I recently bought a Sigma 105mm macro lens and was advised to buy a macro ring flash to use with it so I went straight out and bought one. It is a Kenro KFL201C macro ring flash, the instructions aren't exactly clear so I'd like to ask you good folk why, when and how I should use it? It's completely programmable and in all honesty I feel a little lost looking at the screen! So any help and tips would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
and help to keep the site free for all
Macro ring flash, how, when and why to use them?
- Thread starter Shnarf76
- Start date
- Messages
- 508
- Name
- Owen
- Edit My Images
- No
I too have a Sigma 105mm macro lens. I also bought a macro ring-flash: not half as fancy as yours though - mine just turns on and fires in TTL (and I can adjust it using the flash exposure compensation on the camera). This is not a bad place to start with your ring-flash - stick it in TTL, and use the FEC on-camera to turn the exposure up and down.
When and why though? Hmm well this is the important bit from the Kenro features page for this flash: "3. MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY – For shadowless, close up photography". This may as well say "3. MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY – For flat close up photography, with really bad reflections of the ring flash in anything remotely shiny". It's not terrible, but it's not brilliant either - here's a bee I shot years ago with the macro ring-flash:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/5840409367/in/album-72157654812068848/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/5892742496/in/album-72157654812068848/
It is a very portable setup, but as you can see, the flowers look flat - due to the "light from all directions" nature of the ring-flash, and there's a mad reflection of the flash in the insect's eyes.
However, all is not lost! You just need to throw away the instruction book, or at least the pages that tell you to mount the thing on the end of your lens. Hold it in your hand off to one side of the lens and above the subject and the light will improve dramatically. I use a flash-bender XL on a regular flash to achieve the same sort of light - http://owenlloydphotography.com/?p=2108 See the second picture. You may want to add some diffusion (sheet of paper, or translucent plastic)in front of it to fix those specular highlights. All of these where shot with the light over the subject:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/18687293163/in/album-72157654812068848/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/19074752218/in/album-72157654812068848/
For this last one, I had 3 extension tubes on the lens, so the end of the flashbender was only a few cm longer than the lens arrangement, so I took the flash off the camera and mounted it on a floor stand, triggering it with a set of radio triggers:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/28129511527/in/album-72157654812068848/
Best thing to do is get out there and start shooting with it
Hold it in your left hand, but out to the right (cross your left arm under your right arm and jam the camera into your shoulder. This will give you a very stable grip to help keep the distance constant. Make sure the lens/camera is in manual focus: the focus position of the lens for macro, is usually determined by the size of the subject. Smaller subjects, mean a closer shot to fill the frame, and so a closer focus. Usually, I'm racking mine out all the way for the closest focus. Actual focusing is done by rocking back and forth, or using a macro-rail or geared head on a tripod to move the whole camera.
When and why though? Hmm well this is the important bit from the Kenro features page for this flash: "3. MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY – For shadowless, close up photography". This may as well say "3. MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY – For flat close up photography, with really bad reflections of the ring flash in anything remotely shiny". It's not terrible, but it's not brilliant either - here's a bee I shot years ago with the macro ring-flash:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/5840409367/in/album-72157654812068848/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/5892742496/in/album-72157654812068848/
It is a very portable setup, but as you can see, the flowers look flat - due to the "light from all directions" nature of the ring-flash, and there's a mad reflection of the flash in the insect's eyes.
