Ring Light: I heard that a tattoo convention was coming to town and I immediately started thinking about a ring flash. Looking online, I found that the prices have jumped up a bit...

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

I heard that a tattoo convention was coming to town and I immediately started thinking about a ring flash.
Looking online, I found that the prices have jumped up a bit, like everything else.
I saw that Godox has a nice one and it looks like Wescott had the identical ring flash for several dollars less(-150.00). Looked like the same flash to me....
What is the best, for the money, ring flash?
Anyone have a preference or comments?

rwww80a Loc: Hampton, NH

Whatever brand you decide on, make sure you know what your getting. There are ring lights, manual only; ring flashes, not automatic and ring flashes, dedicated automatic linked to the camera only. From what I seen, prices, $39 to $399.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Big difference between a true ring flash (flash tube) and a ring light (LED), specially in speed and quality of light. Make sure you know what you are buying. I use a Nissin MFR18 (approx $499) tha performs quite well.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

A thought here. During my Nikon days, I purchased a dedicated ring flash, complete with power supply. I was pleased with the results. Since that time, I switched over to Canon, and I took "a chance", and purchased a "ring" adapter which actually was a device that "snugged" over my regular flash, and via fiber optics, the light was redirected downward to a "ring" the circled the lens. Cost was far less than $100. I've been asked to photograph a family reunion next Monday. So, I set a friend down, and took three shots: 1.) direct from the flash, 2.) bounce off the ceiling (my usual favorite), and 3.) use my fiber optic ring light. Winner? RING was the winner. So for group shots, I'll use bounce since it will be in a home. For single shots, I'll use the RING I've just described.
Bill

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

tradio wrote:

I heard that a tattoo convention was coming to town and I immediately started thinking about a ring flash.
Looking online, I found that the prices have jumped up a bit, like everything else.
I saw that Godox has a nice one and it looks like Wescott had the identical ring flash for several dollars less(-150.00). Looked like the same flash to me....
What is the best, for the money, ring flash?
Anyone have a preference or comments?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1499346-REG/angler_psfd_100_portable_speedlight_flash_diffuser.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A6879&gclid=CjwKCAjw_aemBhBLEiwAT98FMtTkvKViC-d_TaNB6wTBPZ7UKiY-qL-Gfkm0bgqfyWLFG9ZFPsw61xoCfdAQAvD_BwE.

You might also like to try this, it works great for Macro handheld with an on-camera flash.

dbrugger25 Loc: Raleigh, NC

elliott937 wrote:

A thought here. During my Nikon days, I purchased... (show quote)

I have a Ray Flash adapter that attaches to a regular flash and disperses the light into a large ring around the lens. It has to be purchased to fit the particular flash you have. It workes well but I am concerned about the stress it imposes on the flash mounting shoe. I do lile the even light dispersion and the shadow-free effect for portraits.

I also have a Godox R76C TTL Macro Ring Flash for Canon cameras. It works extremely well with a one f stop exposure reduction camera setting and has a built-in modeling light. It was about $300 and I like it.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Julian wrote:

Big difference between a true ring flash (flash tube) and a ring light (LED), specially in speed and quality of light. Make sure you know what you are buying. I use a Nissin MFR18 (approx $499) tha performs quite well.

For static subjects the ring light should be quite adequate and probably less expensive. Sounds like your proposed use would be static but OTOH, there is always the possibility that once you have a tool you will find all sorts of new things to do with it.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I still have a Sunpak ring flash that I used with my Olympus OM macro lenses in film days. It has a dedicated connector which provided TTL automatic operation. The problem is that it is too small to work with my modern autofocus lenses. It will mount on my Nikkor 35mm f/2 AF-D lens, but the others are too large. At one time I could have ordered a connector that would work with a F2, but I have no idea what functionality it would actually provide.

vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Have had a el-cheapo rechargeable LED ring light for years (not used very much). The advantage however seems to be that you ee ho the light is reflecting on the subject before you take picture. With the ring flag you have to take the picture and be annoyed tat a unwanted reflection occurred in the picture. Maybewith modern mirrorless this might be different ?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

vanderhala wrote:

Have had a el-cheapo rechargeable LED ring light for years (not used very much). The advantage however seems to be that you ee ho the light is reflecting on the subject before you take picture. With the ring flag you have to take the picture and be annoyed tat a unwanted reflection occurred in the picture. Maybewith modern mirrorless this might be different ?

With macro photography, distances are very short, so illumination does not need to be super bright. My Sunpak unit was kind of like one of the old Polaroid "Wink Lite" flash units...not terribly bright, even at full power. The big thing with any LED light system is to understand its color temperature and its CRI (Color Rendering Index), which is a measure of the "completeness" of the spectrum of light that it provides. This is especially true for inexpensive units, some of which list neither of these parameters. Gaps in the generated spectrum (missing colors) can wreak real havoc on macro images. Sliding the scale one way or the other isn't necessarioy a big problem. Trying to replace missing colors can be a whole other problem.

williejoha

Many years ago I purchased a ring add on to my Canon EX 580 II . Works like a charm and was relatively inexpensive.
WJH

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

tradio wrote:

I heard that a tattoo convention was coming to town and I immediately started thinking about a ring flash.
Looking online, I found that the prices have jumped up a bit, like everything else.
I saw that Godox has a nice one and it looks like Wescott had the identical ring flash for several dollars less(-150.00). Looked like the same flash to me....
What is the best, for the money, ring flash?
Anyone have a preference or comments?

This is a setup I purchased 15 yrs ago I have never used it as shown but I have used it with one flash hand held at any point I wished the light to come from usually the camera was on a tripod.
It didn't break my bank at the time but the bank is much smaller these days.it is a Nikon R1C1with two Sbr 200 flash heads
The unit on the hot shoe is a Commander used to control up to six flash units mounted around the lens or mounted on stands.

(Download)

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

vanderhala wrote:

Have had a el-cheapo rechargeable LED ring light for years (not used very much). The advantage however seems to be that you ee ho the light is reflecting on the subject before you take picture. With the ring flag you have to take the picture and be annoyed tat a unwanted reflection occurred in the picture. Maybewith modern mirrorless this might be different ?

Not necessarily, modern ring flash units implement modeling lights which allow you to preview your shot for unwanted reflections, etc. My Nissin unit features two flash tubes (left and right) each with its own modeling light. Works great.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

ABJanes wrote:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1499346-REG/angler_psfd_100_portable_speedlight_flash_diffuser.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A6879&gclid=CjwKCAjw_aemBhBLEiwAT98FMtTkvKViC-d_TaNB6wTBPZ7UKiY-qL-Gfkm0bgqfyWLFG9ZFPsw61xoCfdAQAvD_BwE.

You might also like to try this, it works great for Macro handheld with an on-camera flash.

I have one of those, and it works marvelously for Macro shots, but is a bit difficult to get onto larger diameter lenses. I haven't tried it for portraits yet.

I find that a shoe mounted flash with a flat reflector attached to it serves very well, with the flash head tilted forward at the 60 or 75 degree angle. It lights close to the front of the lens.

vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

Julian wrote:

Not necessarily, modern ring flash units implement modeling lights which allow you to preview your shot for unwanted reflections, etc. My Nissin unit features two flash tubes (left and right) each with its own modeling light. Works great.

Thanks I did not know that. As I said: I have not used mine for many years.