Super-easy macro ringlight to make
Always wanted a ringlight
I have always wanted a ringlight for doing macro photography. Especially now that I own an Olympus D5050, which must have some ‘microscope’ in its ancestry.
Ringlights are neato because they produce shadowless lighting for macro shots. But I couldn’t afford one - they are usually over two hundred bucks.
Then I happened to be browsing the aisles in Wal-Mart and saw this Ozark Trails camp light, and smiled broadly. With minor modifications it makes a dandy ringlight. It runs on plain old AA batteries and uses 24 white LEDs. Here’s a first sample result:
So here’s one for seven dollars instead of two or three hundred, and it gives very professional results. The modification is pretty much just a matter of moving the switch and enlarging the hole so it fits around your lens. Since the thing is made of soft plastic, this is easy.
Amazing. I never thought of a used teabag as an objet d’art before now… that’s beautiful!
Posted by Dana Hunter on 05/13/08 at 05:12 AMLove the result…and agree, tea bags can be beautiful
Posted by Yukoner on 05/13/08 at 01:49 PMVery cool that you tried this. I thought of the same thing when seeing one of these, plus decided that other types of LED light fixtures would be just the ticket for small product work when a ring-light isn’t required. Cheap and good.
Posted by WeeDram on 05/13/08 at 09:41 PMDoncha just love it when you stumble on to one like this, a plan comes together, it actually works, and you feel like a freaking genius. For about 10 minutes before a spouse or friend who is bored to death with you telling them about it responds with a monotone, “OK.“
Posted by Winston on 05/14/08 at 05:57 AMThank you George.
I am finally going to have a ringlight.Posted by Mickey Oberman on 05/14/08 at 08:04 AMI can give a first hand testimonial that the full size tea bag picture is also amazing. And that the black tea made from those particular tea bags shown was quite delicious.
Posted by negativechris on 05/14/08 at 10:11 AMYou are a genius!
Posted by Breakerslion on 05/14/08 at 09:06 PM
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