This Dazzne D50 review was the result of my need for good lighting to fill my room for livestreaming. Having invested in an Elgato Green Screen, I required some decent lighting to ensure the scene was evenly lit. Having been put off the Elgato Key Light’s price tag — $199 for a single light — I looked around for other options. This is where Dazzne came in, with its offering of three similar-quality LED lights for $217.99. That’s almost three for the price of one! Was this deal too good to be true? Read on for the full story.
Dazzne D50 Review | Three boxes of goodness
Inside the one big box, you get three other boxes. These each contain a light with mount, a long extendable light stand, and a power brick to plug directly into a wall socket (that’s three plugs in total). While the lights do have slots for batteries, these are to be bought separately. I was also provided with a remote control — another optional extra — which allows the user to control the lights without needing to get up and make adjustments.
Once everything was unboxed, I set everything up and was immediately impressed. The Dazzne D50 video light kit gets super bright, and can be customized for color temperatures between 3000K-5800K. Different profiles can be set, so for me it was a simple process of selecting my preferred temperature (3400K) and brightness amount (40%) on one of the lights, which would then sync across to the other two lights, and save the profile. I simply set it and forgot it, making my livestream lighting preparation a simple switch flick away.
Buy the Dazzne D50 video lights on Amazon US (DE) (UK)
Each light has a 2.5” screen on the rear, clearly showing the current settings. Beneath the screen are several buttons and a rotating knob. These buttons allow adjustments to the group, channel, control mode, and quick brightness adjust. The light is attached to the stand using a universal 1 /4” threaded stud.
Dazzne D50 Review | For livestreams and beyond
After cranking the lights up to 100%, it became clear that the Dazzne D50 kit was more than a little overkill for my livestreaming use case. However, as a content creator who sometimes needs to photograph products, or record video, it’s great to have the option of the extreme brightness. A large amount of light is useful for shooting high-quality imagery at lower ISOs and at faster shutter speeds, or when recording action in slow motion. The D50 kit would also come in useful for shooting outside. Yes, these lights are fantastic for streaming, but they are also great for other applications.
For livestreaming, especially when a green screen is being used, I found that having the three separate lights resulted in much better coverage of myself and my background. After using a single light for the past few months, I had pretty much accepted that one part of my face would constantly be in shadow, or that the green screen chroma key effect would be less than perfect. However, now with three lights, I can place them at different heights and angle them for optimal coverage, so my green screen is even and my appearance is less moody. I’m also able to turn the gain down on my Logitech webcam, meaning less noise polluting the image and confusing the chroma key green screen filter.
The heat emitted by the lights isn’t a problem, either. Unlike other video lights, which become very hot and project heat towards the subjects, often leading to discomfort over long periods of shooting, the Dazzne D50’s LEDs remain cool by comparison. I no longer have to turn my fan on when streaming for hours at a time, a bonus that translates to better audio quality as there’s no fan blaring in the background!
Dazzne D50 Review | Noteworthy niggles
The only criticism I have about the Dazzne D50 lights is what sometimes occurs when I initially turn them on. Though my settings are saved and appear on the display, the lights are dimmer than they should be. To get my settings to be properly applied, I have to change the brightness to a different number, and then move it back to my desired number. For example, my target of 40% isn’t automatically applied, so I have to move it down to 39% and then back to 40% for it to properly register. Overall, this is a very minor annoyance and, provided you remember to fix it each time you set up, it quickly becomes a non-issue. The silver lining here is that it staggers the brightness level, preventing you from suddenly blinding yourself and others.
The stands that come with the Dazzne D50 lights demand a good few inches of room between the desk and the wall, which is also worth mentioning. If you’ve got limited space in your room, this could be an issue. Fortunately, the lights can be attached to any stand that uses 1/4” threaded stud, and you can therefore mix and match with most other brands. Dazzne hasn’t locked users into using a proprietary mounting solution, which is fantastic to see.
Dazzne D50 Review | Vs Elgato Key Light
Clearly I’m very impressed with the Dazzne D50 lights. There’s a lot of bang for your buck here, especially if you’re a streamer who is looking at picking up an Elgato Key Light. That isn’t to say Elgato’s product isn’t interesting, as it boasts some unique livestream-friendly features like a desk mount, in addition to compatibility with the Elgato Control Center software and also the Elgato Stream Deck. That additional functionality will be hugely beneficial to some professionals out there. However, with one Key Light costing $199, and Elgato’s official marketing photos seeming to recommend two products (at $400 total) for optimal lighting, it just doesn’t come close to what Dazzne is offering.
As for the optional remote that I was provided, if you’re using these lights primarily for livestreaming, then you won’t really need to change the brightness or temperature all that much. You’ll have your go-to settings that work consistently with your setup, and they will remain the same. While it’s nice to have the ability to adjust that lighting on the fly — through apps compatible with the Elgato Key Light or through the additional remote for the Dazzne — it just isn’t that useful for a streaming scenario.
Dazzne D50 Review | The price is right
If you’re looking to up your livestream game with a more professional-looking lighting setup, and you’ve got around $220 to spend, then the set of three Dazzne D50 lights is absolutely worth considering. While the brightness and range of features can seem overkill for livestreaming, their presence helps to futureproof the product against any other scenarios that you find yourself in, for example a more creative video shoot, or general photography in a more challenging environment.
At the very least, the Dazzne D50 lights prove that it’s always worth shopping around and seeing what else is on offer, rather than settling for the more popular and well-promoted brands. “Elgato” might be on the lips of the biggest sponsored streamers out there, but it’s “Dazzne” that’s getting my approval today.
Dazzne D50 and Dazzne Remote Control review units were provided by Dazzne.
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