basic speedlite flash question

iwols

iwols

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hi all may seem a daft question to you but here goes,,i just purchased some polaroid extension tubes to try a bit of macro out.but ive been told i will probably need a fllash to go with it (which ive just ordered)now my silly questions are
1 why do i need the flash even in day light
2 what will be the benefits
3 im using a d90,can the flash be made to fire even though the camera doesnt think it needs to


flash specsAdvanced Application:yongnuo YN-468II TTL Speedlite i-TTL

a), Multi-Lamp Lighting Application
b), Exposure Bracketing ( FEB)
c), Use Wide-angle Diffuser
d), Rear-curtain Sync
e), FV Lock ( This function can only be available when your camera supports it, for the setting of FE lick, refer to your camera manaul)
f), Application of AF LED
g), Exposure Compensation
h), Feflection Flash
i), Use Reflection Board to take photos

Parameters:
Guide Number 33
Flash Mode TTL / M / Multi / S1 / S2
Circuit design Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
Zoom Range Auto, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm, 85mm
Vertical rotation angle -7~90 degree
Horizontal rotation angle 0~270 degree
Power 4 X AA size Batteries ( Alkaline or Ni-MH are usable)
Lighting times 100 - 1500 times (with AA alkaline batteries)
Recycle Time less than 3s ( AA alkaline cell used)
Color Temperature 5600K
Flash Duration 1/800S - 1/20000S
Flash Control TTL auto flash or manual level 8 light quantity output contral with 0.3 stop increment
Dimensions 60 x 72 x 172mm(extended state)
Net Weight 300g
Additional features FEB, FEC, FEL, Automatic zooming, Rear-curtain Sync

Suit for Nikon D7000 D5000 D5100 D3000 D3100 D300 D300s D200 D90 D80 D70s D60 D40x D40
 
You have bought a wrong flash I'm afraid. What you needed is macro flash - the one which fits directly on the lens using a ring.

In macro photography flash is used to be able to stop lens down to achieve a good DoF and still have enough light.

PS
You should have asked all those questions before buying anything
 
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thought i had read somewhere that this type of flash would be ok with a diffuser on oh no:(
 
iwols said:
thought i had read somewhere that this type of flash would be ok with a diffuser on oh no:(
Click to expand...

Not just any diffuser, you'll have to diy a special macro diffuser, there a manuals on the internet how to do it. Is it what you wanted?
 
billybob99 said:
you'll need flash as working with small apertures at close distances light will usually be poor, experiment with it and I'm sure you'll be fine
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this is wrong. It's not light that is poor at close distance, it's DoF that is catastrofically small (DoF is inversely proportional to subject distance) which is why macro photographers usually use high F numbers and need flash to compensate for that.

Usual falsh (without special diffucer) will not work as it fires the wrong direction.
 
billybob99 said:
In my opinion an actual macro flash is not essential for macro work, you'll need flash as working with small apertures at close distances light will usually be poor, experiment with it and I'm sure you'll be fine
Click to expand...

thanks i hope so any macro guys in here please
 
gunnar said:
I'm sorry, but this is wrong. It's not light that is poor at close distance, it's DoF that is catastrofically small (DoF is inversely proportional to subject distance) which is why macro photographers usually use high F numbers and need flash to compensate for that.

Usual falsh (without special diffucer) will not work as it fires the wrong direction.
Click to expand...

An awful lot of macro can be done with a standard flash gun, have a look at the thread in the macro section on show us your macro setup, this will shore that a macro flash is not needed. A flash bracket and ttl cord will be fine to get you going.
 
The issue that many have with a standard flash mounted on the camera is that a macro lens will typically be very close to your subject and so will partially block the light coming from the flash unit. You can make a diffuser to help, many people use old milk cartons or, as Dave says you can take steps to move the flash off the camera and get it pointed at your subject. I'm not sure you'll even need a TTL cord as I believe the Yongnuo will work off camera as a manual slave which you should be able to fire using the D90's built in flash.

Alternatively, if you have a tripod and are shooting something that doesn't move, you might not need a flash at all. Just use a very low shutter speed.
 
iwols said:
hi all may seem a daft question to you but here goes,,i just purchased some polaroid extension tubes to try a bit of macro out.but ive been told i will probably need a fllash to go with it (which ive just ordered)now my silly questions are
1 why do i need the flash even in day light
2 what will be the benefits
3 im using a d90,can the flash be made to fire even though the camera doesnt think it needs to

<snip>
Click to expand...

With macro, when you get down to 1:1 (lifesize image on the sensor) your aperture is always reduced by two stops, ie an f/2.8 lens effectively becomes f/5.6 max.

That's just for starters. Plus you need a much higher f/number to get sufficient depth of field.

Then you're into long shutter speeds, but you can't use them becuase at macro magnifications camera movement is also magnified and you get tons of camera- shake (forget the normal hand-holding speeds rule of thumb).

Flash gets around this by a) providing lots of light at close distance, and b) short flash durations will freeze movement.

Your flash gun will be fine. Many people prefer to use a regular gun as ring-flashes are expensive and can't be used for much else.

The most difficult bit is getting a bracket to mount the flash near the front of the lens, plus a sync cord. Then you need to get to work with some cardboard/plastic milk bottle/kitchen foil/gaffa tape/tracing paper and fabricate a diffuser. There's a big thread in the macro section with loads of DIY stuff.

With macro, what you have in front of your lens is basically a tiny studio, and the good guys treat it as such and apply as much ingenuity and lighting techniques as any portrait photographer.
 
Thanks guys some great answers.ive also ordered a difuser that just clips on are the ttl cables standard cheers
 
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