Top 5 Best Ring Lights for Makeup Artist, Photographers & Vloggers

The secret behind making great pictures is proper lighting. The creation of Ring lights for filming is to provide an illumination that lightens the subject and reduces shadows when taking pictures or shooting videos. Among the various market options of this product, there are models that meet the requirements of devoted and professional photographers, vloggers, and bloggers.

The extensive use of Ring Lights can be found in macro photography when there’s a need to reveal the detail. When applied to video shooting and portrait photography, they bring out your beauty and cover up slight imperfections.

Most YouTubers make use of ring lights. These are great lighting setups for YouTube and makeup videos while some are great for vlogging. Experienced YouTubers will agree that lighting can do the job or destroy it when we talk about the general quality of videos. This is why professionals make sure the lighting is never compromised.


Ring Lights: How do they work?

Ring lights function by creating bright light around a camera, which helps in taking great videos no matter the lighting condition you’re shooting your video in.

The most effective ring lights for filming create a lot of light that is bright enough to assist makeup artists, beauty vloggers, other vloggers, and YouTubers make their videos look better than they would have been without the Ring Light, while adding a professional feel to their work.

The camera is placed in the hollow circle found between the thick round edges that create the light; this is how the camera gets the required light to take great clips.

The importance of Ring Light for Video cannot be underestimated; this is why we’ve done a lot of research to come up with the Best Ring Lights to help enhance your videos.


Top Five Ring Lights: Quick Picks

Make/Model Diameter Color Temperature (Degrees Kelvin) Light Type Light Output
Neewer Dimmable LED Ring Light Kit 18 Inch 5500K LED 55W
Savage Luminous Pro LED Ring Light Plus 17.5 Inch 3,200 – 5,500K LED 96W
Diva Ring Light Super Nova 18 Dimmable Ring Light 18 Inch 5,500K Fluorescent 500W
Smith Victor LED Ring Light 19 Inch 5,500K LED 55W
Neewer RL-12 LED Ring Light 14 Inch 5,500K LED 55W

What Is The Best Ring Light For YouTube Videos?

Our Top 5 Ring Lights Detailed Reviews With Specifications, Pros & Cons

Neewer Ring Light KitThis Neewer Dimmable LED Ring Light Kit is the most suitable for YouTubers due to the great value they offer, and this is not because it produces enough light or it’s durable, but because it’s functional and amazingly versatile.

The energy consumed by the Neewer ring light is far less compared to other ring lights in the market, which means that in the long run, it could help save costs. It is also very durable; even when you carry it around, it can hardly break. This takes us to its portability. This ring light is portable and can be carried anywhere compared to most ring lights that could get damaged easily.

The most important feature of this ring light for makeup artists and videos is that it is super bright. Whether it’s the small or large size, it can brighten up a whole room, talk more of offering brightness to your face when you sit right in front of it.

Why we believe this ring light is very versatile is that it can be dimmed, which is a very great feature. As mentioned earlier, no matter how bright a ring light is, if its brightness cannot be adjusted to lower levels, then it might not suite the purpose for which it was intended.

Included in the package is a built-in camera mount, so there’s no need to purchase a tripod separately. The light is very clean, bright and looks white. With this, it creates a great radiance around your videos which makes it look more professional.

There’s an orange light cover to help you feel the natural sunlight around you and a white light cover if you need a purely white look.

Asides its durability, it doesn’t heat up like other ring lights and traditional bulbs typically do.

Specifications

  • Item Model Number: 10088612
  • Color Temperature: 5,500K
  • Item Dimension: 20.1 x 4.3 x 24
  • Item Weight: 11.4 pounds

Pros

  • Consumes less energy compared to other ring lights
  • There’s a built-in camera mount, so there’s no need to purchase the tripod separately.
  • It is dimmable. 

Cons

  • No instruction comes with this ring light, so it could be difficult for first timers to figure things out. 

