Photographer
Mann Made Imagery
Posts: 5281
Lubbock, Texas, US
Well, I searched the forums and I found that most of the Nikon DSLR users prefer to use one of these:
Sigma EM-140
Sunpak DX12R
What are the pros and cons of each?
I would like to use the ringlight to shoot people with.
Building my own would be a really good cheap option but when I searched it on here I just ran into a lot of broken links! I saw an end result here with those round fluorescent lights too and it looked pretty good. Anyone have a good link on how to make your own too? Or would you have an example of how you made yours?
Photographer
Mark Brummitt
Posts: 40527
Clarkston, Michigan, US
Out of curiousity, if you want it to shoot people why not go with the Alien Bee ringlight?
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
i used to use the sunpak extensively. the quality of light is very good, and it's very friendly to use. the modeling light is handy as well. i'm not familiar with the sigma.
Photographer
Morton Visuals
Posts: 1773
Hope, Idaho, US
Thuy Anh wrote:
Well, I searched the forums and I found that most of the Nikon DSLR users prefer to use one of these:
Sigma EM-140
Sunpak DX12R
What are the pros and cons of each?
I would like to use the ringlight to shoot people with.
Building my own would be a really good cheap option but when I searched it on here I just ran into a lot of broken links! I saw an end result here with those round fluorescent lights too and it looked pretty good. Anyone have a good link on how to make your own too? Or would you have an example of how you made yours? Hmmm... Every Nikon shooter I know uses an SB-800 or two (incl myself). I have yet to run in to someone shooting with a Sunpak. A Nikon flash is designed to work optimally with your Nikon DSLR. I've had much better success sticking with a system rather than "mix 'n' match" gear.
IMHO, The little ringlights are really only useful for the closeup/details shots, not for general coverage.
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
Second Glance wrote:
IMHO, The little ringlights are really only useful for the closeup/details shots, not for general coverage. untrue
Photographer
Karly Larson
Posts: 56
Portland, Oregon, US
markcomp wrote:
Out of curiousity, if you want it to shoot people why not go with the Alien Bee ringlight? OMG, Allien Bees has a Ring Flash!?!? Gimme Gimme!
Seriously, I agree with Second Glance. Those smaller ring flashes really aren't made for photographing people. I have an SB600 for my Nikon (which makes shooting a no brainer), and some alien Bees strobes, and I love all of them. The quality is amazing, and the price is right.
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
Karly Larson wrote:
Those smaller ring flashes really aren't made for photographing people. really? i guess all those successful people shots i took with the old sunpak aren't good anymore.
seriously, do you people actually try this stuff before making such blanket statements?
Photographer
Chad Boutin
Posts: 31
Portland, Oregon, US
I have tried many different attacks at ringflash. On the cheap ringflashes.. (poor coverage, and recycle time), Flourescent, (banding issues and color balance), inverted umbrellas, (better, but hard to set up and bulky) and finally ponied up for a hensel porty ring..
The small self powered on camera flashes dont push enough ws for me, and there edge falloff is huge. nice effect sometime, but I prefer that 80's clean look of the ring. chunky defined shadow..
The inverted umbrellas work, first set up your largest umbrella (white) and then find your smallest umbrella facing into the larger, put a small light head gunning into small umbrella, maybe 300 ws, alien bee would work, think of a clamshell and stand in front of the whole mess, its pretty ghetto, but I have had good results with it..
Photographer
TA Craft Photography
Posts: 2883
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Don't know if this is of any use but in the past I have seen big ring lights on e bay for £300.
Photographer
Morton Visuals
Posts: 1773
Hope, Idaho, US
Christopher Bush wrote:
seriously, do you people actually try this stuff before making such blanket statements? I'm simply looking at ws and envisioning the coverage shots I did before I got sick of wedding drama. The lower ws of an on-camera ring won't light the altar or aisle walk -- at least not at the distances I shot from in order to keep out of the way. Will the Sunpak give you a usable aperture at 20+ feet?
And no one has ever said that your work wasn't good Christopher - if they did, I'd tell 'em to bite me.
Photographer
Karly Larson
Posts: 56
Portland, Oregon, US
Christopher Bush wrote:
really? i guess all those successful people shots i took with the old sunpak aren't good anymore.
seriously, do you people actually try this stuff before making such blanket statements? All I meant is that it's not what they are manufactured for ... just like broom manufacturers don't intent their products to be used as lightstands, but it doesn't mean that I haven't gaffertaped a head to one if I was out of stands.
In fact, I think it is the hallmark of a good photographer if they can take a product and use it for more than it was intended to be used for ... So take it as a compliment.
... just trying to give the guy some other options to consider ... geez ...
