Now joining the Elgato lighting family is an exciting new addition: the Elgato Ring Light (inventive as ever with the names, there). Alongside the Key Light and Key Light Air, the Ring Light has all the fantastic smart functionality of other Elgato products, plus a central camera mount for that sought after beauty light look.
Not only does the Ring Light boast fully adjustable brightness of up to 2,500 lumens, and a wide range of colour temperatures like the other lights in the range, but here you’re also looking at 17 inches of double diffused, flicker-free, edge lit, OSRAM LEDs with a central (quarter inch screw) ball mount for your camera. That means you can move your camera independent of the light, but still have it dead centre, giving your eyes that sci-fi gleam when you stare into the lens.
Although there are a few, cheaper ring light alternatives, such as the host of Neewer ring lights, I cant seem to find any with the same level of compatibility and adjustability. With Stream Deck compatibility, app and onboard controls, it seems so simple to integrate any of the Elgato lights into your control center streaming workflow. You can even use Siri to set the scene, for a hands-free experience, which is pretty cool.
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A lot of led ring lights out there are also pretty harsh on the eyes, but the Elgato Ring Light, being edge lit and having two diffusers—the opal glass and translucent grid panel—is designed to be a lot more gentle on your retinae.
This one comes with the Master Mount S, a telescopic pole that can shift from 17-inch to 29-inch and is also compatible with Elgato's modular, Multi Mount rigging system, for some serious customisation. There’s also a padded, expandable clamp so you can attach it to your desk, behind your monitors (as long as your desk is thinner than 2.35in, that is).
Backed by a two year warranty, the Elgato Ring Light looks to be a decent option for streamers, videographers and anyone looking to get that snazzy beauty/sci-fi look—for a price. It retails at around $200 on the Elgato store. It may be a little kinder to your eyeballs, but maybe not so much your wallet.