Check Customer Reviews and Price of this Ring Light


Other Top selections of the Best Ring Light

Savage Luminous Pro LED Ringlight PlusTo get the right lighting or portrait for your YouTube videos, you’ll need a portable, adjustable backlight, whose light produces no glare. When it comes to these three features, the Savage Luminous Pro LED Ring Light Plus has no competitor. Using a remote, you can set the ring light to the desired brightness and temperature.

In addition, this Ring Light for video has two (2) rechargeable batteries and a mount in the center for optimum lighting. Each battery can last for 75 minutes when using the highest power settings. These batteries are easily replaced if missing.

There’s a ball mount at the base of this Ring Light, which is used for attaching cameras. There are two controls on the back and front, and a small LCD screen that displays information about the current color temperature. Using the remote, all these can be adjusted, which is a great feature if you must make changes.

The light emitted by this Ring Spec softens rough shadows and eliminates glare. You can adjust the brightness in 10% increments as well as the color temperature which ranges from 3,200K (warm) to 5,500K (bright daylight).

The Savage Luminous Pro LED Ring Light Plus is great for close-up shots because it can be adjusted, and it rounds out facial features properly.

Specifications

  • Item Model Number: LED-RLPS
  • Color Temperature: 3,200K – 5,500K
  • Item Dimension: 20 x 20 x 4.8
  • Item Weight: 8.5 pounds

Pros

  • It is portable
  • Produces soft light that can be easily adjusted
  • Can be controlled remotely. 

Cons

  • The stand is sold separately
  • The ball-head is of low-quality. 

Check Customer Reviews and Price of this Ring Light


Diva Ring Light Super Nova Dimmable Ring LightThe Diva Ring Light Super Nova 18 Dimmable Ring Light is one of the best Ring Lights money can buy. Although it is more expensive than most Ring Lights out there, professional videographers will find this cost worth it.

It is amazingly bright. It greatly improves the lighting and video quality, this is why it has got lots of positive ratings universally.

According to the manufacturer, this ring light for makeup artist is 500W and a daylight bulb of 5500K is included as well. This is a large amount of light density. Of course with this brightness, it is dimmable. The Diva Ring allows users to dim it to 20% of its whole light density.

A diffuser cloth is also included. It could be annoying staring at the very bright light of a camera, and this is why the diffuser cloth is very important because it shields your eyes from the bright light, helping you stare at the camera comfortably like you’re doing this in the absence of a ring light.

This ring light is 18-inch, which means that it is very large, which will help you use a large area around yourself without worrying that the light around the corners of your clip might fade away.

This Ring light also beats most ring lights out there with its on/off feature. The good thing about this is that you can switch it off even if it is plugged to a light source. This is absent in other Ring Lights, which could be frustrating when you have to plug and unplug it from time to time.

The package includes a mounting bracket and a gooseneck which ensures that the flexibility of mounting is great. You don’t have to limit yourself to just one mounting position; this is why there are different mounting options so you can choose the one that suits your needs.

Specifications

  • Item Model Number: FBA_SuperNova
  • Color Temperature: 5,400K
  • Item Dimension: 25.6 x 21.9 x 4.5 inches
  • Item Weight: 8.45 pounds

Pros

  • Different mounting options available
  • Light accuracy is good
  • Diffused light which helps people work longer hours. 

Cons

  • We don’t see this as a downside at all unless you wish to consider its large size as one.
  • It is expensive
  • The gooseneck arm is of low-quality. 

Check Customer Reviews and Price of this Ring Light


Smith Victor LED Ring LightColor accuracy is one important factor to consider when purchasing Ring Lights. The higher this accuracy, the more natural the appearance of the light will be. The color rendering index (CRI) of the Smith Victor LED Ring Light is 95, which means it can simulate daytime conditions perfectly.

Also present are two color temperatures, and a set of accessories which can be easily transported. The accessories of this Ring Light are not much compared to others, but they all function effectively.

First, there’s a case that helps you pack up everything neatly. Also, two diffusers are present which creates either a sunset orange or a milder white. Lastly, there’s an adapter having a long cord which gives you enough room to work before the need of an extension cable comes in.

