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Plus, the light meter in your camera can’t meter the light output coming from your flashes. So with flash photography the meter in the camera becomes pretty useless really.

Meteringmode

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We love the versatility of the UBeesize 10" with Tripod — it comes with some great features, and they're all well-designed. It has an excellent, fully functional tripod and a carry bag for the light. There's a separate carry bag for the tripod, and it also includes an easy-to-use remote trigger for your phone. This light sets up fast (we managed it in 18 seconds), and adjusting it is a dream. It also features the same phone holder as the UBeesize 10" Tabletop, which can easily twist to whatever angle you want.

To show more about how they look (and how the different lights compare), we took a bunch of selfies with different exposures (in camera) to make the lighting similar. This approach shows how the different light sizes change the face and the photo. We did not edit these photos at all.

Neewer 18" — And this is it, exactly what these lights are supposed to do. You can see the catchlights in the eyes, and the face stands out from the background. There's a world of difference between this and the “no light” selfie.

What is alightmeter used for

No ring lights in our review came close to the light quality the Westcott model offers. Still, of the smaller lights, the UBeesize 10" with Tripod performs better than the rest, with the Sensyne 10" Ring Light with 50" Extendable Tripod following close behind. These 10" ring lights offer 240 lumens and 11 dimmer steps, and 225 lumens and 10 dimmer steps, respectively. Both come with three different warm tones for a cooler or warmer feel.

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We focused most of our testing on the amount and quality of light produced by each product. We deemed brightness the most important factor of light quality. However, a few other characteristics also come into play, like dimmability and the variety of tones each kit offers.

This mode is probably what you’ll end up using most often if you’re shooting with flash. Some light meters have an integrated radio that can trigger the flash remotely. Sekonic L-308S-U is a more bare bones meter, so it doesn’t have a radio. What you’ll do instead is press the button to take a reading and then the meter will be in standby and wait for a flash to happen. You can just press to take a reading and then press the test button on your flash remote trigger.

The Westcott 18" might be too big, depending on your lighting needs. Setup requires a tripod, so adequate floor space is necessary. Also, it lacks a remote and does not offer Bluetooth availability to control the light settings remotely. Compared to a standard ring light, this model is also a bit more expensive, but we found the high-quality construction and utility well worth the cost and great for various applications. If a compact, remote-triggered ring light is what you're after, you can enjoy the UBeesize 10" Table Top at a fraction of the price.

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Some meters, the Sekonic L-308S-U included, will only allow to use the ambient mode in shutter priority mode. In other words, you can only set the shutter speed and the ISO. Most of the time though shutter priority mode is what you’ll be after anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

On the other hand, the Westcott 18" Ring Light is one of the most expensive ring lights we tested, so we would expect it to perform extremely well across all of our metrics, and it does. It delivers value with excellent light quality and sheer brightness. It is easy to use, stable, and durable, making it a versatile and long-lasting product. That said, this option is only worth the money if you are looking for a more advanced model. If you want something of high caliber but don't need or want to pay for extra features, the Neewer 18" Kit is another solid value pick.

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Almost all of the lights have varying brightness levels, from the stepless dimming of the Westcott 18" Kit and Neewer 18" Kit to the 9-11 brightness settings of the USB lights to the four and three levels, respectively, of the ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit and Auxiwa Clip-On. However, we found ourselves almost always using the lights to their full capacity, so the dim settings didn't matter much.

So, for example, if your camera is set for an aperture of f/11 but your meter reads at f/8, you’ll want to increase the power output on your flash by a stop so that it then meters at f/11.

