Portable Light Ring

As a hobby photographer i like devices that improve the “good look” of any shot, unfortunately they are quite expensive; because of that and also because i have a lot of unused electronic parts, i wanna do my own accessories, in this case: a light ring with a rechargeable battery.

• 20 LEDs: 18 white clear and two yellow diffuse.
• 20 resistors (220 Ohms).
• A little bit of wire to connect the circuit inside.
• A small amonut of glue to hold together the wood pieces.
• A rechargable battery and it’s original circuit to recharge the battery pack.
• Three circular pieces of wood: one to hold the circuit, one to cover the back part and one to give a little space in between.
• The lens hood to support the light ring.

This is the original 3d plan i will try to achieve. The target here is to do something lighter that i can install and remove quickly without even have to modify any part of my camera. To install it you just have to make a little pressure to join the hood with the front part of the lens and then attach it to the camera body.

The thin ring located in the middle will give me the space to held the components inside.

This is the diagram that i will follow and to begin i test the series on a small breadboard to check that I will do things right.

The battery comes from a wireless speaker, i put it on a plastic case only to make it a little more safe. I don’t like to put it inside the light ring because i will do it heavier than i intend to. In one of the images you can see the type of connection that i will use.

This is the final disposition for the LEDs and the resistors. The negative leg of the lights will be connected with the 220 Ohms resistors and the other one will be on a wire surrounding the entire circuit.

I join the elements one by one and test it on each step to check the connections. At the end you will obtain something like that when you put it on the camera. Forget about the string that attach the battery (is temporary).

I'm about to finish it (...i am 7 LEDs short), a little black paint job on the back part and that's it, cheaper than the ones that i can buy out there and of course i have the pride to say: i made it!.