This Off-Camera Flash Allows Studio Quality Lighting for Smartphones

Despite advancements in mobile phone camera tech, the in-built flash often leaves much to be desired. One company has now unveiled a handheld, wireless Xenon flash for when you’re looking for studio-esque lighting for your phone photos.

If low-light shots are your thing, the new Huawei P30 Pro has been topping the polls when it comes to results. If you prefer bright pictures and being able to control shaping the light, the new LIT flash may come as a blessing. Connecting through Bluetooth, the portable flash is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and lasts between 200 to 400 flashes depending on the setting (it offers 1/1 to 1/256). With 40 Ws of flash output, the recharge time sits at between 1 to 2.5 seconds. As for the range, you’re looking at an impressive 130 feet (40m).

LIT Flash is the first to deliver breakthrough usability designed exclusively for smartphone photography from day one. By adopting good mobile app design principles, we will empower people with no previous flash photography experience just as much as more proficient photographers.

A side by side comparison showing the strength of the average LED phone flash vs the LIT flash.

A portrait taken using the LIT flash

A handy feature of the light is that the LIT Camera app will notify you if your flash ends up out of range, helpfully displaying its last known location. Pressing the flash’s button three times will also make your phone ring (even if it’s set to silent) in case you managed to lose your phone.

LIT Vision’s expected retail price seems high for a bit of phone gear at $329, however. The LIT Flash was designed by Marko Pirc and is due to ship in January 2020.

Would you consider investing, or is money best saved for professional equipment?

Jack Alexander's picture

A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models.

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14 Comments

$329

HAHAHAHA you be crazy!

Right.......... My phone isn't even worth $329. It's a phone. What's next, v-flats, soft boxes and back drops? ...... for a phone?

I'll bet you your favorite Starbucks beverage that that is exactly what's next.

Mobile photography is an enormous platform for businesses now. Very few small businesses will hire a photographer for daily social posts, and for the scale of what they do it's not practical for them to do so for social media.

I'm a full-time working photographer who also does social marketing, and a tool like this could allow vastly improved quality for quick phone shots on the go without the need for ingesting media to some kind of computer, selecting the shots, editing, re-exporting, adding to a cloud platform to access on the phone, then uploading.

Balk all you want but it a great idea. This with a little umbrella could really make a difference

You are wise and correct.

Yh but $329 tho?

if will work like the lumu uhauhauhauhauhauhauh

I have a Godox A1 which is a flash specific for a smartphone, but also allows you to link your existing Godox flash (multiple groups/channels etc). So imho Godox already solved this problem for £60 (and they have a cut down version called "AmI" for £30).

Canon and Nikon can top this by developing modules for their flashes so they can be controlled from a phone. They got more power and features than this thing. All they need now is the will.

"Studio Quality"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Does it have an apple logo or something to sell at that price? Someone actually pointed out there is Godox A1. Need more power? Set up a speedlite on optical slave and away you go.

With HSS and TTL :)

HSS? TTL? lol