DIY light ring - need some help with wires...

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DavidD

Well-known member
I am making a nice little light ring, but I am unsure of some of the wiring configurations. Right now, with 8 LED lights, I have two wires running through them - therefore, 4 ends. Am I suppose to leave one set of end free? Do both sets of ends come back to the battery? Also, I am noticing that some of my LED lights are more blue then others, even though they came from the same toy - does this mean one is not getting enough power?

Thanks in advance.
 
Here is a couple of pics of my ring light. It works great for my HC1 - lots of modification still to do. Made some mistakes on it to start. Seven lights, going to try for pairs next time and a smaller front end. I have a back 'cap' for it to close off the entire set which will make it look nice, still working on that. It does light up quite a bit on only 2X3V batteries. I want to have more power to them, so I am going to find out how to supply more with an attached battery pack (probably need a resistor).
ringlighton.jpg

ringlightoff.jpg
 
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Here are a couple of grabs from it. Obviously closer to the object because the lights are still not strong enough to illuminate it from farther away. Maybe more powerful LED's next time.

Lights on, exposure turned down to avoid grainess
dollaron.jpg


Lights off, normal HC1 - exposure turned down to avoid grain
dollaroff.jpg


Lights on, exposure turned down to avoid grain
steelon.jpg


Lights off, normal HC1 - exposure turned down to avoid grainess
steeloff.jpg


Comments and suggestions for improvement always welcome.
 
Hey that looks cool. Do you think you can get any screen grabs of close-ups of someone, to see how it would work for their eyes? Thanks.
 
Yeah, that is what I was wondering myself. Since they are still quite powerful lights, I wonder how the pro's LED ring light do it because I see spots after looking at it , even for a quick peak - therefore I am guessing, the talent must not be able to look at the lights straight on...I will try and get a 'portrait' shot to show sometime today.
 
Yeah, that is what I was wondering myself. Since they are still quite powerful lights, I wonder how the pro's LED ring light do it because I see spots after looking at it , even for a quick peak - therefore I am guessing, the talent must not be able to look at the lights straight on...I will try and get a 'portrait' shot to show sometime today.
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That would be great. You could use some ND gel if they are getting real close to avoid blinding them lol

I can't wait to see the pics.
 
The ring light is just for close ups, right? If so, I'd recommend getting frosted leds, and more of them, so you don't have to diffuse so much.

Since you already have these, perhaps sanding them a bit will help prevent blindness. :P
 
I hadn't really thought about what I would use it for. The HC1 isn't great in low-light, so that was the main reason I built it.
If I need to get some other LED's with a frosted shell, I might do that in the future. I do want to add more lights to make it about 14, but I still need to work on a battery pack for it which is going to require a resistor as well.
Does anyone know a good inexpensive source of bright LED lights?
 
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Go DavidD! I'm excited to see you perfect this light. I'm hoping it would be a cheap affordable ring light.

BTW, how much have you dropped on it so far?
 
So far, got lucky. About $20.00 in assorted LED's until I got 7 that were the same - wires, plastic pieces and time - about $30.00 worth of material so far I guess. As far as repeating it, I would take more time and more expensive LED's that are brighter (which I am trying to research as we speak).
 
So far, got lucky. About $20.00 in assorted LED's until I got 7 that were the same - wires, plastic pieces and time - about $30.00 worth of material so far I guess. As far as repeating it, I would take more time and more expensive LED's that are brighter (which I am trying to research as we speak).
Click to expand...

Nice. Any particular reason why you'd want brighter LED's? Just wondering since you said it was really bright when you got in front of the camera. Or is this just for illuminating what's in front of the camera?
 
Wow, too many places on the HBS board. I have to find someone else that has done a ring light before and see where they got their LEDS. I found an electronic place close to home, but the LED's were $5.00 a piece! That is getting a little expensive for me. If I got with 14 lights, I am looking at $70.00 just for lights. I want to try and make this as cheap as possible. The Dollar store has been really good to me, but I am not sure if the LED's are going to stack up to other ones that are brighter.
 
Excellent, a 9V batter, a resistor and an on/off switch and I am on my way. Much brighter with the 9v batter. This is looking good. I really want to design it with more lights (around 14) that have a wider beam ( these Dollar Store LED's are narrow) but they are hard to find in the inexpensive or under $1.00 range for clear white. I will have to research and see.
 
The thread is 43mm and the outside housing is approx. 57mm. My light ring goes on the outside housing and not on the thread. Why do you ask?
 
57mm? Then this should work with some modification:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Latest-UFO-Portable-Camping-24-LED-Hanger-Light-White_W0QQitemZ300078925990QQihZ020QQcategoryZ36112QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It has 24 LEDs, has a nice and WIDE beam, has a VERY nice color (not blueish, close to 5500k), and costs only ~$14.00, incl. shipping.

38_1.JPG

We have one laying around here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it, otherwise I'd send it to you. But this should work really well for the smaller cams, such as yours. Not a huge output, but definitely more than the one you made (which is way cool, btw.)
 
Wow, that is awesome. I will try it...but I guess there are some problem with them too after reading some reviews on it - as far as mod'ing it, it might be too tricky.
It is very hard to get superbright LED at a good price. I wonder what kind of LED's he/she is using on that? What is the angle - narrow or broad?
 
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It's very wide (broad), helped also by having each LED point somewhat outwards (the LEDs don't point exactly straight ahead).
It's really a neat little light, but some DIY skill necessary to adapt to your cam of course.
 
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