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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Macro Ring Light(!)
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 08/10/2010 09:53:40 AM · #1


Waiting for this today. I never had a Ring Flash, this is my first one. However, this is not a flash at all, just a led light lids continuously. Depending on how bright it is, I am planning to take closeup portraits with this, as well as macro shots. Let's see if this "inexpensive" piece of equipment could bring me 6+ or maybe a ribbon.

I did give a good name to Sigma 28-70 lens even with all that glare (!) problems it has, maybe I also could make something out of this one too :-P
 08/10/2010 10:02:05 AM · #2
ill be interested in the outcome... i too had thought about purchasing this....
 08/10/2010 10:03:07 AM · #3
Heck of a nice price. Looking forward to seeing the results.
 08/10/2010 10:11:57 AM · #4
Interesting device. I have a very old and much smaller LED macro light for my Nikon Coolpix 995. It works decently, but the light out put is low. I read the technical specs for this one, and it says the guide number is 15. They don't specify whether this is feet or meters, nor do they specify what ISO, nor what shutter speed they calculated it for. For flash units, the shutter speed is irrelevant, but for continuous light sources, it is very important.
It will be interesting to see if you get enough light to do useful stuff.
 08/10/2010 10:31:29 AM · #5
Originally posted by FocusPoint:


I did give a good name to Sigma 28-70 lens even with all that glare (!) problems it has, maybe I also could make something out of this one too :-P


Damn, you OWN that lens don't you!
 08/10/2010 10:34:18 AM · #6
Thanks for the link - Reading the reviews, it sounds like an inexpensive light source for my amateur macro stuff, so I put it on my wish list!
 08/10/2010 10:51:51 AM · #7
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Originally posted by FocusPoint:
... Sigma 28-70...


Damn, you OWN that lens don't you!


It is my main lens. If you don't aim to any kind of light-source, very nice lens to take any kind of photos. It is awesome for studio shooting.

Message edited by author 2010-08-10 10:58:46.
 08/10/2010 04:07:08 PM · #8
It is bright... for closeups. I will take some more with my model (wife) later on..

This is the very first shot.

08/10/2010 04:10:09 PM · #9
Bought a month or so ago. Good value for the money. You can have all lit, right side lit or left side lit. Turn the whole thing and you get top or bottom lighting. Steady even light.

Happy? For £30, I would say so:)
 08/10/2010 06:28:07 PM · #10




I am loving this light already :)

Message edited by author 2010-08-10 18:28:54.
 08/10/2010 07:17:53 PM · #11
That does look good! I just added it to my amazon wish list!
 08/10/2010 07:20:59 PM · #12
Hmmm, 2 feet, 1/60, f/5.6, ISO800. That's not really a lot of light, photographically speaking. Really calls into question how they calculated their "15" guide number.
 08/10/2010 07:25:26 PM · #13
Originally posted by kirbic:
Hmmm, 2 feet, 1/60, f/5.6, ISO800. That's not really a lot of light, photographically speaking. Really calls into question how they calculated their "15" guide number.


It's not flash light, but it does the job for now. Here is something might help you to calculate better. This is against the mirror, the ring light metered and shot. Check the settings.



And this one around 2 feet away



This is eventually what I want to get later on.

Message edited by author 2010-08-10 19:31:32.
 08/10/2010 07:56:21 PM · #14
You could calibrate the guide yourself if you have a manual flash. May be worthwhile. I did it for some slave flashes I have so I knew exactly what the output was. There was a guide on the back, I was just checking its accuracy.
 08/13/2010 03:18:31 AM · #15


Another wonderful shot (IMO). Shadows are really what makes this ringlight worth to have... I hold the fake flower in one hand and shot with other freehand. No IS, around 1 foot distance.

Message edited by author 2010-08-13 03:22:01.
 08/13/2010 04:06:39 AM · #16
I was reading through this and thinking the Orbis would probably work well for you, and then I saw it at the end mentioned :)
It'll give you a lot more power than you're getting with this (your power will vary with what flash you use, of course), but I've been very happy with mine.
The majority of this SC was shot with one, as well as my profile pic.
 08/13/2010 09:05:19 AM · #17
The Orbis is $200 ($250 with an arm), so I'm not sure I could justify spending that much. But I'll take the cheapo one...

:adds to shopping list:

Message edited by author 2010-08-13 09:13:32.
 08/13/2010 12:05:53 PM · #18
It looks so tempting, but in South Africa that light costs the equivalent of over $110.

