When we do macro photography on small products like jewelry, light tent or light box may remain the best option. But when we get into a situation where dragging the subject on to the table is not at all possible we have to use either ambient or portable lighting.
The easiest setup is using the flash. But there are many issues in using flash for macro photography. When the object is too close and falls into the shadow of the lens, on-camera flash may not be able to illuminate it. Taking the flash off the camera – either wired or wireless – can somehow overcome this problem. The second issue is that for macro, even the smallest flash power can be too harsh and burns out details in overcast.
To overcome these two issues, equipment manufacturers like Canon and Nikon offers their own version of macro ring light. Illuminating evenly from a circle instead of monolight, it gives softer illumination which is perfect for very close distance. Attached at the front tip of the lens, it ensures correct illumination regardles how close the object is. Later on they also offer newer twin light instead of ring. Some other third-party manufacturers like Sigma also offer similar product. The trap here however is price which plays at around $500 at least.
I did not pay real attention the first time I heard a new product called StarLite. Attached to shoe-mounted flash, StarLite basically direct the ligher blown by the flash into a kind of tunnel, formed as a ring around the lens. My first logical impression was a doubt whether light can be tunnelled around like water, especially at a speed which match the shutter. However, after a few discussions with a friend who – though he may not be a real professional – had a number of product photography assignments, all of which invloved small products like foods and electonic gadgets, I decided to put the investment.
When I ordered one, I got to know that it has different sizes to fit different combination of flash and camera body. Distance between the mounted flash-head and lens is the most critical measurement, whilst size of flash-head can be a bit more flexible. My setup of Canon 550EX and Canon EOS 5D requires the largest size which costed me about $75.
When it arrived, I was a bit surprised with the size of the box. Inside was the unit plus a rubber strap was supplied to protect the flash head from scratch made by the pastic attachment. Finish was quite okay for Chinese product. Don’t compare to branded products like Nikon and Canon. Chinese product is Chiense product, it ranges from crap to okay, never good or even excellent. Okay is the best thing you could ever get.
First the rubber strap goes into the flash head, then plastic mounting goes in to fit around the flash head. The mounting is a bit flexible so it may fit a fews different types with not so much different size. Velcro strap is available to tighten the mounting. Then the light ring gets around the lens before mounting the flash hot shoe onto the camera. Quite a simple procedure, just need a bit of extra care.
Whilst the specification mentioned that E-TTL (I-TTL on Nikon) works, after a few shots I found out that there was a bit of light lost. So shooting in E-TTL, a bit of flash compensation is required. In my experience 2/3 is about right almost all situation I tested. But I do not really care as I found that for these kind of shots, I prefer to go for manual setting.
To a surprise, the result is quite satisfactory. Object is evenly lit in soft but adequate lighting. The only trap is that ligting evenly distributed around the object, resulting in rather dull and flat result. Most situations can be worked around by taking it from bit of angled direction. But in certain situations when depth of field is very thin, taking angled shot may not give enough. But knowing that the same result will be produced in using dedicated, branded ring light, it is not a real issue. Maybe this is the reason why manufacturers then offer twin light, each of which can be controlled separately.
I was told that another area where this equipment shoud work – I have never tested though – is portraiture. I understand that there are ring light for portraiture especially in studio works, however, its circle tends to be quite large, larger than human face. I am not sure if thish small ring can do the same.
Nice tips. I’m also a big fan of cheap stuff as a “pricey” solution. There’s nothing wrong to give a try of those chinese products, then we’ll know the result, well sometimes it’s crappy, most of the times “okay”, but once or twice i got “great” result from chinese products.