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Review: What makes the new ZHIYUN Molus G300 unique?
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PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book.
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PLUS: Donate any amount and I’ll send you a link to the hi-res print version of my studio lighting book. ||
We see new LED lights being released every week now, so how do we pick them apart? Even entry-level LED lights are good these days, and it can seem a little daunting to know where to start. So, when all LED lights seem to do the same thing at first glance, what makes an LED light stand out in today's seemingly limitless sea of choice? Let me introduce the ZHIYUN Molus G300.
Disclaimer: As always, let’s clear the air here; I was contacted by ZHIYUN whereupon they offered to send over some of their lights. I don’t make a living or any direct money from reviewing products, so I’m typically pretty hesitant to accept them. Sure, ‘free-stuff’ sounds cool, but the cost of a light is very marginal compared to the cost of my time to test, retouch images and write a review! That said, ZHIYUN was relatively new to the lighting space and I’d recently heard of a few products they’d been putting out, plus I’ve been looking at single-point (S-fit) LEDs to compliment my LED panels so I agreed to take a look. TL;DR ZHIYUN have not and are not paying me to share my thoughts on these lights.
Who are ZHIYUN?
I spoke at length on the lore of ZHIYUN a couple of weeks ago when I reviewed the ZHIYUN X60, so I won't be going into detail on the brand again here. Of course, If you’re interested in exploring the origin story of this relatively new lighting manufacturer, I recommend you take a look at my previous review to learn more.
What is the Molus G300?
Unsurprisingly this is a 300w LED light. It has no RGB capability, but it does have the ability to adjust the Kelvin range from 2500K up to 6500K. Plus, I’m sure the keen-eyed among have also spotted that this isn’t a regular LED panel, but a single-point S-Fit LED. Meaning, it’ll accept all your current S-Fit modifiers you already own.
That’s the G300 bio; 300w, bi-colour and takes S-fit. But as we all know, nobody reads the bio, it’s all about the looks, right?
Surely I’m not alone in thinking that’s a sexy light! My personal and questionable illumination proclivities aside, this is a very stylish light and as soon as it came out of the box, I was immediately struck and impressed by the build quality. This is not a cheap-feeling light.
Immediate first impressions aside, what’s going on with this light? Why is it in two pieces?
Light Design
As you likely spotted in the shots above, this light comes in two parts, you have the lighting unit where the big yellow LED ‘bulb’ is and then you have the control box where you adjust the power output and temperature control.
Both of these sections are a similar size at slightly larger than the palm of your hand and they weigh a similar amount at around 2 to 3 KGs each. The one core feature among them of course, is that jumbo red fan that takes up the majority of the space. Both of these boxes are joined together via a cable and the control box has another cable which is in turn is plugged into the wall. While we’re here, I’ll just mention that this light is only powered via the cable and this light cannot be battery powered.
As I mentioned, the unit that produces the light, the section that takes the S-fit modifiers, has no switches or dials and everything is controlled from the control box. This has several benefits and with a 3m cable connecting the two units, the light itself can be up very high or even in an awkward spot and you can still control the light easily via the control box hanging on the lightstand.
Speaking of cables, the control box also has a 4.5m power cable to the wall too. Again, these cables are of a very high quality and the connectors are all smooth and snug.
Details
I’ve already mentioned first impressions, but I do want to reiterate how much I was struck by every design choice and build quality one last time before I move on. The cable that powers the light unit is brushed metal with a satisfying sleeve-lock and looks extremely sleek. But, it’s not just about the looks, as the mount that holds the light to the stand is extremely sturdy. When this light was first announced, my immediate response was to be extremely sceptical of that bracket. As we can see, the light has no main body to balance it out, so when we mount a large modifier on the front of this, all of that weight and tension is put on that bracket alone. But my concerns we alleviated as soon as I saw it and used it as the bracket is extremely heavy-duty and although it may look like moulded black plastic in my images, the whole thing is actually brushed metal (seems obvious to me, but more lights need to be brushed metal to avoid any and all refections). The bracket is very sturdy along with a very snug and easy-to-lock handle that is easy to grip, even if the light is up high.
