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ring flashes
Anyone use them? Thinking about buying one because I like to spend money to test out new things, lol. Aug 14 05 09:17 pm Link I have one of the biggest ones available which is the Profoto one. I had mine adapted so I can plug it in to a Norman 200B. At 200 watt seconds on a head and shoulders at 100 IS0 the f number is f 32 or f 22. Since a ringflash, by its very nature does not have a modelling light there is no reason to plug it into a studio pack. My ringlight is good in the field. I have posted many pictures showing how I use it but there are none in my port at this moment. But if you are interested you can see some of them here: http://www.artsandopinion.com/2003_v2_n4/hayward.htm Aug 14 05 09:56 pm Link like to spend money do ya..when i was looking three months ago..the best i could find was about $1500 for the ring flash and $1800 for the power supply... prophoto.. Aug 14 05 10:04 pm Link rent it when you need it, if at all possible... it's such a specific look, do you think you'll shoot enough with it to justify the purchase? Aug 14 05 10:12 pm Link You Americans don't know when you have it good. Any good flash repairman can adapt most big ringflashes to work with a Norman. These battery packs can be had for under $400 on Ebay. Aug 14 05 10:13 pm Link i use my profoto ring a lot... sometimes the traditional lens/camera mounted way... sometimes off camera as either key or fill light... even sometimes as a background light... just have to figure out the best way to use it on location outdoors when there's no power drop nearby... quite a few shots in my profile are using the ring in one way or another... the 2 *model - ashley* bathtub shots are both 1 light setups with the ring actually being bounced off the ceiling... Aug 14 05 10:16 pm Link My ringflash has saved me many a time. The trick of putting the lens crooked so that the lens sees the edge of the ringflash has served me well when I want to give an avantgarde edge to a photo. Again, check here to see the one that has that edge. You can guess where the ringflash was used in two others by the faint shadow around the bodies. http://www.artsandopinion.com/2003_v2_n4/hayward.htm Aug 14 05 10:17 pm Link My question was answered. Aug 14 05 10:18 pm Link alexwh wrote: So where's the ring flash? Aug 14 05 10:18 pm Link Do you have a beauty dish? It's a lot cheaper than a ring flash and I like the light better. Paul Aug 14 05 10:20 pm Link Paul Ferrara wrote: Retouching Helen Aug 14 05 10:21 pm Link Paul Ferrara wrote: Aug 14 05 10:23 pm Link Paul, There are three. First the two with the Helen and the black man and the one after that. The beauty dish or beauty light falls somewhere between A softbox and a fresnel lens spotlight. They are very popular. They are cheaper than a ringflash but are not that similar. Aug 14 05 10:24 pm Link Here you can see it in the website of a couple of singers. You can see the crooked ringflash effect. This couple want to look edgy and they manage to. http://www.tylerduncan.ca/collaboration.html Aug 14 05 10:29 pm Link alexwh wrote: Aug 14 05 10:32 pm Link alexwh wrote: I bought the ring flash head from calumet and had it converted to fit my lumedyne power pack....i have to use a filter type adapter to fit over the ring light....the ring light is a 400watt head...i get very good results with it....I also pick up a ring flash from B&H made buy sigma that is alot more portable when you are traveling alot...i didnt know you could convert a profoto to fit a norman...wonder if it will work for a lumedyne? Aug 14 05 10:38 pm Link This one was so popular with the singer that she now uses it as her official portrait. This portrait makes her look a lot younger. Ring flashes work "good".  Aug 14 05 10:39 pm Link alexwh wrote: That's just fancy-pants Photoshop trickery!! Aug 14 05 10:46 pm Link xtreme that's the first time this traditional film dinosaur has been "accused" of Photoshop trickery! How about that! Just working (back and forth) with levels and contrast. But the bones of the picture are there thanks to the ringflash. Aug 14 05 10:52 pm Link Aug 14 05 10:58 pm Link EMG STUDIOS wrote: Yep.....Thats the one i have....Anybody have a pic of the profoto ring flash that will work on the norman? Aug 14 05 11:01 pm Link EMG STUDIOS wrote: I was under the impression that there are little ringflashes for macro and big ones for...other stuff. This is a little one. Aug 14 05 11:02 pm Link Brian Diaz wrote: Your right it is little....But i have used this one for shots in hotel rooms and hallways with good results....I do have another ring flash and power pack but it is a pain in the A%% to carry through airport...This is perfect Aug 14 05 11:07 pm Link * Visual Mindscapes * wrote: Rent it. Usually rental places will charge you for one day if you rent it for the weekend. Schedule two models, you'll get a good feel for it and it save some money. Aug 15 05 12:17 am Link Doug Swinskey wrote: Wow! That's pretty expensive! lolz Aug 15 05 12:42 am Link Justin N Lane wrote: I don't like renting things. I have these things called credit cards I like to use alot. I do shoot alot. I did 2 weddings this weekend. I want to buy things! Aug 15 05 12:43 am Link alexwh wrote: Work with a Norman huh? I could just borrow one from work. We have 4 of them, but damn those big ring flashes are expensive. Hmm... Aug 15 05 12:44 am Link Anthony Cole wrote: I read up on that Sigma one. They said it's best used within 5 feet of the subject. This is what I need! I like getting up close and personal. Now I have to find a 77mm adaptor to fit the thread of the lens I want to buy. Aug 15 05 12:46 am Link alexwh wrote: I was speaking, or writing, in jest... Aug 15 05 05:42 am Link I've used my sunpak ringflash for protrait work and