Ring Flash Suggestion?

royalott · Jun 16, 2008

This

is my first post to this forum

I like shooting the little guys and have a Canon Digital Rebel

xti

. I am using an expansion tube because I can not afford a dedicated macro lens for it. It works fine but by the time I get my lens and expansion tube on it the flash doesn't get to the target if I am close.

I understand I need a ring flash. I have bought two of them and one didn't work for what I needed and the other I was screwed by the dealer. It blew up on my camera, blew the battery door right off the unit and the sucker made me pay to return it. I contacted the maker of the flash and he told me the one the on line vendor sold me was not even made for the Canon Rebel.

I am a bit gun shy now. I see on

ebay

there are a bunch of ring flashes but I have no clue who I can trust and what the best for my needs are. I can not afford to spend any more than necessary and would like some advice from you folks.

What is a good ring flash? Is it what I need for shooting insects?

I hand hold my camera for the most part and for my shaky old butt to get a clear picture I need to crank up the shutter speed. In doing so I need more light on the subject. If in bright sunlight things are better but I can not depend on having bright sunlight.

Thanks for any help or advice anyone can give me.

Royal

Parkerman · Jun 16, 2008

You could always try to make a DIY ring light. Some interesting stuff out there.

Might be able to search the forums for something like that, or simply type in DIY ring light in google.

Village Idiot · Jun 16, 2008

How much do you have to spend? You can search DIY ringflash on google and find a ton. I made one for $40.

You can purchase something like the ray flash. I don't know the site url off the top of my head, but it's $300 and it fits over a speed light like a 430ex or 580ex.

You can purchase something like the $400 ABR800 which is the Alien Bee ring light. It's going to be probably more power than you'll ever need (or maybe want) for macro and it requires an outlet to plug it into.

You can go to b&H (link at the top of the page) and search for ringflash and find one of the macro ringflashes from there. They're a very reputable dealer with very reasonable prices that will stand behind all their products.