While the price is right, this ring light has some downsides. When using it in a portrait orientation, the clip mount blocks the rear-facing camera of many phones, which is an issue when taking a non-selfie photo. To mitigate this problem, you either have to slide it to the corner or a different side of the phone. Another consideration is the light itself is not particularly bright, so if you photograph anything more than an arm's length away, this light won't make a noticeable difference. Also, for everything we love about this mini light, it feels lower quality than other premium portable options. Still, for its simplicity and ease of use at a steal of a price, the Xinbaohong is a nice portable light for selfies. If you have a little wiggle room in your budget, check out the well-designed UBeesize 10" with Tripod, which includes a solid tripod and is quite bright.

When you’ve metered once, you can change the values that you started with and the 3rd value will be adjusted automatically. Beats trying to the the math in your head, and saves you from re-metering at the different value unnecessarily.

We found the best overall light to be the Westcott 18" Bi-Color LED. We like that it has a digital readout for brightness and temperature and has the option to mount either a phone or DLSR. For something more portable, the Xinbaohong Clip-On is small enough to fit in your pocket and mounts directly on your phone when it's time to grab a selfie.

A light meter definitely saves time though, especially when you start tweaking/moving your lights around and wanting to make sure that you’re staying at the same exposure.

When it comes to sheer brightness, the Westcott 18" Kit edges out the Lume Cube 18". The former emits a whopping 2435 lumens, and the latter an exceptional 2267 lumens. The Neewer 18" Kit takes third at 2065 lumens, which is still extremely impressive compared to the rest of the products in our test suite. These models are wall-powered lights (though the Westcott also comes with batteries). Part of the reason for the out-of-this-world brightness on these three is their size; they both have roughly 25 times the lighting surface area as the tiny Auxiwa Clip On, which gives them quite the advantage. The Westcott, Neewer, and Lume offer continuous dimming, meaning the dimming is completely customizable. The Westcott 18" also offers a sliding tone scale, which is a rather unique feature. If you are searching for the absolute brightest, you should go with one of these larger lights. The Razer Ring Light 12" is smaller and less powerful. Still, at 789 lumens, it holds its own, especially compared to its closest competitors, the Ubeesize 10" with Tripod and Sensyne 10" Ring Light, which emit just a couple hundred lumens.

Auxiwa Clip-On — This light isn't bright enough to do much; you can see how it doesn't fill in the right side of the face.

The ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit is simple once you have the hang of it, but there are three layers between the MagSafe adapter sticker, the light itself, and the tripod/selfie stick, so it takes a minute to figure out how it all needs to go. We like the similar designs of the Sensyne 10" Ring Light with 50" Extendable Tripod and the Razer Ring Light 12". They have legs that deploy in three stages for easy adjustment. The Sensyne, however, has a max height of 50 inches, so it's not quite tall enough for most adults to be used if you are standing up.

So maybe it’s all starting to make sense for you, but you may be wondering about how it works with natural light vs constant light vs flash. That’s where metering modes come in!

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Unfortunately, the phone holder on this model has the same issues as the others — it doesn't grip phones with a large case well. We also wish the light was slightly brighter, though it's the brightest of the 10" sized lights we tested. This is a great mid-size option at a very accessible price point. If you need a brighter model, the Razer Ring Light 12" is a solid option that's cheaper than the priciest premium products we tested.

What is alightmeter on a film camera

Seeking to improve the light quality of your photos or videos? You're going to want a ring light. We purchased the 14 best setups and put each one through the wringer, shooting a ton of selfies and portraits, timing the setup and breakdown of each model, and assessing stability and durability.

For those looking to take their videos and photos to the next level, we've tested a ton of useful tools, many of which are smartphone-compatible. A smartphone gimbal can help smooth out your video shots, while an iPhone lens can change the focal length of your built-in camera, giving you more creative reign over your photos. With your camera phone in your pocket and cell phone accessories, you're sure to level up your media production.

Finally, almost all the lights have “color temperature” controls (besides the Auxiwa Clip-On and ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit — and the Rotolight Ultimate Vlogging Kit utilizes plastic discs instead of temperatures lights, as described above). The USB lights we tested have three different controls, which allow them to provide warmer or cooler light depending on the vibe you're going for. Both the Westcott Kit and the Neewer Kit allow you to dial the white balance between 3200K and 5600K, and the Neewer Kit also includes red filters you can snap onto the light.