Photographer
Robert Sanders
Posts: 905
Los Angeles, California, US
Christopher Bush wrote:
really? i guess all those successful people shots i took with the old sunpak aren't good anymore.
seriously, do you people actually try this stuff before making such blanket statements? Christopher,
What Karly said is true, those smaller ring-lights are not designed to shoot people. If you make it work then kudos to you, but to dis Karly for that claim is wrong on your part. The small ring flash is very limiting, you managed to find how to work well within the limits. On the other hand, had you learned to use a larger more powerful high end light, you would not have jumped so quickly with a rebuttal. In Ring Flash units, bigger is better for so many wonderful reasons... one being distance, the other is optimal control. I would always rather have too much power vs not having enough.
Robert
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
Karly Larson wrote:
All I meant is that it's not what they are manufactured for ... just like broom manufacturers don't intent their products to be used as lightstands, but it doesn't mean that I haven't gaffertaped a head to one if I was out of stands.
In fact, I think it is the hallmark of a good photographer if they can take a product and use it for more than it was intended to be used for ... So take it as a compliment.
... just trying to give the guy some other options to consider ... geez ... i didn't mean to bite your head off - sorry.
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
Robert Sanders wrote:
In Ring Flash units, bigger is better for so many wonderful reasons... one being distance, the other is optimal control. I would always rather have too much power vs not having enough. i don't disagree, but i also wouldn't write-off the idea of using the smaller units when portability is a factor. they are more capable than many give them credit for.
sorry if i sounded cranky - i'm sick in bed.
Photographer
J Welborn
Posts: 2552
Clarksville, Tennessee, US
Karly Larson wrote:
OMG, Allien Bees has a Ring Flash!?!? Gimme Gimme!
Seriously, I agree with Second Glance. Those smaller ring flashes really aren't made for photographing people. I have an SB600 for my Nikon (which makes shooting a no brainer), and some alien Bees strobes, and I love all of them. The quality is amazing, and the price is right. I have the Alien Bee ring light and the avatar was shot with it --Works well 
Photographer
shōmei
Posts: 320
New York, New York, US
The newer ones often have higher guide numbers.
Check the one that nikon makes. It would be compatible with your metering system, often useful.
The canon ring flash is more powerful now and allows to separate the two sides into different ratios.
Also allow for battery packs to be used to increase the recyling time.
Much needed when working with people.
The small on camera ring flashes are especially good for waist up shots and for fill.
Sometimes you cannot or do not want to bring a power pack with you and need something for a different look.
Photographer
Mann Made Imagery
Posts: 5281
Lubbock, Texas, US
markcomp wrote:
Out of curiousity, if you want it to shoot people why not go with the Alien Bee ringlight? yay people responded! LOL good thing I cam back to check on this thing.
as for the question, it's because it is HUGE O_O I simply need something that is a bit more portable than that. I shoot on location for businesses a lot and simply can't lug around something like that.
Photographer
Mark Brummitt
Posts: 40527
Clarkston, Michigan, US
Thuy Anh wrote:
yay people responded! LOL good thing I cam back to check on this thing.
as for the question, it's because it is HUGE O_O I simply need something that is a bit more portable than that. I shoot on location for businesses a lot and simply can't lug around something like that. It is a bit bulky that is true. Other photographers have mentioned that the ringlights you named could be used and I suppose they could in a pinch but for overall usage in a practical application I would use one like the Alien Bee.
Remember, you can always use a tripod with it to alleviate the weight consideration.
Photographer
oldguysrule
Posts: 6129
Karly Larson wrote:
OMG, Allien Bees has a Ring Flash!?!? Gimme Gimme!
Seriously, I agree with Second Glance. Those smaller ring flashes really aren't made for photographing people. I have an SB600 for my Nikon (which makes shooting a no brainer), and some alien Bees strobes, and I love all of them. The quality is amazing, and the price is right. decent light, but extremely clumsy
Photographer
215 Studios
Posts: 3453
Center Point, Texas, US
Thuy Anh wrote:
yay people responded! LOL good thing I cam back to check on this thing.
as for the question, it's because it is HUGE O_O I simply need something that is a bit more portable than that. I shoot on location for businesses a lot and simply can't lug around something like that. You're in Texas, Thuy Anh! Just use a horse to haul it around...
*blink*
(Sorry, I was in a conversation earlier today about how "diferent" Texas was than some people imagined... The people were amazed that we didn't all still ride horses and carry around six-shooters)
-Major
Photographer
Gone Til Novus-ember
Posts: 11440
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Christopher Bush wrote:
i used to use the sunpak extensively. the quality of light is very good, and it's very friendly to use. the modeling light is handy as well. i'm not familiar with the sigma. My model as well. It';s a great light. Good from about 10-15 feet (tops) on full power. Quality of light is excellent and it runs on AA batteries is you don't have a Quantaam Battery Pack.
