Review JJC 60 led macro ring light

[Bushboy]

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[Bushboy]

This thing is quite good.
Here it is attached to my M5mkii with the 30mm macro via a 46-49 step up ring. I only got it this morning, I have taken some pics with it and will put them up next few days when I get a minute.
Taking close up photos in difficult light is easy with this. Autofocus is especially good. And tonight when I was walking back in the dark, it is a fabulous torch! Lol

 

[Macroramphosis]

Sounds promising - a few questions.

- does it come with any diffusion of any sort, or is it even needed?

- are the batteries in the housing itself? I see no cable in your pics.

- and, of course, how do you dim this light?

Not much info out there so far.....you're our only source!

 

[Bushboy]

Diffusion is built in.
4 AA batteries in the outer ring of the housing. No cable!
The on switch is rotary type. It’s the dimmer. I just used on full power. Exposure compensation is needed depending on the subject and or ambient light. The cool thing is the continuous light source, what you see, is what you get.
Yes, I could find no reviews or much info either, so just took a punt.
The only fault I can find with it. With a diameter of 125 mm at 1:1, the light ring is too big because of the close working distance. It will work better with the xtra working distance of the 60mm.

 

[Macroramphosis]

Cool! Sounds like it could replace my existing continuous light source. Look forward to seeing some of your photos!

 

[exakta]

Only $30 on Amazon!!! Was expecting a lot more.

 

[Bushboy]

Buy it!!!
I paid $60... lol
JJC cheep n cheerful. I’m not even gonna look at what Olympus want for a ring light..

 

[ac12]

I found the usefullness of a ring light depends on the subject.
I was looking at a coin with stereo microscope and a ring light. The light was TOO even. I could not see some of the details, because there was no shadow. It worked better with a desk lamp on the side, which produced a shadow.
It would be easy enough to put a paper shield on part of the ring light, so that it would create a shadow.
For $30, it is cool for a general use close up light.

 

[Bushboy]

3 fern fronds as an example

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Ring light turned off. F3.5 1.6s
Pic unusable.

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Ring light on
F3.5 1/40s
Pic ugly, subject overexposed

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3 rd pic -1 exposure comp
F3.5 1/100 sec
So...
Exposure without ring light, 1.6 sec
Exposure with ring light, 1/100sec
That’s useful. For me it means leave the tripod at home, and slip this lightweight simple thing into my bag instead.

 

[Brownie]

Makes me wish I was in to macro!

 

[Bushboy]

This is quite close to macro.

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shutter speed went from 1/25s without light, up to 1/200s with light. Always good.
Maybe you can see a slight colour shift, but I thought it was acceptable, and the light worked ok considering the close focus distance.

 

[Bushboy]

The rotary on/off dimmer switch is playing up.
JJC “QC passed sticker” means nothing ...
When I turn it on, it stays off until I fiddle around with the switch. Then it lights up, and sometimes goes out again... lol. I think I’ll pull it to bits and see what’s up with the switch. However it always goes after fiddling and I am still quite pleased with it.
As noted by ac12, the light is shadowless and flat, which does not suit every occasion. Having light at hand whenever it is needed is nice. I am no longer afraid of the dark.

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Wild sun orchids at night.
Also check out the weird reflections in water droplets on new jelly fern...

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with and without ring light

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I’ll have to watch out for that. Shutter speed went from 1/160 to 1/1500. Nice.
And my last pic of the morning, a simple brown mushroom, which is really what I bought the light for in the first place.

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A focus stacked series of shots at 1/800s. Very nice speed indeed.

 

[bmhome1]

Mine had the same problem with the on-off switch. I opened it up and saw the rotary switch/dimmer off kilter and scraping against the housing cut out. I enlarged the switch opening slightly and put it back together and resolved the issue. Mine was less than $25.00 on eBay so the build quality is not the best.

I added some thin black tape to the light's inside edge surrounding diffuser to prevent spill-over affecting interior edges of lens filter adapter and causing potential flare with near front elements

It's great for fill in for tricky subjects up to a feet away too.

I also highly recommend Eneloops AA's because it sucks up batteries. They also won't leak or crap out sitting around. My light sits unused for literally years and fires right up with full power. Amazing. Besides the four individual battery trays are fiddly to manipulate.

I bought mine five years ago and rarely use it BUT is sure handy when it does provide easy ring lighting without bothering with ring light strobes.

 

[Macroramphosis]

I just bought one of these thanks to your review, Bushboy. I like it a lot for what it does. Solves many problems and makes shooting macro with my GM5 a doddle if needed. The GX9 likes it too, obviously

Thank god for Eneloops, though, as noted!

 

[Bushboy]

Cool!
I like mine with new batteries and 800 iso.
I gotta get some rechargeables..
My switch keeps playing up, but I’ve figured out a work around.
Before I attaché it to the lens I give it a bit of a whack and without fail it lights up and then I spin it on. Lol.
I’m quite pleased with the pics I’ve been getting with it. Last time I used it, I added my two other lights as well...
Really good now!
I’m pleased you like it.
I pulled mine apart to fix the switch, and turned it on without the diffuser, really bright man! Temporary blindness... haha

 

[Macroramphosis]

I pulled mine apart to fix the switch, and turned it on without the diffuser, really bright man! Temporary blindness... haha

Yep - modern LED's are a very different proposal to what they used to be.

Did you figure out what the 5v input is for? A generic power supply? What will it's input do to the rechargables if they're in situ?

 

[Bushboy]

No. Maybe it can runoff a power bank or something?
I’ll never use that. I like no wires.

 

[exakta]

As noted by ac12, the light is shadowless and flat, which does not suit every occasion.

An old ringlight trick is to taping over part of the light to cause some shadows.

 

[Bushboy]

A downside to having 60 leds...

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weird reflections ruin your pic. Not so bad if you’re not to close...

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Nasturtiums in my garden.

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Asparagus.
I’m going to have to watch out for this, I take pics of raindrop and dew covered things frequently.
I have discovered an easy fix for the problematic switch. All that is needed is a gentle squeeze between thumb and index, and it lights up without fail.

 

[ac12]

What about a sheet of diffusing material on the ring.
That should cause the light from the individual LEDs to merge.