I’ve mentioned the Sima SL-20LX on the show before, but I thought it deserved it’s own gadget of the week award. I seriously love this little light. At only about $35 on Amazon it’s a great buy. There’s even an infrared version.

It’s actually a video light. About two inches square and has thirty six LED’s and a built in rechargeable battery that will run it for about 30 min. You can place it on a hotshoe, just set it somewhere, or even hold it in the palm of your hand. The slots on the other three sides can also accept a shoe mounts from other lights so you can build a larger panel. It even includes a bracket so you can have it off to one side on your camera.

Bottom line. This little continuous light rocks. It’s cheap, solid and small and stays cool. One of them is enough for close light of a face. It’s also amazing for macro shots where you need to brighten or add soft but dimensional light. I use it all the time for ring shots at weddings.

No, it’s not going to replace your speedlights or strobes for large lighting large areas, but it’s a great little tool to have in your kit that you may soon wounder how you managed without it.