Ring lights are an essential tool for anyone who films or photographs faces. They provide a kind and diffused light that removes shadows and helps subjects stand out from their backgrounds. Even if you're just doing a ton of Zoom calls, ring lights will help you look your best. Our expert testers subjected each product to a series of rigorous tests designed to reveal any strengths or weaknesses and then sorted the results into four weighted categories.

We determined value by comparing the price of a ring light to its performance (i.e., its overall score). The UBeesize 10" Table Top and Xinbaohong Clip-On are quality options if you want to save money while still getting a decently performing product. You forfeit many of the fancy features that the more expensive models offer. However, you still receive a decent light at a fraction of the price with either one.

For any type of constant light, which includes natural light, you’ll use the meter in Ambient mode. Often that mode is represented by a little Sun icon ️️️☀️. In ambient mode, once you’ve set your ISO and either your desired shutter speed or desired aperture, you can then take a reading or even hold the reading button and move around to see if the light meters differently at different areas of your scene.

Regarding portable models, the Rotolight Ultimate Vlogging Kit is exceptionally bright for its size, boasting up to 1000 lumens, which is multiple times brighter than lights of equivalent size. However, in terms of overall quality, this model suffers because it's not dimmable. Instead, you must manually swap the plastic temperature disks over the light face to change the light quality.

Like most bargain buys, there are some downsides to consider. For instance, we wish the phone mount was more compatible with larger phone cases (e.g., Otterbox). Also, this smaller ring light costs less than others in our lineup and, as a result, lacks the brightness that larger, more expensive models do. That said, neither issue is a dealbreaker compared to how much we like this light. The UBeesize 10" Table Top is a small, simple, and portable option, all at an unbeatable price. If you require a model compatible with larger phones, the Westcott 18" Bi-Color LED is a more viable option. It features a remarkably bright light and works with large phones and cameras alike.

If you’re shooting with flash, a good rule of thumb is to set your camera at whichever aperture you want to shoot, and then take meter readings and adjust your flash’s output power until your meter reading reflects what your camera is set at. Having your camera set at a specific aperture value and tweaking the flash(es) instead is a good idea because if you change your camera’s aperture setting all your flashes will be affected at once, versus being able to tweak each flash on its own.

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Bestlight metering

To take a meter reading, you place the meter in front of your subject and take a reading. For portraits, it’s common practice to place the meter right under the model’s chin, because it can otherwise be a little annoying to the model to place the meter right in front of their eyes.

Mactrem 6" — This one fills the face better; you can't see the side lighting as dramatically, but you still can't see the characteristic eye “catchlights.”

The light meter has a white dome called a lumisphere which reads 180 degrees of light in the scene and averages it to arrive at a mid-gray. This is called incident metering, meaning the reading is made by actually receiving the direct light that’ll be used to expose your photograph. That’s different than reflective metering, which reads that light that’s reflected back and is the type of metering that cameras do.

Aixpi 10" LED Tabletop — This one fills the face pretty well, but the right side is still lost. The photo also has a green cast, but you can start to see the ring light catchlights.

This review is the collective work of several veteran GearLab testers. Senior Review Editor Richard Forbes has been shooting photos with a wide range of cameras (from phones to film to pro-DSLRs) for nearly two decades and has been a working photographer for seven years. He firmly believes that photography is painting with light, so he spends way too much time thinking about how to get the right light in the right place. He loves to use ring lights on shoots and for his own selfie game. Richard is joined by Hayley Thomas, a lover of photography since she was a child, growing up with her photographer mother. She has a keen eye for composition, and her Canon Mark IV 5D is never far from her side. Ben Applebaum-Bauch has been with the GearLab team for almost six years. In that span, he has tested hundreds of home goods and electronics products, taking dozens of product photos each time. Often relying on the assistance of a ring light, he knows what to look for in these models that will bring the best user experience and lighting to the shoot.

