My version of a ringflash

Hi everyone,

After stealing some good ideas from some home made ring flashes here on wetpixel, I spent my free time of the last few weeks making my own.

I tried to come up with a ringflash that would be compact and easy to assemble and de-assemble (no duct taping stobes ) And that I could leave on my housing while changing wetlenses and being in the way as least as possible.

I especially had using the inon bug eye lens in mind with this ringflash since it is hard to light close subjects evenly with using a strobe.

Cheers, Xander

(S95 + double stacked inon close up lens)

(S95 + double stacked inon close up lens)

(S95 + inon bug eye lens)

That looks good - what aperture were you using with the stacked lenses u/w?

very interesting!

Hi Xander!

Very cool!! Are you happy with the IKEA fibers?? Maybe I should consider to my next project.

I like the way you formed the ring.

Cheers

Marcell

.. and two more IKEA related questions.

How long are the fibers in the branch (shown in your second picture)??

How many branches have you used?? The IKEA lamp contains 49 of them.

Does it provide enough light.

I like your ring flash more and more.

Marcell

Hi Xander,

very cool stuff!!!

Did you use the big Strala (dia: 40cm) or the small one (dia: 15cm)?

Did you use every of the 49 branches?

Cheers

Nils

Thanks for the reactions.

Jander: Aperture was 4.9 if I remember correctly

Marcel: I think the fibres work very well, just like any other fibre optic cable. I have now even put a diffuser in front of it since it is sometimes too bright and for a more evenly spread lighting. Fibre optic bundles length is about 15cm and for my ringflash I used 6 bundles of the 49.

Nils: I used the big 40cm Strala.

I have been using it a lot in Lembeh last days, I will post some pictures on my flickr the coming weeks for people interested.

Cheers

Very neat job and effective too.

Well done

Thanks for the reactions.

 

Jander: Aperture was 4.9 if I remember correctly

 

Marcel: I think the fibres work very well, just like any other fibre optic cable. I have now even put a diffuser in front of it since it is sometimes too bright and for a more evenly spread lighting. Fibre optic bundles length is about 15cm and for my ringflash I used 6 bundles of the 49.

 

Nils: I used the big 40cm Strala.

 

I have been using it a lot in Lembeh last days, I will post some pictures on my flickr the coming weeks for people interested.

 

Cheers

I'm looking forward to seeing more recent pictures. I guess the 15 cm was too short to cover the below part of the port, hence the half ring. It should be still very effective and in case of sandy bottom it prevents overexposure.

What kind of diffuser do you use??

Marcell

Hi Marcell, I have added some more pictures on my Flickr account, and will be adding more ones the coming week.

I intended to not have any fibres at the bottom, for over exposure on sand, but also so you don't loose any working space - Those 2 centimetres under the port can be useful sometimes with getting low

I cut a diffuser of a plastic milk bottle.

Cheers! Xander

I can't believe I just now looked at this post. Love the simple DIY approach, and your choice to not make it a full 'ring' (sand overexposure and clearance both sound like very good reasons!)

The mantis shot is also absolutely fabulous by the way. I love mantises...we used to see them by the hundreds around our house in the early spring (no bigger than 1 cm in length) and then they'd be pruned down to just a very very few, 10-13cm specimens by the late fall. But I haven't seen any for a year or two now....

Hi Xander,

Congrats on the rig!

Several months ago I wanted to try exactly the same thing, only fired from the camera's flash...

Unfortunately, I soon realized that the on-board flash wasn't strong enough and didn't have a large enough light area.

Anyway, last week I finally picked up a strobe, so maybe one day I'll pick up the project again

very interesting ... but what about blackscatters with ring flash ???

It can certainly happen, but generally speaking if you're using a ringflash its because you're trying to get nearly zero water distance between your port (e.g. macro, flat port) and the subject....hence far less backscatter to worry about. Unless of course in trying to frame the shot you're settling into the bottom and stirring it up....

rtrski is right, the ringflash is not very powerful, it only works well with subjects that are very close/macro.

Here are some more examples of photos lit with this ringflash in Lembeh last year:

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi by Xander Rood, on Flickr