P.S. That metal bracket also has an umbrella hole and screw lock which is located very close to the actual light source, which is a big plus!
The Molus G300 comes with an extremely sturdy and robust all metal light attachment point with an easy-to-lock handle.
What’s included
Molus G300
Standard Reflector
Protective Cover
Power Cable
Power Adapter/Box
Price: £599 - Price from official ZHIYUN website - September 2024
Specs at a Glance
Power: 300W
Overclock up to: 500w - I’ll get to that later
CCT Range: 2700K - 6500K
CRI: 95
TLCI: 97
Power: AC Power only - No battery option
Core Functionality
This is no nonsense light. You turn it on, choose the colour temperature with one dial and choose the power with the other. If you want a light that does what it’s supposed to immediately, this is it.
CCT Mode …. that’s it!
As I said, you turn it on and it’s instantly pushing out light and you’re instantly presented with the 2 core options of Kelvin and power without the need to scroll through a dozen features you’ll never use.
All of the functionality is on the control box, not the light itself and the left-hand dial controls power in individual percentages from 0% to 100% and the right-hand dial controls the Kelvin from 2700K to 6500K in 100K increments. This isn’t the biggest range of Kelvin out there, but for most people, this will be plenty as it covers the core tungsten colours as well as most daylights beyond extreme blues.
Of course, the benefit of this condensed Kelvin range is more consistent power throughout.
I took a shot at varying power ranges and measured the brightness falloff as the light utilises differing amounts of LEDs to change the overall colour.
Shots taken at max power (300w) 1m from white wall - ISO 100 - Shutter Speed 1/125th
2700K - f8
3200K - f8.1
3700K - f8.2
4200K - f8.2
4700K - f8.3
5200K - f8.3
5700K - f8.3
6200K - f8.2
6500K - f8.2
Note: Decimals shown here represent tenths of a stop
TL;DR The power output (brightness) of this light is very consistent no matter what you set the Kelvin value to and from the lowest to the highest, we only gain/lose 3 tenths of a stop.
Kelvin Consistency
One aspect that’s rarely looked at too deeply with these LED lights that tout a CCT mode, is the actual Kelvin values these readings really display. Sure, we can turn the dial to 3200K, but are we actually getting that colour? For example, many cheap LED lights will have wildly varying colour discrepancies so let’s see how the G300 light fares.
Above you can see images taken at a variety of Kelvin steps and I simultaneously matched the Kelvin of the light to the Kelvin in the camera for each image. To be clear, this is far from a definitive test as there are often variances in white balances from camera to camera and manufacturer to manufacturer, plus I’m not using a colour meter, but it does illustrate how variances in colour can occur at different Kelvins. Note that these tests were done at full power (300w) to allow for the LEDs to achieve their best possible colour.
In a perfect world, both the light Kelvin and camera Kelvin would match perfectly and all of the above images would be a clean and neutral white tone. Yes, you can clearly see some variance in colour across the range, but remember that this isn’t a full RGB light so we can’t tweak the tint range to manage some of those green/magenta shifts. That said, this light is actually pretty good. Many of the cheaper LED lights vary wildly when tested like this and I’d be very comfortable using this light knowing that what I dialled in, is (pretty-much) what I’m going to get.
Side-Note/Pro-Tip: You’ll often notice the cleanest tones at the top and bottom end of these tests as that is when only one set of LEDs is being used - This isn’t always the case with RGB lights as we can tweak the tints, but for the cleanest colours with these CCT lights, it’s often worth sticking to one end or the other, but again this is a mute point if you’re adjusting the Kelvin later in post anyway.
Of course, all of these variances are rarely an issue due to you being able to white balance it out in post, but with multiple lights on set and often from multiple brands, this becomes harder to do.
Boost Mode gives you access to a 500w light - albeit at the cost of having to shoot at 4300K whilst needing to shout over the noise of a jet engine!
