9
Had to pick between a ring light and a softbox for my home studio setup
My old desk lamp was making me look like a horror movie villain on camera, so I finally broke down and bought some lighting. I spent 45 minutes at B&H comparing a $80 ring light against a $120 softbox kit. I went with the ring light because it seemed simpler, but now my eyes look like I haven't slept in three days from the glare. Anyone else regret cheaping out on lighting gear?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
cole35629d ago
lol yeah that ring light glare is brutal, I went through the same thing. Actually the softbox would have helped way more with that since it diffuses the light instead of blasting it straight in your face. Most ring lights crank the brightness up way too high out of the box, you gotta turn them down to like 30% or bounce them off a wall instead of pointing them at you. Softboxes are more of a pain to set up but the light quality is totally worth it, especially if you're doing any kind of talking head stuff.
5
terryk105d ago
Right, it's like people buy a ring light and just assume max brightness is the answer (which it never is). The whole thing reminds me of how folks overdo almost everything in life, like cranking the bass on a cheap speaker or dumping half a bottle of hot sauce on a taco, thinking more automatically equals better. Softboxes force you to slow down and think about where the light's going, which is basically the same reason I eventually stopped blasting my car stereo with the EQ set to a perfect smiley face curve (you know, just because you can boost everything doesn't mean you should). It's that classic new gear trap where you spend money on something without learning how to use it properly first, then wonder why it doesn't look like the YouTube setup videos. Once you understand diffusion and distance, you can make even a desk lamp look half decent, which is way more useful than owning the biggest, brightest light on the market.
3
Totally feel your pain, that ring light glare is the absolute worst for sure.
5