Dilemma: Speedlite or Ring Flash

Necronomicon

I've been making noises about getting a Speedlite for my 40D for a while now, and lately I've been pretty intent on getting one. Only in the last day or two I've been starting to wonder if it's worth opting instead for a ring flash.

Macro has fast become my favourite discipline and something I'd like to get better and better at. Now that we're heading towards summer I plan on scouring greens and woods for whatever interesting critters I can find and learning how to shoot insects. This is why ring flashes have started to turn my head a bit.

So I guess what I could use advice on is:

• Is it worth making the slightly bigger (financial) investment in a ring flash, if it's going to be used mostly for macro work
• Can a Speedlite do an adequate job, saving me a hundred or so euro and giving me more variety in how I use flash?

Google hasn't been too helpful on this one, apart from one or two general comments that ring flashes are better for dedicated macro photography. I just haven't been able to determine to what extent they're better than Speedlites - if not significantly, I think I'd opt for the latter for the extra variety it'd give me.

melekalikimaka

ring flashes are great, if you want macro, get a ring flash, can give nice portrait results but can get repetitive and not as much flexibility as a speedlight... tho maybe you could fit a lightbox over a ringflash...

oshead

I have a ringflash for sale at the moment. The reason I'm selling is i havn't got a compatible lense for it. I had the Ef-s 60mm and the MP-e 65mm and it worked a charm on them. If I were to go back to shooting macro i'd definitely keep it. But dont really have the time these days. As far as shooting portraits with it is concerned. It's very good, imo and gives you a very nice shadow less light on the face.

Here's some shots i took with the ringlight.







You'll find more on my page here.

Obligatory shot of Jessica.
This with a wide angle lense and the ringflash hand held.


Anyway. If you're interested you can follow the link in the signature.

Cheers

Necronomicon

Cheers guys.

@oshead, I'll definitely be keeping your ad in mind if it's still around when I finally make a decision. Your insect work is superb.

Does anyone here do macro stuff with a Speedlite? I'm just doing some more searching online, and depending on where I go you're talking a €150-€200 price difference. Plus I don't think my 100mm 2.8 is compatible, so I'd have to add the price of an adapter onto it.

challengemaster

Not ideal, but get the speedlite and DIY the ringflash with the speedlite, plenty of guides online

You can never have enough speedlites

FoxT

Necro, this is the setup you need!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/sets/72157625073020642/

I have a 550EX if you would like to borrow it for a few days you're welcome.

- FoxT

Borderfox

If you get a speedlight you can get a ringflash adapter, if you get a ringflash you cant use it as a speedlight (bounce/tilt etc)

Necronomicon

FoxT wrote: »

Necro, this is the setup you need!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/sets/72157625073020642/

I have a 550EX if you would like to borrow it for a few days you're welcome.

- FoxT

For a moment I thought that was your setup :eek:

Cheers, I might well take you up on that, and I'd be happy to give you the 100mm for a few days upon return.

Borderfox wrote: »

If you get a speedlight you can get a ringflash adapter, if you get a ringflash you cant use it as a speedlight (bounce/tilt etc)

Thanks for the tip, I'm now looking into it. There are tonnes of them on Amazon, I'm just trying to figure out which is the most reputable. I'm still strongly considering the Ring Flash, but this route might make the most sense.

Borderfox

Macro ringflashes dont really have enough power for portraits (you can use them but not ideal) and you would be restricted to a macro lens.

Orbis and Ray Flash would be two makes I have heard of in reviews
http://www.outdoorphotogear.com/blog/orbis-ring-flash-review-6233
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/03/full-review-ray-flash-ring-flash.html

DutchGuy

I use a nissin Di622 flash mounted on a bracket attached to the camera and tilted towards the front of the lens so that the bulb of the flash is right next to the lens (if I get the time tonight I'll see if I can post up a picture of the setup).

I've had more success with this set-up than with my ringflash, mainly because the light appears a bit more natural to my eyes as it only comes from one direction. Also the recycle time is much quicker on than on the ringflash, especially as you only really need the flash to be at the lowest power since the subject will be very close. There should be a few pics of insects taken with this set-up and a Canon 100mm macro in the macro set on my flickr.