Our timed setup test revealed this most clearly, as the large Neewer and Westcott lights took the longest to set up (at roughly one minute and 15 seconds each), while the Xinbaohong Clip-On and Auxiwa Clip-On took only five seconds to clip onto a phone (though the Xinbaohong also blocks the rear-facing camera on an iPhone, so it's primarily useful for selfies). In the middle of the pack, some lights were unnecessarily fiddly: in particular, the Aixpi 10" with Tripod took 50 seconds to set up just because the parts didn't fit together well.

As with many things, if a product is unnecessarily complicated, you may not use it. Within this metric, there was a wide range of well-designed (and not so well-designed) products, and to sort out which products made it the easiest for us, we set them up and broke them down repeatedly.

Light meters are great and can save you a ton of time instead of the trial and error that’s inherent to shooting without one. They are not artists though, and can only tell you what the proper settings should be for a “correctly” exposed photograph. That doesn’t mean that that’s what you’re after. Maybe you’re trying to create something really dramatic and dark, extra contrasty, or light and airy. That’s why it’s also important that you make the final judgment call in how your want your photo exposed. The light meter will get you there right away most of the time, but other times it’ll just get you in the ballpark and you’ll want to adjust so that the result looks like what you wanted.

The ring light you choose must stand up with a camera/phone attached. We set up each model, attached the largest camera or phone possible, and then jostled it vigorously to see whether it could stay up. We also assessed whether each could support a phone or DSLR and whether we felt confident that our electronics were actually going to stay where we put them.

The top scorer for stability is the UBeesize 10" Tripod, which proved remarkably sturdy. The Neewer and Westcott models also achieved a high score in this category (like all categories), inspiring confidence with whatever device we needed to use. The Auxiwa Clip-On, Xinbaohong Clip-On, and ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit (to some extent) are also “stable” in the sense they don't require a tripod — they are as stable as your grip.

By default most meters are set to show values at either 1/5 stop or full stop increments, but most cameras and flashes use 1/3 stop increments instead. For accurate values, it’s therefore pretty important that you set your light meter to use 1/3 stop increments. With the Sekonic L-308S-U, hold the power button at the same time as the mode button, the display will then show the current increment selection. Press the mode button to set it to 0.3. Now just hold the power button to power off the meter and save the new setting.

To test ring lights, we took hundreds of photos with each of these devices and conducted controlled photo experiments to measure relative brightness. We played with all the different features, timed setups and breakdowns to assess ease of use, and monitored stability by attaching our phones and cameras to each product. We determined the durability by physically comparing each model throughout our testing and digging through online user reviews to find any frequent issues to watch for while testing.

There were a lot of different DSLR holders and phone holders, though some were better than others. We were impressed by the UBeesize phone holder on both models we tested: the UBeesize 10" Tripod and the UBeesize 10" Tabletop. The holder has a solid feel and grips phones well. The Lume Cube 18" has a stable tripod, but we struggled to get iPhone Plus models into the holder. The Razer Ring Light 12" and Sensyne 10" Ring Light with 50" Extendable Tripod have level tripods with a wide base. However, they are both relatively lightweight, so they can get knocked over easily if you bump into them. The Rotolight Ultimate Vlogging Kit has a stable mini tripod. But, we found that the weight of the actual light can cause the whole apparatus to tip to one side, especially if no phone is attached to anchor the other side. The Aixpi 10" LED Tabletop is so short that it has a low center of gravity, making it relatively stable. The Mactrem 6" LED strangely has two different tripods, both poorly balanced.

The basic idea of a light meter is to measure the amount of light falling on a scene and tell you what camera settings you should use to achieve proper exposure for that scene. You do that by inputting two out of the 3 values from the exposure triangle and the meter will tell you the correct value for the 3rd one.

