Ring light

[Media24]

Hello,
I’m fairly new but quite lost. This might not be the right place to ask (wasn’t sure if it should go in equipment or lights) but I have to start somewhere.

I’m looking to purchase a ring light that will do for indoor photography and film. One I can use my dslr with or a camera phone, and will angle to 90 degrees or upright so I can film workbooks on the desk or me waffling. UK so indoors can be a little dark- I don’t need sharp light (not a makeup youtuber and less wrinkles caught the better, but a flattering semi professional light would be better than the near dark I’m currently getting even with the light on.

I’ve seen a neewer 18” ring light, led with CIR 92 that packs away easily at around £80 but would be reluctant to spend anymore at present. I don’t have another tripod/reflectors/lights (just camera/phone) so hoping this could be an all in one space saver...

Thank you for any help in advance. I’m very grateful.

 

[Garry Edwards]

To be honest, all of the products of this type are over-hyped and pretty poor, but having said that they are probably the ideal solution for your own needs.

Personally, I'm not keen on Neewer products, the company is very successful at getting sales of products that they buy from the actual manufacturers and then re-brand, but in my view they go for low cost price rather than quality, and there can be problems with customer service.

I see that Lencarta have some options. There's this one, cheap as chips at £30 https://www.lencarta.com/10-inch-usb-ring-light-with-188cm-light-stand and there's this one https://www.lencarta.com/18-led-beauty-ring-light-with-1-4m-light-stand at £65. The benefit of the more expensive one is that the light is much bigger, which means that at any given distance it will be much softer, but I'm not sure how much that matters because you'll need to position the light very close to the subject anyway, because of limited power. It may be better to get two of the cheaper, smaller ones.

 

[riddell]

To be honest, all of the products of this type are over-hyped and pretty poor

That is an extremely good way of putting it.

semi professional light

NO! Definitely not in any way professional.
LED ring lights have become popular because they are cheap and to someone without any skill or knowing what they are doing they are an easy way of 'improving' a photo.
Lots of youtubers and the like use them for video, where they are much more suited to video, but even then its just low end throwaway low end youtube stuff. Please don't kid yourself that they are in any way used professionally.

So why arn't they used professionally? Or even semi professionally? Many reasons. being LED constant lights is one major problem, details have been discussed on here many times.
And the fact that it is a ring, is extremely limiting, by its ring shaped nature its meant to be shot through, which means pretty much thats all you can do with it. Even if you are a poor photography student you can get experimental and have fun by using cheap household lightbulbs, sellotaped to a broom handle sellotaped to a chair (be safe if you do this) At least you can then move those lights around, place them where you want. Assuming you know what you are doing, you'd get much more dynamic results from these lightbulbs than an LED ringlight.

Now what maybe confusing you is you have read about ringflash. These are a totally different beast, a bit specialist, but definitely used professionally.

 

[Garry Edwards]

NO! Definitely not in any way professional.
LED ring lights have become popular because they are cheap and to someone without any skill or knowing what they are doing they are an easy way of 'improving' a photo.
Lots of youtubers and the like use them for video, where they are much more suited to video, but even then its just low end throwaway low end youtube stuff. Please don't kid yourself that they are in any way used professionally.

I agree but, for the OP, this would be better than nothing.

Even if you are a poor photography student you can get experimental and have fun by using cheap household lightbulbs, sellotaped to a broom handle sellotaped to a chair (be safe if you do this) At least you can then move those lights around, place them where you want. Assuming you know what you are doing, you'd get much more dynamic results from these lightbulbs than an LED ringlight.

I agree, it's well worth experimenting with household LED lights first, and the CRI limitations will probably be around equal.

Now what maybe confusing you is you have read about ringflash. These are a totally different beast, a bit specialist, but definitely used professionally.

Even so, professional use of professional ringlights is very specialised, they are far from being an all-round tool.

 

[Media24]

To be honest, all of the products of this type are over-hyped and pretty poor, but having said that they are probably the ideal solution for your own needs.

Personally, I'm not keen on Neewer products, the company is very successful at getting sales of products that they buy from the actual manufacturers and then re-brand, but in my view they go for low cost price rather than quality, and there can be problems with customer service.

I see that Lencarta have some options. There's this one, cheap as chips at £30 https://www.lencarta.com/10-inch-usb-ring-light-with-188cm-light-stand and there's this one https://www.lencarta.com/18-led-beauty-ring-light-with-1-4m-light-stand at £65. The benefit of the more expensive one is that the light is much bigger, which means that at any given distance it will be much softer, but I'm not sure how much that matters because you'll need to position the light very close to the subject anyway, because of limited power. It may be better to get two of the cheaper, smaller ones.

Thank you for the reply. I will have a look at those you mention. Doesn’t need to be HD but enough that the workbooks and my friendly face are visible.