It does take a bit of manual setting of the flash though as the metering system cannot take into account that the flash much closer to the subject than it would normally be.

Necronomicon

DutchGuy wrote: »

I use a nissin Di622 flash mounted on a bracket attached to the camera and tilted towards the front of the lens so that the bulb of the flash is right next to the lens (if I get the time tonight I'll see if I can post up a picture of the setup).

Cheers, I'd love to see the set up if you had the chance. I've heard a lot of good things about various types of DIY rigs.

Borderfox wrote: »

Macro ringflashes dont really have enough power for portraits (you can use them but not ideal) and you would be restricted to a macro lens.

Orbis and Ray Flash would be two makes I have heard of in reviews
http://www.outdoorphotogear.com/blog/orbis-ring-flash-review-6233
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/03/full-review-ray-flash-ring-flash.html

The combined cost of the Speedlite and an Orbis/Ray Flash adapter would price me out of that option I'm afraid. However I have come across Saturn adapters which would be a bit more affordable, $89. There doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of reviews for their products, though there is a Flickr pool of photos taken.

I'm not sure what to make of them though. One thing that did seem a bit dodgy was in their FAQ, where they address the price difference between their products and Ray Flash, and they give a somewhat half baked explanation on price skimming and link to a Wikipedia article on the subject. Here's the page in question: http://www.ringflash-adapter.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16#p26

ditpaintball

The orbis is a great piece of kit. Getting an orbis and speedlight give you way more options if you just go with a ring lights. Ring lights are limited in what they can do and the look they give. So being able to use the speedlight separately will be must more beneficial to you.

More expensive, but you are getting a bigger arsenal of lighting tools.

Thecageyone

I like the lighting from ring lights, but I don't like the catch-light they give. I think they can make eyes look odd.

Looking to do some more macro myself. I need a dedicated macro lens, planning on getting one this year some time. But i'll just use a plain ol' speedlight. Cheap and cheerful and more flexible.

Been eying a 60mm too, those insect shots above make it even more tempting. And some say it's not a great focal length for macro! pffft!

That is one of the best bee macros I've seen to date.

Necronomicon

Thought I'd pop back in to say cheers for all the advice and, after a lot of deliberation (too much probably) I made some decisions and purchases.

In the end I decided to go for the Speedlite and ring flash adapter combination. I initially decided to go for a 430ex II because it was well within budget and I thought the 580ex II had more than I needed, for now anyway.

Then the ring flash adapter; I was weighing up between Saturn (mentioned above), Orbis and Ray Flash. Saturn was the most affordable option but their adapters are camera and Speedlite specific, and the one I needed was out of stock. Orbis just wasn't for me - even with the bracket they have released which is sold separately (should be an accompaniment imo) it looks very cumbersome. I thought about some of the cheap options like the O-Flash, but from reviews it seemed that the loss of light was substantial (up to seven stops according to most).

I found out that Barker Photographic in Cork stocked Ray Flash, so I got onto Paddy (great guy to deal with) and arranged to call in and try it out. I didn't have a Speedlite to put it on, so we tried it on a 580ex II he had on him. They don't make Ray Flash for the 430ex II (these adapters are also camera and flash specific) but they provide rubber wedges to make it fit. I bought the adapter for €169 but then debated whether I was right to go for the 430, or spend a bit more and get the 580.

What made up my mind was borrowing a 430ex II from a friend - the Ray Flash was NOT a good fit, even with the wedges. I simply did not trust the combination. So if anyone here is contemplating a Ray Flash for their 430ex II, I highly recommend against it. So I ordered the 580ex II and it arrived yesterday. The combination:



I took it out earlier and went bug-hunting in my back garden. Not a whole lot of interest out there, but enough to take the combination for a test drive!

This first guy was pretty tiny, wish he'd been a few millimetres bigger:





I probably stretched myself by getting this combination, but a worthwhile investment I think

ThOnda

You can always get TTL flash cable. It has only few feet, but helps for excellent portraits, food, macro and creative lighting, with full TTL-II advantage.
Enjoy, 580ExII is mighty beast!