How To Build An Uber Strong Ring Light For $25

OK, OK, I am a sucker for ring lights, don’t hate me. This build by DIY Perks combines the benefits of LED lighting (i.e. bright, continuous, cool) with the awesomeness of a ring light (smooth light, no shadows, glamorous look).

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you know that we consider ring lights to be one of the best creative tools, and we have featured ring lights as big as 4 feet, and as small as 4 inches. This one is in the middle of the range, though probably brighter than both.

The makers at DIY Perks (who also made this LED panel) made one of the nicest ring lights I have seen to date.

Why This Ring Light Rocks

While I will probably like any ring light project there are some features on this project that makes it unique and worthy of your afternoon.

It is incredibly bright – it uses a combined light equal to 200W. Those are coming from 20 10-Watt LEDs which is just about a small pro LED panel’s worth of light.
It is incredibly cheap – Taking time aside, the components will only take about $25. Not bad for that amount of light
It is a proper DIY project – If you are new to the makering scene, this project has a bit of everything (LEDs, soldering, reusing materials) but they are all on the beginner level. If you have completed this project, you will probably be ready to go on with more complex projects.
Since there is no PWM dimming on the ring, it will be usable for both video and stills

What You’ll Need?

Most of the components on this project are eBay-bought so plan ahead :)

A CD to be recycled (we recommend Rihanna)
20 10-WATT 32 Volt LEDs
A bunch of paper clips
Some 2 pin connectors
wire
Battery holder
An old filter
a voltage booster

How To build one

One thing to note on the video is the fact that if you heat your LEDs to much they will both lose brightness and their lifespan will decrease dramatically. Make sure you set them to the right voltage