Getting started with the YC Onion Energy Tube Pro is straight forward with the small handle needing to be attached to the light before you can mount it to a lighting stand. The handle features a simple clamp design so you can move it up or down the body of the light to get the right position if you’re going to use the light freehand. If mounting to a lighting rig then the handle also features the small 1/4-inch threads.
This is one of the only annoying things about the light, which is the fact that there is no 1/4-inch thread featured on the body or base of the light. This would have been handy for all sorts of reasons and is a common feature on most other tube lights that I have looked at over the years.
What further exasperates this annoyance is that the design of the handle means that handles 1/4-inch thread is a good inch or more up the body of the light. This means that with the design of many tripods is actually a little difficult to mount the light in the exact way that you want. There’s also no option for a 3/8-inch thread.
Once you do surtout the mounting issue, which is to be honest isn’t a massive issue you can then get into the fun of lighting.
Used as a temperature controlled light and the 20W of illumination that the light kicks out seems to be far greater and the control through the on device dial and buttons is easy and precise. However, adjusting the temperature marked my first venture into using the app and the experience was instantly impressive.
A quick tap and the light switched to daylight, and tap and I had tungsten then the intensity can easily be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the slider. Really the use of the app for standard lighting control couldn’t have been simpler.
Switching to look at the full RGB and again you can control the colour through the small LCD screen and dial, but getting the exact colour you want can be tricky, which is a common issue with this style of light. However, with the app just tap the colour you want and the light changes, slide up or down the intensity and the effect is instant.
The same ease of control is applied when using the lighting effects and pixel effects of the light, really the app makes using and controlling the pixel light incredibly easy and an ideal solution for close-up product photography.
Unfortunately I don’t have access to a DMX board at present but will update the review when I do.
In use the YC Onion Energy Tube Pro is incredibly versatile, the illumination is good although not up to the ZHIYUN F100, but it is still incredibly powerful. What really gives it the edge is that control.