Review: Rosco DMG Dash
Posted on Apr 13, 2021
Featuring the same six-chip LED set as its big brothers, Rosco’s new light kit packs all the good stuff into a smaller form factor
Words and pictures by Adam Duckworth
Lighting expert Rosco is set to shake up the market for small, pocket-sized LED lights, with its professional DMG Dash Pocket LED kit. It brings a huge spectrum of colours to a portable, handheld unit, using the same six-chip LED set found in all of the company’s larger Mix lights. As such, the Dash can recreate more than 130 colours that match Rosco’s famous colour gels. In addition, it displays white in all colour temperatures and hues, plus there’s colour matching to the
most popular light sources.
While many small LED panels are made of plastic, have dubious build quality and possess lighting that is anything but precise and matched between units, the DMG Dash is a solidly built piece of kit – weighing 367g/0.8lb, despite being housed in a rugged, all-weather aluminium body. The unit measures just 128x80x28mm/5×3.1×1.1in, yet pumps out 320 lux at 1m/39in. Its light output has CRI95+ and TLCI90+ ratings, guaranteeing consistency and accuracy.
Each light comes with a complete set of beam-shaping accessories, including a flat diffuser panel, dome diffusion panel, plastic eggcrate grid and gel holder for additional Rosco gels or diffusers.
In each corner, small magnets stick firmly to the matching magnetic pads. The units also stack together, enabling, for example, the use of the grid on top of the gel holder.
The light has standard 1/4in threaded holes on the rear panel, bottom and left side to suit different mounting options. A magnetic plate with a soft rubber cover is also included. This screws into one of the mounting holes, before magnetically attaching to a flat steel panel, such as a metal handrail in a building. Nonetheless, it’s probably not strong enough to risk using on a fast-moving car or motorcycle. The kit is packed in a custom-fitted protective case.
To operate the light, the rear control panel has three buttons and an LED screen with different on-board menu options. On the right-hand side, a large, knurled aluminium control wheel rotates or clicks inwards to adapt settings.
It’s ideal for quickly altering the light’s intensity or scrolling through colour temperature options. A long push of the on/off button turns on the unit, while a short push toggles the LED lights on and off. The menu button brings up options for white, colour, gel, effects, source match and overall settings.
In white mode, you can alter the intensity, colour temperature and green/magenta tint separately. Meanwhile, colour mode controls intensity, colour temperature, hue and saturation, and provides every colour of the rainbow. The same settings are also available in Gel mode, but in addition, you can select from a menu of standard Rosco gel colours. That means it’s easy to select options, such as R09 pale amber gold, and tweak hue and saturation.
In terms of effects, the light mimics emergency vehicles, paparazzi flashes, TV screens and firelights, plus you can alter the speed and intensity of the pulses. Finally, source match adapts light intensity to suit xenon headlights, candle flame, frosty moonlight, HP and LP sodium lights, tungsten, mercury and sodium vapour, as well as blue and green screen. It’s very simple to work out. The settings menu configures Bluetooth, enabling control via the myMIX app.
The unit’s USB-C charging port has a rubber cover to keep out the elements. That means you don’t need to be scared of a bit of rain, as it’s rated to IP54 weather-resistance.
There is also an optional, silicone half globe diffuser that envelopes the whole LED, creating a soft, round light source.
The rugged build quality, small size, powerful performance and ability to set any colour means the DMG Dash can be hidden inside household lamps to mimic a practical light, mounted to car rigs for a bit of fill, or used as a hair or background light. It’s flicker-free up to 1000fps, raising no concerns over slow-motion performance. What’s more, it’s totally silent, meaning it doesn’t affect audio recordings in the slightest.
The standard Pocket LED kit comes with a case and USB-C charging cable for £219/$279. A Quad Kit includes four pocket kits, carrying case and a Link accessory to configure and mount the four lights together, for £990/$1250.
Originally featured in the April 2021 issue of Definition.
