It’s true: lighting can really make or break your video. You can tell the difference between a professional video and an amateurish one judging by the lighting.
While opening up windows and shooting in natural light can certainly help, the best way to guarantee good lighting in a video is to use an artificial ring light. It’s a very popular tool with Youtubers and vloggers more so than LED panels or umbrella lights.
“Why?” You may ask.
Well, for one they are very beginner-friendly and easy to use. Also, they are perfect for people with limited filming space as they don’t take much real estate.
Additionally, the light produced by the ring is shadowless and engulfed the subject, making for a clear focus.
Lastly, the distance between the subject and the ring doesn’t have a negative effect. You can get as close to the light as you want and it’ll still look good.
So, it seems self-explanatory to just pick up a light ring, hook it up and get rolling. Well, yes and no. While most lights will do the trick, a word of wisdom is to know exactly what you’re buying can and can’t do in order to get the best results.
For this purpose, we’re going to look at ring lights today, what you should consider before buying one and we are going to list some of our favorite ring lights to use.
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Let’s jump right into this list of what we consider the best ring lights for video.
1. ESDDI PLV-R432 18-inch Ring Light
This is one of the best ring lights, especially for YouTubers. This light is 18-inch in diameter and consumes only 48 Watts. If you buy this light, you’ll have a case, light stand, and a phone clip included in the box.
The ESDDI PLV-R432 is a big boy, and it’ll require plenty of space to set up. The benefit of this is that it is 18-inches. The size and brightness are large and strong enough to be usable in a variety of situations. For example, it lights portraits brilliantly (excuse the pun).
The combined effect is a perfect right light for vlogging and videos. It does a nice job of softening the shadows. The light on subjects is evened out as well. Also, thanks to the huge size, the PLV-R432 is ideal for makeup and beauty channels.
The PLV-R432 comes with everything you’ll ever need. The stand is 6-foot in height. There’s a travel case that’s padded for damage protection. You have manual control to modify the brightness levels. In terms of flexibility, the neck can rotate 180°.
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2. Fositan 18-inch LED Ring Light Kit
This ring light was built for streaming apps, and at a weight of 3.12kg, you’ll want to keep this one stationary. This is one very bright light. Included with it are multiple phone holders to suit your needs.
If you’re on the lookout for a great light to mount your phone on and record or stream, the Fositan 18-inch LED Ring Light Kit has you covered. Thankfully, this light is budget-friendly.
You can also mount a phone to one of three built-in phone holders. You can even mount multiple phones to record on multiple mounts at the same time. Therefore, you can shoot your videos from various angles.
Additionally, the ring light comes with a tripod. There are also two remotes included. The first one controls your phone. The second remote controls brightness, and color temperature.
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3. Mactrem 14 Color RGB Ring Light (8-Inches)
If you don’t have three phones to mount at the same time and just want a simple but effective light, the MACTREM 14 Color RGB Ring Light. This is a ring light that won’t burn a hole in your wallet.
It’s an excellent option for beginners since the small size lends to ease of use. The color temperature range is pretty good for the price.
You can also choose between ten brightness options. In addition, you have 14 RGB colors that unlock many opportunities for creative use.
There are a handful of features that make this ring light worthwhile. For one, the manufacturer included a pair of tripods.
The first is your regular tripod. It can be extended to 50 inches. The Second is what they call an “octopus” tripod. It’s able to attach its legs to anything, like an octopus.
Both tripods are flexible enough. They can be tilted or rotated from 45 to about 360 degrees. The benefit is more freedom in options when it comes to setting up shots.
Another feature we love here is a remote for the built-in Bluetooth shutter. You can use this with any iOS or Android device.
As expected, there are no additional battery options. You can’t mount a camera on this light either. This set is built for phones and that’s what it excels at.
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4. Emart 10-inch Selfie Ring Light
The Emart 10-inch Selfie Ring Light is about as perfect a ring light as you can get. It’s versatile both in how you can set it up and in its lighting customization.
Its design is small and it weighs less than other lights in this range. Included in the box are cases for multiple uses.
The Emart knows it’s a ring light and appropriately designed to be easy to use. You can take the light ring and screw it into the tripod.
You can play around with it to see which of the three height levels fits your needs. Just collapse one of the sections to modify it to your liking.
While the neck isn’t flexible like other options on this list, you can still rotate the base in 360 degrees and tilt it at 180 degrees. This compensates for the neck and makes getting creative angles an easy task.
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5. FotodioX Selfie Starlite Vlog 18” Bi-Color Ring Light
The FotodioX Selfie Starlite Vlog 18″ Bi-Color Ringlight Kit has just about everything a YouTuber, vlogger, or make-up specialist could want in a ring light.
Thankfully, this kit is also budget-friendly. This 18-inch ring light is perfect for use with smartphones.
Speaking of phones, a pretty good phone holder is available in the kit. You’ll also get a case that helps with portability. There’s a power supply as well and a two-year warranty.
The ring is bi-color which permits users to adjust the light temperature between. This feature allows you to help the light gel better with other sources of light in a frame.
You can also adjust the level of light from 10% to 100% which helps you get the look and feel you want.
If there are any drawbacks here, there are only two we can think of.
First, this ring light doesn’t have any battery options.
Secondly, we love the kit but we can’t help but miss a stand. Therefore, you must use a stand you already have or get one separately.
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Buying Considerations
There are a number of aspects one should consider before purchasing a ring light for video.
Manual Control
While most ring lights are as easy to use as flicking a switch, you’ll want a bit more control over your light. Mainly, you’ll want to control the level of brightness.
If you can’t control that, your light will be like a lightbulb and the only way to change the level of brightness is to physically move it away. This is not optimal and very inconvenient.
Extra Power
Some ring lights have a rechargeable battery feature. This can prove to be a useful feature for vlogging outdoors or even avoid having many cables plugged at the same time. You could always clumsily trip into a wire and bring the light down with a literal bang.
Flexible Parts
some ring lights have the ability to rotate the neck in all directions. This is a useful feature to have. Remember, the more flexible the light is, the more options you have, and the less likely you are to be frustrated over not achieving the look you want.
CRI
CRI stands for Color Rendering Index. What it does is impact the richness of the color and the natural look of your subject.
You don’t want to film a video where you look like you’re in a hospital room. The lower the value of the CRI, the more the light looks clinical. If this spec is entirely absent from the sheet, avoid the light entirely.
Best Ring Light For Video – Wrap Up
That concludes our guide on the best ring lights for videos. Keep in mind that different lights are built for different uses. Thus, the best one for you is the one that helps you achieve what you want.
With that said, the very least a ring light can do for you is allow manual control of brightness levels, have the option of using extra batteries, flexibility for better framing, and CRI control. Everything else on top of that is just your preference.
We hope that our choices are up to your liking. Even if they aren’t, that’s no problem. As long as you’ve learned what you need to look for in a ring light and can find the best one for you, it’s all that matters. Good luck and have fun!
The post Best Ring Light For Video in 2021: 5 Awesome Ring Lights appeared first on Filmmaking Lifestyle.
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