Beast/Boost Mode
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn't talk about one of the more interesting features of the Molus G300, its ‘boost mode’. To access this mode, you simply hold down both the Dim & CCT buttons for a couple of seconds and…. you’re now in Boost Mode!
Once in this mode, the light will be boosted to its maximum brightness instantly which enables a 500w output up from the base 300w. This gives you about two thirds of a stop more power and is nice if you really need just a little bit of extra light.
This feature is cool to have of course and having access to 500w of power is good in a pinch if you need it. There are some caveats to this super-power though and that includes the light automatically switching to 4300K. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but remember that CCT lights utilise two sets of LEDs to achieve this extended Kelvin colour range. Typically, this means that these CCT lights will be brightest in the mid-range of their Kelvin as that’s the spot when both sets of LEDs are being used. This is why the G300 automatically switches to that 4300K for maximum brightness.
The other very noticeable caveat to accessing the G300 turbos, is the need to also access the jet engine fan that has been dormant up until this point! Yes, when you redline this light up 500w, the fans kick-in and when I say kicks-in, I mean a small platoon of hair stylists simultaneously turn their hairdryers to full power right next to you. AKA it’s LOUD! Yes, it is distractingly loud and filming video on the same continent is off the agenda, but if you need an extra boost of light for a while, the option is there for you….. just warn everybody in the building you’re about to use it before engaging it!
Good News: It’s S-Fit
I’m sure you’ve realised this by now, but I will briefly mention it in case it wasn’t clear, but this is an S-Fit light. This means it will accept all of your old Bowens modifiers as well as any of the newer Godox modifiers. Many of you know that I typically use the panel-style lights from Rotolight, namely the AEOS 2 Pro. These panels are excellent, but I cannot modify them in any meaningful way with other lighting modifiers. Having at least a couple of S-Fit LED lights like this Molus G300 here is essential if you aim to get into creative lighting and ZHIYUN making this light S-Fit means it has hundreds of third-party lighting modifier attachments already on the market. That said, I used a couple of the new ZHIYUN S-Fit modifiers whilst I was testing this light and they were excellent too. More on that below.
The Results
Enough nerd-talk and number crunching from the spec-sheet, let’s see what the ZHIYUN Molus G300 can actually do!
Set 1 - ZHIYUN Molus G300 - Outside Kelvin-Push
Click to fit to screen
Cut Out & Keep
Click to fit to screen
Camera Settings
Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 24-70mm f2.8
Shutter Speed - 1/100th
Aperture - f2.8
ISO - 1000
Kelvin - 2700K
Focal Length - 56mm
Comments
If you were paying attention, you may have noticed the ISO 1000. No, that’s not a typo, it was indeed set to that. The reason for this is due to the shoot getting a late start and by the time I started taking pictures, the ambient dusk light had all but disappeared. Yes, I could have easily set the G300 to overpower that dusk light, but I wanted to play with a little opposing Kelvin colouring here. As you may know, dusk light is very blue/cold, and all of the blueish light you see in these final shots is from that ambient dusk light. To make that ambient light blue, the camera was set to a very low Kelvin of around 2700K and then the Molus G300 was also set to that same Kelvin colour to make it appear neutral in-camera. From here I just worked with apposing shadows to make the blue tone appear where I wanted it. This is also why the Molus G300 was set to 1% power! Any brighter and I wouldn’t have been able to balance the shot accordingly.
Note on the ZHIYUN 85cm Lantern
This thing is awesome (the big white globe thing hanging in the BTS). Very quick to pop-up and it even comes with a skirt if you need to flag off some of the light from spilling back into shot. The quality of light speaks for itself, but it is interesting to note how even the spread of light is within this thing. Remember, this isn’t an exposed bulb, in fact, it’s a recessed disk of LEDs and yet the light emanating from this lantern is beautifully even and soft. Definitely worth a look if you’re interested in this type of light.
