Honolulu, HAWAII — How poetic.  Last summer I was invited to the motion picture techie conference at Paramount Studio called CineGear.  Poetic because my Grandfather was a lighting director at Paramount during the "Golden Age" of movie studio production" (1932-1968).

So happy to be in my grandfather's old studio, but specifically a huge barn of a sound stage he had worked in 80 years prior that changed very little.

Happiness became wonderment as I observed several Litra units beaming brightly submerged in a large vertical water filled plexiglass tube.

The impressive display sucked me in to the understated Litra booth... understated, but the most important display booth in the entire CineGear show.  

A rechargeable camera light for video or stills... and later I find it can magnetically attach (with small supplied stick'em disk) to any cell phone, camera (supplied 1/4-20 mount), or can with the non magnetic version attach to drones.

Hmmm, $89, rechargeable, runs for 4 hours on low, waterproof to 60 ft submergible, fits in your pocket, mounts on cameras, drones, has 1/4-20 screw mounts, and will work with Go Pro style mounts... this absolutely blew my mind as to its flexibility.

We all have smart phones that can do it all... except their flaw is lighting, in low light or when you have contrasting bright light behind your subject you must have a significant adjustable primary light.  

The Litra Torch will allow your smartphone to save you from buying a new video camera.  You can capture historic valuable Great Grandma recollections of how the 1918 Flu Epidemic impacted your family, shoot your kid's birthday parties, or document your family hunkered down in your fale next cyclone.  The 5700k daylight temperature and advanced technology will insure natural skin tones and that by the one touch intensity button your subject will never be blown out as too bright.

The magnetic Litra Torch allowed me, without planning, to shoot candid intro "B roll" for YouTuber Originaldobo's segment on his arrival at SpinUp, a premier national drone gathering, (that included Cool Stuff's Samoa drone vid highlights).

At a November Pago Pago gathering to discuss drones assisting American Samoa's First Responders for Search & Rescue, Litra Torch non magnetic versions were mounted on my DJI Mavic 2 Pro to show low light capabilities. (Non magnetic protects the drone's GPS integrity.)

To Skype/Facetime/Zoom on your digital computer/tablet/smartphone platforms, the Litra Torch will give your image a clean professional presentation.

Next time Cool Stuff flies in on a Coast Guard C130 to do Samoa breaking news coverage, I will have the LitraStudio mounted on my pro camcorder, the not too big Litra superstar.   Check the full range of Litra products at Litra.com

Support Cool Stuff's favorite camera shop, Samy's Camera. The complete Litra extended product range is available at Samy's Camera online, Samys.com, or for curbside pickup by your cousins at Samy's Fairfax, Pasadena or Santa Ana, California locations: 11am-4pm. Samy's toll free at 800 321-4726