Light meteringapp

Wondering about which lens focal lengths are best for portrait or landscape photography? This chart should help out in your lens choice.

The ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit is a top choice for content creators who need a reliable light on the go. This portable device turns a phone into a more traditional-looking camera by adding a shutter button, light, and detachable mini tripod to any smartphone. The tripod legs also easily collapse down into a selfie stick. This light uses MagSafe magnetic technology to quickly click in place on your phone. It even comes with an adapter sticker that turns any non-iPhone into a MagSafe magnet-compatible device. It also strikes us as high-quality and comes with a semi-rigid case to protect the light and battery.

Most light meters also have the ability to take a reflective reading, but for the rest of this post we’ll focus on incident metering, which the way light meters for photography are used most of the time anyway. Using reflective metering can be useful if, for example, your subject is too far and it’s not really possible to go get a meter right where your subject is at. On the Sekonic L-308S-U meter, you can push the lumisphere to the side to use the reflective metering.

The meter in your camera is really useful, but doesn’t cancel out the usefulness of a handheld light meter. The meter in your camera is a reflective meter and tries to make the overall scene average to a mid-gray. The meter reading will therefore be off when you’re trying to take a photograph of something that’s really light or really dark.

The Xinbaohong Clip-On is a lightweight and compact clip-on ring light for smartphones. It offers multiple temperature settings, continuous dimmer capability, and the most basic setup imaginable — all at a very affordable price. It clips directly to the phone, like a chip clip. A single power button turns the light on, and successive presses cycle through the temperature modes. Super easy. It can easily fit into a backpack, purse, or jacket pocket. This is a great option for budget-conscious social media posters and selfie-takers alike.

The Westcott 18" Bi-Color LED has you covered, from selfies to outdoor shoots. With 2435 lumens and a 3200K-5600K temperature range, you'll be set for photography, video calls, blogging, and much more. This ring light has a continuous dimmer and digital readout, allowing you to fine-tune brightness and temperature with the turn of a dial. The digital readout lets you quickly change settings based on external light conditions. The light includes two NP-F750 lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and a battery charging port. These batteries keep the light going on full power for 70 minutes, and there is also a wall-powered option for extended use. This ring light comes with a sturdy tripod and mounting accessories capable of holding a DSLR camera or smartphone. In addition, it has a USB port capable of charging phones and other electronics to avoid low battery interruptions. This light and its accessories fit nicely into a well-made storage bag with separate light, tripod, and battery compartments.

We also looked at additional features in this category. We gave products higher ratings if they included things like a remote trigger (for use with a phone), like the UBeesize 10" with Tripod, or a tripod that can turn into a selfie stick, such as the Aixpi 10" with Tripod, ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit, and Rotolight Ultimate Vlogging Kit. The UBeesize 10" Tabletop tripod can technically be used this way, but it is a little impractical given the size of the light and its wired setup. Again, the ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit impressed us here with the added capability of the SnapGrip portion to wirelessly charge the phone it is attached to while in use. One super basic but unique feature of the Sensyne 10" Ring Light is that the included tripod has a bubble level to ensure a superior level shot.

If you’re shooting with flash, but don’t have an easy way to trigger your flashe(s) remotely from where you are when you’re metering, you can use a PC sync cable with one end connected to the light meter and the other end connected in the flash. With that setup, pressing to take a reading will trigger the flash. On the Sekonic L-308S-U, the cordless flash mode is represented by a lightning bolt icon ⚡ and a little “c” next to it.

