$31 ringlight
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 159
From: Winter Park, Fl.
$31 ringlight
This was my first time making a light source from nothing. So here it is my ringlight step by step and under $31 bucks. It could be cheaper is you use a smaller light but I think the one I got is just right. Also I got readjustable zip ties so I can use it with different lenses if they happen to be bigger or smaller and also actually take the zipties off of my lens. Ok enough talk on with the write-up.
A list of things that I needed for it:
12in ringlight, the wattage is important. Its 32watts and the housing I'm using is 30watts. I was gonna go with the 18in ring but it was 40watts and the guy said it might not work. I'll probably buy it later and test it out to see if it will work though. Also its 4100K so you can adjust for that later in RAW if you have all the same output bulbs.
The housing i needed for the ballast.
14gauge wire. We took a guess on what guage to use and this was as close to the OEM ballast size.
10 zipties. Depending on how you rig yours up you might need more you might need less. It also depends on the length of the zipties.
Lens hood, just to keep any unwanted light out of the lens
Splice connectors, your gonna need atleast a dozen of them. More if you make alot of mistakes. I actually had to run to walmart to get more because there weren't enough in this box. I used about 14 of them in the whole project. Make sure you get the ones that go with your gauge of wire otherwise it might be to small and won't hold the wire right.
Wire cutters, I already had these so they weren't included in the price either.
And just to show I'm not lying about how cheap it is to make this. Sorry I left out the price of the lens hood.
What I did was marked which wires were which but don't do this just extend one wire at a time that way you won't get mixed up in the end.
This is what you don't want to do because you will possibly get confused when it comes time to line up the bulb connector.
Here go my wires all ready to be mated up but this step could be skipped if you extend one wire at a time.
This is how I mounted the ringlight to the lens.
And the light ready to go.
Just a quick shot with me holding my camera. I'm shooting at 17mm and it was pretty close to my face.
Future changes. I'm going to buy 4packs of 17ft cable and redo the wiring. Right now I'm about 4ft away from a light socket, not very comfortable or usable seeing how my light source is right there. I'm also going to get some wrapping to neaten up my cables cause its kinda cluttery right now. I'm waiting for alicia to get ready so I can do some actual shots with this.
I forgot to turn my iso down. One reason why I hate the XT anything over iso400 and its all grainy.
A list of things that I needed for it:
12in ringlight, the wattage is important. Its 32watts and the housing I'm using is 30watts. I was gonna go with the 18in ring but it was 40watts and the guy said it might not work. I'll probably buy it later and test it out to see if it will work though. Also its 4100K so you can adjust for that later in RAW if you have all the same output bulbs.
The housing i needed for the ballast.
14gauge wire. We took a guess on what guage to use and this was as close to the OEM ballast size.
10 zipties. Depending on how you rig yours up you might need more you might need less. It also depends on the length of the zipties.
Lens hood, just to keep any unwanted light out of the lens
Splice connectors, your gonna need atleast a dozen of them. More if you make alot of mistakes. I actually had to run to walmart to get more because there weren't enough in this box. I used about 14 of them in the whole project. Make sure you get the ones that go with your gauge of wire otherwise it might be to small and won't hold the wire right.
Wire cutters, I already had these so they weren't included in the price either.
And just to show I'm not lying about how cheap it is to make this. Sorry I left out the price of the lens hood.
What I did was marked which wires were which but don't do this just extend one wire at a time that way you won't get mixed up in the end.
This is what you don't want to do because you will possibly get confused when it comes time to line up the bulb connector.
Here go my wires all ready to be mated up but this step could be skipped if you extend one wire at a time.
This is how I mounted the ringlight to the lens.
And the light ready to go.
Just a quick shot with me holding my camera. I'm shooting at 17mm and it was pretty close to my face.
Future changes. I'm going to buy 4packs of 17ft cable and redo the wiring. Right now I'm about 4ft away from a light socket, not very comfortable or usable seeing how my light source is right there. I'm also going to get some wrapping to neaten up my cables cause its kinda cluttery right now. I'm waiting for alicia to get ready so I can do some actual shots with this.
I forgot to turn my iso down. One reason why I hate the XT anything over iso400 and its all grainy.
