Most people will benefit from choosing one of the best ring lights with a dimming/brightness control: Having a ring light that allows you to control the brightness will make life a lot easier – if the brightness is fixed, then your only option if the light level is wrong is to move the light closer or further away.A dimming control allows you to place the light where you want it and change the strength of the light as required. Do I need a ring light with changing colour temperature? The best lighting for webcam streaming comes down to positioning, brightness options, and your budget. If you want professional-grade light, we recommend the Neewer 5600K USB LED Lights. They're dimmable, come with eight filters, and offer endless lighting options. Modern ring lights are LED lights, since they are powered by clusters of LED bulbs. However, most LED lights come in the form of rectangular-shaped panels, which produce much flatter illumination. Ring lights, on the other hand, are donut-shaped, which is much more flattering to faces. So rather than providing harsh, flat lighting, ring lights sculpt your features and provide a more dimensional, pleasing, professional look. What are ring lights good for?

verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ This camera records 1080p footage at 30fps—smooth enough for any everyday situation—and it produces plenty of detail and lifelike colours. Microsoft’s camera does a great job with low-light situations, with images only becoming a little blurry. It handles bright lights easily too—your face won’t be washed out if you’re sitting in front of a window. The Lube Cube Wireless ring light might seem overpriced but it has a lot of really great features compared to others. The light itself is really bright, and you can either run it off mains power or for up to 90 minutes on batteries (which are supplied). It also includes an LED readout to monitor your settings and it comes with a sturdy 6.5ft light stand. The secret is their size and shape. The best ring lights produce a constant, wide, circular light that illuminates the face from all directions – and the bigger the ring, the softer the lighting. The result is incredibly flattering illumination, with spectacular circular catchlights in the eyes, soft falloff, and light that generally wraps and sculpts the face.

1. AnkerWork B600 Video Bar

We've also included products that will work well with different types of video setup, like the Ivisii 19 inch Ring Light, which is a particularly good choice for those capturing video on an iPad. Note that many ring lights can hold small DSLRs and mirrorless cameras but will not be stable enough to hold a full-frame camera. We also take them out to see if they're sturdy enough to be transported and used on location, or if they're only really robust enough to stay on your desk or in the corner of your room. It's important to see how the output performs when using batteries versus main power, too, if that's something they offer. Frequently asked questions What's the difference between ring light and LED lights? Paying extra does deliver loads of extra functionality. This is the only webcam in the group that offers 4K video recording. It runs that high resolution at 30fps, and it's a stunning option: video is crystal clear, with loads of detail and sharpness.

This ring light earns its "Pro" designation with distinction. At 17 inches in diameter, it's an inch smaller than the Lume Cube Wireless Ring Light (below), but it gives you a half hour more battery life, and the new light stand is a half-foot higher.The new remote control is a godsend for lighting yourself without having to keep getting up and down, and the improved diffusion is a dream for lighting portrait subjects. The quality of light is also absolutely spot-on, which is particularly important for creators shooting content such as makeup tutorials. If you’re looking to cover a webcam or laptop camera you already own then we don’t think you pay too much mind to what you’re getting – given it’s typically just a sliding piece of plastic. You can find a wide selection of webcam covers here – and they’re quite cheap. What webcam do YouTubers use? Image quality, for starters, is superb: crisp, clear and well-balanced, with natural colour and good detail. The good core image is bolstered by fast, effective autofocus, solid exposure adjustment and automatic white balance. Audio quality is decent thanks to stereo microphones. The Brio's auto-contrast performance isn't the best on the market, but it's still easily good enough for most situations – and still better than most webcams. Videographers love ring lights not just because of their soft and flattering lighting but because they provide a continuous light – regular camera flash is obviously no good at all for video. Many of the best ring lights enable you to adjust the color temperature to suit different skin tones (making them great for makeup tutorials, too) and to match the ambient lighting conditions. Whether you're using them in the sun, the shade or yellow-tinged indoor light, you can make your lighting look natural.

When you need an inexpensive light that will work just as well with your laptop as it will your phone, we like the QIAYA selfie ring light. It's USB-powered and clips directly onto your phone, tablet, or laptop; giving off soft, warm, adjustable light. It really depends if you need to be able to take the light outside or on location. Some models are mains only and as such can be a little less expensive because of the extra connections and electronics required to accept batteries, but there are models that offer both. The rest of the feature set is excellent. The field of view can be widened all the way to 90 degrees, and there's an infrared camera that works with Windows Hello login. The USB-C connection also means longer cables can be used. Some sophisticated models have options for altering RGB colours, making them ultra customisable, whereas others have filtered gels that sit over the LEDs themselves. Professional-grade LED lights may also even feature creative lighting effects to mimic natural lighting such as lightning, gunshots or campfires. Are battery-powered ring lights worth it? While ring lights may seem like simple devices, there's actually a lot to consider. So how we test them is by putting them through their paces in real-world conditions, using them for Zoom calls, photographing portraits, filming YouTube content –all at different times of day, in different natural and artificial light conditions.