Ring Flashes

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has or has used a ring flash, I would like to get one at some point, I know that you can get the LED sort but they aren't really as good as a proper ring flash so I am thinking about looking at getting a proper flash flash (if you get what I mean!).

Plan would be to use it for headshots where I would need a good flash - plan to couple this with my speed graphics and some paper negatives hence the need for a decent flash.

I have seen multiple speedlights that can be added in a ring to make a modular speedlight but was wondering what I should look for when getting one.

I know you can get normal flash adaptor which attaches to the normal flash which then transfers down and reflects on axis which might be good. Just looking into options really which is why I thought I would ask.

I do know that some of the LEDs can be quite powerful and could also be used as a model light which could be helpful - and less burning hot as a normal model light! Tempted to just try out an LED ringlight to see if its any good.

Looks like a constant source light on a beauty dish might also be an option:

This is tempting as I know LED strips aren't that expensive:

 

[Dan Cattermole]

How strange that your thinking about this David, I've been considering building my own and this lead might come useful.
As you know, I do a lot of portrait shots especially with my 3 wild monkeys that roam the house.
Hhhhmmmm, interesting.

 

[Hamish Gill]

How's the paper neg/speed graphic shooting coming along? Be interested to see some shots!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

How's the paper neg/speed graphic shooting coming along? Be interested to see some shots!

Ooooh yeah! Forgot that you started that David.

 

[Hamish Gill]

... He mentioned it in the OP Dan

 

[David Mitchell]

I have found something called an O-flash which is an attachment to the standard additional flash which redirects it forward - cost around £20, its teardrop shaped, you can get a 'Ray-Flash' which is the same thing but circular but they cost something like £80. I am going to get an O-Flash and see how good it is, no additional kit needed as it just bolts onto the additional flash you have. I might look into a soft beauty dish setup at some point though (perhaps with LEDs but with some sort of frosted glass in front of it.

 

[Pete Askew]

The Ray-Flash type reflector works quite well and gives a ring-flash-like effect. They lack the power to give the true wrapped in light effect of a studio ring-flash though and the circular catch light is not as pronounced (which is a good thing in my book) and are not completely uniform. You can also use a macro ring-flash for close portraits with a 50mm or 35 mm lens and get quite a nice effect, especially if that is the only source of light. I have been eyeing up LED ring lights for macro video / macro shots for work but they are not without problems as LEDs are not full spectrum. Some companies (e.g. Quantum) mix different coloured ones to get closer to a balanced spectrum. Most come with filters to eliminate colour casts which seems to help in some cases. Fluorescent continuous light seems the better option at the moment though.

 

[David Mitchell]

I think the main thing is that a ray-flash is probably around the £20 mark, whereas a proper ring flash is probably something like £200, I am tempted to make up a florescent constant light source though, seems the best of both as you can see what light it is giving and would also give a less harsh light.

 

[Pete Askew]

A Ray-Flash is about £150 whereas a studio Ring flash starts at about £600 without a generator. Bowens do a ring-flash adapter that couples to a Gemini head in a similar way to a Ray-Flash adapter. That's about £300 but then you need a Gemini head to go with it!

I think a circular fluorescent unit would be the best way to go for what you want. You can a buy unit for about £150-ish but watch out for the voltage on eBay as many of them are US market units.

 

[David Mitchell]

I am going to go with an O-Flash to start with, I will report back on what its like, seems to be a pretty good setup just to test, the LED setups might be great for macro but don't really flash. I will also have a look out for a portrait lens as well if I go with my D3100, although a 135mm M42 lens seems to be about right on the NEX - might look around for a 75mm M42 lens though as I know there is the crop factor to take into consideration.

I am just experimenting with things and options at the moment, I could always get a slightly longer zoom lens for my D3100 which might work well, although I would lose out on a wide aperture (its why I like my 55mm f1.4 M42 lens).