Lighting is a crucial thing in vlogging – especially when you are recording a video of yourself or taking some cinematic shots. For shooting premium-quality images and videos, you will need good lighting equipment.
That is why we have brought the ultimate guide on the best lighting for vlogging.
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Table of Contents
Different Lighting Setups for Vlogging
Single Light Vlogging Setup
As the name suggests, you use a single light source to illuminate your studio. This is mostly used by people who do facetime vlogs.
On-Camera Lighting
On-camera lights are compact lights that are powered by batteries. Mostly, they are mounted on top of cameras and drones, while other times, they are used separately. They are really helpful when you are shooting in a dark environment as they can act as a flash and a continuous light source.
However, you need to maintain the brightness of the light. Too much or too little brightness can ruin your videos.
Off-Camera Lighting
Off-camera lights are separate components from the vlogging camera. You can place them anywhere you want. This gives you a bit more freedom compared to on-camera lighting, as you can do a lot of dynamic best lighting for vlogging and take really cool video shots.
If you want simple lighting just to illuminate your face when recording your videos, stick to on-camera lighting. For complex and dynamic shots, switch to off-camera lighting.
Studio Vlogging Setup for YouTube
Keylight
This is one of the most popular vlogging light sources used by YouTubers these days. These are battery or electric operated lights that provide a wide source of light to illuminate your face and the setup.
They don’t have a good range, but they are bright and have the color temperature range required to highlight you and your workstation. Some of them are even controlled by remotes, stream decks, or Wi-Fi. If you search for key lights, you will see that they are mainly sold by Elgato. But there are other alternatives as well.
Rim Light
Rim lights are mostly used as backlights. These lights are useful when you want to hide most details of a person or object in the darkness. Rim lights produce a thin line that highlights the outline of the object or person in the frame.
If you plan on taking cinematic shots and silhouettes, this will be a good addition to your vlogging kit.
Fill Lights
The lights we mentioned above are used to highlight something. If you want your videos to look natural and want to illuminate the entire room, you need to get fill lights.
The main objective of using fill lights is to create soft shadows so that things don’t look dramatic. You can use bright lights and make sure that the light spreads evenly so that the depth of your shadows remains minimum.
Diffusers
Sometimes, placing a direct light source can create high contrasts and harsh shadows. In such cases, you need to soften the light.
Diffusers are made of semi-translucent materials, which we place between the light source and the person or object. The diffuser will scatter the light. Diffusers can be really helpful when you are using the sun as a source of light. It will reduce the intensity of the light, and you don’t have to adjust your camera to compensate for the intensity of the light source.
Softboxes
These are very useful for vloggers who want to get a huge source of light. It is a box-like structure with a bulb located inside it. The inner walls are reflective, while the outer walls are black.
This will create a large source of diffuse light. So, there will be less contrast compared to direct light sources, and your shadows will be softer as well.
You may wonder how they are different from diffusers. Well, their job is the same, but diffusers are mostly used when you are sitting next to a window in daylight.
If you are shooting videos in a closed environment with no natural light source, you can create that natural lighting in your videos using softboxes.
Simple Vlogging Setup for YouTube
If you just want to make content and not put too much focus on lighting, then you can simply buy a tripod and ring light while recording with your smartphone camera.
Ring lights are useful for getting a uniform source of light. The best part about ring lights is that a smartphone or camera can be kept inside the ring. So, you can keep both the camera and the light source in front of your face without worrying about shadows.
These lights are extremely affordable, and content creators on platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, and Twitch use them a lot.
Best Vlogging Lights for YouTube
Here are the vlogging lights that we recommend you should give a try.
Neewer LED Panel – Best in Overall
LED light panels are useful in various kinds of lighting setups. And Neewer has given us a LED panel that is affordable, easy to use, customizable, and versatile – making it the ideal lighting option for content creators on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, etc.
The LED lights are bright at 3360 lumens, and you can adjust them easily. You can also adjust the color temperature from 3200-5600 kelvin. It comes with a diffusion filter so that you get a natural lighting effect.
