing system is very complicated and not intuitive at all.
Once you sort out the complicated pairing procedure, the remote control is very simple and easy to use. You can adjust a series of parameters, such as CCT, intensity, etc.
In EFF (FX) mode, you can recreate 6 lighting effects suitable for certain scenes. The effect is as follows:
You can adjust the intensity and speed of FX on the fixture and the remote control.
It is a little strange that you cannot adjust the intensity level when using FX mode below 30%.
High-power COB lights can become very hot, keeping cool is not an easy task. COLBOR does have a built-in fan. According to COLBOR, CL100 uses an intelligent temperature control system. It has multiple sensors that can measure the working temperature in real time. Once the preset temperature is reached, the internal fan will run to speed up the air circulation and reduce the temperature. They also claimed that the luminaire has a unique fin and groove structure that can dissipate heat faster.
The built-in fan has three operating modes: SMART/QUIET/FULL
SMART——The lamp will adjust the fan speed according to the working temperature. This is the default mode.
Quiet-the fan is off. In order to protect the lamp, the power will be reduced to avoid overheating damage.
FUll-The fan is always on. This only appears in Overlock (Turbo mode).
The fan under the light is quite quiet, but it does make a little noise. Depending on your purpose of using the light, this may be a problem, but I think most people will accept it as long as it is not close to the location where the audio is recorded.
The biggest problem with fans like this is that you may be being interviewed and suddenly fans join without warning. I also found that the noise of the fan seems to change sometimes in smart fan mode. I personally find that the QUIET fan mode is a bit too loud for my personal taste because it is louder than the SMART mode.
The fan works very well because the fixture will not become overheated when you use it.
Although COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color has almost the same feature set as Godox SL100Bi Bi-Color and Amaran 100x Bi-Color LED lights, its claimed output is much lower.
This lamp has the Overlock mode called by COLBOR. In this mode, the output power increases by 20%. Now, it should be noted that the light can only maintain this maximum brightness for 60 seconds at most.
This is a very strange mode, I don't know why a mode is included, which can provide you with more than 20% of the output, but it can only be used for 60 seconds. Look, if you need it, it is there, and some users will most likely find its use.
So now let's take a look at the photometric measurement results. I always test the lamps in this way so that I can refer to their comparison with other lamps. The results can only illustrate part of the story, and must not be used alone to judge a lamp. I have found from numerous tests over the years that some lamps with good photometric measurements do not always look good, and lamps with poor photometric measurements sometimes look better than their results show.
Depending on the camera you happen to use, different lights may also look different.
It is very important not to judge a lamp based on a set of tests. You need to view all the photometric data to properly evaluate the light.
I used a Sekonic C-800 spectrometer to test the COLBOR CL100 dual color at various Kelvin color temperatures to understand the light output and the accuracy of the Kelvin color temperature reproduction. All readings are taken at a distance of 1m (3.28ft) in a controlled environment.
Please note that the reading when I used the reflector was taken at 1m from the edge of the reflector, not at the COB.
In the image above, you can see that when the standard reflector is set to 5600K, the output recorded by COLBOR is 12700 lx (1180 fc). For 100W lamps, this is not a lot of output.
As a comparison, the Shenniu ML60Bi LED lamp outputs 11400 lx (1060 fc) when the standard reflector is set to 5600K. The lamp consumes only 60W.
The Kelvin color temperature reading recorded by this lamp is 5151K, which is nearly 350K in accuracy.
In the image above, you can see the light output when using a standard reflector to set it to 5600K and in Turno mode to 12800 lx (1190 fc). COLBOR says that this mode should produce 20% more output than when using light in normal mode. I found that the output only increased by 100 lx, which is 0.78%.
In this Turbo mode, the Kelvin color temperature recorded by the light is 5146, which is basically the same as when used in the normal mode. This means that Turbo mode will not change the Kelvin color temperature accuracy.
In the image above, you can see that the light output when the standard reflector is set to 3200K is 10200 lx (945fc), which is 19.68% lower than the output it produces at 5600K.
As a comparison, the Shenniu ML60Bi LED lamp outputs 9360 lx (869 fc) when the standard reflector is set to 3200K. The lamp consumes only 60W. 9360 lx (869 fc)
In terms of Kelvin color temperature accuracy, it records a reading of 3074K. Similarly, just like when used at 5600K, the Kelvin color temperature accuracy may be much better.
In the picture above, you can see the comparison of COLBOR CL100, AMARAN 100X and Godox SL 100BI with a standard reflector set to 5600K. As you can see, the output of COLBOR is not high.
Even the lower 60W power Godox ML60Bi LED Light can output 11400 lx (1060 fc), almost as much as COLBOR CL100.
These results indicate that the light output does change within its Kelvin color temperature range. The output is the largest at 5600K and the least at 3200K. The output change in the range of 2800K to 6500K was 19.68%.
The results also told me that when it comes to Kelvin color temperature reproduction from 2700K to 6500K, the light is not very accurate.
Now, what you should always do when testing lights is to see if the Kelvin color temperature remains the same when dimming the lights. Just because you set the light to 5600K, it does not mean that the Kelvin color temperature will remain stable when you start to dim the light.
