Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
On Sep 16, 2012, at 7:39 AM, Bruce Walker wrote: Larry: extremely apropos of this convo, read this Strobist article: http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/09/friday-night-lights.html David tapes a strobe to his tele and shoots nighttime sports. Perfect. excellent! Speaking of strobes... I was the official photographer for this year's San Francisco Lindy Exchange. In short the swing dancer community in SF invited Swing dancers from all over the world to SF for a weekend of dancing and camaraderie. Also, some amazing music: Kim Nalley, Gordon Webster, Barbara Morrison and FIl Lorenz. I shot mostly ambient light. At one point this evening there was a special dance to thank all of the volunteers who helped out. Lots of people, dancing fast, in low light, with the band brightly lit in the background. I shot from the mezzanine, and pulled out my AF 540 because that was the only way that I really had any chance of getting decent shots, and was reminded once again of what a festering piece of unrepentant shit that flash is. This flash has already been to Pentax several times for repairs. Both for a busted mount, and for exactly these problems. The mount has theoretically been fixed, but the flash has continued to have the same problems on my K100, K20, K-x and K-5. If you lob it an easy serve, in simple lighting when what you need is automatic exposure, and there is nothing to confuse anything, it can do an awesome job. It's got a lot of power. And when the metering works, especially for fill, particularly when it needs a lot of fill, it does great. But tonight, with the bright lights on the band in the background, in P-TTL it would not flash bright enough to effectively illuminate the dancers. I set it to manual, or tried. It wouldn't go into manual. I took the flash off, put it on. Turned it off, turned it back on. It would go into manual, until I did something audacious like touch the shutter, at which point it would to into P-TTL. Some times it would seem to stay in manual, but it wouldn't make any difference. So I'd boost the sensitivity up a stop. No difference. I'd boost it again. No difference. I'd boost it again, and now everything in the frame is over exposed by four stops, or more. I'd really think that the one thing that a flash would be able to do right is work in manual mode. It's about the easiest possible thing. It doesn't need to talk to the camera, except to fire when the camera says, and to spew as many photons as you tell it to. The fact that the flagship Pentax flash can't even get this simple thing right is unconscionable. And if, by some chance, my flash is an anomaly, and every other AF540 on the planet works perfectly, the fact that Pentax repair couldn't fix it after three or four tries is surpassed only by the fact that they've had three or four tries in which to get it right. I love their cameras, but if you value your money, your patience, or maintaining a good mood when taking pictures, don't spend a single dollar on Pentax strobes. On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 7:06 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Sep 10, 2012, at 3:47 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: On your musician idea: if you are shooting them any further than a couple of feet away, by the point that the light reaches them you'll hardly be able to tell the difference between light from a macro ring flash and a regular hammerhead flash, except that the ring flash has a puny light output in comparison. The main advantage is that it stays pointing exactly where the lens is pointing. Just put various light modifiers, lenses, grids, etc. on a AF360 or AF540 (or Vivitar) and you'll get a light almost indistinguishable from a macro ring flash at that distance. [...] -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
From the sounds of it, your 540 is most likely seriously broken. I think the biggest Pentax issue here is that after so many attempts to repair it, they should have offered you a brand new one in exchange. Pentax service is really hit and miss. A couple of things for you to check though: How hard to you push over the 'shoe locking lever? I find there's a Goldilocks point: not too hard, not too soft. If you don't engage the lever, the flash may shift in the shoe breaking contact. If you ream it over too hard, the locking pin lifts the flash in the shoe, again breaking contacts. The lever should be pushed to the right lightly, to about the 5 o'clock position viewed from above. Dirty contacts: have you tried cleaning both the pins on the flash and the contact pads in the hotshoe of the camera using contact cleaner fluid? Dirty contacts are deadly for these things. You will get more consistent manual operation if the flash is not mounted in the hotshoe, I find. If you use it handheld or mounted on a coldshoe, triggered optically, it's reliable. Or if you attach it to a wireless trigger so it's only using the center pin, it should be more reliable. And be sure and defeat the auto-sleep mode in the config settings. If it never goes to sleep it will never forget its mode or settings. On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Sep 16, 2012, at 7:39 AM, Bruce Walker wrote: Larry: extremely apropos of this convo, read this Strobist article: http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/09/friday-night-lights.html David tapes a strobe to his tele and shoots nighttime sports. Perfect. excellent! Speaking of strobes... I was the official photographer for this year's San Francisco Lindy Exchange. In short the swing dancer community in SF invited Swing dancers from all over the world to SF for a weekend of dancing and camaraderie. Also, some amazing music: Kim Nalley, Gordon Webster, Barbara Morrison and FIl Lorenz. I shot mostly ambient light. At one point this evening there was a special dance to thank all of the volunteers who helped out. Lots of people, dancing fast, in low light, with the band brightly lit in the background. I shot from the mezzanine, and pulled out my AF 540 because that was the only way that I really had any chance of getting decent shots, and was reminded once again of what a festering piece of unrepentant shit that