As for design, it comes with a U-bracket fully made of metal. This makes angle adjustment significantly easy.
You can either power it directly from a UK mains adapter or insert NP-F550/F970 batteries if you want the lights to be wireless.
It does not come with a stand, but it is compatible with all forms of standard stands and mounts. You can just buy any stand when buying this panel.
Pros
- Very bright.
- You can adjust the brightness and color temperature.
- Compatible with all standard stands and mounts.
- It can be used with batteries.
Cons
- Does not come with a stand and batteries.
- Comes with a UK-mains plug.
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Raleno Softbox Photography Lighting Kit – Best Budget Vlogging Light
If you are looking for good lighting equipment under $100, then this is the one you need. Raleno is dedicated to providing indoor soft light equipment, and a lot of photographers and vloggers have recommended products from this brand.
It comes with an 85-800 W incandescent light bulb enclosed in a 20” x 28” softbox. The reflective nylon diffusers cause the light to refract internally. This results in a softer light output with lesser shadows. This may help in reducing the work in post-editing.
The stand has a solid build quality, and you can adjust it from 26.7 to 78.7 inches. The softbox cover is removable, so you can use the bulb as a direct light source as well. It comes with a standard US plug, so you don’t have to worry about finding adapters.
Pros
- Internal refraction creates softer lights.
- Removable softbox cover.
- Long adjustable stand.
Cons
- Stands are not threaded, so you cannot mount a flash.
- The instruction manual is useless.
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Pixel G1s – Best On-Camera Light
Versatility, affordability, and customization – you can get all three in Pixel. What makes this on-camera light unique is its RGB LED beads. And that is also under $100.
The hue, saturation, and brightness are adjustable, and you can adjust the temperature between 2500 – 8500 kelvins. It also comes with a built-in LCD display for accurate readings and easier adjustments.
The build quality is great and comes with a 360-degree rotatable arm which you can mount on any device using a hot shoe adapter.
Pros
- RGB lights
- Decent battery
- Rechargeable using USB-C
Cons
- The number of controls may be too much for a beginner.
- The Manual contains some grammatical errors.
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Neewer RGB Light – Good Alternative
This RGB LED panel comes with 176 dimmable pieces of LED beads which you can control using an app present in android and iOS.
There are nine lighting scenes, and you can adjust the temperature from 3200 to 5600 kelvins. The design is compact and light, and you can mount it on most standard DSLR cameras.
Pros
- Customizable via the app.
- It comes with a padded carrying case.
- Easy to use.
Cons
- It does not come with power adapters and cable.
- Does not support group adjustments.
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Best Lights for Vlogging on a Smartphone
If you are shooting vlogs on a smartphone, a ring light is the best choice. Here are some of our recommendations.
This light excels in both light and build quality. It is powered by a USB port, and the color temperature can be adjusted between 3000 to 6500 kelvins. One thing that makes this ring light unique compared to its competitors at this price range is that it comes with a tripod with the excellent build quality.
Weighing at 260g, this ring light is highly portable. The inner diameter is 241mm, so you can record using any smartphone or DSLR.
Pros
- Amazing light quality.
- It comes with a solid tripod.
Cons
- It can only be powered using a USB.
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This may seem overpriced, but this ring light for vlogging has features worth every penny. This light can run for up to 90 minutes on lithium-ion batteries. You can also switch to direct power. There is a LED monitor, which will help in adjusting values. The stand is 6.5ft long, which is really helpful when recording videos while standing. So, you can consider this ring light for vlogging.
Pros
- It can run on both battery and mains.
- LED readout screen is available.
- It comes with a 6.5ft stand.
Cons
- Costlier compared to its rivals.
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Wrapping Up
These were our recommendations for the best vlogging lights in 2021. From beginners to professionals, a proper lighting setup is extremely important. It is better to get some good equipment as you can adjust the height, color, temperature and a lot of things. We hope that this article has been helpful.