Set 2 - ZHIYUN X60 + Molus G300 - Hard & Soft
Click to fit to screen
Cut Out & Keep
Camera Settings
Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - 105mm f2
Shutter Speed - 1/250th
Aperture - f2
ISO - 1000
Kelvin - 3700K
Focal Length - 105mm
Comments
The key premise of this setup is the mounting of the soft light directly behind the hard light. In this setup, the ZHIYUN X60 is the hard light as it’s a small light source with no modifier and the soft light is the ZHIYUN G300 with the 90cm Parabolic Softbox directly behind it.
There are many benefits to this, but the most apparent one is the absence of dual shadows and more importantly, no crossed shadows. With 2 lights mounted on the same axis like this, you have very clean light with no competing shadows as the soft-light simply compliments the hard-light by filling in the shadows the hard-light creates.
The only other aspect of this very simple setup, is the colour shifting I’m achieving via the Kelvin differences between these two lights. The colder hard-light (X 60) is creating those slight blue highlights on the skin and the softer G300 that’s set slightly warmer behind is filling those shadows with that orange glow. This only works of course if you set the camera Kelvin somewhere between the two.
Set 3 - ZHIYUN X60 + Molus G300 - Cinematic
Click to fit to screen
Click to fit to screen
Note: The screen on the light is fine, it's just my shutter speed is too fast to capture it properly in these BTS shots.
I took a ton of gorgeous shots from this last setup and as you can see, it’s a little more involved than the other sets, that said, it’s still only utilising the two ZHIYUN lights!
This article/review is already monstrous, but I promise to revisit this set and share the full lighting breakdown very soon.
Camera Settings
Camera - Nikon D850
Lens - DC-Nikkor 105mm f2
Shutter Speed - 1/125th
Aperture - f2
ISO - 100
Kelvin - 3750K
Focal Length - 105mm
Comments
As I mentioned above, I will provide a full breakdown on this setup in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for that, but in the meantime, I did want to comment on a couple of key factors about the G300 that I’ve not really spoken about.
Light Design… again
As you can see from the above photo, the G300 is mounted right up against the ceiling for this shot. Granted, I left a small gap for airflow, but essentially this light will lay flush to the ceiling above which gives you the absolute maximum use of space. Couple that with the G300 body itself only being a couple of inches deep and I’m able to mount this 90cm deep parabolic softbox above the subject in a small studio!
I also glossed over it in that first setup outside, but the G300 is a perfect light to mount these lights vertically like this, not just for space, but weight as well. The main weight is in the control box and that’s not the thing mounted up high. For safety, obviously, I used sandbags on all of these sets, but let’s just imagine a world where I was lazy and clearly very irresponsible, I am very reliably told by someone I trust, that all of these sets and suspended lights are absolutely fine to be suspended up there without sandbags! Like I said, I would never do that myself, but I just thought I’d mention it here anyway.
The other major benefit of this lights design is that with the light up high and above the talent like this, you have all the light control down here with you. The control box on the lightstand has the power and Kelvin dials and yes, lighting apps exist, but if you prefer shooting and not faffing on your phone, the benefit of the controls next to you is a huge plus for me personally.
The ZHIYUN App
I typically don’t bother including the lighting company apps in my review as they’re always awful, but I’ve been called out on it in the past, so I thought I’d take a look.
The TL;DR on the ZHIYUN app which is actually called the ‘ZY Vega’ app, is that the app is amazing!
I sang its praises in my previous review of the X60 and nothing has changed here. Typically these apps are a pain to sync and then drop out, aren’t recognised, won’t talk back and forth etc. etc. This means I NEVER use lighting apps, but I know others do and rest assured none of those aforementioned issues are present here.
I opened the app and the G300 was instantly there. I clicked on it and was instantly in the interface. Seems too good to be true, right? The G300 doesn’t have many modes and features anyway so it’s pretty bare-bones in there, but it did have a few light presets like tungsten and daylight etc which were nice along with a few CCT gel presets. The only other mode is a CCT matcher, which means you point your phone camera at a light source and the light will instantly match the Kelvin.
