Ring Light from Pixel
Good lighting is an important part of producing a good video or conducting an effective web cast or other live stream event. The traditional way to accomplish this is to use a two or three light system with a key light, a fill light and oftentimes a backlight of some sort.
Opening
This can take some time to set up and depending on your style of shooting might be a little overkill. One possible solution to this problem is to use a ring light like the one we’re reviewing here from Pixel.
With the explosion of LED lights and light panels, something like the ring light was inevitable.
The ring light takes advantage of the small size and bright illumination of LEDs and mounts them in a circle. You can find ring lights in a variety of sizes from ones that will mount around your camera’s lens to big ones like this Pixel model with a 19 inch diameter.
Ring Light Uses
With these ring lights you have a couple of options.
You can mount your camera within the ring either using the included phone and tablet mounts or use a separate tripod to mount a heavier camera such as a video camera or DSLR. This head-on light will provide a somewhat different lighting pattern from the traditional key and fill lights but is easier to set up.
You can also use the ring light the same way you would a key and fill light combo. Obviously, you’d need two ring lights but when compared to traditional lights with either umbrella diffusers or light boxes, they take up much less room.
As noted in the photos on the light’s product page, you can also use the light without intending to video or photograph anything. In this case, it can be a nice make-up light.
Ring Light Features
What makes the light quite versatile is its adjustability.
It has controls that allow you to vary the brightness and the color temperature to suit your need. There’s no need to have various colored diffusers to get the right level of warm or cool light.
You’re even able to set several often-used brightness and color combinations, and assign them to memories in the light’s control panel. This makes for easy and consistent set ups.
You’re also able to control the lights with the remote control and if you have more than one ring light from Pixel, you can control them together to get the exact effect you’re looking for. The remote also lets you control the brightness and color temp. That way you can place yourself in the shot and make fine adjustments to control color balance and brightness without leaving the shot.
Ring Light Assessment
The Pixel ring light is easy to set up and the controls give you a lot of flexibility in dealing with your desired lighting.
One of the interesting things you may not have noticed is the bright spot in my eye forms a ring instead of a single or double highlight as when using a round or square solid key and fill light. That light in the subject’s eye gives some life to the subject and the ring reflection is an interesting touch.
The light set’s up easily and I found the illumination controls were easy to adjust both at the light and with the remote.
I would consider this an enthusiast-level accessory. By that, I mean that the construction is sturdy but hard, everyday use might result in some damage to the plastic ring’s structure. With care, I’d expect it to last a long time.
I also liked that it came with an AC power supply. Turning lights off and on to preserve battery life is a pain and since most of my shooting where I needs additional lighting is indoors, AC power is readily available.
I’ve been wanting to retire my big umbrella lights and have been looking at some LED panels. Now, I’ve complicated my choices with these large, bright lights from Pixel. They’re very cool and very bright.