bland "corporate" room shots, it's what you make it. give it a try Aug 15 05 11:58 am Link Anyway to fake the look of a ring flash? Aug 16 05 09:29 am Link Well, to be brutally honest, if I had any thoughts about purchasing a ring flash and didn't know what its effect would be, the images that have been pointed to here would make me think it's a waste of money. Not that the images are necessarily bad (I'm not going there...), but that I just don't see the contribution of the ringflash as anything a raw light can't do or a 5 min. photoshop session... John Aug 16 05 11:23 am Link I've used a ring flash on occassion in my real job along with other ALS. I prefer the nikon SB21 although it usually sits in the bottom of the flash bag. I think he is looking for a studio ring flash though and not a macro ring flash. ex: http://www.elinchrom.com/ringflash.htm The two types are targeted for completely different applications. As for uses, I know at least one major cosmetics company that uses them a lot for their catalogs as it tends to produce shots that have almost no shadows at all. Aug 16 05 11:51 am Link Hensel used to make a ring flash but good luck finding one. Yes, heads can be adapted for different packs. Adapters can be made. Think about sharing a big ring flash with one other photographer in your area. There are many ways to reproduce the effect of a ring flash cheaply. I will try to post some later. I love to use ring flash on low power just as a fill. I used the ring flash on these images in my port as a fill. https://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic … 1226f57c76 https://www.modelmayhem.com/pic.php?pic … 064e6c5a41 I do have a beauty dish and I prefer that for most shoot. The ring is good for quick shoots and portable for quick beauty shots. I have a small one and rent the big ones for jobs. I was on the waiting list for a prophoto for years when I had money to throw around. Aug 16 05 12:00 pm Link Here is some information on cheap alternatives to buying a ring flash. Building a Poor Man's Ringflash http://www.noestudios.com/photo/ringlight/ =============================== To get a soft ringflash effect use two or more small flashes mounted close to the lens; all flashes were the same type with built in slaves so only one had to be connected to the camera. It worked reasonably well, low cost but not very powerful. Used small ball mounts to position the flashes on a bracket. If you're open to experimentation, using 8 flashes mounted around a ring would probably not be very difficult to construct (just shoe adapters on a metal ring). Here's a product from Rekam that looks like it might work. I've seen other reflectors like this over the years, sort of a reflector that the flash head sticks in the side and the camera pokes through the back. http://www.rekam.ca/home/?q=/binoculars … cessories/ ========================= Take one of those Circular Magnifying Lamps, that clamp on to your desk. Pop out the magnifying glass. Shoot through the hole. It's easy to clamp on to a stand and move to your camera position also because of the spring balanced arm. Now this doesn't give you a TON of power which means you'll probably want to shoot with a High ISO, and still may have to shoot wide open. It is, also, continuous light, not strobe. And your will have to play with your white balance also. But it works. Here's one of those lights, found it on Staples.com for $109 - $114.00: http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/store … ZipCodeAdd ======================================== An aswer from someone else. I've got a old Novatron 1500ws pack with four heads that I have basically retired when I got Alien Bee's. I might try and build a bracket for my camera stand that mounts all four heads around the lens and tracks with the camera. Mount the lights top, bottom, left and right and as close to the lens shade as I can get them. I think this might just work. and all it will cost is 1/2 day of fabricating and $20 worth of materials. I want this bracket to have a tab that mounts between the camera and bell head so the the whole arangement will move with the camera. ================= Try using 2 heads with same size softboxes put them side by side with just enough gap to shoot through, and you have a poor man's ringflash. ======== And this is a link to someone who built a small one themselves. You might need to join as a free member to see the information. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/199410 Aug 16 05 12:54 pm Link wow, those are some great ideas on doing it on the cheap. thanks! I'll definitly try some of those. meanwhile, i was sitting here and noticed I have a hanging lamp that looked like it might have potential as a circular reflector. I took it apart and the lamp shade part of it had a center hole that fit perfectly over my 28-70. The inner concave surface of it is bright reflective white. I set up 2 large softboxes almost directly up against the lamp shade on my camera, pointed right at the camera, no direct light falling on me (have to take pix of myself, no one else is around). The shot looked good light-wise and nice ring-like catchlights. Wouldnt be too good for anything other than close-ups though. (my new temporary avatar) Aug 16 05 01:47 pm Link alexwh wrote: Not in every case. I could be wrong here, but I believe the ProFoto cannot be repinned for Norman. I do know that the PF ring can be repinned for Speedo and (what I use) Dyna. Aug 16 05 03:24 pm Link alexwh wrote: I stand corrected. Aug 16 05 03:27 pm Link * Visual Mindscapes * wrote: Ummm, you need a credit card to rent gear. (Unless you know Rob) Aug 16 05 03:33 pm Link I'd love to have a ringflash but you need to get a power pack and that plus the flash would mean i'd have to sell a kidney to get it. Aug 16 05 11:39 pm Link |
