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Light and Motion Illuminates your GoPro with Sidekick Companion Lights

Written by Zach Overholt
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If you’ve used an action camera in the woods, you probably have experienced the camera struggling with rapid changes in lighting. Often cruising through areas of intense sunlight only to dip back into the dark tunnel of the woods, even as cameras improve a little extra light couldn’t hurt.

Following in the footsteps of Knog’s Qudos camera light, Light & Motion is hoping to power up their new Sidekick GoPro light. To be available in two different models, one of the Sidekicks will also be useful as a bicycle light in addition to videography. Light & Motion’s first light for the GoPro will also be their first attempt at a Kickstarter – details on why after the break…

Light and motion sidekick (1)

Depending on your point of view, Kickstarter is either the best or the worst thing to happen to product development. In the case of the Sidekick, Light & Motion views crowd sourcing as a way to continue to develop new products, while keeping their manufacturing domestic.

“We want to keep manufacturing in the United States, and successful crowd funding campaigns on Kickstarter may be one way that small entrepreneurial businesses like ours can keep inventing,” said Daniel Emerson, CEO of Light & Motion.

Light and motion sidekick (3)

Available in two models, the base level sidekick will feature only a 90 degree flood light. The Sidekick Duo on the other hand will offer the 90 degree flood, plus a 23 degree spot that can be used for illuminating the trail while you’re riding. Both lights use a regulated output for constant illumination up to the full 600 lumens on high power. That figure of 600 lumens makes it the most powerful GoPro light we know of. Designed specifically to work with the GoPro action camera, the Sidekick mounts vertically next to the camera using a threaded attachment for the GoPro thumb screw. Additionally, Light & Motion will offer a Sidekick accessory mount that allows the light to be positioned above the camera.

Light and motion sidekick (2)

Built with a sealed 6061-T6 aluminum housing, the black or silver body houses CREE XM-L LEDs for a bright, efficient light. Rechargeable with an external USB cord, the Sidekick has up to a 240 minute run time and will take around 4.5 hours to recharge. During the Kickstarter Campaign, Sidekicks start at $80 for the earlybird version of the silver flood light. The black Duo starts at $110 for the earlybird deal and goes up from there. Light and Motion hopes to raise $50,000 through the campaign.

Specifications

  • Lumen output/Run time
    • High:   Flood – 600 lumens /60 minutes; Spot – 400 lumens /60 min
    • Med:   Flood – 300 lumens /120 minutes; Spot – 200 lumens /120 minutes
    • Low:    Flood  – 150 Lumens/ 240 minutes; Spot 100 lumens /240 minutes
  • Recharge Time: 4.5 hours
  • Weight: 123 grams
  • Colors: Black, Silver
  • MSRP:
    • Sidekick: $129
    • Sidekick Duo: $149

lightandmotion.com
Zach Overholt
5,722 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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Veganpotter
Veganpotter
9 years ago

This is a pretty big company to be using kickstarter for a project like this. I really don’t get it. If anything, its a publicity stunt and free marketing. They’d easily be able to sell plenty of these lights and its pretty obvious that they’re prepared to manufacture them. I’d think differently if this were some dude’s solo project and he needs money to fund tooling, and just get him started.

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Heidi Hall
Heidi Hall
9 years ago

Everybody is in the LED lighting game now. Lights imported from Asia dominate the web. We design and manufacture high-quality products that we also test and certify to the FL-1 Standard. We have had a hard year but in spite of the competition from brands selling cheaper lights we are committed to staying the course.

We do not have the capital for the tooling to bring this product to market so we are reaching out to our customer base with the Kickstarter campaign. Right now we can hand machine the first run of these lights as a way to raise funds. Early backers can pledge and receive a beautiful hand-machined Sidekick. If we can secure funding from the Kickstarter campaign then we can bring Sidekick into full production with die cast with injection-molded parts and begin to market the lights through the dealer/distributor channels.

We are excited to appeal directly to customers, to partner with us, to help us build the Sidekick and support domestic manufacturing in Marina, CA. The success of a Kickstarter campaign will also most certainly tell us if we are on track with this brand new product idea!

Please feel free to contact us for further information. ~ Heidi Hall, hhall@lightandmotion.com

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Kris
Kris
9 years ago

I’m a Light and Motion convert from cheap no-name LED’s. Yes their light cost more, but it’s a high quality product, great customer service ( I know cause I’ve made use of it ) and a great California based company. Hope they find a way to keep expanding without a decrease in quality.

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Cyril
Cyril
9 years ago

I’ve been a user of L&M lights for more than 7 years now and they’ve reliably lite my way through all my night adventures such as mountaineering, adventure racing, and mountain biking. These lights are extremely well designed, reliable, and provide a precise and consistent beam. Such qualities in their lights is no coincidence. It comes for strong design, engineering, and production skills which are based in the US. A few years back, I had the privilege to visit their facility and see what goes into making these beautiful lights and understand why they stand out from the “made in China” crowd.

Unfortunately, creating such quality in the US doesn’t come cheap. It’s understandable to look at L&M’s line of products and think, wow, these are beautiful. The company behind them must have deep pockets. I certainly thought so initially but when I visited their facility and saw how small they were, I was blown away by their efficiency and commitment to quality. This companies makes amazing products on a shoestring budget while continually innovating.

So, I can see why they would reach out to their customers for the sidekick project. It’s an innovative way to keep doing the right thing for their customers.

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Jose Soto
Jose Soto
9 years ago

I work at Zen Bikes in Manhattan and I ride with the New York Cycle Club.
Light & Motion lights are used in over 90% of the bikes on our 6:00 am rides. They are reliable, bright and very compact. There is a lot of competition in this market but one brand surely stands above the rest. One thing that made me choose Light & Motion is that the stated run times are correct and some times even longer. Also the side visibility lights are a great safety feature not seen on the competition. I use the Urban 350 and with the typical River Road 34 miles morning loop I need at least one hour of full power before there is enough natural light to ride. Most of the other riders use the Urban 650 and it is extraordinary. You can’t go wrong with the urban product line.

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DiversDigest
DiversDigest
9 years ago

Hi @Heidi, do you perhaps know why they opted to go for the XM-L instead of the more efficient XM-L2 LED? Also, instead of adding a spot which is less likely to be used for video, would it not have been better to add an additional floodlight or perhaps just add a diffuser to be used should you wish to amplify the light? I’ve used a set of 2x XM-L LED’s for shooting underwater video in the past and although it made a HUGE difference, it only really allowed me to do closeups. I was not able to shoot wreck scenes and this largely due to insufficient light. PS: Thanks for FINALLY opening the market for GoPro video lights. I don’t know why it took people so long to see it.

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