In a recent study carried out on the photo portal DPReview Opinion poll When asked “Natural light vs. Controlled light”, 86.6% of participants voted for natural light in photography. I, too, am more of a friend of natural light, also known as available light, both in private and professional photography. But there are always situations where a little extra “enlightenment” would be very useful. Flash photography is not very suitable for my purposes. I prefer permanent light.
A lean setup is important to me. Conventional studio lighting is out of the question for me because it is too bulky and requires too much installation effort. Rather, I need something that can be assembled and disassembled in two minutes and that can also be used in tight spaces. That’s why I made do with various LED flashlights over the years. It works, but has certain limitations. Mainly in terms of lighting and color control.
There are numerous lighting solutions for little money that are primarily intended for the vlogging scene. Primarily Ring lighter based on LEDs. In addition to other lamps, I myself presented such a solution to you here, which is available for a few euros. However, these cheap LED ring lights are quite limited in their performance and quality. Useful here and there, but not the last word.
Of course, if you don’t want to or can’t use a huge studio light setup, you have to live with certain compromises one way or the other. But there is a solution that is significantly more sophisticated than simple vlogging ring lights. What is meant is the compact LED light Rotolight Neo 3die around 600 euros costs (depending on the current price).
This is a round lamp with a diameter of around 14.5 cm with numerous RGBWW LEDs and a battery. The special features can be found on the following page. Here is a short introduction video from the manufacturer: