There are many difficult lighting situations where traditional solutions are simply not possible. Whether it’s weight, space, or any other limitation, small lights are a must-have in any photographer’s kit. While not the most powerful, they are most commonly used on sets and locations. Among the sea of small lights, some stand out. One of them is the Specular KYU-6. Here are my thoughts on this light.
Introduce
They say live, laugh, love. I say, live, flash, love. Not only do I love flash, but I rarely use continuous light to take pictures. Sure, a little bit of constant light would be fine for shooting video and mixed sources, but that’s not my main driver. However, the importance of small lights cannot be underestimated. As a stills photographer, I still like to combine flash and continuous light from time to time to create artistic effects. Keeping an open mind, I decided to give KYU-6 an effort. Their small and flexible LED strip delights me. It’s a small product, but it does a lot. In short, they offer dimmable dual-color or RGB LEDs and magnetic mounts, all of which are small and versatile. 
Quality build
The lamp is made of rubber and offers some resistance to water and dust, welcomed by innovators in the field. The charging port is Micro-USB type and protected by a rubber cap. It’s great to see a Type-C charger in the KYU-6. The design of the light itself allows it to be flexible, making it snap to attach anywhere — literally. It can be wrapped around like a bracelet. The texture of this light is possibly what I like most about it, as there are very few places where it cannot be mounted. Mounting on metal surfaces is done through magnets inside the lamp. The light has a rubber band for you to hang it on. Finally, because it wraps around like a bracelet, it can be placed on any tube that’s thin enough. Another reason I like this light is that it is light (pun intended). Weighing just 42g, it won’t even be noticeable in your camera bag and it will fix up very well on surfaces. Holding on to this won’t be a problem for most people. The LEDs themselves are under a semi-transparent rubber layer, making each individual LED a light source. It would be nicer to see a matte white surface, which would diffuse light and even radiate outward. 
Featured
Depending on the version of light you get, you will either have an RGB spectrum or a white light. Turning it on, you have five brightness options, with the lowest being almost imperceptible in daylight, the highest being quite bright and enough to illuminate a table or an object not too far from the light source. . RGB version and two colors can be combined into a single product; however, due to the small form factor, that will lead to accuracy issues. 
The middle button toggles between the primary colors: red, green, and blue, while the third button will let you fine-tune the other five secondary colors under each primary color. Overall, you have a lot of color options on the RGB version, which is great for a number of uses. However, in 2022, lighting manufacturers should really step up their game and provide an app that controls all the color options. For example, a user who wants to program a specific tone into the KYU-6 will not be able to do so due to this limitation. Again, this shouldn’t be an issue for most creators, but if you’re looking for more precision, this light might not be for you.
One feature that I would like to see on the KYU-6 is app control. Since these lights are so small, you can easily accumulate dozens of them in a set. Let’s say you’re lighting a spot in your home and are using these lights to add accents to shelves and features. It’s easy to have dozens of these LEDs working around. Going to each one individually and adjusting it manually is very time consuming. It’s great to see an app that can talk to all of them at once. That will also allow users to program their own lighting scenarios for it.
Another feature I wish this light had is a large battery indicator or a small display with other settings. As the battery on the KYU-6 is not particularly long lasting with high capacity. At the same time, it’s surprisingly good for such a small and light lamp. However, a battery indicator will benefit many users.
My shot
I created this image with my iPhone. To me, this is crazy. Not only is product photography out of my comfort zone, but also professional work photography with an iPhone. Lately, however, I’ve been shooting more and more with my iPhone because it’s fun and easy.
Let’s talk about the photo I did with some KYU-6 LEDs, a black background, and an iPhone. First, the sneakers were all black, and coincidentally I bought a new pair that day so choosing the theme was obvious. Position the shoe in the “shooting hero” position, I want to show the size and depth of the shoe. Therefore, the camera was placed below and a wide angle was chosen. On the iPhone, it’s equivalent to 24mm. I make sure to take photos in raw format to allow for better color grading and more flexibility.
The lighting process is also quite simple. I decided to use the colors available in the KYU-6 RGB and used the pretty common purple and green tones. The color contrast is really good, adding drama to the photo. The sole lacks some structure, so I placed a two-color KYU-6 pad underneath the shoe and switched it to warm mode. This allowed me to stay within the color palette, while bringing out the detail on the bottom of the shoe. Finally, a small blue accent was added to show the white color. This way, no part of the product is lost in the shadows and the final image is created. It was important to me to do this shot with the most basic setup to show that you can do a lot with these lights and a phone. 
Here’s an image I took with a color layer applied, but obviously without Photoshop. Depending on your skills, you might be able to take this shot a lot more in post-production. 
Summary
The KYU-6 isn’t for everyone, but many will find it to be a good fit for their needs. This type of lamp is great for adding a splash of color to your photos or giving a sad glow to some scenes. It is also a good companion for long exposure work, especially macro photography. It’s easy to place this light in small spaces, hide it in plain sight, or wrap it around an object. Sure, it works like a bracelet.
It wouldn’t be a good choice for anyone who needs a long-life lamp for lighting large sets, exceptional color accuracy, or application control.
Ultimately, the KYU-6 is marketed as an always-with-you lamp, and it fits perfectly with this tagline, because of its small form factor, light weight, magnetic mount, and versatile design. There’s no reason for anyone not to own it. You can even wear this light on your wrist.
What I like
- Dimensions and weight
- Price
- function
- Flexible design
What can be improved
- Battery life
- app connection
Stop thinking
The Nebula KYU-6 is a light, portable and quite versatile lamp. Ideal for those who want to add a bit of color, light up a small scene, or create a focal point in a space where you can’t fit another type of light. At $49, it’s hard to beat, but if you’re looking for something that offers more functionality and better battery life. For most photographers, including full-time professionals, the KYU-6 will do the job, while also being a budget-friendly option. So at the end of the day, I can recommend this light to photographers of all levels.