flash is. This flash has already been to Pentax several times for repairs. Both for a busted mount, and for exactly these problems. The mount has theoretically been fixed, but the flash has continued to have the same problems on my K100, K20, K-x and K-5. If you lob it an easy serve, in simple lighting when what you need is automatic exposure, and there is nothing to confuse anything, it can do an awesome job. It's got a lot of power. And when the metering works, especially for fill, particularly when it needs a lot of fill, it does great. But tonight, with the bright lights on the band in the background, in P-TTL it would not flash bright enough to effectively illuminate the dancers. I set it to manual, or tried. It wouldn't go into manual. I took the flash off, put it on. Turned it off, turned it back on. It would go into manual, until I did something audacious like touch the shutter, at which point it would to into P-TTL. Some times it would seem to stay in manual, but it wouldn't make any difference. So I'd boost the sensitivity up a stop. No difference. I'd boost it again. No difference. I'd boost it again, and now everything in the frame is over exposed by four stops, or more. I'd really think that the one thing that a flash would be able to do right is work in manual mode. It's about the easiest possible thing. It doesn't need to talk to the camera, except to fire when the camera says, and to spew as many photons as you tell it to. The fact that the flagship Pentax flash can't even get this simple thing right is unconscionable. And if, by some chance, my flash is an anomaly, and every other AF540 on the planet works perfectly, the fact that Pentax repair couldn't fix it after three or four tries is surpassed only by the fact that they've had three or four tries in which to get it right. I love their cameras, but if you value your money, your patience, or maintaining a good mood when taking pictures, don't spend a single dollar on Pentax strobes. On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 7:06 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Sep 10, 2012, at 3:47 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: On your musician idea: if you are shooting them any further than a couple of feet away, by the point that the light reaches them you'll hardly be able to tell the difference between light from a macro ring flash and a regular hammerhead flash, except that the ring flash has a puny light output in comparison. The main advantage is that it stays pointing exactly where the lens
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
How about one of these, http://www.bellparts.com/enlarge/495572/ and one of these, http://www.frys.com/product/5351708 plus a pair of 9V batteries, a switch, and some wire ... and probably some duct tape, somewhere along the line. Or Shoe Goo. -- Doug Lefty Franklin NutDriver Racing http://NutDriver.org Facebook NutDriver Racing Sponsored by Murphy -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
Larry: extremely apropos of this convo, read this Strobist article: http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/09/friday-night-lights.html David tapes a strobe to his tele and shoots nighttime sports. Perfect. On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 7:06 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: On Sep 10, 2012, at 3:47 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: On your musician idea: if you are shooting them any further than a couple of feet away, by the point that the light reaches them you'll hardly be able to tell the difference between light from a macro ring flash and a regular hammerhead flash, except that the ring flash has a puny light output in comparison. The main advantage is that it stays pointing exactly where the lens is pointing. Just put various light modifiers, lenses, grids, etc. on a AF360 or AF540 (or Vivitar) and you'll get a light almost indistinguishable from a macro ring flash at that distance. [...] -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
Thanks. It's interesting, there seem to be two models. DR-5000 which is a strobe http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1123/dr-5000 and a DR-6000 which is an LED ringlight. http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1124/dr-6000 They also seem to be listed as having the same guide number. On Sep 7, 2012, at 9:38 PM, J.C. O'Connell wrote: dont know if its suitable for you or not but this is the item number: EBAY Item number: 330758114943 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of J.C. O'Connell Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 12:25 AM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? there are vivitar generic ring led flashes on ebay for about $70 GN of 60 at ISO 100, pretty powerful. Not sure if they have manual flash power control or not.model DR-6000 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 11:30 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
I didn't think that guide numbers had any real meaning except when using flash. On 9/10/2012 3:39 AM, Larry Colen wrote: Thanks. It's interesting, there seem to be two models. DR-5000 which is a strobe http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1123/dr-5000 and a DR-6000 which is an LED ringlight. http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1124/dr-6000 They also seem to be listed as having the same guide number. On Sep 7, 2012, at 9:38 PM, J.C. O'Connell wrote: dont know if its suitable for you or not but this is the item number: EBAY Item number: 330758114943 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of J.C. O'Connell Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 12:25 AM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? there are vivitar generic ring led flashes on ebay for about $70 GN of 60 at ISO 100, pretty powerful. Not sure if they have manual flash power control or not.model DR-6000 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 11:30 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- Don't lose heart, they might want to cut it out, and they'll want to avoid a lengthly search. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
