DOOK
Loc: Maclean, Australia
I have recently bought a 90mm Tamron macro & I think that some extra lighting may be beneficial on opportunistic occasions. I had a ring flash back in the '70s but it is long lost.
I see that there are basically two types of ring lights, an LED set up with continuous lighting, & a 'proper' flash that fires like a standard flash. I may be completely wrong, but I can't see the cheaper LED rings as being much use. The 'proper' flash units are not cheap, I notice.
Can any of you macro shooters advise me, please. Most of my work would be outdoors--insects etc. Thanks.
This forum has a
Macro Equipment Set-Ups thread at
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-1.html .
Take a look at the several different methods of successful macro illumination. Feel free to ask questions to any macro-photographer on the forum.
You are correct in realizing that most, if not all, LED macro lights are woefully under-powered for anything but static, table-top macro work.
Are you planing to purchase a standard speedlight for general photography illumination?
DOOK
Loc: Maclean, Australia
Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite (YN560) which I use a fair bit for general photography, often off camera. It won't TTL so I have to use it manually, but that's no problem.
I discovered something strange today on my D3100. If I use force flash on P,S,A, or M, it shoots at ISO100, regardless of my ISO setting. I was playing around using fill in flash (built in flash) on Aperture Priority, using ISOs from 100 to 800.
When I reviewed them, some were grossly under exposed, & the data told me that they were all shot at ISO100. This sound normal?
DOOK wrote:
Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite (YN560) which I use a fair bit for general photography, often off camera. It won't TTL so I have to use it manually, but that's no problem.
I discovered something strange today on my D3100. If I use force flash on P,S,A, or M, it shoots at ISO100, regardless of my ISO setting. I was playing around using fill in flash (built in flash) on Aperture Priority, using ISOs from 100 to 800.
When I reviewed them, some were grossly under exposed, & the data told me that they were all shot at ISO100. This sound normal?
Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite (YN560) whic... (
show quote)
I have no idea if your YN560 is compatible with Nikon hotshoe connections. My speedlight is used strictly Manual, so I can adjust flash output for repeatable, accurate exposure. My exposure settings are also Manual: ISO 400, 1/200-sec at f/16.
For my macro-photography, I use a $30 O-Flash attachment on my speedlight. The correct model will fit your camera/speedlight combination.
O-Flash Attachment
O-Flash Field Set-Up
DOOK
Loc: Maclean, Australia
Yeah, the YN560 mounts on the hotshoe & is fired by the camera trigger. It is not TTL & has to be set manually. It will also fire off camera, triggered by the pop up flash. It has a GN of 58 at max output.
I've been checking out your detailed thread re. this set up. What do you actually call the ring attachment so that I know what to search for on ebay eg.?
DOOK wrote:
Yeah, the YN560 mounts on the hotshoe & is fired by the camera trigger. It is not TTL & has to be set manually. It will also fire off camera, triggered by the pop up flash. It has a GN of 58 at max output.
I've been checking out your detailed thread re. this set up. What do you actually call the ring attachment so that I know what to search for on ebay eg.?
As Nikonian72 suggested, refer to the Macro Equipment Set-Ups thread at
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-1.html .
That GN seems a little low from my perspective. (Using manual flash output and adjusting the outputs helps freeze moving insects.)
Others produce excellent results with a hot-shoe mounted flash with an attached softbox. Many are DIY. Certainly can't argue with the results produced by the O-Flash.
I prefer moving the flash off the shoe and using a sync cord. I use an SB400 and set the flash output through the camera menu. Check your menu to make sure it will do this because not all speedlites allow manual flash control from the flash unit.
DOOK wrote:
the YN560 . . . has a GN of 58 at max output. What do you actually call the ring attachment so that I know what to search for on ebay eg.?
My Nikon SB-600 Guide Number is 98, at ISO 100; and GN 138 at ISO 200. A Guide Number of 58 sounds under-powered to be able to shoot at f/16 for decent DoF.
Search for O-Flash on eBay. The model number is determined by the distance between camera lens center to flash lens center, measured in millimeters, per last column of this chart.
O-Flash size chart
DOOK
Loc: Maclean, Australia
Thank y'all for your great help. I shouldn't have to annoy you any more. I was checking prices on the 0-flash on ebay, when I stumbled across a JY-670 for $120. It is fully self contained-no adaption needed-just mount it on the hot shoe & away ya go.
