The HD 18S Right Light from Great Video Maker is a powerful 18-inch LED ring light designed for content creators and streamers. The GVM HD 18S features 256 LED beads with a colour temperature range of 32K-56K. With an included light stand, a cold shoe mount for mirrorless and DLSR, and a cellphone mount, the GVM HD 18S Right Light aims to be a versatile lighting solution.
The HD 18S is housed in a hard plastic shell with an optional defusion shroud that clips to the front of the light. The base of the HD 18S houses the controls and numeric display for the ring light, and power, brightness, and CCT (correlated colour temperature) controls are all easily accessible. The knob controls for the latter two options offer step-less adjustments giving you maximum control over temperature and brightness. The numeric display automatically adjusts to the active knob control with a small light indicator to notify you of which setting is currently being adjusted.
The included 30V AC/DC adaptor offers plenty of power for the HD 18S. While there is no battery option, the included power adaptor offers an impressive 15 feet(4.5m) of length. This allows for quite a bit of adaptability when setting up the HD 18S. Whether installed on the desk around my computer setup or as a light for a photoshoot, there were no issues with running power from an outlet.
Speaking of adaptability, the GVM HD 18S ring light also includes an aluminum light stand with three points of height adjustment along with a 120° mount. This offers a host of setup options. The light stand itself, while solid enough, does suffer from a couple of design flaws.
“…the GVM HD 18S ring light also includes an aluminum light stand with three points of height adjustment along with a 120° mount.”
For starters, the light’s head-to-base weight ratio can be a bit precarious when extending the light stand to its maximum height. At this height, the tripod legs seem to be a bit short to handle top-heavy light if you set it at any aggressive angles. It becomes a bit of a balancing act to keep things steady. This is only an issue at the maximum height of 7 feet. For the most part, as long as it’s positioned well, the stand can easily handle the weight of the HD 18S.
The second issue to note is the plastic mounting points. While the 120° mount works well, the plastic mounting bracket does feel a little loose even after tightening. The concern here is that over time and with multiple adjustments to the threaded tightener, the plastic will wear down.
This concern is further exasperated when positioning the HD 18S at a more dramatic angle. A lot of pressure is applied to the threaded tightener to lock the light in place. The concern is that, over time, the plastic housing will crack. In testing, everything held up well, so this critique is more of a long-term observation based on similar light stands tested.
Circling back to the ring light, the HD 18S is a powerful light. With a beautifully bright LED lighting system, the GVM HD 18S ring light boasts an impressive CRI (colour rendering index) of ≥ 97. For those new to lighting, the CRI is a rendering test designed to help measure the accuracy at which the artificial light reproduces the full range of colour on an object when observed. The results are compared to standardized results of how daylight impacts the same object.
The test has been around since the 1960s and helps editors know how much colour correction is needed based on the rating of the light source. In short, the higher the artificial lights score, the more accurate the light reproduction of colour is. There is a great article over at http://videomaker.com that helps unpack this in greater detail.
“With a beautifully bright LED lighting system, the GVM HD 18S ring light boasts an impressive CRI (colour rendering index) of ≥ 97.”
In the case of the HD 18S, it does an exceptional job of reproducing an accurate colour profile of the object being lit. In real-world testing, the light did a great job of capturing any object photographed. As for the colour temperature range, once again, the DH 18S presented an accurate representation of the lighting temperatures in testing. As mentioned, all of these adjustments can be easily handled thanks to simple and intuitive controls.
The cold shoe mount offers a host of great options for mounting cameras and phones. While the phone mount isn’t anything out of the ordinary, thanks to the aforementioned mounting plate you can easily swap it out for your favorite phone mount. With a 13-inch diameter measurement of the inside of the HD 18S, there is no issue mounting any size phone. Additionally, with such a large area to work with, most mirrorless and DSLRs should easily fit within the right light. This results in optimal lighting and camera positioning for video and photo.
Finally, GVM has included a handy carrying bag that houses the light and accessories, making it easy to transport and set up the HD 18S anywhere it’s needed. The whole kit is designed for versatility and functionality. From its streamlined controls to cold shoe mount, the HD 18S can adapt to a multitude of settings and needs.
The HD 18S from GVM is a solid ring light that offers a lot of versatility at a fairly impressive price point of USD 79.99. While the light stand suffers from some pretty standard design issues attributed to many light stands in this price range, the overall quality and power of the HD 18S make up for these deficiencies. Available on the official site or Amazon, the HD 18S is an excellent, cost-effective lighting solution for content creators.
- BI-COLOR RING LIGHT: Adjust the color temperature 3200K-5600K via knob without using color filters, brightness range 10%~100%. The Step-less adjustment can Change the cold light to warm light quickly and smoothly, LCD Screen which helps you to operate easily and work more effectively.
