Would this ring light be efective? - 1

Http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/630909-REG/Sunpak_DSLR67_MRL_LED_Macro_Ring_Light.html

I want cheap and afforable to work with my Nikon D200.

My question is, is the individual LED lights good? Or is one continuous light better? And is the small LED's even that strong?

The one above is 4.5/5 stars, but this one is only 4/5:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...Flash.html

Would the Bower be better to use?

I want to use it for macro photography and some portraits.

Added (1). Thanks!

And yes, I understand the ring light is not for all portraits… But it can be used once in a while to get an 'edgy' photo like this

Ok, first off, NEITHER light is good for portraits. They are simply not that powerful. They are designed for macro photography where the light is very, very close to the subject. To do a portrait, you would have to be a few inches from a person's face.

Also, I do not like ANY ring light for portraits. I find the circle catchlights in the eyes goofy looking, plus a ring light for a portrait needs to be a FLASH, not a continuous light source. Think about it. The model, in most cases, has to look directly into the camera lens. That means they would also have to be staring into a BRIGHT light. Do you want squinty eyed people in your portraits? Ha ha!

Have you ever looked straight into a flashlight with LED bulbs? If you do you will soon realize that it is impossible to use a continuous ring light for portraits.

As for the above two lights, LED lights can give some weird shadows and hot spots if they are not well diffused. I think I would go with the Bower unit as the light source will be far more even and soft on the item being photographed.

Again, the above lights are NOT for any kind of portrait use.