Field Test: SmallRig RM 03 Macro Photography LED Light for Close-Up Work

For macro photography, it can sometimes be useful to have additional light. Many types of lamps are available, some small, others large. SmallRig now offers the new SmallRig RM 03 Macro Photography LED lights. These small lights provide a lot of flexibility, as becomes clear in this review.

The SmallRig RM 03 Macro Photography LED light is a small and compact LED light on a flexible tube. This gives great freedom in positioning the light. Since macro photography allows for placing lights in close proximity, the intensity of the light must be kept rather low. These lights are designed for such a purpose.

I received a set of RM 03 Macro Photography LED lights from SmallRig for this review. The findings mentioned in this review are my own honest opinion, based on real-life use cases.

The RM 03 Macro LED Light in Detail

The RM 03, as I will call the unit from here on, consists of a cylindrical handle and a flexible tube. The LED is situated at the end of the tube. The handle is 10.5 centimeters long and about 2.5 centimeters in diameter. The total weight is 300 grams.

The flexible tube measures 39 centimeters and can be bent in almost any direction thanks to the metal springs inside. This part makes the RM 03 so ideal for macro photography: you can position the LED light exactly how you want.

Inside the handle is the battery, which can be charged over USB-C. The RM 03 can run for 140 minutes at maximum light intensity on a single charge. There is no indication of battery level, so it’s wise to fully charge the battery before use. However, if you end up with a dead battery, you can charge the RM 03 using a power bank and continue working at the same time.

The handle has only two buttons. One of these is the power button, which is also used to adjust light intensity in 20% increments. The other button allows you to switch between the available colors.

The RM 03 is not a true RGB LED light. You have red, green, and blue available, but not a combination between the three colors. By repeatedly pressing the C button, you cycle through the three primary colors, normal white, and warm white.

The five LEDs provide up to 3 watts of light, which ranges from 400/410 lux (warm white and blue) to 1,700/1,830 lux (cool white and green), with 1,030 lux (red). This is adjustable to 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% intensities. The CRI is 85, and the TLCI is 92, according to SmallRig. I haven’t tested this claim, but I am confident it is correct.

The design of the RM 03 offers an IP54 rating, which means it is dust- and splash-resistant. However, it is not fully waterproof, so you shouldn’t place the RM 03 in a puddle of water. Placing it on a moist forest floor won’t be a problem. Be careful with the USB-C port, though. The rubber cap doesn’t stay in place, which can be an issue. More on that later in the review.

The Included Accessories

SmallRig includes a number of useful accessories. These give you more creative possibilities while using the RM 03. The accessory set consists of a small dome diffuser, a barndoor, and a projector with slides. These light shapers can be pushed directly onto the front of the light.

The projector accessory creates a focused spot. You can insert one of the small slide plates to project shapes instead of a focused spot. Ten tiny metal slides are included, some of which contain text.

Along with the light shapers, you also get a 20-centimeter ground spike, a cold shoe adapter, and a sturdy clamp with a mini ball head. Naturally, you can also mount the RM 03 on a (mini) tripod thanks to the standard 1/4"-20 thread on the bottom.

The cold shoe gives you the option to mount the unit on your camera. Although it works, it doesn’t feel very convenient to use. The handle sticks out quite far above the camera. Although the flexible tube is long enough to reach the front of a regular macro lens, a small ball head or a second 1/4"-20 mount on the side of the handle would have been an improvement.

Using It in Out in the Field

Using the RM 03 is quite simple and straightforward. You place the unit close to your subject and bend the tube until the LED illuminates the subject as desired. Thanks to the small head, it’s easy to place it close to the subject. That’s when the limited amount of light the RM 03 produces is perfect. It won’t flood the subject with too much light.

Outdoors, the ground spike is handy. You simply push the RM 03 into the ground. How stable the unit stands depends on the firmness of the soil. You can also just lay the unit down on the ground if that works better.

When using the ground spike, it’s wise to pin it down in a vertical position if possible. If you insert it into the ground at an angle, positioning the tube off-center may cause the unit to rotate, making it difficult to direct the light precisely.

