Ring Light - Review - Unboxing

I bought one of the cheapest ring lights available in the market, just to test it and see how good is the concept. Mainly bought it for my drawing videos not for filmmaking or anything, I used to have hard shadows in my videos of my hand as I am drawing, and I thought that maybe this ring light concept will give me a better outcome.

You May watch the Unboxing / Review in this video below

I bought a "12 inch fill light" one which is quiet big, there were others that are smaller but that would defy the purpose for which I bought, because for the sake of having less shadows you need a light source that would cover a wide area, a smaller ring light would only look like a regular bulb with a whole inside of it.

It cost me around 15 Dollars, I bought it without a stand or a monopod simply because I already have a tripod that I will be using it with.

It has 3 buttons:

ON/Off button
+/- Button to dim the light
Mode button to switch between regular light, cold light, and warm light.

It has no battery of its own, however it has a USB port to power it but the Adapter is not included, I simply used it with my phone charger.

The phone holder can be adapted to your needs, mainly portrait mode or landscape mode, but thanks to its flexibility you have a wide range of angles of 360°.

The whole thing is mainly made of plastic-ish material, but it it strong enough, I would still suggest that you use it with care.

Final thoughts:

Personally I like it, it does serve the purpose I bought it for, which is less shadows, I loved the switching between modes part because in some situation that warm light can look really cool on videos.. I am still getting used to it but so far I am satisfied, especially for the little price I paid.

What is a Ring Light?

A ring light is a circular lighting tool that evenly illuminates the subject of a close-up photograph. Ring lights are popular in portrait photography. In addition to overall studio lighting, a professional photographer or videographer may use a ring light to ensure their subject's face is evenly lit with a pleasing, soft light. In the era of smartphone photography, LED ring lights are an increasingly common photography accessory. Some selfie ring lights attach directly to your smartphone. Other ring light kits may include a tripod stand, a gooseneck, and a charger in addition to the LED ring light itself.

How does it work?

A ring light produces soft, direct light on a face or a subject, minimizing shadows. When you take a photo using a ring light, place the camera lens in the center of the ring; this ensures that your subject is lit evenly from the direction of the camera. Other light sources may produce brilliant lighting on some parts of a subject while leaving others in harsh shadow. By contrast, a ring light that's properly set up on its light stand provides uniformity to the way surfaces are lit.