On Sep 10, 2012, at 5:16 AM, P. J. Alling wrote: I didn't think that guide numbers had any real meaning except when using flash. Neither did I. They probably don't, but most sites are still listing the LED macro ring light as having a guide number of 18m. On 9/10/2012 3:39 AM, Larry Colen wrote: Thanks. It's interesting, there seem to be two models. DR-5000 which is a strobe http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1123/dr-5000 and a DR-6000 which is an LED ringlight. http://www.vivitar.com/products/9/flashes-and-accessories/1124/dr-6000 They also seem to be listed as having the same guide number. On Sep 7, 2012, at 9:38 PM, J.C. O'Connell wrote: dont know if its suitable for you or not but this is the item number: EBAY Item number: 330758114943 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of J.C. O'Connell Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 12:25 AM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? there are vivitar generic ring led flashes on ebay for about $70 GN of 60 at ISO 100, pretty powerful. Not sure if they have manual flash power control or not.model DR-6000 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 11:30 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- Don't lose heart, they might want to cut it out, and they'll want to avoid a lengthly search. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
From: Larry Colen On Sep 10, 2012, at 5:16 AM, P. J. Alling wrote: I didn't think that guide numbers had any real meaning except when using flash. Neither did I. They probably don't, but most sites are still listing the LED macro ring light as having a guide number of 18m. They don't tell you anything other than how far away you can be for a given f-stop or what f-stop you need to use at a given distance. ... if you can remember the formula have a calculator handy. Other than that, which gives more light; the one with a guide number of 18m or the one with a guide number of 60ft? Doesn't really matter what kind light it is. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
on 2012-09-08 10:47 John Sessoms wrote I've had an idea of scrounging up a whole bunch of those disposable cameras that have flash disassembling them to get enough of those to make my own. Thinking of mounting them around something like a ring frisbee. used flashes are so cheap and plentiful that i'd think you could do a better job with three or four of them at a similar cost rather than disassembling single-use cameras -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
It's beginning to look like any inexpensive new ring flash I find is going to have enough shortcomings that it won't have the flexibility for me to use it for some of the things I'd want to use it for. As such, I'm going to put getting a ring flash on the back burner in hopes that I find a good used one sometime at a price that I'll be able to afford when it is available. One of the things that I'd like to try with one is gridding it to use it as a narrow spot when photographing musicians. For composition reasons, it'd be nice if it weren't dead center, but even if it means throwing away some resolution, it would put the nominally most important subject in the sharpest part of the lens, and half, or three quarters of the time, the one third point you choose to aim the flash at would be wrong anyways. I've tried gridding my AF 540, but it's always a challenge to get it to aim where I want it, with parallax and everything. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
From: steve harley on 2012-09-08 10:47 John Sessoms wrote I've had an idea of scrounging up a whole bunch of those disposable cameras that have flash disassembling them to get enough of those to make my own. Thinking of mounting them around something like a ring frisbee. used flashes are so cheap and plentiful that i'd think you could do a better job with three or four of them at a similar cost rather than disassembling single-use cameras It was an idea I had when I was running a mini-lab and accumulating a bushel of used single use cameras every week. The lab I ran had its film processor removed some time last year - replaced with a wide carriage inkjet - so it will likely never get beyond the had an idea stage. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
Larry, take it from me: if you are buying a macro ring flash hoping to do anything other than shooting small objects well lit close up, you are wasting your money and time. On your musician idea: if you are shooting them any further than a couple of feet away, by the point that the light reaches them you'll hardly be able to tell the difference between light from a macro ring flash and a regular hammerhead flash, except that the ring flash has a puny light output in comparison. Just put various light modifiers, lenses, grids, etc. on a AF360 or AF540 (or Vivitar) and you'll get a light almost indistinguishable from a macro ring flash at that distance. The macro ring flashes have no way to narrow the beam spread like their bigger brothers do either. The spread is probably 120 degrees or so. Ring flashes for studio work (portrait, fashion) are much larger in diameter and often have beauty-dish-like features so they are more focussed. On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 5:33 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It's beginning to look like any inexpensive new ring flash I find is going to have enough shortcomings that it won't have the flexibility for me to use it for some of the things I'd want to use it for. As such, I'm going to put getting a ring flash on the back burner in hopes that I find a good used one sometime at a price that I'll be able to afford when it is available. One of the things that I'd like to try with one is gridding it to use it as a narrow spot when photographing musicians. For composition reasons, it'd be nice if it weren't dead center, but even if it means throwing away some resolution, it would put the nominally most important subject in the sharpest part of the lens, and half, or three quarters of the time, the one third point you choose to aim the flash at would be wrong anyways. I've tried gridding my AF 540, but it's always a challenge to get it to aim where I want it, with parallax and everything. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
