topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

You can get an LED ring light from ebay, or Adorama and B&H for Not too much money. I bought one. It is a low powered light. That is not to say that it isn't good, because it is good. I used one for a few years, then I found one on eb ay from KEH, that was a real flash.
I use both. The white balance is better on the flash, but I shoot raw, so that isn't a problem. The good think about the LED, is that it is not dedicated, and can be used on any camera.
That is the problem with buying on ebay, you have to know what you are buying. Buying the wrong thing is not a reason to return it. If you buy from Adorama or B&H, you can return it.
Good luck and Merry Christmas

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Hi Nancy,

You haven't indicated what camera and lens you are using.

If it is a modern EOS and Canon macro lens, Canon offers the MR-14EX Ring Lite to use with those. It clips directly onto the Canon macro lenses that use 58mm filters, and there are adapters available to allow it to be used on Canon lenses with 52mm, 62mm and 72mm filter diameters. There also are adapters in a few sizes that allow it to be used on non-Canon macro lenses or on some non-macro Canon lenses. There is now an MR-14EX Mark II that has some feature improvements and updates, but essentially does the same thing and works with the same lenses and adapters.

Here's a photo (low-quality... taken with an old point-n-shoot camera) of the MR-14EX mounted on my MP-E 65mm macro lens...


Frankly, this is just about the only lens I use the MR-14EX with. It's a super high magnification macro lens... minimum is 1:1 (life size), where most other macro lenses leave off, and it goes up to 5:1 (5X life size). You can fill the viewfinder with a single grain of rice, with this lens.

The Ring Lite works well, IMO, for higher magnification shots... 2:1 and greater is where I use it. This baby snail is only about 5 or 6 mm long and was shot at about 3:1 magnification, using that lens and Ring Lite...


The Ring Lite was set to 1:8 lighting ratio for the above shot... the maximum you can offset the flash tubes. This was to allow some shadows and modeling effects on the subject, to give it a more three dimensional feel. To me, ring lights can tend to give too flat lighting effect, shadowless and very clinical looking. Fine for dentists documenting their work, but maybe not so much for photographers trying to make interesting images of small critters.

The lower the magnification, the flatter the light of a ring light appears to be, even with the multi-tube type that can be set to variable lighting ratios, such as the Canon MR-14EX.

For less than 2:1 magnification, I tend to avoid the Ring Lite and use Canon MT-24EX Twin Lite or just a single, standard flash. This gives me more control over the light ratios and allows for more modeling of the light, especially gives a lot more flexibility in positioning the lights.

This praying mantis was shot using a Canon 100/2.8 USM Macro lens and a single, standard portable flash connected to the camera with an off-camera shoe cord and handheld off to the side and above the subject...


Here's a higher magnification (close to 1:1) shot of the subject using the same technique and flash...


Here's the rig used for the above shot (it's either a Canon 550EX or 580EXII flash, I have both, but most any TTL metered standar flash can be used)...


As you can see, I've "muted" the flash a little by putting a few layers of white gauze bandage over the flash head, held in place with a rubber band. Pretty low tech, but hey, it works!

This is the MT-24EX Twin Lite...


The photo above shows the MT-24EX's flash heads mounted on a Lepp/Stroboframe Dual Flash Bracket, which I use instead of the standard Canon-supplied mounting bracket (which is shown in the foreground). This bracket is unfortunately no longer being produced (there are other brands avail.), but I prefer it for the greater flexibility it gives me, positioning the MT-24EX's small flash heads where I need them. These flash heads are driven by the single controller on top of the camera, and can be set to various ratios, too, similar to the Ring Lite. But, due to the greater flexibility positioning them away from the lens and subject, stronger three dimensional modeling shadow effects are possible, than with any ring light I've tried.

This shot was done with the Twin Lite...


Lighting was deliberately kept fairly flat for the above... it's only a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio I think.

Besides Canon, there are many third party ring light flashes and even some twin lights. There are also new LED continuous lights (made for videography originally, but certainly usable for still photography, too... though many are pretty low powered for shots using small apertures).

But, frankly, a single standard flash can be made to work pretty well, IMO. If the subject is stationary, it's even possible to use bounce cards and small reflectors for fill, but the single light of a muted flash is sort of like a gigantic soft-box in the sky, to a tiny macro subject. The light tends to "wrap around" the subject to some extent.

It's also possible to use two small flashes to make up a dual flash rig. A pair of Canon 220EX or 270EX, for example.

So, depending upon what you want to shoot and how you want to shoot it, I may or may not recommend a ring light. I like one for high magnification work, but that's about it. The vast majority of macro that people do is 2:1 or less... even 1:1 or less magnification, and I choose not to use a ring light for those types of shots.

nancyab Loc: Enfield, CT, USA

Thanks for the info - I really appreciate it. The lens I planned on using it with primarily is the Canon macro lens, manual film camera. I hadn't thought past that one.