Metpin777 Loc: Fort Wayne, IN

Shooting with Canon 80D, 85mm, EF lens, started doing portrait photography. Interested in purchasing a ring light, led vs fluorescent vs incandescent ?, not sure which way to go, have no experience in ring lights, not to be used for macro, seen several sizes 14" to 18" inner diameter. Portraits to be done in low lighting and black backdrop. Suggestions please? Thank you!

Have done searches here, but all on macro

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

I had a brief demonstration (class) of lighting and portraiture, and found that ring lights can be awesome tools. Once you find the right angle, distance, luminosity, etc., the results can be striking! If I were in the market for a ring light, I'd look for one that has adjustable color temperature (that would address the incandescent vs. fluorescent question) and would probably opt for the 18", since I think there's more flexibility with that setup. The 14" might do given your requirements.

One thing I have noticed is that the catchlights in a person's eye are often reflecting the ring, and unless you can deal with that "oddity," you might want to prepare for some post processing to make the catchlights look more natural.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

First, I'm not fond of ring lights for portraits, in most cases. I'm just not fond of the catchlights they produce. My personal preference for portraiture is one of two lighting methods. Studio strobes with modeling lights or LED lighting, such as:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1302652-REG/smith_victor_401608_750_watt_led_2.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1323079-REG/savage_led60k_r_savage_500w_led_studio.html
Those allow for more precise, no guesswork, setups.
--Bob

Metpin777 Loc: Fort Wayne, IN

Have found dimmable 5500k lights, but no adjustable color, in either fluorescent or Leds, Do you have a link for these in 18" ? Please, and actually looking for the effect in the subjects eyes of ring lighting, and yes they can be edited in photoshop cc if too much, thank you

Metpin777 Loc: Fort Wayne, IN

And yes this was something else I was thinking of, continuous lighting, will be looking into this more and the price is right, complete with stands, umbrella. Actually setting up 3 different variables to my home studio using OCF, Ring lighting and Continous lighting. Just working with 1 softbox and 2nd flash opposite of key light now and adding the capabilities. This is awesome, thank you!