built a new DIY ringlight

[Dobick]

total purchase at home depot was 53$
I purchased the following

one - 2'x2'x3/8" "handy board" (b/c grade plywood) - ~$5
box of 100 #8x3/4" screws (should have bought 1/2") ~$5
twelve - plastic keyless leviton lamp holders - 1.39 ea. - $16.68
one - 15' roll of 14/2 romex - $8.30
twelve - 100w soft white GE bulbs (2 packs of six) - $6.94

and bought a wire stripper tool for ~$8

I cut the board into a 22" circle on the outside, and a 12" interior circle
drilled twelve - 1 1/2" holes where the lamp holders would go
wired each of the lamp holders together using eleven 10" pieces of the romex in a daisy chain (with the romex coming out the back side of the wood)
and used a spare extension cord to wire 120v power to the first lamp holder on the daisy chain.

As it stands right now, I do not have a mount for it, but it is light weight enough that a mounting point at the bottom with a standard light stand will easily support it.

with the 12x100w bulbs it should be throwing plenty of light to do a standard portrait.

Draw back is that this will be a studio only type of toy, as it is not very portable due to the power draw of 12 bulbs.

I'll post a photo of the contraption in a second.

[Dobick]

There was one bad bulb of the twelve purchased

Due to the amount of heat I will probably go with 100w equivalent CFL bulbs in the future.

[Dobick]

I still need to cover the wiring on the back as well as engineer some sort of mounting system for it, but so far it seems pretty cool, and it might well serve the purpose that I built it for, but that remains to be seen.

[Dobick]

well I finally had the chance to play with it yesterday -- one major change -- decided to go with 100w equivalent CFL bulbs to cut down on the overall power draw...

Here is a sample image:

[elbe]

I like the fact that you did a bang up job on building the light. My only concern is the many circular images in the eye. Since I don't use ring lights is this an inherent quality of its use? Good job, the image looks great. Thanks for sharing.

[james.d53]

A friend of mine did a DIY with a round fluorescent tube from a Home Depot bathroom light fixture. It works nicely.

It also cost about $50.00, but a lot less wiring.

[james.d53]

Here's a picture using my friend ring light.

[brad]

Originally Posted by elbe

I like the fact that you did a bang up job on building the light. My only concern is the many circular images in the eye. Since I don't use ring lights is this an inherent quality of its use? Good job, the image looks great. Thanks for sharing.

Not just inherent.. but actually sought after from those that are trying to achieve that look.

Personally, I think it takes a very specific kind of face to look good in ring light - otherwise, its flat and unflattering... its used in beauty and glamour a lot, but those faces look great in any light.

That said.. the other problem I've found with a hot light this bright is that not everyone can look into it and not squint, making it even less useful for day in/day out use.

[SergeiR]

So.. was it any better than just buying flash for 50$ and being completely portable ? IMHO, apart from fun DIY project - nope.

[james.d53]

Originally Posted by SergeiR

So.. was it any better than just buying flash for 50$ and being completely portable ? IMHO, apart from fun DIY project - nope.

One is continuous and one is not. I think the whole project is about trying to build light modifiers just for kicks.

[digidawg87]

Originally Posted by SergeiR

So.. was it any better than just buying flash for 50$ and being completely portable ? IMHO, apart from fun DIY project - nope.

It's a completely different quality of light.

[brad]

Totally different beast than a flash.. different light pattern, different light quality, different catchlight. This isn't about finding a substitute to flash, its about finding a different kind of light.

By your argument, you shouldn't bother buying a flash.. just open the window.

[SergeiR]

Originally Posted by digidawg87

It's a completely different quality of light.

Nope. Its almost as horrible as just shooting someone with straight-on-camera-lumiquest.

[SergeiR]

Originally Posted by james.d53

One is continuous and one is not. I think the whole project is about trying to build light modifiers just for kicks.

Then it worked :)

[SergeiR]

Originally Posted by brad

Totally different beast than a flash.. different light pattern, different light quality, different catchlight. This isn't about finding a substitute to flash, its about finding a different kind of light.

By your argument, you shouldn't bother buying a flash.. just open the window.

Brad. Have you ever used real ring-flash? (not AB, please. Real one).

Question was not about what r-f is for. I happen to know what it is for :) Point is - this mod does not produce better results at the moment than simple dead on flash with small diffuser. Ok, catchlights are different, but this is not what r-f is for. You can get much more funky ones using two strips.

Its like home made beauty dishes.. They look like real ones. Their light is a bit different from simple reflector. But its not same as real stuff. Unless person who builds it happens to have good understanding of engineering process of course , and can do precise machining of surfaces to get angles and sizes right.

There is nothing wrong with playing around. Most of simple modifiers are fantastic and can be made out from simple materials. Complex modifiers, like real softbox, real beauty dish , real ring flash - do involve serious calculations and materials to produce designated quality of light and travel paths of light. Thats all i am saying.