If you want more freedom to move around, the cold shoe can be an option. The nearly 40-centimeter tube is long enough to illuminate the subject in front of your (macro) lens. Keep in mind that the unit protrudes quite high above the camera. I fear it will put some stress on the connection, especially when you bump into something, despite the low weight of the RM 03.

You can also mount the RM 03 on the heavy-duty clamp. The small ball head provides additional freedom in positioning. However, the ball head itself doesn’t allow any axial rotation and, with only one indent, it is somewhat limited in freedom of movement.

Regarding the included light modifiers, the dome diffuser provides pleasantly soft light, while the projector produces a nice, focused beam. Extending the head gives you an additional way to manipulate the light spot, making the edges much softer.

With the projector, you have ten slides available that can project shapes or text. The slides are very small, which makes sense. It’s important to work carefully so you don’t lose them. If the use of slides is not your thing, the projector can also be used for a small spotlight. Alternatively, the barn doors are quite effective as well, thanks to the necessary close distance to the subject due to the limited maximum brightness.

However, the limited brightness can be a downside as well. It becomes difficult to use the RM 03 at a larger distance to illuminate a larger surface area. However, that is not what it’s designed for, and I believe in those cases a normal LED light might be more effective. Combining it with the SmallRig RM 40C, for instance, which is a true RGB light, by the way, could be a good solution if more light is necessary.

Conclusion

I’ve been using the RM 03 for mushroom photography. The ground spike was quite handy in a lot of situations. I learned that placing the unit vertically was often mandatory. It prevented rotation when I positioned the flexible tube. However, with the vertical position, you will lose some reach, forcing you to place the light closer to the subject.

The rotation with the ground spike can easily be prevented with a small redesign of the spike. Instead of a round pin, a star-form pin would be better. Or perhaps three pins next to each other instead of just one. Since the connection is a simple 1/4"-20, a custom-made pin could be a simple solution as well.

The RM 03 has an IP54 rating, as mentioned before. This allows you to place the unit on the moist forest floor without any problem, or you can use it in a light rain shower. There is a small rubber cover that protects the USB-C port. However, this rubber cover doesn’t stay in place at all. It became an annoyance while using it. Whether this is a problem for the IP54 rating, I don’t know.

The lack of a battery indication can catch you by surprise. The 140-minute runtime at maximum output is quite nice and should be enough for most situations. But there is no heads-up when the battery is almost depleted. It would be quite frustrating if you’re going out in the field with only a few minutes of power left. It’s wise to make sure you start with a fully charged battery.

Speaking of going out in the field, if you want to take all the accessories with you, it’s advisable to put them in a dedicated pouch. A small accessory pouch or cable case should do nicely. That way, you keep everything together. If you don’t, things will get lost eventually. Unfortunately, SmallRig does not include a pouch.

Despite the criticism, using the RM 03 is an enjoyable experience and offers extra creative possibilities in the field. There are a few things to keep in mind, such as the rotation of the ground spike, the USB-C cover, and the lack of a battery-level indicator. Even with these relatively minor issues, I can recommend the SmallRig RM 03 Macro Photography LED light.

What I Like

• Small and compact
• Flexible arm provides great freedom in positioning
• Easy to use
• Accessory set included
• Projection slides offer extra creative options
• Barndoor works very effectively due to the short working distance
• Last used setting (color and intensity) is retained
• IP54 weatherproofing against dust and water
• 4,000+ tube movements guaranteed, according to the website
• Good price value

What Could Be Improved

• USB-C rubber cap comes loose with every handling of the unit
• No display for battery info or light intensity
• Ground spike allows the unit to rotate when positioning the light off-center
• Grid accessory would be useful
• The ball head on the clamp has no axial rotation capability
• Cold shoe could benefit from a ball head
• Barndoor cannot be used in combination with the projector
• Extra 1/4"-20 mount on the side would be useful
• A simple accessory pouch should be included

There is one final thing that would significantly increase the RM 03’s value. Since the RM 03 already offers the three primary colors, full RGB capabilities would be a great addition. Of course, this would require more complex controls and perhaps a small LCD screen, which could undermine the simplicity of the RM 03.

In that case, Bluetooth capability with an app would be desirable as well. However, this is not really a drawback, but it’s something that falls into the category “nice to have.”

As a final note, I want to thank SmallRig for providing the RM 03 Macro Photography LED lights.