The Best Lighting: Ring Light vs Softbox for Video

As a YouTube video blogger, softbox used to be the only option, but after seeing some videos using ring lights, I also started to consider using them. The softbox kit I'm considering is much more expensive than ring lights, but both advantages and disadvantages ring light vs softbox lighting. How should I choose a softbox or a ring light?

 

You may ask: "What is the difference ring light vs softbox for product photography?" Which one is best for you? The difference between the two is very obvious. As long as you understand the different creatives they can provide you, you can easily decide which one to buy.

 

Lighting:

The biggest difference between softbox and ring light is that there is a hole in the centre of the ring light. This is very suitable for placing the camera. 

Usually, the soft box and the ring light emit very similar light, especially when the ring light is scattered and covered. Both give you beautiful and soft light surrounding the subject's face. Ring lights will be more direct, and soft boxes will be scattered throughout the space.

 

The softbox is just a big luminous "box". The softbox can be square or rectangular, but it can also be hexagonal or octagonal, or even umbrella-shaped. The softbox lighting imitates the natural light of the window and is very suitable for front lighting. 

Its wide coverage is perfect for softening shadows and illuminating the placement area. Softbox is more versatile, for example, they are always more suitable than ring lights in a movie environment.

 

Ring lights are more used for makeup tutorials and video blogs. One of the main disadvantages of ring lights is you may see light spots in your subjects’ eyes.

 

Fill Light:

Softboxes are more like "regular" lighting modulators, so they are more versatile. You can place it in many locations to get the desired lighting appearance. You can place it in almost any direction of the camera. When you decide to change the lighting settings, you will get greater flexibility.

 

The ring light can be used directly around the camera. This means that the light on the object is fairly flat. LED Ring lights will cause a slight shadow around the subject and a little halo. In addition, they provide a ring-shaped spotlight for the main subject.

 

Price:

The softbox lighting kit is about a few hundred dollars. It is a bit expensive because it has a green screen, but it looks like a very good kit. Softboxes may cost a lot of money, but you don’t have to choose it.

 

The ring light is lightweight and can be applied to different shooting scene according to its size, generally ranging from tens of dollars to hundreds of dollars. If you just want to make simple YouTube videos (such as makeup tutorials, post a selfie on Instagram), then a compact 10 inch ring light with phone camera clip and tripod (about $20~$50) is a good investment.

 

Application:

The softbox is very suitable for shooting attractive and lovable portraits of people. Depending on the size of the softbox, you can use it to illuminate a large scene, even a group of people. Use the softbox lighting kit for photography to get a better aesthetic effect and artistic appearance with shadows.

 

The ring light is actually only used to shoot single close object, and is very suitable for simple, bright, photographic. Use a ring light to make your face really bright and eliminate all shadows on it, which is very useful for makeup.

 

When to Use LED Ring Light?

Ring light is ideal for illuminating the face, which is why ring light is more widely used in beauty tutorials. If you have ever seen makeup reviews or tutorials, it is essential in almost any makeup-related video. For the best lighting effect, place the camera and ring light on the face of your subject at the same time. In this way, the subject can be illuminated completely. There is almost no shadow on the face of the portrait!

 

Although ring lights are most used in live streaming and makeup videos, ring lights are a good choice when you need to ensure that the subject face of the video is perfectly illuminated. These circle lights have a fixed frame in the center, so the camera lens is the same as the direction of the light.

 

Where to buy ring light online?

You can search for and purchase a limited number of ring lights on Google. However, if you want to choose higher quality and the best price, you should go to AIXPI SHOP. We have easy shopping mall aixpi.com and Amazon top ranking store.

 

AIXPI ring lights are sufficient to illuminate the scene, and they can also be used as fill lights or selfie lights. Some of the most popular YouTube KOL use ring lights in their makeup, live streaming, selfie and unboxing video.

 

 

The choice of ring light kit and softbox depends on the video or shooting project you are engaged in. Therefore, if budget is not an issue, you can buy both at the same time, that would be great. However, if you have a small budget like most people, I suggest you choose a ring light. It is smaller, lighter, easy to install, and will provide you with suitable lighting anywhere.

 

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