Has anyone used something of this type - MARCO O- FLASH RING ADAPTER ? They don't seem to make one for my small flash, but it might be worth buying this and a better flash rather than spending money on a proper ring flash.
 08/13/2010 11:31:45 PM · #19
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
It looks so tempting, but in South Africa that light costs the equivalent of over $110.

Has anyone used something of this type - MARCO O- FLASH RING ADAPTER ? They don't seem to make one for my small flash, but it might be worth buying this and a better flash rather than spending money on a proper ring flash.


I just bought an RF160 Ring Flash adapter. It has dramatically improved my macro/flash shots. Compared to my 540ex flash alone, the light is much more softer. It really helps to control harsh highlights, that could ruin a shot. And really fills those bug's shadow. As a result, my spider shots are much better now. Showing the hair, without the glare. The only drawback is power loss. I have not done tests, but it definitely makes you loose range. This seems to be the big drawback. But for the price, it was a no brainer for me. I found mine for $40 off a local boy! A cheap alternative to the real $300 macoy. Just be prepared to be gentle with it. They work great, but thin plastic makes up the reflector part. So just be prepared to be gentle with it, if it's in your camera bag.

Do you have a flash now, or are you using your built in?
Ryan...
 08/14/2010 04:36:58 AM · #20
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
It looks so tempting, but in South Africa that light costs the equivalent of over $110.

Has anyone used something of this type - MARCO O- FLASH RING ADAPTER ? They don't seem to make one for my small flash, but it might be worth buying this and a better flash rather than spending money on a proper ring flash.

I've heard it gives strange U-shaped reflections. Check Amazon for something similar to that, and read the reviews.
 08/15/2010 10:43:05 AM · #21
This photo is subject to three threads. One is this one, because I used ringlight.

08/23/2010 05:43:13 AM · #22


One of my last shots with 350D. This is taken with the ringlight. Some of the comments saying it is soft, but it is soft looking, the image is perfectly sharp if you look at it closely. I am very proud of this photo 1-first real ringlight shot for a challenge 2-it is a nice setup (I would like to think)

It was "kind of" DNMC. If I put that on a wood table, perhaps it would collect better votes.

Just wanted to share with ya ;)
 08/23/2010 07:38:16 AM · #23
Originally posted by Magnumphotography:
I just bought an RF160 Ring Flash adapter. It has dramatically improved my macro/flash shots. Compared to my 540ex flash alone, the light is much more softer. It really helps to control harsh highlights, that could ruin a shot. And really fills those bug's shadow. As a result, my spider shots are much better now. Showing the hair, without the glare. The only drawback is power loss. I have not done tests, but it definitely makes you loose range. This seems to be the big drawback. But for the price, it was a no brainer for me. I found mine for $40 off a local boy! A cheap alternative to the real $300 macoy. Just be prepared to be gentle with it. They work great, but thin plastic makes up the reflector part. So just be prepared to be gentle with it, if it's in your camera bag.

Do you have a flash now, or are you using your built in?
Ryan...


Thanks for your ideas. Sorry I didn't reply sooner - I forgot to look at this thread again.

My current flash is Canon 270EX, which is not very powerful at all and there don't seem to be any accessories available for it. So I will probably have to buy something more powerful one of these days. The problem is I don't like carrying a heavy camera bag around and usually just take the camera and one lens. That's why I went for the smallest flash available. So far I haven't worked with flash much at all though I do use the built in flash as fill from time to time.
 08/23/2010 10:08:50 AM · #24
Just so everyone knows, I bought this ring flash through Amazon. It came in good shape BUT... I have a Sigma 150mm Macro with a 72mm filter size. The ringflash comes with 6 adapter rings to fit Canon/Nikon/Sony/Sigma lenses. The largest was 67mm and after e-mailing back and forth I was forced to send it back.
 08/23/2010 10:36:58 AM · #25
I got an e-mail from Gadget Infinity (makers of Cactus triggers) the other day, with a product announcement for ring flash converter that slips onto your hotshoe flash and just channels the light. For $25 it looks like a reasonable deal. I ran into someone at a Flickr meetup Saturday that built a similar device of his own. He says it was about $10 in parts, but a lot of work involved, and for $25 it would be a better deal to buy this one. Anyone have experience with this sort of device?
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