Light meteringcamera

The ShiftCam SnapGrip Creator Kit and Rotolight Ultimate Vlogging Kit are some of the most sturdy portable models. This is partly due to their smaller size — fewer hinges and joints to break on tripods, for example. However, they are also both well-constructed. The ShiftCam is rubber-coated and comes with a zippered protective semi-rigid case for travel, while the Rotolight has a durable metal T-bar mount. The UBeesize and Westcott lights are the heartiest of the bigs, and we are confident the UBeesize 10" Tabletop, UBeesize 10" Tripod, Razer Ring Light 12", Westcott 18" Kit, and Neewer 18" Kit will all last a long time. On the other end of the spectrum, the Xinbaohong Clip-On, Auxiwa Clip On, Mactrem 6" LED, and Aixpi 10" with Tripod are all underwhelming and strike us as liable to break if the light were to fall on the floor.

When metering in flash mode, you’ll almost always want to set your ISO to the lowest possible value for your camera (100 for most cameras) and your shutter speed to your camera’s sync speed (1/250s for my Nikon camera), so it becomes a no-brainer really.

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For example, if you know you want to shoot at ISO 100 and at a shutter speed of 1/160s, you’ll input those in the meter and then take a meter reading to get the aperture you should be shooting at for proper exposure.

In case you haven't used many ring lights, we wanted to compare how each light size category affects a portrait. One of the big things is the "catchlights"—if someone uses a ring light, you can almost always see the characteristic circles in their eyes.

I’ll use the Sekonic L-308S-U light meter as an example, but the principles will apply to just about any handheld light meter. If you want to get a light meter though and not sure what to buy, that Sekonik model would be a great choice because it’s cheap, but has all the features you’ll likely need.

In addition, it would be disingenuous to ignore the obvious issue with a “brightness only” approach. This test has a huge range of sizes, from the enormous 18" Neewer model to the tiny Auxiwa Clip-On. Obviously, the largest lights should be the brightest, so we also measured the ring lights' exact sizes (which were roughly as advertised) and compared these values to brightness values.

Matrixmetering

To understand durability, we spent time setting up and breaking down each light repeatedly to identify any weak spots they might have. We supplemented our assessments by reading user reviews to see if there were any common problems. We were sure to put them through all the paces that a busy videographer or photographer might.

So you’re wondering about light meters for your photography? In this post I’ll try to distill down the essentials to get you up and running with using a light meter. I’ll finish up by answering a few common quesions.

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This light has just a few drawbacks worth noting. First, it is not especially bright. It does the job for selfies or anything within close range but much more than an arm's length away, and its effectiveness fades fast. Second, it's heavy, which you might notice if you plan on taking a bunch of selfies with the included stick. When attached to the stick, the weight of the light combined with a phone sometimes forces the pivoting ball joint to slump over at an angle. However, for convenience and quality in a tiny package, this light is our go-to when on the go. If you can't swing the cost, check out our favorite portable budget model, the Xinbaohong Clip-On. It's lightweight, affordable, and fits in your jacket pocket, so you can take a selfie whenever the moment strikes.

Your photos are turning out a bit soft or you miss focus a bit too often? Check out these 17 tips to help improve the sharpness of you images.

Very good question! There are different schools of thought when it comes to that. Some say you should always point the meter at the camera, some say you should always point it at the light.

To measure and compare sheer brightness between these often very similar devices, we used the LT300 Light Meter by EXTECH. We were sure to measure each ring light from the same distance of 36 inches away and with no ambient light present. We even tested each light multiple times to confirm all readings. The lights in our test suite emit a wide range of lumens.

You most certainly can, and many photographers never use a light meter. You’ll just have to do more trial and error to arrive at the proper exposure. With time though, you’ll tend to become pretty familiar with your equipment and able to take pretty good guesses without as much trial and error.

I actually like Mark Wallace’s breakdown in this video and agrees with his opinion that it depends on what you’re trying to prioritize. If you point the meter at the camera, you’ll get a good overall reading for an exposure that’s correct throughout, and if you point it at the light you’ll get a right exposure that’s more targeted at where that light falls. If your goal is a higher contrast image, pointing at the light makes sense, but if you want things more even stevens, then pointing at the camera is the best bet.