100W LED Video Light

Now that my YouTube channel has been picking up traction (more than I ever thought it would), I figured I should do a better job with the quality of my videos. A big piece of that is lighting. So I wanted some good, powerful lights to use, but without having to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars.

So in this video, I'm going to show you how I made my own DIY video lights with 100W LED chips for about $50 worth of parts. These turned out to be super bright!! I added dimmer knobs so I can control the brightness, as well as umbrellas to soften the light.

These lights can even be used as work lights. Just be careful if you use them for doing drywall: since there is a fan in it, it will suck in drywall dust and get the inside of the light all gross. I speak from experience :)

First, here is a list of all the parts I used, with links to where you can buy them. All prices are in US dollars and from 2017. Prices may have changed by the time you're reading this.

LED light set: eBay (~$20)
10kOhm logarithmic potentiometer: eBay ($1.89 for 2) or locally
10kOhm trim potentiometer: eBay ($0.99 for 10) or locally
USB wall charger: free or dollar store
2ft 4” PVC pipe: free or Home Depot ($9.13)
2x 4” PVC drain: Home Depot ($3.21)
Threaded insert: Home Depot ($2.97 for 4)
Cabinet Handle: Home Depot ($1.16)
Black plastic paint: Amazon ($5.94) or locally
IEC320 C8 power socket: eBay ($1.14 for 2) or locally
IEC320 C8 power cord: free or Monoprice ($1.88)
Knob for potentiometer: eBay ($0.99 for 5) or locally

If you add all that up, it comes to just over $50. But if you decide to make a second one, the cost for the second comes down to about $30 since many of parts you can only buy in multiples, so you already have enough for the second.

You can also buy lighting umbrellas with holders, as I did:

Umbrella holder: eBay
Umbrella: eBay

Finally, here is the video:

I doubt anyone will make these lights exactly as I did. I took inspiration from these two videos, so check them out to get some ideas for yourself.