I decided to perform a series of tests at 100%/75%/50%/25%/10% to see if the recorded Kelvin color temperature has changed. This was done using Sekonic C-800 at a distance of 1m.
When you start to dim the lamps, COLBOR can maintain very good Kelvin color consistency. My test shows that the Kelvin color temperature changes only 123K from 100% to 25%. These are pretty good results, and it tells me that you can dim the fixture without worrying about big changes in Kelvin color temperature, unless you reduce it to 10%.
For lamps, it is important to check the linearity of the dimming curve. So let's take a look at how COLBOR performs.
When 50% is used, the output generated by the fixture is reduced by 79%. At 25% output, its output was reduced by 96.5%. This tells me that the dimming curve of the light is by no means linear. This is why we thoroughly test the lamp so that you know what you will get when you buy something.
Now that we know the amount of output produced by the CL100 two-color, how well it performs in reproducing accurate colors. As you can see in the picture above, when the standard reflector is used to set the light to 5600K, it records an average CRI (R1-R8) of 95.8 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 94.32. In order to replicate an accurate skin tone, it recorded R9 of 90.5 (red), R13 of 98.6 (closest to white skin), and R15 of 99.5 (closest to Asian skin). These are pretty good results.
When the light is set to 5600K, its TLCI score is 96.
You can see the score when using lights at 3200K above. It recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 97.3 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 95.86. In order to replicate an accurate skin tone, R9 (red) is 85.8, R13 (closest to white skin) is 98.7, and R15 (closest to Asian skin) is 98.2.
These results are comparable to when using light at 5600K.
When the light is set to 3200K, its TLCI score is 96.
The CC index shows the CC correction value and whether any magenta or green needs to be added or subtracted. 1 CC corresponds to the 035 Kodak CC value or 1/8 Rosco filter value. Any reading below 1.00 or -1.00, you may not need to make any adjustments. ⊿uv is the value indicating the distance of the light from the ideal light source (black body radiation = incandescent lamp). As with the CC index, you want this number to be theoretically zero. Kelvin is not a linear value, so we need to convert Kelvin to MK-1 to compare color temperature values. The calculation from Kelvin to Mired is MK-1= 1*1000000/Kelvin. Although this may sound confusing, this is the only way to measure whether the Kelvin offset is large enough to ensure that a filter must be used for correction. The following is the result of COLBOR CL100 two-color:
These numbers may seem confusing, but what it tells me is that light at almost all temperatures is not accurate in Kelvin colors. Any MK-1 score below -9/9 means you don't have to use any color correction gel. The MK-1 score of this lamp is the worst of all the lamps I have tested. Any score below -/6 MK-1 for lighting is considered excellent.
Now, we again need to collect all the information from all the tests to make a comprehensive conclusion.
The light is very consistent within its 2700-6500K Kelvin color temperature range. Since the lamp does not have any /- G/M correction, it is good to see that it is not tilted towards magenta or green in any major way.
TM-30 is a relatively new color rendering standard designed to solve the limitations of CRI. TM-30 View 99 different colors. The 99 colors are divided into seven groups: natural, skin color, textile, paint, plastic, printed material and color system.
TM-30 scores from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the more accurate the color produced by the light. Any TM-30 Rf score in the 90s is considered good. What is interesting is that you need to be very aware that two independent light sources with exactly the same CRI score can render colors very differently. A lamp with a high CRI rating may have a lower TM-30 score. Conversely, a lamp with a good TM-30 score may have a poor CRI score.
Now, there are two measurement values related to TM-30, Rf and Rg.
For the Rf value, ideally, you need a score from the 90s.
For the Rg value, a score lower than 100 means that the saturation of the color rendered by the light source is lower than that of the reference light source. So ideally, you want this score to be higher than 100.
Above you can see the scores of COLBOR CL100 Bi-Colorat in various Kelvin color temperatures.
These are pretty good results, especially the Rg results.
SSI (Spectral Similarity Index) was developed by the Science and Technology Committee of the Academy of Sciences. SSI allows me to set any lamp as a standard, or use a predefined standard (such as CIE D55), and then provide other lamps with SSI scores based on how well other lamps match the standard (such as CIE D55). In this way, I can measure the spectral response and compare it directly with an ideal light source. This is actually much better than recording CRI scores.
In this figure, the red bar represents a perfect Planck 3200K source. Gold bars represent a perfect 3200K tungsten source. This allows us to compare how close the COLBOR CL100 two-color is to the perfect 3200K light source. For 3200K LED lights, any SSI score high in the 70s and low in the 80s is very good. As you can see, it is difficult for LED lights to replicate colors below 450 nanometers.
In the picture above, the gold bar represents the perfect CIE D55 light source. The red bar represents a perfect CIE D 5600K source. This allows us to compare how close the COLBOR CL100 dual color is to a perfect 5600K light source. The typical score for a 5600K LED light source is less than 70 points.
The main reason we want to record SSI scores is that we can see how well they match other lights. For example, I want to see how well COLBOR matches Godox ML60 Bi-Color and ARRI Orbiter. You can see the results below.
