Extremely bright Digital readout Battery-powered option Easily mounts DSLR + phones Stepless dimmer Fully adjustable via remote Quite large (though it’s lighter than the other large options) Batteries not included Having the ability to set your ring light to an exact brightness and temperature every time you use it allows for a level of standardization you wouldn’t otherwise have. The second useful feature this ring light offers is its two high-capacity batteries (sold separately), which allow for stress-free outdoor shooting. The Neewer Digital is also extremely bright, feels well-made, comes with a nice carry-bag, and has various attachment points for both DSLRs and phones. The UBeesize 10″ Table Top is a well-designed and easy-to-use ring light at an amicable price. Unlike many cheap ball joint tripods, this one actually stays put once you tighten it in place, so you don’t have to worry about it dumping your phone or expensive camera.
Its simple design and easily adjustable leg height allow for a speedy 10-second setup, while its size is conducive to tabletop photo shoots and traveling. Whenever we needed a small tripod for our DSLR, we reached for this one because it’s generally easy to use, and the stability is trustworthy.
On the downside, we wish the phone mount worked a bit more seamlessly with chunky Otterbox cases. Additionally, this smaller ring light is a fraction of the price of some of the others in our test suite and, as a result, simply does not provide the brightness that larger, more expensive options do.
This is a great option if you want to be small and simple while on the move, all at an unbeatable price point. This ball joint on the UBeesize 10″ Table Top is textured and grips well when it’s tightened Credit: Richard Forbes
Extremely bright Well made Can mount a DSLR Stepless dimmer Large and bulky Requires AC plug-in This strong LED ring light is sure to brighten up any photo set to your liking and will create great catchlights in your subjects’ eyes. The solid tripod holds a heavy (five-ish lbs) DSLR set up well, and we’re confident that it can handle more.
Additionally, we like its stepless dimmer, which lets you set the exact level of brightness you want.
As a result, you’ll need to have access to an outlet, but if you’re looking to buy a larger light without all the bells and whistles, this one is a great choice. Includes a useful tripod with a level Very versatile Slightly dimmer than competitors Heaviest USB light There’s a separate carry bag for the tripod, and it includes an easy-to-use remote trigger for your phone as well. It also features the same phone holder as the UBeesize 10″ Tabletop, which is easy to twist to whatever angle you want. Lets you choose from an almost infinite number of colors Heavier duty tripod than competitors Very lightweight Even on brightest setting, it’s slightly dimmer than similarly-sized lights Light control can be finicky until you figure it out Won’t work with a DSLR – you’ll need a separate tripod If you like artsy color options, the Lavkow is a great choice at a fair price. We recommend this model if you don’t have much desk/storage space or plan to travel a lot with your setup and want to keep it small and low weight. However, since ring lights are generally placed around the camera lens you’re using, the double tripod arrangement makes lining things up a bit tricky to achieve the desired effect.
Still, if a tiny and portable setup is what you need, this one is a decent choice, but keep in mind that a ring light should be larger for an optimal effect. Richard is joined by Hayley Thomas, a lover of photography since she was a child, growing up with her photographer mother.
We played with each light’s different features, timed setups and breakdowns to assess ease of use, and monitored stability by attaching our phones and cameras to each product.
They provide a kind and diffused light that removes shadows and helps subjects stand out from their backgrounds.
Our expert testers subjected each product to a series of rigorous tests designed to reveal any strengths or weaknesses then sorted the results into four weighted categories. The Neewer 18″ Bi-Color Digital may be one of the most expensive ring lights we have tested, but it performed extremely well across all of our metrics.
If you are looking for something of the same caliber but don’t need or want to pay for extra features, the Neewer 18″ Kit is a solid runner-up. On the other hand, if you are looking for the bare minimum, the UBeesize 10″ Table Top is a quality option.
With the significant cut in price, you forfeit features that the more expensive options offer; however, you still receive a decent quality of light, stellar stability, and good durability. To measure and compare sheer brightness between these often very similar devices, we used the LT300 Light Meter by EXTECH. When it comes to sheer brightness, the Neewer 18″ Kit wins by a landslide, emitting a whopping 2065 lumens. The Neewer 18″ Bi-Color Digital falls behind at 1393 lumens, which is still extremely impressive compared to the rest of the products in our test suite.
Part of the reason for the out-of-this-world brightness is their size; they both have roughly 25 times the lighting surface area as the tiny Auxiwa Clip-On, which gives them quite the advantage. Big and bright, the Neewer models we tested will help you transform your media presence, from videos to photos to Zoom meetings.