However, all is not lost! You just need to throw away the instruction book, or at least the pages that tell you to mount the thing on the end of your lens. Hold it in your hand off to one side of the lens and above the subject and the light will improve dramatically. I use a flash-bender XL on a regular flash to achieve the same sort of light - http://owenlloydphotography.com/?p=2108 See the second picture. You may want to add some diffusion (sheet of paper, or translucent plastic)in front of it to fix those specular highlights. All of these where shot with the light over the subject:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/18687293163/in/album-72157654812068848/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/19074752218/in/album-72157654812068848/
For this last one, I had 3 extension tubes on the lens, so the end of the flashbender was only a few cm longer than the lens arrangement, so I took the flash off the camera and mounted it on a floor stand, triggering it with a set of radio triggers:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owenlloyd/28129511527/in/album-72157654812068848/
Best thing to do is get out there and start shooting with it
Hold it in your left hand, but out to the right (cross your left arm under your right arm and jam the camera into your shoulder. This will give you a very stable grip to help keep the distance constant. Make sure the lens/camera is in manual focus: the focus position of the lens for macro, is usually determined by the size of the subject. Smaller subjects, mean a closer shot to fill the frame, and so a closer focus. Usually, I'm racking mine out all the way for the closest focus. Actual focusing is done by rocking back and forth, or using a macro-rail or geared head on a tripod to move the whole camera.Agree totally with Owen...
The flash mounted on the lens is very useful in a couple of situations a) when trying to get light into a small cavity and b) as a relatively compact fill light when photographing close ups (never as the main source of illumination.
The flash mounted on the lens is very useful in a couple of situations a) when trying to get light into a small cavity and b) as a relatively compact fill light when photographing close ups (never as the main source of illumination.
- Messages
- 3,294
- Name
- Gary
- Edit My Images
- No
I would sit down and set the flash on the camera and learn about what it can do and how to operate it until you have some confidence that when you go out to shoot something you stand the best chance of getting something decent.
If it operates in a similar way to the Canon ringflash then you can adjust the flash compensation directly on the unit which may be a quicker option that from the camera.
Try different techniques. Do you plan to use a tripod, if so then you need to be on the ball because a lot of insects won’t hang around waiting for you to get your act together. Many macro photographer shoot hand held simply for convenience but it needs a decent technique to do so. Try manual focus, try rocking into focus, try auto focus. I always shoot in continuous AF and get far more keepers than I do using manual focus.
Above all, practise. You don’t need to leave the house to practise. Once you have found a technique that suits you and are getting sharp images then start to look at how to get the best out of the lighting limitations that ring flashes give. It is quite possible to diffuse a ring flash effectively but it needs a bit of thought which is why many photographers go for a twin head flash set up for the versatility then bring and the ability to buy diffusers off the shelf for them.
If it operates in a similar way to the Canon ringflash then you can adjust the flash compensation directly on the unit which may be a quicker option that from the camera.
Try different techniques. Do you plan to use a tripod, if so then you need to be on the ball because a lot of insects won’t hang around waiting for you to get your act together. Many macro photographer shoot hand held simply for convenience but it needs a decent technique to do so. Try manual focus, try rocking into focus, try auto focus. I always shoot in continuous AF and get far more keepers than I do using manual focus.
Above all, practise. You don’t need to leave the house to practise. Once you have found a technique that suits you and are getting sharp images then start to look at how to get the best out of the lighting limitations that ring flashes give. It is quite possible to diffuse a ring flash effectively but it needs a bit of thought which is why many photographers go for a twin head flash set up for the versatility then bring and the ability to buy diffusers off the shelf for them.
A big thank you for your replies and advice, especially to Owen for a very helpful post. I'll get practising indoors and try to come to terms with the flashes features, it can fire each side independently so I need to learn when this is needed and when not.
Is there a book by any chance that teaches about flashes and light in general? I've been buying books on the subjects that interest me lately and a dedicated book on how to handle different lighting scenarios would be great.
Again, thank you for your help and advice it's much appreciated.
Edit: The flash has an ISO setting, am I understanding correctly that I have to match that to the camera's ISO setting or am I way off the mark?
Is there a book by any chance that teaches about flashes and light in general? I've been buying books on the subjects that interest me lately and a dedicated book on how to handle different lighting scenarios would be great.
Again, thank you for your help and advice it's much appreciated.
Edit: The flash has an ISO setting, am I understanding correctly that I have to match that to the camera's ISO setting or am I way off the mark?
Last edited: