GamiLight SPOT 2 snoot review
GamiLight SPOT 2 is a foldable and ultra lightweight snoot designed for hot-shoe flash guns. It is made of the same durable plastic seen in earlier GamiLight products such as SQUARE 43 and BOX 21. SPOT 2 also shares the same concept of utilizing snap fasteners for assembling and attaching the unit to the flash.
SPOT 2 comes with what GamiLight calls Mount L, which fits virtually any of the larger flashes such as Canon Speedlite 580EX, Nikon Speedlight SB-900, LumoPro LP160, etc. While the smaller Mount S is recommended for units like Nikon Speedlight SB-700, Metz 50 AF-1, etc., we found that GamiLight SPOT 2 and Mount L combination is pretty usable with the smaller flash heads, as well. Mount L does not sit on the smaller heads as snugly as Mount S, but since SPOT 2 only weighs 3.5 oz (100 grams), it stays on the flash reasonably well.
With GamiLight SPOT 2 snoot, you have two beam angle options. The narrower beam is achieved with an included front attachment that snaps on with two snap buttons. When the attachment is not needed, you don't have to completely remove it, but instead keep it hanging on a single fastener. The front attachment produces the spot, which is about 2 times smaller, as it can be seen in the images below.
The following two images are taken in the same three-light setups with gelled grids to the right and left of the subject and SPOT 2 as the key light above and slightly to the right of the subject. The left image is taken with the wider beam. In the right picture, the front attachment is used. You can see how it affects the final result.
GamiLight states that SPOT 2 delivers gradual tones of a honeycomb grid. We did a comparison with Rogue Grid, and found that SPOT 2 delivers a similar quality of light. The following images show the spots with gradual light fall-off produced by GamiLight SPOT 2 (left) and Rogue Grid (right).
SPOT 2 folds flat for storage and transportation. It's very compact, and it should not be a problem to slip it into virtually any gear bag. To get this snoot back to the shooting mode, you might need to squish its tip a couple of times, as shown below.
GamiLight SPOT 2 competes with products like Honl Photo Snoot, Rogue FlashBender Snoot, and LumiQuest Snoot XTR.
To conclude, GamiLight SPOT 2 is a very well-designed hot-shoe accessory allowing to focus the light into a spot with nice gradual light fall-off around the edges. The included front attachment gives an option to narrow the light beam even more. The unique snap-based GamiLight mount ensures a secure attachment to the flash. Compact and ultra-lightweight, SPOT 2 can be a great companion on a location shoot, as well as in a studio.
