I’ve always gravitated toward stick/tube lights for one simple reason: they’re easy. They’re portable, you can put them just about anywhere (especially in tight spaces), and you can boom them without stressing about weight like you would with bigger lights and modifiers. In this video, I’m giving my real thoughts on the Zhiyun Cinepeer CF100 after taking it out on a shoot where I was doing BTS video. It wasn’t the main production light, but it was the perfect environment to see what it can actually do. The CF100 is a 100W bi-color + RGB stick light, and what I liked most was the spread and the “perceived softness” I got out of it—surprisingly soft for something this narrow, and I think the frosted diffusion panel over the LEDs makes a big difference. It also includes barn doors and a diffusion sock, but I haven’t felt the need to use them yet because diffusion cuts output and 100W (in the continuous world) isn’t exactly built to overpower strong natural light. I also keep it honest on the downsides: it’s kind of heavy and not comfortable to handhold for long, and I wish Zhiyun included the 24V DC power cable because finding the right one is annoying. Battery life is rated around 50 minutes at 100%, and in real use I got close—but that hour goes quick in real-world scenarios.