However, it would be disingenuous to ignore the obvious issue with a “brightness only” approach — there’s a huge range of sizes in this test, from the enormous 18″ Neewer models to the tiny Auxiwa Clip-On. This 10″ ring light offers 240 lumens and 11 dimmer steps and three different tones ranging from cool to warm. What it lacks in sheer brightness, emitting just 168 lumens, it makes up for with a unique set of light colors. If you’re looking to spice up your selfies and videos with edgy lighting, the Lavkow is a fun option.
In the middle of the pack, some lights were unnecessarily fiddly: in particular, the AIXPI 10″ with Tripod took 50 seconds to set up just because the parts didn’t fit together super well. We set up each model, attached the largest camera or phone possible, and then jostled it vigorously to see whether it could stay up.
We also assessed whether each could support a phone or DSLR and whether we felt confident that our electronics were actually going to stay where we put them. Durability is a difficult metric to measure because there’s no way to figure out how long a product might last without literally using it for years.
That said, we spent time setting up and breaking down each light repeatedly to identify any weak spots they might have and supplemented our own assessments by reading user reviews to see if there were any common problems. We also weren’t overly gentle with any of the lights, making sure to put them through all the paces that a busy videographer or photographer might.
The 2 Best Ring Lights 2021
If you’re a streamer, a vlogger, or someone who’s on video calls a lot for work, good lighting is essential. A ring light is a simple tool whose diffuse glow can bring you out of the dark and make you look more professional. Unlike many ring lights, which can draw power from a laptop’s USB port, this Neewer model requires an outlet to work. The stand’s flat, fold-out feet make the light easy to position behind a monitor.
Neewer Ring Light Review
A couple of my friends recently started their own side hustles selling cosmetics and other products, and my first piece of advice was YOU NEED A RING LIGHT! If you click my handy dandy links to the Ring Light kit that I own, I may receive a small commission as I am part of the Amazon Associates program.
Of course there are a ton of beauty gurus and YouTubers suggesting ring lights, but what about an everyday Mom of 5?
Let me start by saying that marketing on social media has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years.
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have changed the way that companies are reaching potential clients and a great image will sell a product. Whether you are making a video reviewing a blender, just talking to your audience, or applying makeup, great lighting will set you apart from your competition immediately.
When taking pictures indoors, you will always be battling dull yellow lighting, exactly what you don’t want. A cell phone holder, a stand, two different filters (orange + white), and a bag for storage and transporting.
Price point has dropped significantly in the last year making the light more affordable for the average person.
I use my Canon EOS 6D fitted with my Sigma 18-35 mm F1.8 Art lens to take videos with the ring light.
I have seen many YouTubers using the Canon EOS 70D as it has a flip out screen so you can see what your video looks like as you are filming. Pictured here is my Canon EOS 5D Mark II on the Neweer Ring Light.
When I first started using the light, I did find it hard to be in front of for long periods of time. The nice thing is that the light is dimmable so you can set it lower if it is hurting your eyes. Whether you are a hair stylist, YouTuber, blogger, photographer, makeup artist, or you are making videos for any other business venture potential customers will take you more seriously if your images/videos look high quality. The biggest way my ring light helped my side hustle was that it boosted my confidence.
It occasionally helps me use backlighting to take the beautiful images of food you see here on PLA.
Westcott LED Ring Light Review
Certainly, fashion photographers with commercial budgets have been using high-end equipment such as the Broncolor Ringflash for years. Highly Recommended Westcott 18 LED Ring Light Mount onto camera or mobile for bright and beautiful portraits and flicker-free vlogging. Luckily the advent of LED technology has brought the fabled ring light into the realm of possibility for a low cost yet high-quality option. It would be too easy to give the Westcott Ring Light bad marks for build quality because it’s made of lightweight plastic.
The company appears to realize that the outside world is now the studio for creators in stills and video and is emphasizing easy assembly with lightweight yet sturdy materials. As mentioned, the entire set up is extremely lightweight and easy to maneuver around your studio, client’s home or when adjusting for macro photography. This LED ring light isn’t designed to replace the power output of the high-end flash units, but with today’s clean ISO on most cameras it shouldn’t be an issue. If you’re a makeup artist looking for great, consistent light to show off your work on social media you will love the quality here. For photographers and videographers wanting a unique look in a no-fuss set up, you’ll find the light quality here excellent as well. For these in-studio portraits, I used the Westcott Bi-Color LED Ring Light plugged into AC power, but the two included Li-Ion batteries make this a very portable set up. If you need to stop down your aperture for macro product photography, you won’t have an issue with light output unless you are shooting at f/11 or more and then you may need to raise your ISO. The Westcott 18″ Bi-Color LED Ring Light is flicker-free for easy video creation.
This portable lighting kit would be a great investment for on-location makeup artist as well as other beauty stylists. Social media images (and videos) shot in consistently high-quality light are going to raise you above the fray and be good for business. For run and gun videographers or hybrid content creators, this kit is a high quality yet low-cost option that will give you color consistency across your YouTube or Instagram feed. For pure stills photographers, this is a great low cost option for a unique look for your portraits or on-location headshot service.
