19inch ring light

This lamp has been a massive upgrade for our YouTube set up. Previously we had been using two conventional lamps with hood reflectors, which are a) less reliable b) take up much more room and c) not as bright. The light itself was easy to access and set up. The tripod is of good quality, robust and weighty, so there's no wobble or risk of collapse. We don't actually ask very much of our lights, as we don't need to vary them, but the camera has a nice variable brightness setting. On it's brightest setting, it's perfect for tabletop video recording. We're finding that the colours are much richer on our newer video (you can see the difference at the end of the video I've attached. ) The camera comes with a bag for carrying everything around in, if you want to do mobile photography or videos. Again ours are static, so I haven't need to use this function. The kit isn't heavy and against as its robust should withstand being transported. Something I wouldn't want to have to do with our old halogen style spiral bulbs. The phone/camera attachments on the rig are easy to use , allowing just about anybody to use the light with whatever rerecording hardware they are using. If I had the time again, I would definitely have picked up one of these rings sooner, though they're not cheap if you're just starting out. The reason being, that they are so much easier to assemble and transport and give a much cleaner finished product, you're not losing time and energy in setting your shoot up AND you're getting an increase in quality. It's absolutely win-win, and the cost difference between this and two less luminous lights isn't that great. All in all, I'm super pleased with my new light and would definitely recommend it.

Pros: 1) It comes with all the essentials inside. You get a stand for the light itself, phone mounts as well as camera mounts, a very good manual and also a guide for the stand. 2) You get a carrying bag for the light and the cables which is also very nice to see, and on the sides there are zippers holding foam for protection. 3) The case also has 2 spots from where you can carry it. There are normal handles as well as a sleeve (just liek a laptop bag) which is appreciated for easier handling. 4) The phone holder as well as the ball head are well made, and as shown in the video, the ball head has no problem holding a camera. 5) The cables are all very good as well, and it is nice to see a beefy power supply. 6) The stand was also very easy to use. It is very simple to set up and once it is set up, it is sturdy enough to hold both the ring light and a camera without any problems. 7) The ring light itself is amazingly built, It is very easy to remove the diffusers which is very good to see as if they break, you can easily replace them. 8) The LCD screen is also very welcomed and it shows everything very easily. You also have a backlight so if it's pitch black around you, you can easily turn it on. (9) There are other features as well like the group feature, wireless feature, brightness levels and also a channel feature.) 9) The brightness knob is very smooth to use. It has a good amount of brightness difference between 1% and 100% so you can easily fine tune to your liking. 10) It is also very easy to change the colour temperature. As shown in the video, you can choose between 3000K and 5800K so you also have a pretty wide range of temperature 11) There is also (as mentioned before) a button to toggle between 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% which makes it easy to adjust if you're filming and don't have access to the back of the light. 12) There is also a group button, which allows to change between a few different groups and save presets on them by changing brightness and/or colour temperature prior to a shoot. Then you can easily toggle between them through a press of a button (shown in the video) 13) The channel feature is also nice to have. If you have more than 1 ring light, you can put them on different channels so they don't interfere with each other, which might cause a problem. 14) And lastly there's the wireless button. I unfortunately couldn't test this either since I only had 1 ring light, but you should be able to change the ring lights from 1 ring light only wirelessly. 15) There is a good amount of LED's behind the diffuser as well so light is not a problem at all. Cons: Till now, I haven't found any cons, but if I do, I will be sure to update!

I wanted a new lighting solution to simplify video-making (simple head-shot videos for YouTube). This light perfectly fits my requirements. The light is bright at its 100% setting and continuously adjustable in 100 units down to 1%. At 100%, it was brighter than I expected and will more than replace my 35W 5500K compact Fluorescent in softbox. The diffuser gives a good diffuse light. It also has a range of color temperatures that work well with my camera's auto white balance control (I'm no pro!). The unit is easy to set up, to use and to store, with its own carry case. It comes with a light stand which is pretty sturdy - though not rock-solid - this is not pro-tier kit. I particularly like the five channel presets. The unit also comes with a cold-shoe to ball-head adapter, a cold-shoe to 1/4" rigid adapter, and a smartphone holder that can rotate the phone. I'd happily use the adapters for my phone. They do also support a mid range 3/4 mirrored camera (700D), although I plan to use the camera on the tripod and shoot through the ring. With the weight, the stand is not quite solid. The quality of the light seems good, with no discernible color cast in my videos, but I have no means to test it. If it is at the 97CRI that the manufacturer claims, that's astonishing for the money. The build is what I would expect of a high-end consumer item, rather than a pro item. It's a good quality plastic construction and the stand is light-weight steel, I think. These are all consistent with the price. I think this will make my life easier and is well-worth the money. As long as you are not expecting a rugged metal build to professional quality, I expect you'll be very happy with this, and for a more rigid setup, you can always use a more solid tripod.