I’ve been doing some research into inexpensive portable lighting kits and wondering if anyone has discovered a killer solution for attaching lights to the top of a laptop or that can sit on a desktop and illumine someone’s face at a computer. Preferably something under $30.00. Several years ago we discovered the Micropro LED light (link is to current v2), which did a good job but was extremely expensive and difficult to mount.
Softbox lighting kits such as this one are extremely cheap now–even coming in under $30.00 in many cases (sometimes as part of kits of two or three), and they do such a great job that the benefits can often outweigh the bulkiness and portability issues in a lot of cases. However, there are certainly scenarios where something more portable is definitely called for.
Via DDI (thanks Libby Evans!) we have four USB-powered Webstar II Video Chat Lights free to the first four members of the Duke Community who email oit-mt-info@duke.edu to request one and are available to come by our offices at American Tobacco to pick theirs up. The Webstar does a great job (see before and after pictures below). The only downside I can see so far in my limited testing is that the unit is a little loose when attached to the top of a laptop.
