Introduction: Knog’s Qudos Action Camera Light for GoPro Hero

Along with the rapid growth and popularity of GoPro cameras, there have been a ton of accessories offered to go along with them. Depending on your sport of choice, you can find stabilizers, poles, gimbals, helmets, drones, and even dog vests. Until recently, however, there haven’t been many lights specifically built for Go Pros – especially outside the scuba realm. Knog, an Australian bike gadget manufacturer, took to the challenge to help fill that need by releasing its Qudos Action light earlier this month. As an early- Christmas surprise, I received one in the mail and was excited to take it for a spin.

Beautifully packaged in a silver tin box, the Qudos is precision machined into a durable aluminum body. One of the first things you’ll notice is that it’s surprisingly compact and light weight (5.3 ounces) and about the same height (70mm) as a GoPro HERO camera. A small latch at the top flips open to reveal the rechargeable battery, and there’s one round power button on the top that looks very similar to the GoPro buttons. Behind the sealed back door, a 1,000-mAh lithium-polymer battery is charged via USB (with an adapter included), and can be swapped out for an optional spare anytime.

If you’re a heavy user or going on multiple dives, you’ll likely want to pick one up, as charging takes five to six hours when empty. A single battery will provide about 40 minutes of illumination on the bright Action Sports setting, and its life will vary depending on the mode.

The light sits up next to the lens-side of camera on an included GoPro-compatible mount and can be set to one of three modes by pressing on its single top-mounted control button. The available modes include Action Sports (wide-angle beam, with all three XB-D CREE LEDs on), Target Spot (a more focused beam, just using the bottom LED), and Ambient (the widest beam, using the top two LEDs). Users can also switch between high and low output settings within each mode, which offers 6 different levels of illumination and beam patterns from the single light.

Out of the box, the Qudos has the depth rating of 131′, so combined with GoPro HERO, by it can safely go on any recreational-depth dive you go on. The light features three Cree LEDs, which combined produce an output of 400 lumens at full brightness. The light weighs 5.3 ounces, so it can be mounted alongside the GoPro using most standard mounting hardware – on a housing, pole, helmet mount, or just about anywhere else you might mount a GoPro. It comes with a GoPro bracket that works with nearly any standard three-prong GoPro mount, as well as a cold shoe/tripod adapter for using the light with other cameras or on a stand.

The light isn’t just for diving, and doesn’t require water to keep it cool. This light is made for just about any sport where your GoPro needs some extra light, and it can even be used independently of your GoPro on your camera’s cold-shoe mount, bike, or as a back-up light when camping or around the house.

Here are the tech specs and deets: