Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: CampingFamily1 on June 16, 2012, 07:23:46 pm
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What are the pros and cons of a macro light ring?
I am trying out a Promaster RL60 macro light ring (http://www.amazon.com/Promaster-RL60-Macro-Ring-Light/dp/B004SH3R2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339888988&sr=8-1&keywords=promaster+RL60).
I noticed, it helps a lot and is portable, but it is not as bright as a 250W shop/work light from Home Depot.
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For which subjects do you plan to use a ring light?
I bought the Canon MR-14 EX with the explicit intention of shooting insects with the camera hand held. Somehow I didn't seem to get the hang of flash shooting macros. I prefer tripod-mounted shooting, even insects (bees, butterflies).
I know people who use their ring light for portraits but I'm not fond of the large, round catch light in people's eyes.
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For which subjects do you plan to use a ring light?
I plan to mostly shoot flowers
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from my experience, a ring light is the wrong tool for nature macro, and particularly wrong for flowers. a more natural look is obtained from a main source simulating the sky with fill light as required. i find the MT-24ex works well because the two heads can be easily ratioed. i use the lens mount for the fill light, and put main light on an arm. usually use a diffuser on the fill light and sometimes bounce the main light off a small reflector. since the MT-24 works as a controller, you can add a 3rd flash for background.
i find that the basic combination of one light on the lens and other on an arm works pretty well for hand-held flowers (and critters) once you figure out the relative positions and ratios (which is better done initially with a tripod)
i have also used the pop-up flash on my 7D with a Gary Fong diffuser as fill and triggering a 270EXii on an arm - no cord required, but ratioing has to be done with distance and diffusers so there is a bit of trial and error involved
you can also use a larger flash with mini soft box for the main light but this is better on a separate stand
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Ring lights are favored for medical photography, particularly photography of skin rashes and lesions, due to the ease of use and the flat nature of the photographic field. Objects with depth are served poorly by ring lighting.
If you want to get an idea of the many ways to configure flashes for macro, go to the Fred Miranda macro forum and look for posts on "set-up". There are plenty of lower cost home-built flash unit brackets and diffusers on display. If you have a standard flash, take a look and see if any suit you.
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Thank you all
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What are the pros and cons of a macro light ring?
I am trying out a Promaster RL60 macro light ring (http://www.amazon.com/Promaster-RL60-Macro-Ring-Light/dp/B004SH3R2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339888988&sr=8-1&keywords=promaster+RL60).
I noticed, it helps a lot and is portable, but it is not as bright as a 250W shop/work light from Home Depot.
It is a tough question because all the lighting equipment, if use creatively, can all produce amazing results.
Pingang
Shanghai