The 19-inch diameter of this ring light creates an even and acceptable lighting. The power switch also serves as the dimmer. The brightness increases as you turn the dial and can reach 4,800 lumens. With this, you must feel that the power drawn is much, however, only 55 watts is used by this ring light which is less compared to most single light bulbs.

Placing the camera on the cold shoe mount of the light is easy. The quality is great, so any lens & camera combination will be supported without stability issues. It is also very easy to tilt the light once it is placed on a stand

Specifications

  • Item Model Number: SV-RLED55
  • Color Temperature: 5,500K
  • Item Dimension: 2 x 20 x 20 inches
  • Item Weight: 8.4 pounds

Pros

  • It is portable
  • Good balance of quality and price
  • High Color Rendering Index (CRI). 

Cons

  • The power adapter becomes hot after a while.
  • It’s not recommended for long-term use. 

Check Customer Reviews and Price of this Ring Light


Neewer RL-12 LED Ring LightHere comes another Neewer Ring Light making our list of Best Ring Lights. This means Neewer has some good reputation making Ring Lights.

The Neewer RL-12 LED Ring Light is smaller though, but similar to the one discussed above. It comes with lots of useful accessories, which makes it more affordable than it seems.

One great thing about this Ring Light is its ability to retain colors, helping you create videos that look realistic. This is one factor you should consider as other Ring Lights tend to give themselves way quickly with their unnatural looking light.

Due to its small size, it takes little space. Just like most ring lights from Neewer, It is fairly durable and if handled carefully, should last a very long time.

From customer reviews, this Ring Light for video is loved due to its LED type lamp; one customer even praised its durability as it has been knocked down by his kids and pets and still no damage was caused to this Ring Light.

Specifications

  • Item Model Number: 10087109
  • Color Temperature: 5,500K
  • Item Dimension: 15 x 25 x 8 inches
  • Item Weight: 5.06 pounds

Pros

  • It’s user-friendly.
  • Due to its small size and lightweight, it is a very good option for travel purposes.
  • Very good light intensity and it can be adjusted easily.
  • The angle and height can also be adjusted to ensure it aims directly at you. 

Cons

  • It is a bit small and useful for beauty vloggers and makeup artists than YouTubers that shoot different types of videos. 

Check Customer Reviews and Price of this Ring Light


Important Features to Consider when Picking the Best Ring Light

The most important factor is the brightness. This is vital because lights vary in the intensity of their brightness. However, when choosing a very bright ring light for makeup artist, you’ll love it more if it’s dimmable. This is because in some cases, you might not need very bright light and if it cannot be dimmed, then your videos might end up having excess light which will make your work look unnatural.

The durability and quality are also very important. Cheap Ring Lights for filming and makeup tend to break easily, especially if you intend carrying it around.


Make your Choice based on your Needs and Budget

Ring Lights have different prices. However, you must note that those that cost less are either not bright or durable enough or aren’t just great for a big camera.

So you’ll definitely love to go for the mid-range or high-end ones, as they were designed for use by professionals and they function well with a camera.

Also, you must consider your specific needs as well. For example, beauty vloggers would prefer a smaller ring light as it takes up less space while YouTubers, will require a larger size for more flexibility.


Can Ring Lights do it all?

Now comes this question. No, Ring lights don’t have all the answers because there are some setbacks associated with them. First, they don’t really work for distances beyond a medium view portrait. Just set up a group pose and you’ll definitely need a Light Bank.

In addition, if our subject would get some benefit from contrast and directional shadows, no ring light will make the list, not even the best. In some cases, we might want to see the dimensional relief produced from the interplay of shadow and light provided by directional lights. You could try to achieve this by covering up parts of the ring light, but this could complicate matters relating to the possible buildup of heat.


Conclusion

To get the best ring light, you have to weigh all your wants and needs then compare them with the available options. The Ring Lights reviewed above will perform the task any ring light is intended for. They are of high quality and deserve the spot they occupy in our list of Best Ring Lights. There’s one sure thing. By using a ring light, you will open a brand new chapter in your photography or video recording skills.

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