They make for great fill light as well.
And for those that say they aren't for photographing people, Eric S., Christopher Bush, Lithium Picnic and myself all have images in our portfolios that state otherwise.
Photographer
LITHIUM PICNIC studio
Posts: 189
Los Angeles, California, US
I agree with Chistopher, but I can see why most people have that opinion of camera-based RF. the DX12R is - in my opinion - one of the only camera based RF's suitable for shooting people (enough power, tolerable recycle times)... most of the $75 camera based RFs you see on ebay etc are made for detail macros, dental, flower shooting etc... the DX12R packs about the same power as a 580ex. and as someone mentioned earlier, it does not "talk" to you camera or have ettl or ttl. i amost always shoot manual anyway. i have the AB ringflash - it has a lot more output and great recycle times - but when you load it up with a 5d with a battery pack and a 24-70 lens it's a very heavy handful after a few minutes of shooting. i still keep the sunpak around for on-the-go play shoots and paparazzi style party pics... here's a recent example - it has very "east coast" look to me hah... ![https://images22.fotki.com/v757/photos/4/44098/2831745/8x12_leg-vi.jpg]() and other (nudish) http://images116.fotki.com/v719/photos/ … 2_h-vi.jpg my $00.02 Philip / LP Christopher Bush wrote:
really? i guess all those successful people shots i took with the old sunpak aren't good anymore.
seriously, do you people actually try this stuff before making such blanket statements?
Photographer
LITHIUM PICNIC studio
Posts: 189
Los Angeles, California, US
if you don't mind shooting at iso400 or waiting for longer recycle times for lower iso shots it can... Second Glance wrote:
Will the Sunpak give you a usable aperture at 20+ feet?
Photographer
former_mm_user
Posts: 5521
New York, New York, US
LITHIUM_PICNIC wrote:
(hot picture) who is that girl??!! i think i'm in love.
now you see what the ladies will do when they see a sunpak.
Photographer
Michael R Kihn Studios
Posts: 2559
Erie, Pennsylvania, US
Thuy Anh wrote:
Well, I searched the forums and I found that most of the Nikon DSLR users prefer to use one of these:
Sigma EM-140
Sunpak DX12R
What are the pros and cons of each?
I would like to use the ringlight to shoot people with.
Building my own would be a really good cheap option but when I searched it on here I just ran into a lot of broken links! I saw an end result here with those round fluorescent lights too and it looked pretty good. Anyone have a good link on how to make your own too? Or would you have an example of how you made yours? I use the sigma EM-140 which is suppost to be compatible with Nikon DSLRs but find out it not to good in TTL so I use it in manual your only other option Will not work in TTL at all with D-200
Photographer
Michael R Kihn Studios
Posts: 2559
Erie, Pennsylvania, US
Christopher Bush wrote:
untrue agree I use it a little more
Photographer
Mann Made Imagery
Posts: 5281
Lubbock, Texas, US
215 Studios wrote:
You're in Texas, Thuy Anh! Just use a horse to haul it around...
*blink*
(Sorry, I was in a conversation earlier today about how "diferent" Texas was than some people imagined... The people were amazed that we didn't all still ride horses and carry around six-shooters)
-Major I have a rifle, a katana, and a few short swords, and can throw people twice my weight if that counts for anything. LOL
Photographer
Mann Made Imagery
Posts: 5281
Lubbock, Texas, US
LITHIUM_PICNIC wrote:
I agree with Chistopher, but I can see why most people have that opinion of camera-based RF.
the DX12R is - in my opinion - one of the only camera based RF's suitable for shooting people (enough power, tolerable recycle times)...
most of the $75 camera based RFs you see on ebay etc are made for detail macros, dental, flower shooting etc...
the DX12R packs about the same power as a 580ex.
and as someone mentioned earlier, it does not "talk" to you camera or have ettl or ttl. i amost always shoot manual anyway.
i have the AB ringflash - it has a lot more output and great recycle times - but when you load it up with a 5d with a battery pack and a 24-70 lens it's a very heavy handful after a few minutes of shooting.
i still keep the sunpak around for on-the-go play shoots and paparazzi style party pics...
here's a recent example - it has very "east coast" look to me hah...
![https://images22.fotki.com/v757/photos/4/44098/2831745/8x12_leg-vi.jpg]()
and other (nudish) http://images116.fotki.com/v719/photos/ … 2_h-vi.jpg
my $00.02
Philip / LP
O_O i used to have hair like that!
but wow, I think my mind is made up! I'll try that sunpak and see what I come out with
Photographer
Mann Made Imagery
Posts: 5281
Lubbock, Texas, US
thanks for the advice guys!
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