Camera Light Weefine Ring - Light

Camera Light Weefine Ring - Light

BACK IN THE DAY, newbie underwater photographers were often advised to start with close-up work. You could pre-set your camera and flashgun, so all you had to do on the dive was find a subject, frame it with the wire-framer supplied with your close-up lens, and press the button for nicely exposed, sharply focused pictures.

Anything else introduced so many variables that your success rate was inevitably reduced, sometimes to zero, until you’d built up some experience and expertise.

The biggest challenge in this has always been lighting. You generally need the camera so close to the subject that positioning one or two strobes to deliver even illumination is tricky.

On land, the ring-flash, a strobe with a circular flash tube that fits around the lens, has been an accepted solution for years.

Now Chinese manufacturer Weefine offers a similar product for underwater photographers, the Ring Light 1000, which produces a continuous beam of light rather than a flash.

The Design

The light comes from a series of LEDs arranged in a circular pattern. An L-shaped sticky-out bit holds the battery, a rechargeable 18650 lithium type. Simply unscrew the housing, the long arm of the L, to access the battery for charging.