Best Lights for Streaming in 2022:- If you want to offer your viewers a professional-looking stream, then you should get a good streaming light. Because the lighting is often forgotten in an ideal streaming setup, making it difficult for your viewers to see your face – especially in darker rooms.
Believe us: the best video equipment is useless without good light when streaming and the quality of your stream will suffer as a result.
But what makes a good streaming lamp and what is really important? We fought our way through the product jungle for you and show you the best streaming lighting here.
Table of Contents
How to choose Light for Streaming Setup?
Quality lighting is crucial if you want the image to look good in your stream. Therefore, you should choose the lights for streaming that suit your needs. But how should you choose them? Here’s a list of things to consider when choosing lights for your stream:
Lumens
What many inexperienced streamers don’t realize is that watts don’t determine the brightness of the light. Instead, the wattage is a measure of how much energy the light source is using.
The lumen value is responsible for the brightness, the larger the light, the brighter it becomes. A conventional 60-watt light bulb corresponds to around 800 lumens.
Color temperature
Depending on the lamp type, the light in the stream can appear cooler or warmer. The human eye can also perceive this variation. The color temperature is given in Kelvin .
- Higher values have more white or light blue tones (cold light),
- lower ones look more yellowish or orange (warm light).
This is one of the most important things to consider when building your lighting setup for streaming. Most streamers use something around 5000K , which is the color of direct sunlight.
Watt
Powerful lights are an essential part of any streamer’s arsenal. You can buy the cheapest lights, but these will be no better than your dim ceiling light. But you don’t necessarily need the most powerful lights for streaming, either. As a good one, a 500 to 1,000 watt lamp should be enough to start with.
Adjustable light
Most of you will have limited space in your gaming room. So you might want to look for a light that rotates, aligns, or moves easily. This ensures that you get the right angle even in the smallest of spaces.
Also, if you need to adjust the lighting during the stream, you don’t have to rearrange the entire setup. A flexibly adjustable lamp is essential for smooth streaming.
Tripod & dimensions
Stands are another thing to consider when purchasing a light for your streaming. Because they are available in all possible sizes and shapes, which of course have to fit your setup. If you want to stream in a small space, then lamps with huge tripods are probably less suitable. Sometimes a small ring light is a better choice depending on the size of the room.
Adjustable brightness
Decent lumens are great, but you should also be able to adjust the brightness. The best lights for streaming usually give you the ability to adjust the brightness to your liking – often through software or an app.
Best Lights for Streaming: Our Recommendations
When you start live streaming on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook or any other platform, dedicated lighting is essential for streaming. In the following we have selected the best streaming lamps for you based on the following criteria:
- illuminance
- Price-performance
- build quality
- software support
- adjustability and adjustability
- range of functions
We provide you with different types of streaming light – from ring lights, softbox setups or desk lights. Below you will find detailed purchase advice in case you do not yet know exactly which type of lamp you need.
Elgato Key Light: Best Overall Package
- Very high brightness
- Various color temperatures fully adjustable
- Good software support
- Stable and flexible to use
- Easy setup
- Color Temperature (2,900 K and 7,000 k )
- Expensive
- Must be controlled via 2.4GHz WiFi connection
The Elgato Key Light is an absolute high-end streaming light that every streamer should want as part of their setup. It’s one of the most powerful devices on our leaderboard, both in terms of brightness and flexibility.
This LED lamp is ideal for streaming because you can easily control it via your PC or your mobile phone with the associated app (alternatively with the Elgato Stream Deck).
You can also adjust the height of the frame from 55cm to 125cm according to your needs.
It’s also safe to say that the Elgato Key Light has arguably one of the best LED light panels for streaming. It consists of 160 high-quality OSRAM LEDs with diffusion technology that provide even lighting.
Bottom line, this neat piece offers the best of all rating categories and is our #1 spot for streaming lighting.
Elgato Key Light Air: Light for Streaming in a compact Form
Advantages of Elgato Key Light Air
- Easy setup
- Strong performance for such a small lamp
- Virtually the same features as the larger version
- Slightly cheaper than the normal lamp
Disadvantages of Elgato Key Light Air
- Still expensive
- Less suitable for illuminating larger areas
- Again, this can only be set via the app
- Power cord is short
A slightly cheaper alternative to our top tip can be found in the Air version of Elgato’s Key Light.
Overall, Elgato has also done a good job in terms of design with the Elgato Key Light Air and thus offers a great alternative to its big brother.
Here, too, there is the practical software that recognizes your lamp in a 2.4 GHz WLAN. From here you can change the temperature of the light, which changes the color slightly, as well as change the overall intensity.
For around €130, this is an easy to set up light that offers a lot more control and features than cheaper models.
If you are a streamer or content creator and want to do it for the long term, I would definitely recommend the Key Light Air as a long-term investment. Even if it looks a bit expensive, the LED light is worth the money.
