PHOTOGRAPHY: Meike FC-100 Macro/Video Ring Light For Any Camera System

Meike FC-100 Macro/Video Ring Light
For any camera system

2021.09.08 - Published

MEIKE FC-100

MACRO RING LIGHT

Bought - PhP 620.00 (+PhP 40.00 Shipping)

Maker - Meike Global

Model - FC-100

Material - 32 LED Beads

Brightness - Guide Number 15

Flash Range - 5cm to 150cm

Color Temperature - 5500K

Exposure / Flash Duration - 1/100"

Exposure Modes - Constant/Video mode,

Flash Mode, Left/Right-Side Flash

Luminance - 0 to +/- 1.5 in half stop increments

Adapter Rings - 52/55/58/62/67/72/77mm

Power - 4x AA Batteries

Weight (without battery) - 170 grams

Made in China

Product Page

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REVIEW

Build Quality

This is made of all plastic except for the hotshoe mount, which is metal. Overall, the materials look durable and high quality.

System

Although Meike specifies that these are made for Nikon and Canon, this FC-100 Macro Ring Light is actually universal and works on all systems. My camera is a FUJIFILM X-T10 and this light is fully functional -- constant video light or flash (full, left-side, right-side). The flash works only in Mechanical Shutter Mode (not in Electronic Shutter Mode); while the video light will work on either Mechanical/Electronic Shutter Modes.

Color Temperature

The light beads emit a yellow-green tint and different from my other lights that are 5500K (purplish tint). This Meike ring light doesn't fit any of the preset WB on the camera, which my other lights do, so that either a custom white balance or Auto WB needs to be set. It isn't a big deal.

Personal Use

The macro ring light has different modes of lighting: constant video light, full flash, left-side flash, right-side flash. The only mode I frequently use is the constant light for video. It also has 7 brightness levels starting from '0' and then going to either '+1.5' or '-1.5' in half-stop increments. At the very dimmest, this macro ring light is sufficiently bright for macro at f/8 and I rarely have to crank it up to full brightness at 40cm distance from the subject.

The big deal...

I'm quite happy using this macro ring light. The only real deal breaker is turning it on. The holes on the battery compartment are much wider than the batteries and has alot of room to wiggle inside. After deducing whether there was a problem with my batteries or the contact pins, I found out that it was this loose space that disturbs the alignment of the battery with the contact pins. This often gives me the hassle of the ring light not turning on and having to adjust the door again and again. My simple fix was to insert three or four pieces of paper to give the batteries a tight fit and keep them from wiggling. After doing so, the macro ring light never failed to power on again.

Conclusion

Despite the one problem, this Meike FC-100 Macro Ring Light does its job for its intended purpose and is fairly bright to use a kit lens at 55mm stopped down to f/8 or smaller. It's a wonderful little portable tool that you can buy very cheaply.