 

[Media24]

To be honest, all of the products of this type are over-hyped and pretty poor, but having said that they are probably the ideal solution for your own needs.

Personally, I'm not keen on Neewer products, the company is very successful at getting sales of products that they buy from the actual manufacturers and then re-brand, but in my view they go for low cost price rather than quality, and there can be problems with customer service.

I see that Lencarta have some options. There's this one, cheap as chips at £30 https://www.lencarta.com/10-inch-usb-ring-light-with-188cm-light-stand and there's this one https://www.lencarta.com/18-led-beauty-ring-light-with-1-4m-light-stand at £65. The benefit of the more expensive one is that the light is much bigger, which means that at any given distance it will be much softer, but I'm not sure how much that matters because you'll need to position the light very close to the subject anyway, because of limited power. It may be better to get two of the cheaper, smaller ones.

Thank you for the reply. I will have a look at those you mention. Doesn’t need to be HD but enough that the workbooks and my friendly face are visible

That is an extremely good way of putting it.



NO! Definitely not in any way professional.
LED ring lights have become popular because they are cheap and to someone without any skill or knowing what they are doing they are an easy way of 'improving' a photo.
Lots of youtubers and the like use them for video, where they are much more suited to video, but even then its just low end throwaway low end youtube stuff. Please don't kid yourself that they are in any way used professionally.

So why arn't they used professionally? Or even semi professionally? Many reasons. being LED constant lights is one major problem, details have been discussed on here many times.
And the fact that it is a ring, is extremely limiting, by its ring shaped nature its meant to be shot through, which means pretty much thats all you can do with it. Even if you are a poor photography student you can get experimental and have fun by using cheap household lightbulbs, sellotaped to a broom handle sellotaped to a chair (be safe if you do this) At least you can then move those lights around, place them where you want. Assuming you know what you are doing, you'd get much more dynamic results from these lightbulbs than an LED ringlight.

Now what maybe confusing you is you have read about ringflash. These are a totally different beast, a bit specialist, but definitely used professionally.

Thank you for the reply- I think my mention of semi professional was lost in translation slightly. I simply meant I didn’t need a professional HD set up as that’s not my job and more than I was willing or able to spend. Similarly I didn’t want to get a cheap item that gave off poor light (but a flattering semi professional light would be better than my (ceiling) lightbulb which is casting dark shadows on the video link/photos so people can’t see what I’m sending at present) it’s not an area I was expecting to delve into but I’m going to have to bite the bullet. I do see what youre saying (and for more artistic shots and creative things I definitely agree, but this is bog standard can’t be seen on video link/ can’t see the workbooks I’m trying to send with answers/marks on at the moment, so need a bit of illumination). It would likely be all shot through at the moment so a static all in one which is easy to set up (time saving) preferred. I hope that makes sense. I’m no expert but from what I have read this seemed the easiest option but I am willing to have other ideas as I am no expert.

 

[riddell]

Doesn’t need to be HD

Similarly I didn’t want to get a cheap item that gave off poor light (but a flattering semi professional light would be better than my (ceiling) lightbulb which is casting dark shadows on the video link/photos

No idea how a light could make it HD or otherwise.

A ring light will create shadows just the same way as a lightbulb. In fact if its brighter than your ceiling light bulb it will create stronger shadows.
Nor will an LED ring light be very flattering either. You need a softbox.

So is it just video conferencing you want to be using this for?

 

[Media24]

No idea how a light could make it HD or otherwise.

A ring light will create shadows just the same way as a lightbulb. In fact if its brighter than your ceiling light bulb it will create stronger shadows.
Nor will an LED ring light be very flattering either. You need a softbox.

So is it just video conferencing you want to be using this for?

HD as in bright enough to show up everything? Every wrinkle. But I’m no expert and if I’m using the wrong terminology please bear with me. Photography is a hobby for me (beginner level) but I’ve suddenly been forced into a world where my technology knowledge is affecting my work output.

Not just video conferencing but video and photographs. All look dull and like I’m in a cupboard with a poor ceiling light that makes everything orange on video/camera in stills and video. (I am in a cupboard practically but that’s irrelevant). I need the recipients to be able to see me, or see things on the desk in overhead view (I have moved the camera around to try and limit shadow from ceiling light but still loosing detail and don’t quite have the room to get the angle I need without extra light. I won’t bore you with the full details but I was hoping one light would suffice but appreciate I might need to rethink later if things stay this way. What soft box would you recommend for a beginner? Thank you.

 

[riddell]

HD means high definition. Its the number of lines / pixels. Nothing to do with brightness.
If you want to light everything, then you need multiple lights for the simple reason that different things need lighting differently.

Everything is orange simply because you have your white balance set wrong.

To be honest It sounds like a combination of poor camera and not knowing what you are doing.
Difficult to help without knowing every detail and seeing the setup.

 

[jamesev]

have you had a look at the Pixapro lights?