I checked out reviews on Google & Youtube & it looks OK. Thanks again guys.
Nikonian72 wrote:
DOOK wrote:
the YN560 . . . has a GN of 58 at max output. What do you actually call the ring attachment so that I know what to search for on ebay eg.?
My Nikon SB-600 Guide Number is 98, at ISO 100; and GN 138 at ISO 200. A Guide Number of 58 sounds under-powered to be able to shoot at f/16 for decent DoF.
Search for O-Flash on eBay. The model number is determined by the distance between camera lens center to flash lens center, measured in millimeters, per last column of this chart.
quote=DOOK the YN560 . . . has a GN of 58 at max ... (
show quote)
Each Manufacture has its own way of figuring GN the YN560 has more power than the Nikon SB900 and more powerful than the Canon 580EX . The GN for the SB600 is 98 but that is feet at ISO100 the YN560 is GN of 58 but is figured in meters.
Here are the GN specs from Nikon on the 900
Guide Number
34 m/111.5 ft. (at ISO 100, 35mm zoom head position, in FX format, standard illumination pattern, 20°C/68°F) to 48 m/157.5 ft. (at ISO 200, 35mm zoom head position, in FX format, standard illumination pattern, 20°C/68°F)
GN is very confusing because there is no standards used by every one some list theirs using ISO200 to make them look more powerful than they really are.
Nikonian72 wrote:
DOOK wrote:
Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite (YN560) which I use a fair bit for general photography, often off camera. It won't TTL so I have to use it manually, but that's no problem.
I discovered something strange today on my D3100. If I use force flash on P,S,A, or M, it shoots at ISO100, regardless of my ISO setting. I was playing around using fill in flash (built in flash) on Aperture Priority, using ISOs from 100 to 800.
When I reviewed them, some were grossly under exposed, & the data told me that they were all shot at ISO100. This sound normal?
Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite (YN560) whic... (
show quote)
I have no idea if your YN560 is compatible with Nikon hotshoe connections. My speedlight is used strictly Manual, so I can adjust flash output for repeatable, accurate exposure. My exposure settings are also Manual: ISO 400, 1/200-sec at f/16.
For my macro-photography, I use a $30 O-Flash attachment on my speedlight. The correct model will fit your camera/speedlight combination.
quote=DOOK Nikonian72,I have a Yongnuo Speedlite ... (
show quote)
The YN560 is a manual only flash only has one pin so no i-ttl or ttl will only work properly on M mode.
DOOK wrote:
Thank y'all for your great help. I shouldn't have to annoy you any more. I was checking prices on the 0-flash on ebay, when I stumbled across a JY-670 for $120. It is fully self contained-no adaption needed-just mount it on the hot shoe & away ya go.
I checked out reviews on Google & Youtube & it looks OK. Thanks again guys.
The YN560 is a very good flash if you do not mind manual I actually just bought one last week awaiting delivery now seems the post office decided to send it around the US before it gets to me.
hangman45 wrote:
Each Manufacture has its own way of figuring GN . . .
This is an incorrect statement. Correct Guide Number is calculated with an international formula, in either feet or meters, and often both.
For variable angle speedlights, a 35-mm angle is used to calculate true GN.
"The Guide Number is the product of the maximum flash-to-subject distance and the f-number of the aperture that will correctly expose film or a digital sensor with the specified sensitivity.
GN = distance × f-numberGuide numbers can be given in feet or metres, and are usually given for ISO 100 sensitivity." per
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_number
Guide Numbers in meters
Nikonian72 wrote:
quote=hangman45 the YN560 has more power than th... (
show quote)
After going through all your links Nikon is the only one of the manufacturers out of Canon and YongNuo and Nikon that list a GN using ISO200
Straight off the Nikon Spec sheet for the SB600
Guide Number
30 m/98 ft. (at ISO 100, 35mm zoom-head position, 20°C/68°F) to 42 m/138 ft. (at ISO 200, 35mm zoom-head position, at 20°C/68°F
Nikonian72 wrote:
quote=hangman45 the YN560 has more power than th... (
show quote)
Douglas: I think i would be great if you added this guide number graph (or the link) to the Macro FAQs. These are critical to know (well for me they are!).
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.