RingFlash Resource

I stumbled upon a review of a ringflash that looks remarkably like a Cobra, Vivitar, Starblitz ringflash. With the guise of digital Digi-Slave. It’s by Tom Beardmore and appears on Digital Camera Resource. Tom’s sums it up as

Anyone who has a need (or a preference) to photograph close-up subjects should give serious consideration to SR Electronics’ RF-50. Although it has a couple of relatively minor shortcomings, it’s the best solution (if not the only solution) presently available for digital photographers, and especially for users of the Olympus D-500L, D-600L, or D-620L cameras. Some may think that its $250 price tag is a bit steep, but if the price of the RF-50 is compared to conventional ring flash units, you’ll find that it’s priced competitively.

It’s an in-depth review and is well worth checking out if you intend buying one of these units which can be bought off of eBay or from the company that make them here:

SR Electronics

. See the full review here: SR Electronic RF-50 ringflash test

A photography ring tube made from a circular light fitting

I’ve been meaning to post this for ages attempt at making a ringflash (tube), but never got around to it. With a desire to get a much larger ring flash catchlight and shadow effect than those created using commercial mini units I decided to look at the household lighting options in my local DIY store Wickes. I found what appeared to be perfect and for about £20 – a 32W Circular Fluorescent Fitting with daylight cicular fluorescent tube. The lighting comes with a soft diffused front which can be removed and can easily (ish) be modified to become a ring flash (tube).

You’ll need a jigsaw fitted with a metal blade. You will also feel comfortable with electrical equipment, and you will also not attempt to blow yourself up and sue me! Ideally get an electrician to do the dirty bits and make it safe.

Draw a large hole in the metal ceiling plate. This will be over part of the fitment. I found I could take the wiring box off and reverse it so it gave me a larger hole area. Cut the hole out with the saw. You ideally need a vice to hold the plate while you cut.  The metal edge will be very rough so you should sand it down to make it smooth and injury proof

Connect the wiring to a normal 13Amp plug and you’re sorted. Well not quite, you’ third hand from an assistant to hold the tube, unless you’re feeling in a real DIY mood and you’re going to build a bracket to mount the ring tube and the camera onto a tripod. I never got around to the Mechano stage although I have several old flash bracket and shelving items I can cobble together. But that’s another project!

Catch light form DIY ringtube

In use, being just 32W means the output isn’t very good for fast shutter speed phototgraphy so the subject needs to be still but the light is quite pleasing. The ring catchlight is bigger making it more prominent in the model’s eye too. I’ve put a few shots of the lighting unit and a photo taken with it in the gallery.

There are many brand names past and present that make or have made ring flash. Here’s a selection off the top of my head. I’m sure there are many more ringflash manufacturers that I’ve forgotten to include. Let me know.

Underwater ringflash are made by  Athena and Inon

There are also several makers of ringflash adaptors for normal flashguns. These include
Rayflash   Orbis    O-Flash   Coco

The adaptor attaches over the flash head and spreads the light through a chamber and around the lens.

The conventional portable ringflash is a single tube flash with an even output. The flash usually has one or two auto settings and a guide number of around 12 (ISO100/m). The portable ringflash attaches to the camera lens’ filter thread. The batteries are housed in the flash at the base of the unit.

The next step up is a version with a separate battery pack. The pack slide on the camera shoe to provide a level of automation/dedication that’s not possible with the lens mounted version. The flash tube is, as a result, much lighter, so there’s no strain on modern lightweight lenses mechanisms.

Having some control of the evenness of exposure brings us to the next category which has two or more tubes to allow different light ratios. With this type, usually referred to as macro flash, the illumination can be adjusted so that the modelling of the subject becomes more three dimensional. More advanced versions have four tubes, some with angle capability. These are not true ringflash, but deliver similar results if required.

You may already have a powerful and high quality flash you could put to good use. There’s now an option to attach an adaptor to the flash head to distribute the light into a ring shaped add on. This gives similar effects.

Studio photographers can buy a ringflash for their generator systems. Original only a couple of options existed, but these have grow over recent years following the rise in popularity of the ring flash.