Unless, of course, you’re in the world of high-end fashion photography, where Broncolor level lighting is expected… alongside something like a Hasselblad H6D-100c Medium Format DSLR. Highly Recommended Westcott 18 LED Ring Light Mount onto camera or mobile for bright and beautiful portraits and flicker-free vlogging.
Top 10 Ring Lights
I’ll come clean: I didn’t know anything about ring lights until professional barber/hairperson Kylie Belachaikovsky schooled me on them. She is a frequent visitor to our site, and she shared with me her trials and tribulations as she shopped for a ring light years ago when she was trying to build her business using vibrant Instagram photos. Consequently, we sat down one afternoon, and she told me all about them and discussed the pros and cons of the best options out there. If you want to make totally awesome videos or take rad pictures like a pro, you need to have good illumination. They are all the rage these days because they highlight the windows into your soul (the eyes), minimize shadows, and offer even, radial illumination that conceals skin imperfections. This makes these devices ideal for close-ups and portrait photography, like when you want to show off the gorgeous new hair color job you just spent four hours on. The two main types of ring light lamps are LED and fluorescent. So, you should choose an LED ring light if you plan on traveling to different places to take photos. If you happen to run into a big celebrity, like Mike Birbiglia, you can just set it up quickly and have a professional looking photograph taken with him.
There are countless buyer reviews from salon owners and makeup artists who found this light really made their work pop. Buy the Neewer Camera Photo/Video 18-Inch Outer LED SMD Ring Light on Amazon You can probably even make your money back after a couple of days of charging people $5 a pop to take selfies with it.
True to their name, you could conceivably take this light ring with you in a limo and have a little photo studio at your fingertips. The LimoStudio LED Ring Light is ready to use within a few minutes of extracting it from its packaging. It isn’t ranked higher because its durability is questionable and most salons will probably want a larger ring light. Buy the LimoStudio 12-Inch Diameter Dimmable Continuous Round LED Ring Light on Amazon
Buy the Neewer 18-Inch Outer Dimmable LED Ring Light Kit on Amazon In fact, many of the high quality products available in the United States are made in China. AW managed to strike a good balance between affordability and functionality. Buyers note that it fits iPhones and Android devices and the light can double as a desk lamp.
Orange and white color filters to enhance or detract from skin tones
The Neewer Upgraded 18″ Outer Dimmable SMD LED Ring Light is quite a bit like our #2 pick.
Neewer Upgraded 18-Inch Outer Dimmable SMD LED Ring Light We know nothing about AW other than they get their materials from China, and they also run a fast food chain that caters to people who never leave their car.
Comes with orange and white filters, phone holder, ball head, stand, and bag Buy the Eachshot 240 LED 18-Inch Stepless Adjustable Ring Light Kit on Amazon
Best Ring Light for DSLR Video & Vlogging: Neewer 18″ Dimmable LED Ring Light Review – DIY Video Studio
This ring lights can help make your shots look glamorous and give you those fashionable circular catch-light reflections in your eyes. 1x White and Orange Color Filter Set 1x Tripod Head Hot Shoe Adapter Ring lights are frequently used by make-up artists but have become popular with videographers and YouTubers to make their subjects appear more glamorous.
If you are a vlogger, create YouTube beauty and make-up tutorials, want to do live streams, or take portrait shots, you’ll love the Neewer 18-inch LED ring light.
Two or three soft boxes will take up much more space in a bedroom or sitting room, but the 18-inch Neewer LED ring light will fit in there easily and produce plenty of illumination. If you do need instructions, you can download the Installation Manual from the product information in the Amazon listing.
But being a ring, the illumination has the effect of coming from all directions around your camera, producing a very flattering soft light. The kit includes what Neewer calls a soft tube (a gooseneck) so you can bend the ring light into position.
I wouldn’t hesitate in buying this Neewer 18″ ring light, especially if I were making video content in a limited space or was a vlogger. One thing worth pointing out is that this, and most video accessories in the under $200 price range, are consumer-level products. Other than being made of plastic, it’s a great buy and I would have no hesitation in saying it’s the best ring light for DSLR video at an affordable price. Hopefully, you found it helpful in creating your own content for your social media and YouTube channels.
I have listed some of the gear I use as a YouTuber and online course creator and hope you’ll also find it useful. It automatically senses what device it is connected to ensuring it works with SLRs, camcorders, smartphones, Handy recorders, laptops, and bodypack transmitters.
For video calls on Zoom or Teams, I use the Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit . When I need more screen space and the durability of an all-metal build, I like the Glide Gear TMP100 beam-splitter teleprompter.
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