The Cheapest Video Lights We've Ever Tested Are Surprisingly Good

GVM is quickly becoming the first choice for videographers looking for feature-rich, ultra-affordable lighting, but the 560AS LED panel takes things to another level. 

The GVM 560AS can be purchased as a single panel for $89 or a two or three-panel kit that comes with the lights, diffusers, barn doors, light stands, and a soft case for $199 or $267, respectively. This makes these lights the cheapest LED video lights that we've ever tested. Shockingly, they are also some of the most feature-rich lights we've tested as well. 

In the video above, I gloss over the features of this light and teach a few different simple lighting setups that you can do without buying any additional modifiers. For those looking for more info on these lights, I've made a list below. 

Pros

  • Powered by included AC adapters or optional NP-F batteries 
  • Fully dimmable
  • Color-shiftable from 2,300-6,800 K
  • CRI rating of 97
  • Silent and fan-free
  • Wireless control with a smartphone app
  • Included barn doors and a diffuser
  • Metal housing
  • Insanely low price

Cons

  • Not as bright as other, more expensive LED panels
  • Not easy to mount other modifiers (like softboxes)
  • The included light stands feel cheap

A few years ago, a single panel like the GVM 560AS would cost over $1,000. It's incredible that you can buy these today for less than $100 each. If you're not looking to save money, you may want to spend more for some brighter lights, but if you're looking for the best value in lighting today, nothing we've tested comes close to the 560AS

Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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2 Comments

As someone who just started out on YouTube, I'm keenly interested in these lights. I started filming cooking vids in my kitchen recently and although my kitchen is well lit, I can see the advantage of an led panel or two. Plus since this is a hobby, I am not willing to spend a lot of money (would rather save money for lenses!). Thanks!

I bought two of their 480 versions a few months ago and returned them the next week. Not as bright as I had hoped - unfortunately. The quality was there though but that wasn't enough. Maybe a panel with over 1000 leds would be enough for my use cases but I decided to abandon the "continuous light road" and instead already invested more on flashes (in fact bought two Godox AD200s two weeks ago).

EDIT: Still got my two Viltrox LEDs for continuous lighting though. Two of them cost me less than one GVM LED did and didn't fall that much behind in terms of brightness.