Alien Bees ABR800 Ringflash

There’s a review of the Alien Bees ABR800 Ringflash on Studio Lighting.net.
Bill concludes in his verdict that

The ABR800 really meets it’s objective of being an affordable, lightweight alternative to the higher end products on the market. In my opinion, the unit sacrifices nothing in the areas of output or quality

While Ed goes on to add

We got some really nice results out of the box, but I wasn’t getting the FHM/Maxxim/Glamour/Beauty look that I was hoping to see at first. I think I wasn’t keeping in mind that most of those “looks” come mostly from post-processing, but require a light like this to get you in the “ballpark” and create the overall tones.

You can see the full 9 page review here: Alien Bees ABR800 Ringflash

I found this useful video on youtube where New York photographer John Ricard, along with Artistic Curves model, Sasha, explains how to use a Ringflash. It’s well worth a look.

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wNND7a80EEU[/youtube]

Here’s a video tutorial from photolearn.co.uk Not brilliant quality but there’s some useful info and some examples showing how to photograph models with a ringflash.

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yhNBDO_xe0w[/youtube]

A ringflash, also sometimes called a macro flash, is a flash gun with a tube that’s doughnut or circular (ring) shaped. It is usually larger than the diameter of the camera’s lens and is positioned in front of the lens so you shoot through the centre of the circular tube. The benefit in doing this is a direct light that produces almost shadow free illumination.

Because the light from the ring flash is so close to the lens the ringflash is also used for medical and dental photography. Ringflashes are produced by most camera manufacturers and also studio lighting companies.

Ringflash adaptor

Paolo Valentini reviews the Ringflash Adaptor on a Canon 580EX for Luminous Landscape.

Paolo’s verdict: At 139 Euros the product is not a bargain, and it is not flawless. But it delivers what it promises, and it allows photographers to experiment a lightweight accessory with a low price tag if compared to studio equivalents. Rest assured that when using the adapter outdoors you won’t go unnoticed.

For the full review take a look here: Ringflash Review on Luminous Landscape

Metz 15 MS-1 wireless macro ring flash

Press release:
The Metz 15 MS-1 digital, is a completely redesigned and wireless macro flash that’s equipped with two individually-controllable, swivelling reflectors built in to  the housing. The macro-flash ensures balanced and precise lighting and also allows customisable light when shooting macro.

With its individually variable reflectors (0°-20°) and the highly sensitive light distribution, there are no limits to personal creativity. It is easy to set light accents that are appropriate for each theme. And all this with maximum user-friendliness, because the Metz mecablitz 15 MS-1 digitally regulates light through the automatic wireless TTL*, which provides reliable and precise lighting – or provides differentiated lighting via its special slave function, by means of six different part-lighting levels.

* Flash device with master function required (e.g. 58 AF-1 digital).

First class user convenience
The Mecablitz 15 MS-1 digital lies snug in the hand. Small, light, handy – with a practical clip mechanism so it can be fixed to all standard lenses. With independent power supply, so that photographing is not disturbed by troublesome cables.
In addition, an intuitive, attractive DOT matrix display makes the Metz mecablitz 15 MS-1 digital simplicity itself to use.

Versatile macro flash with TTL and slave with learning function
The remote TTL flash operation of the mecablitz 15 MS-1 digital can be used for digital cameras of the following makes: Canon, Nikon, Olympus/Panasonic, Pentax/Samsung and Sony-Alpha. In this case, the camera must either have an integrated flash unit acting as master, or be equipped with add-on flash (e.g. Metz 58 AF-1 digital).

In slave mode, the mecablitz 15 MS-1 digital is also suitable for nearly all other makes of camera.
Manual flash operation can be carried out via a synchronous cable.

In addition, Metz mecablitz 15 MS-1 digital learns autonomously in the conventional slave mode! Its learning function ensures that the small slave flash is reliably triggered every time by the flash integrated in the camera – even if this sends out a ranging pre-flash. In individual cases, this specific cooperation is attained by trial triggering in slave mode. In this case, the light amount emitted can be varied across 6 light levels.

The bouncer disc included in the scope of delivery performs especially valuable service by ensuring even illumination. Rechargeable batteries or AAA batteries, compactly accommodated in the device, efficiently power the device.

Equipped as standard with USB-interface for software updates via Internet.
Adapter rings in the sizes 62, 67 and 72 mm are optionally available.