Fovitec Softbox Studio Light: Ideal for large Rooms
Advantages of Fovitec Softbox Studio Light
- Good value for money
- Very suitable for large areas
- Key lights and a fill light provide even light
- Individual bulbs controllable via the control panel
- No shadows due to all-round lighting
- Very flexibly adjustable in height and angle
Disadvantages of Fovitec Softbox Studio Light
- Expensive
- Needs a lot of space
- More complicated setup with confusing description
- Not the strongest luminosity
This 3 light setup works wonders when streaming in large areas. Whether you need lighting for Twitch streaming or going live at events, this Fovitec set has you covered. The kit contains three lights which act as main and fill light and thus enable a professional setup. The fluorescent lighting looks great on any camera and there are some handy adjustment options.
With a total of three plug-in heads and three softbox lights (each with a size of 50×70 cm), you can easily cover all sides with light – to the right, left and above you, so that no shadows are formed. Each lamp is 45 watts and offers a color temperature of 5500K with a light output of 1500 lumens.
The bottom line is that this set offers you a lot of scope for great lighting in your stream. If you can live with the more annoying setup, you get a great price-performance ratio for three lights.
Keep in mind that with the Elgato Key Light you only get one light from the top, here there are three (although these don’t have as much juice as the Elgatos).
Neewer Ring Light: Best Ring Light for Streaming
Advantages of Neewer Ring Light
- Top price performance
- Practical remote control
- Flexible stand with many adjustment options
- Ideal for attaching DSLR cameras or smartphones
Disadvantages of Neewer Ring Light
- Limited color temperatures
- Luminosity could be a little better
- Can get quite warm
- Processing with weaknesses
- Only good for vertical shots, especially since the mount is too weak
If you are absolutely looking for a ring light for your lighting, then this model from Neewer will not disappoint you. Ring lights are a simple and inexpensive way to illuminate a stream.
All the included accessories are also useful. There is a cell phone mount and adapter and a hot shoe adapter for DSLR cameras.
However, this mount is not strong enough and tends to give way, which is why you should only mount your devices vertically. A Bluetooth remote control is also included, so you can conveniently carry out all settings without getting up.
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While the Neewer ring light serves its purpose, it also has its limitations. It’s ideal for streamers and other users who just want to light up their faces. For other scenarios, you may be better served with our first three tips – but the price can convince.
Lume Cube 2.0: Best LED Light For Outdoor Streams
Advantages of Lume Cube 2.0
- Pretty tough
- Good for outdoor RL streams
- Complete set with many accessories
- Small and compact
Disadvantages of Lume Cube 2.0
- Expensive
- Can get quite hot
- There are better lights for streaming
Most lighting kits are not rugged enough for outdoor use. This is different from the Lume Cube 2.0 set, which is robust enough (even in severe weather) and bright enough for streaming. But the former is definitely the outstanding feature of the Lume Cube.
Also, similar to the previous product, all the necessary accessories are included in the kit. The entire set consists of twenty parts, including two Lume Cube lights with their respective mounting systems, modifiers and attachments. Nice thing, but that’s to be expected for the price.
While this lighting kit is ideal for adventurous RL streamers, others may be reluctant to pay so much for features they don’t need.
Neewer Super Slim: Ideal for Beginners
Advantages of Neewer Super Slim
- Cheap
- Very slim and easy to transport
- Can be used flexibly
- Wide range of color temperature
Disadvantages of Neewer Super Slim
- battery operation
- Luminosity is not so strong
- Power pack must be ordered separately
- No remote control
- A stand is required for proper setup
Do you need good light for your streaming, but don’t want to spend a fortune on the lighting? Then you are on the right track with the Super Slim light from the manufacturer Neewer. Because it combines premium quality with a good price, making this model ideal for newcomers to the streaming world.
As the name suggests, this light is extremely slim and easy to move. In addition, the panel can be rotated 360 degrees and aligned vertically 180 degrees.
For streaming, this lighting kit from Neewer is definitely an option no matter what type of content you’re planning. In addition, the brightness can be adjusted directly on the lamp itself, even if it does not come close to the performance of our top recommendations.
All in all, you get a solid entry-level solution for your streaming lighting. The price-performance ratio is right, even if you are limited in your setup due to the lack of a tripod. But if you already have something like that, then you can probably use the Super Slim with it.
Different Types Of Lighting for Streaming: What Do You need?
You can choose between two types of lighting: desk or softbox lighting.
The principle of operation of the soft box is to confine the light from the LED bulbs into a closed space and then release it through at least one layer of diffusing material. When the light from the LED lamps passes through the translucent material, it is scattered over a large area. They are therefore very suitable for larger rooms, but take up more space.
A softbox is mainly used as a primary light source and fill light (additional, often laterally positioned light source) to reduce contrast. Softboxes are ideal as fill lights, as they don’t cast sharp shadows.
Above all, the size of the light itself is the main difference between a softbox light and a desktop light. Traditionally, softbox lights are used for photography and take up a lot of space in the studio setup.
Desktop lighting , on the other hand, can be easily placed on the desk like an LED ring light or attached to a tripod. So if you just want to light up a smaller room, then desktop LED lights can often save money and space.
Conclusion: Streaming without good Light is not the Bringer
Whether you’re just starting out streaming or looking to invest in a more professional setup, without good lighting your viewers won’t be able to see you perfectly. We think getting a solid LED light will take your stream quality to the next level – your viewers will thank you for it.