Ring flash or off camera flash for macro?

[ClaudioG]

Hi all..im looking to get myself a flash for my macro work and was wondering if it would be better to buy an off camera flash such as the sb-700 and make a diffuser..or to get a ring flash? Im leaning towards off camera flash though so that if i choose to use it later for things such as portrait it would be a better buy...any opinions
?
Thanks

[DanK]

Very few of the macro photographers I know use a ring flash because it creates very flat lighting. a few use macro flash rigs that allow you to aim and diffuse the heads, like the Canon MR-24 EX. Most use a regular flash with a lot of diffusing and a rig that allows you to position the head near the front of the lens. Here is one example: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=196571. Mine looks somewhat more like this: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=189001. The two disadvantage of this is that sometimes you would like the light to be on the other side, and it is a pain (with mine anyway) to move the flash to a different length, e.g., when I add extension tubes. There are commercially available brackets that are easier to adjust than mine, but they are expensive.

You can evaluate the effectiveness of mine by looking at the bug shots on my site. The flower macros are mostly taken with focused ambient light, not a flash.

[Shadowman]

The R1C1 is an alternative to the ring flash. A bit expensive if you add five flashes to the setup, but you can position to flashes at any angle, setup one or more of the units as remote flashes. Works best with shorter lenses, in manual focus mode (don't want the auto focus mechanism rotating), and easy to setup.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Pro...ht-System.html

[Geoff F]

I did consider a ring flash at one time but went off the idea for a couple of reasons; nothing to do with lighting.

When photographing live nervous subjects I don't want anything in front of my camera which may scare them, particularly something that looks like a couple of large threatening eyes!

I usually remove my lens hood for the same reason.

Also, the end of a lens is a rather exposed position when my equipment gets a knock from branches or the whole assembly falls over; which can easily happen when using a tripod in awkward situations.

Photographing static, or dead, subjects is a different matter; although in these cases it may be better to use some form of 'studio lighting' unless you are working in the wilderness!

Using diffusers needs careful thought. In the days of fixed output flashes you had to do something to reduce flash power when getting close to your subjects. Which is where all those flash covers, including pieces of paper etc, could prove useful.

But now, with modern 'auto thinking flashes' which vary the output depending on the subject and ambient light it is a different situation. Assuming you are shooting in ETTL mode not manual flash settings.

With ETTL settings the camera automatically decides on the correct flash output and adding diffusers to reduce the flash level can simply make your camera increase output because it is metering for what it assumes to be a darker scene.

The simple alternative to reducing output power is to use a bit of flash output compensation which is easily set on either the external flash unit or in the camera.

Various pieces of kit which are able to change the flash angle can be helpful in reducing shadows when off camera flash units are used.

If using a directly mounted external flash unit, make sure it is high enough to give good lighting without getting a shadow from the lens when photographing close subjects. Another case where removing a lens hood can prove useful.

A lot of my macro shots are of live subjects in the undergrowth where I have to shoot through a gap in the vegetation so a directly mounted external flash produces best results.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Claudio,

From reading up and looking at examples over the years ring flash seems to be the least favoured, I get the impression it is used for specific subjects such as stamps, dental and medical images. Whilst it is reported to give a flat lighting some do have the ability to vary the powers between left and right sides although this does not change the lighting angle.

I have the R1C1 kit with two SBR200s which I trigger from the camera on-built flash and this is a great unit but was expensive.

You may have seen my recent thread where I made a diffuser for the SB-600 as an alternative to the R1C1 for certain situations and this has been very successful although cost me 50cents for the card.

If I was you, go for the SB700/600 first as it's something you are going to need for other areas of photography at some time. You can get a bracket to get it away from the camera and also experiment with diffusers, there's some fantastic home made examples on the web and I can always send you the plan for my design

Grahame

[ClaudioG]

Thank you all for your great advice..anything macro and i know where to go to get help.....one last thing..i have a Nikon D5100...so there is no commander mode?... so basically...i will be getting the SB-700...can i use my pop up flash to trigger the off flash? or should i go the extra and buy either a cable? or some kind of kit that will trigger the flash? Sorry...my knowledge on flash is veeeerrry limited .

Dan,...that photo of fly? amazing !!!! absolutely brilliant... great stuff...are u happy with the Rayonx DCR 250?

[Shadowman]

Thank you all for your great advice..anything macro and i know where to go to get help.....one last thing..i have a Nikon D5100...so there is no commander mode?... so basically...i will be getting the SB-700...can i use my pop up flash to trigger the off flash? or should i go the extra and buy either a cable? or some kind of kit that will trigger the flash? Sorry...my knowledge on flash is veeeerrry limited .

Dan,...that photo of fly? amazing !!!! absolutely brilliant... great stuff...are u happy with the Rayonx DCR 250?

I was in a studio with five other photographers and I was using my D3200 at the time, it would trigger their flash units.

[HenkB]

.i will be getting the SB-700...can i use my pop up flash to trigger the off flash? or should i go the extra and buy either a cable? or some kind of kit that will trigger the flash?

The SB-700 (set as a remote in SU-4 mode) can be optically triggered by a low-power flash from your pop-up (set to manual). Another possibility is to acquire inexpensive radio remotes to eliminate the on-camera flash and line-of-sight problem altogether. I purchased some from Hong Kong (IShoot) and they work just fine. Cables work fine, but they are still cables and, between the coiling and the catenary effect, cannot be pulled out to full extension without investing in really heavy duty support for both camera and flash stand.

[ClaudioG]

Thanks Hendrik... i think thats the direction im going..will be keeping all up to date which way i go..thank you for all your help and advice!!!

[Nass]

The funny thing is I used to use a horizontal flash mounted over the camera with a diffuser, and that does get great results and also makes your batteries last a lot longer. But I always found that underneath was a little too dark for my liking, so I went and bought an expensive Pentax ringflash that I now use with stacked Raynoxes. I have to say this has been great up to now - it has variable lighting, the PTTL works, manual options too and focusing lights. The variable lighting means you can use a 2:1 ratio which makes things less flat. Just be careful to get a decent ringflash, not one with two tiny little flashes opposite each other pretending to be a ringflash.