As you can see, COLBOR closely matches Godox and ARRI Orbiter.
So, what if we use 3290K lights? Let us continue to compare it with ARRI Orbiter and Godox ML60 Bi-Color.
As you can see, COLBOR closely matches Godox and ARRI.
SSI testing is a great way to tell you which lights you own or use work well together.
In the figure above, you can see the spectral distribution of COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color set to 5600K. The spectral distribution is quite good and there should not be any big spikes.
In the figure above, you can see the spectral distribution of COLBOR when it is set to 3200K. Also, just like at 5600K, the spectral distribution is very good.
COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color uses a standard Bowens-S mount, so you can use a large number of readily available and affordable lighting regulators.
As I always say, luminosity scores can only tell you part of the story. Therefore, let us see if the COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color score can be converted into good actual performance.
Photometric data can only give me scientific data. For me, looking at the appearance and performance of the light is more important.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to demonstrate the power of light for the current coronavirus. I live in an apartment in Japan, so there is not enough space to do many tests. I'm sorry I can't do more!
As with all COB lamps of this type, you cannot use them to illuminate talent unless you want to diffuse the light or indirectly reflect it. This means that they need a considerable amount of output to start.
The light works well with the soft box. I found that CL100 can completely fill and illuminate the large soft box.
If you use a light open surface, it does have enough impact, you can point it indirectly at the ceiling or wall, and you can provide enough lighting to help illuminate a small room or space.
The standard 55° reflector does have a hot spot in the middle.
Above is the CL100 indirectly reflected to the ceiling using a standard reflector.
Above, you can see what the light looks like when the subject is sitting in front of a bright background. Although it is not an ultra-bright fixture, the CL100 has enough output to complete the work. The softbox is installed on the light, 1.8m away from the subject.
After all, lighting is a craft, and someone who knows what they are doing can make any light source look good under the right conditions.
You can use COLBOR CL100 for many different applications, but this lamp is undoubtedly aimed at budget-conscious shooters who want high-quality, small-sized, and affordable COB lamps.
Its pricing attracts entry-level content creators and owner-operators who are looking for a small lighting solution that can run on flight-safe batteries if you don’t take up too much space during the journey. By attaching a light modifier such as a soft box, you can create a beautiful soft light, on the contrary, you can use it as a harder light source using only a reflector.
COLBOR is likely to attract the same target audience that follows Aputure and some of Godox's products.
The retail price of COLBOR CL100 two-color is US$199. This is a very attractive prospect for shooters who don't want to spend a lot of money. This lamp will be available in Amazon stores around the world from September 13th.
COBOR told me that the retail price of the optional VBS V panel is only $19.90. The problem is that it cannot be purchased yet.
In the box you will get:
If you are looking for two-color 100W COB lamps, there are many options.
You can see below the price comparison with some other 100W COB bi-color LED lights.
As you can see, COLBOR CL100 is cheaper than all these other options, but not much.
COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color is a bit of a mixed bag, but despite some problems, it is still worth the money.
The biggest problem facing COLBOR is that it faces mature lighting brands with roughly the same cost. In order to try to win potential users, you must provide features and performance that other similar lamps do not have, and/or sell your lamps for less money.
The interface and operating system are quite simple and easy to use, but the remote control and lighting pairing is too complicated. The build quality may be better, but it does not get hot and the fan noise is quite low. Light is actually very accurate in color reproduction, but Kelvin colors are not very accurate. Dimming is not linear in any respect, and the output is lower compared to competitors.
If you want a similar output, then a lamp like Godox ML60Bi may make more sense because it is much smaller and consumes only 60W.
In terms of the actual quality of the light, it's pretty good, and it's easy to use affordable third-party lighting modifiers.
For many modern LED lights, the quality of the LEDs used is very similar, even within the price range. The difference between the lights is the build quality, function, usability and attention to detail.
You almost always get value for money, which is something you must consider when buying budget-friendly equipment.
COLBOR is certainly not as polished as some other lamps, but again, this is a lamp that only costs about $200. CL100 Bi-Color is great value for money. If you need a portable lamp that can be powered by a battery, it is undoubtedly a good lamp. However, as I have already mentioned, it is difficult to convince potential buyers to choose it instead of Godox or Amaran lamps.
In the final analysis, there is nothing special or unique about COLBOR CL100 Bi-Color, but it can do the job without emptying the wallet.
If you have just entered the industry, you are a student, or you just don't have a lot of money to spend on the kit, then COLBOR CL100 is certainly worth a look. However, as I have reiterated many times in this review, there are other similar products from more mature lighting companies that are already on the market.
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Matthew Allard is an award-winning, ACS-certified freelance photography director with 30 years of work experience in more than 50 countries around the world. He is the editor of Newsshooter.com and has been writing articles on the site since 2010. Matthew has won 42 ACS awards, including four prestigious golden tripods. In 2016, he won the Best Photography Award at the 21st Asian Television Awards. Matthew can work as a DP in Japan or anywhere else in the world.
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