These are a bunch of useful and easy-to-use features that aren’t accessible on the light so it’s great to have them here in the app as a bonus.
Open the app and the light is instantly there! - Note you can even access Boost Mode here via that MAX button.
There are also several commonly used CCT gel presets.
Inside you have access to several real-world lighting presets and the list actually carries on off-screen to the right.
The app also allows you to colour-match a Kelvin with your camera phone.
Final Thoughts
Alright guys, we’re on the final stretch now, let’s start splitting hairs.
Pros
Very small profile head allowing for tight work in low ceiling studios
Lightweight head allowing for heavy modifiers to be attached with minimal burden to booms and stands
Very cool-looking design (it’s important, accept it)
Boost-mode is a nice bump in power if you need it
Clean-ish colour throughout the Kelvin range
S-Fit - need I say more
App that actually works even though I know you dont believe me
Cons
The thing wants to propel itself across the studio when you engage boost-mode AKA loud AF
No case - I would have liked a snug case to keep the separate pieces together
A lot of cables - a case would help with this as the light and control box adds another cable
Limited functionality - but you know that before purchasing
Who is this light for?
An LED light that isn’t full RGB and costs just under £600 is a tough sell. That said, this is an excellent piece of kit and as soon as I took it out of the box it felt like quality. The light does feel very well made and has a weight to it that feels like it’ll last a long time. 300w at base isn’t the most powerful unit you can get for your money, but you can boost this to 500w if needed. I’ve not tested how long it’ll last redlined in this mode and I assume it’ll kick itself back down to 300w when it needs to…. or when your ears start to bleed. Whichever happens first.
Ultimately, I think this purchase will come down to whether you need a unique light like this and by that, I mean a light that has a very low profile lighting unit that weighs very little and a light that can be positioned up high or in awkward positions if need be.
Couple that with a control box that you can keep with you and control without hassle and you have a very compelling product. I for one have several modifiers and setups that will absolutely benefit from this feature alone and I know that I will definitely be using this light long after this review is written. If you have the budget, then I think many studio and location shooters will see the merits of having at least one of these unique Molus G300 units in their kit.
As always, thanks for reading this and good luck with your future shoots. If you have any questions, fire away in the comments below or find me on socials.
Featured Model: Jaye Hicks
Products Used
ZHIYUN
As I mentioned at the top, ZHIYUN sent me these lights to review, but I am not being paid to share my thoughts. Below is a link to the lights and modifiers I used, supposedly if you use them, I will earn a very small amount of commission from them. It is minimal though and beer money at best so if you find a better deal elsewhere, please feel free to take it. All that said, they have provided me with a discount code for you to use on their official site. Use code ‘JakeHicks’ to earn 10% off anything on their site.
Use Code: 'JakeHIcks' for 10% Discount on the ZHIYUN Website ||
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Use Code: 'JakeHIcks' for 10% Discount on the ZHIYUN Website || ||
ZHIYUN MOLUS G300
I’m sure you don’t need me to explain this light further, but here's the link to the ZHIYUN website below.
ZHIYUN X60
This link is for the COMBO RGB Kit I had. That includes the battery, power cable, diffusion dome, carry case etc.
ZHIYUN 90cm Parabolic Softbox
An excellent, generously sized softbox that is very well made and seems robust - most importantly, it’s very easy to put up!
ZHIYUN 85cm Lantern Softbox
If you’ve never used a lantern softbox, I’d encourage you to try one, especially if you like a more ‘natural’ looking light to your portraits. This one is a great size and surprisingly easy to put up and take down.
ZHIYUN 85cm Lantern Softbox Website Link
JHP Livestreams…
I livestream every other Tuesday night via YouTube and there I answer your questions, critique your shots, take community images into Photoshop to work on them and discuss all manner of lighting tips and techniques. I look forward to seeing you and your work there real soon. Jake Hicks Photography - YouTube