On Sep 10, 2012, at 3:47 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: Larry, take it from me: if you are buying a macro ring flash hoping to do anything other than shooting small objects well lit close up, you are wasting your money and time. Two things that I seem to be exceptional at. On your musician idea: if you are shooting them any further than a couple of feet away, by the point that the light reaches them you'll hardly be able to tell the difference between light from a macro ring flash and a regular hammerhead flash, except that the ring flash has a puny light output in comparison. The main advantage is that it stays pointing exactly where the lens is pointing. Just put various light modifiers, lenses, grids, etc. on a AF360 or AF540 (or Vivitar) and you'll get a light almost indistinguishable from a macro ring flash at that distance. The macro ring flashes have no way to narrow the beam spread like their bigger brothers do either. The spread is probably 120 degrees or so. good to know. Ring flashes for studio work (portrait, fashion) are much larger in diameter and often have beauty-dish-like features so they are more focussed. Also good to know. Thanks. On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 5:33 PM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It's beginning to look like any inexpensive new ring flash I find is going to have enough shortcomings that it won't have the flexibility for me to use it for some of the things I'd want to use it for. As such, I'm going to put getting a ring flash on the back burner in hopes that I find a good used one sometime at a price that I'll be able to afford when it is available. One of the things that I'd like to try with one is gridding it to use it as a narrow spot when photographing musicians. For composition reasons, it'd be nice if it weren't dead center, but even if it means throwing away some resolution, it would put the nominally most important subject in the sharpest part of the lens, and half, or three quarters of the time, the one third point you choose to aim the flash at would be wrong anyways. I've tried gridding my AF 540, but it's always a challenge to get it to aim where I want it, with parallax and everything. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
From: Larry Colen Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. I've had an idea of scrounging up a whole bunch of those disposable cameras that have flash disassembling them to get enough of those to make my own. Thinking of mounting them around something like a ring frisbee. I suppose you could vary the power by putting 12 of them on the ring like the numbers on a clock. Low power would be 12, 3, 6, 9; add 1, 4, 7, 10 for medium power and all 12 for high power. Instead of mounting it on the camera you'd mount it on a lightstand just point the lens through the hole in the middle. Haven't given it much more thought than that. Haven't figured out how I'd power it or trigger it. Never got around to taking one of those little cameras apart to see how they triggered the flash the place I used to work no longer has their film processor so I can't get them from there ... I was still on good terms with my former cow-orkers assuming they haven't been fired since I was. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
You can use a standard flash unit and just mount it on a butterfly bracket. That is just a DIY bracket that puts the flash in front of the camera lens for macro shooting. This is an old one that I used for several years, I have a more elegant design these days but it places the flash in essentially the same place - http://www.markcassino.com/b2evolution/media/DSCN6239.jpg Sorry for the small photo but back in 2006 when I posted that I did not post very big. The full post is here: http://www.markcassino.com/b2evolution/index.php/how_to_photograph_insects A lower powered flash is best because you will probably be shooting closer than the minimum distance that the flash is specified for. I aim my flash so that it actually discharges mostly above the subject with the subject being lit more indirectly. Mark On 9/7/2012 11:29 PM, Larry Colen wrote: Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
there are vivitar generic ring led flashes on ebay for about $70 GN of 60 at ISO 100, pretty powerful. Not sure if they have manual flash power control or not.model DR-6000 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 11:30 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash?
dont know if its suitable for you or not but this is the item number: EBAY Item number: 330758114943 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of J.C. O'Connell Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 12:25 AM To: 'Pentax-Discuss Mail List' Subject: RE: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? there are vivitar generic ring led flashes on ebay for about $70 GN of 60 at ISO 100, pretty powerful. Not sure if they have manual flash power control or not.model DR-6000 - J.C.O'Connell hifis...@gate.net - -Original Message- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Larry Colen Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 11:30 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Anybody got a line on an inexpensive ring flash? Unfortunately, when I started digging into what it would cost to upgrade my tripod/monopod heads, and do it right, it rapidly exceeded my birthday present budget. I was trying to photograph a spider eating a fly this afternoon, and tried several variations of the flash, including my el cheapo passive ringflash adapter, which threw away too much light for what I was trying to do. I don't have $500 to buy the Pentax ring flash, at least not new. I don't care if it's pure manual operation. I'd like it to be powerful enough that I could also use it for fill when doing portrait photography. I think I'd prefer flash to LED, because if I'm hand holding a macro shot, anything that'll help freeze motion is helpful. Especially if I'm photographing a flower and it's at all breezy outside. Anybody have any recommendations of flashes to look at? Or, for that matter, ones to avoid? Or know of any awesome deals on a used one. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
