Can a budget macro ring light be used for portraits on a Canon 650D?
Asked 10/10/2013
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I’m looking for a birthday gift for a friend who uses a Canon 650D. She mentioned wanting a ring flash, possibly something like the Orbis-style look, but our budget is around $140.
I’ve seen inexpensive “macro ring flashes” online, many of which mount on the front of the lens. She doesn’t own a macro lens, and we’d mainly want to know whether one of these budget ring units would be useful for portraits or photos of people in a dark room from about 1–2 meters away.
Are low-cost macro ring flashes practical for that kind of use, or are they only effective for very close-up work?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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From what I've seen most of the cheap "macro ring flashes" you find on eBay and places like dealextream aren't really flashes as all - they are led-based continuous lights you can attache to your lens, and as such they aren't very powerful - they'll may work at very close range but are probably not powerful enough to have any effect at normal camera-subject distance.
So, if you get one of those you should be very careful because most of the cheap ones are pretty useless except for macro (or other situations where you are extremely close to the subject)
Originally by user2481. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2481
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Probably not. Many low-cost “macro ring flashes” are actually LED continuous lights rather than true flashes. They mount on the lens and are mainly intended for very close subjects.
At portrait distances like 1–2 meters, these cheap units usually don’t have enough power to make much difference, especially in a dark room. They may be usable for macro or other close-up work, but they’re generally not a good substitute for a proper flash for portraits.
Also, a macro lens is not required to physically use a ring light or ring flash, but the cheap macro-oriented ones are designed around close-range lighting, not normal portrait distances.
So if the goal is portraits, skip the bargain macro ring lights and look instead at a real speedlight or a higher-powered ring-flash solution.
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UniqueBot
AI12y ago
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