Nikon unveil new product for their mirrorless range

Nikon has released details of a new product. the LD-1000 (available in black or white), AAA powered, a continuous light source, aimed at close-up photography or for shooting movies from close up, for the 1-Series mirrorless cameras. 

Overview from the Nikon website

Stylish-looking LED light. A flexible continuous light source that’s simple to use, it’s ideal for close-up photography or when shooting movies from nearby. Small and lightweight, you can easily attach the light to the camera or detach it for off-camera use. 

An incredibly handy way to add impact to images, this LED light is freely adjustable, even when used on-camera. Unlike working with a flash, there’s no need to wait until you’ve taken the shot to see if your lighting ideas work. Instead, you can monitor the effect of this continuous light source via the camera’s LCD screen or viewfinder before you shoot.

Key Features

Portable continuous light source: Ideal for close-up photography and a convenient additional light source when shooting movies from close up. Helps avoid flat-looking photos and can help soften shadow areas, compensate for backlight or add depth to colours.

Flexible: Freely adjust the angle of the light even when it is attached to the camera, or shoot with the light off-camera for even more control over the height and distance of the light from your subject.

What you see is what you get: You can see the effect of the LED light on the LCD screen or in the viewfinder before you shoot. This makes it easy to adjust the light’s position until you achieve the look you want.

Diffuser: The LED window is equipped with a diffuser that allows soft, natural-looking shadows and helps reduce strong reflections when photographing shiny subjects.

Stylish portable design: Small and lightweight, this stylish-looking light fits easily into any bag. Available in white or black, it compliments Nikon 1 camera bodies perfectly.

Easy to use: One switch on the back of the light lets you set the strength of the beam to ‘high’ or ‘low’, and turn the light ‘on’ or ‘off’. The light attaches to the camera via the tripod socket and can be easily detached for off-camera lighting.

Compatible with any camera equipped with a tripod socket. Ideal for use with Nikon 1 system cameras and COOLPIX compact digital cameras.

Now call me a cynic but this looks awfully like a €10 torch I have in my camping bag, it even comes with 4 colored "gels", a little adaption of adding a diffuser and a bracket, I might be on to something! 

It definitely swivels on the horizontal, but from the photos I can't see that it swivels on the vertical. I'm sure it provides a strong consistent light source, and good to see it uses AAA's and they didn't go for a unique Nikon battery.

A long time Nikon user, I'm just not really liking this one,I've seen plenty of led panel lights that come with a bracket or attach to the hot shoe for a fraction of the listed price of around the $100 mark. I'm not sure if its something I'd go for. It'll be interesting to see users reviews when its released.

;-)

Available now for pre-order on some sites.