My DIY studio ring light (Progress thread)

[Jaffster]

So, after reading many 'DIY ring flash' guides I thought I'd give it a go myself. Some people really do get pretty technical with theirs, I tried to keep mine as simple as possible. Less is better, not as much chance of something going wrong.

So far, I've spent £24 on it. All that's left to buy is the bulbs. Taken with my camera phone:

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3


(Photobucket decided to resize them to 1024 x 768, and I'm at work at the minute so links will have to do)

At first I wanted a complete ring and considered using more, smaller bulbs and finding some kind of plastic diffuser to cover them with - but came to the conclusion that this would only frustrate me and make things difficult. I could always add another layer to this, line it with something reflective like foil and bodge it further!

We gave it a test run with 5 bulbs that we could find in the garage and the catch light is pretty awesome, I can't wait to give it a proper test with all 8 bulbs. It's a shame all the bulbs were different temperatures and wattage it tested the auto white balance setting on the Sony

Here's a test shot (with 5 bulbs), just cropped and WB adjusted:

Testament to the Sony 70-200 G lens being so sharp as that's out of the camera, no sharpening

Anyway, now I'm off to break several old tripods trying to figure out how I'm going to get this mounted. I'm thinking maybe just connecting the tripod shoe to the bottom of the light - although I'm unsure how sturdy this will be.

I'll keep you all updated.

 

[TTK]

Look forward to seeing the finished item, and I did not know Sony camera's and lenses were that good, will have to consider them against the Nikon..

 

[Jaffster]

Look forward to seeing the finished item, and I did not know Sony camera's and lenses were that good, will have to consider them against the Nikon..

The budget lenses are..... what to be expected. But the top quality glass is excellent.

I've done the mounting bracket - it's on and connected to the tripod. Finally looking a little more like the finished product.

Do I paint it black or white?

 

[Triggaaar]

Testament to the Sony 70-200 G lens being so sharp as that's out of the camera, no sharpening

So did you shoot it in RAW, and what did you convert it to jpeg with? Or if you shot it in jpeg, why is there no in camera sharpening?

 

[Jaffster]

So did you shoot it in RAW, and what did you convert it to jpeg with? Or if you shot it in jpeg, why is there no in camera sharpening?

Sorry, I thought I'd started a thread about DIY Ring lights, not sharpening techniques. I'll watch out for the sharpening police in future.

I adjusted the white balance, which would make one presume that it was shot in RAW, converted to JPEG and posted. Does it really matter? :shrug:

PS. While the shot has so much attention:

Exif data
Camera Sony DSLR-A550
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 85 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
File Size 5.5 MB
File Type JPEG
MIME Type image/jpeg
Image Width 3587
Image Height 2388
Encoding Process Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample 8
Color Components 3
Image Description SONY DSC
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Software DSLR-A550 v1.00
Date and Time (Modified) 2010:08:04 11:49:21
Exposure Program Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original) 2010:08:02 18:08:18+01:00
Date and Time (Digitized) 2010:08:02 18:08:18
Brightness Value 2.75
Max Aperture Value 2.8
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Light Source Tungsten
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Auto
White Balance Manual
Focal Length In35mm Format 127 mm
Scene Capture Type Standard
Contrast Normal
Saturation Normal
Sharpness Normal
Compression JPEG (old-style)
Caption- Abstract SONY DSC
XMPToolkit Adobe XMP Core 4.2-c020 1.124078, Tue Sep 11 2007 23:21:40
Creator Tool Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Lens 70-200mm F2.8 G
Lens ID 33
Legacy IPTCDigest A3261704D1C689FE07D688932FD52B41
Description SONY DSC
Color Transform YCbCr
Flash Return No return detection
Flash Mode Off
Flash Function False
Flash Red Eye Mode False

 

[david1701]

lol @ sharpening police


what about a pair of superclamps for holding it ?

 

[Jaffster]

lol @ sharpening police


what about a pair of superclamps for holding it ?

I've managed to get it fitted onto an old Tripod. The actual mount is tight and secure, it's the actual tripod which wobbles as it's an old one with a plastic head (nasty).

It seems sturdy enough though.

All that's left is to paint it and choose my bulbs - may go flourescent due to the heat which 8 tungsten bulbs give out.

 

[david1701]

LOL secure it to 2 lightstands?

nah the heat is good saves heating the studio

 

[Triggaaar]

Sorry, I thought I'd started a thread about DIY Ring lights, not sharpening techniques. I'll watch out for the sharpening police in future.

No need to upset darling. Both of your posts had commented on the sharpness of your Sony lens, so I thought I'd ask. My Nikon shots wouldn't be that sharp if I applied no sharpening, but then I don't know how aggressive your Sony's anti-aliasing filter is.

I adjusted the white balance, which would make one presume that it was shot in RAW, converted to JPEG and posted. Does it really matter? :shrug:

No it doesn't, but it's a photography forum and I was interested, so I asked.

 

[getnoticed]

Well done for having a go and sharing the build

I had the opportunity to shoot through a ring light last week and loved the catchlights created. Nice even spread of light too - but damned bright.

Can't wait to see more images

 

[Jaffster]

Well done for having a go and sharing the build

I had the opportunity to shoot through a ring light last week and loved the catchlights created. Nice even spread of light too - but damned bright.

Can't wait to see more images

I stuck tungsten bulbs in.... the heat was too much. B&Q one night next week for flourescents I think.

Thrilled to bits with it, I need to find myself a decent model to test it on.

 

[Toxic]

I built one of these a few years ago and still use it on most of my shoots, I opted for 12 bulbs which give an awsome effect, I use daylight balanced energy saving bulbs and just crank up the iso on my camera.

I support mine using a quick release shoe screwed to the bottom of it and the attach it to the head on an old Benbo tripod which allows for adjustment.

 

[classcams]

Pity about the multi catchlights in the eyes

 

[RichHobson]

I don't know...I think the multiple catchlights adds something unique to it.

 

[anniephoto]

I don't know why but I looooove the multiple catch-lights!

 

[HoppyUK]

I built one of these a few years ago and still use it on most of my shoots, I opted for 12 bulbs which give an awsome effect, I use daylight balanced energy saving bulbs and just crank up the iso on my camera.

I support mine using a quick release shoe screwed to the bottom of it and the attach it to the head on an old Benbo tripod which allows for adjustment.

Terrific shot Toxic!

 

[Toxic]

Pity about the multi catchlights in the eyes

Err thats the whole point about building one, to get the effect, had I wanted a circular catchlight I would have used my ringflash or a circular flourescent tube...