Macro Ring Light

[BillyPilgrim]

Just wondered if anyone had experience with one of these?

Are they any good etc..? Can you get a good quality image with them?

Battery life doesn't really bother me. I just want to be able to illuminate the subject to enable me to achieve higher shutter speeds and smaller apertures.

I've been looking at the Neewer Ring Light, which you can get for less than £35.

[Andy Warne]

Hi Billy,
I bought one of the Neewer ring lights. Excellent value for money, well-made, daylight balanced(as near as), even illumination, but just not bright enough to be useful for general hand-held macro photography.
Useful for studio photography only in my opinion.

Hope that helps,
Andy

[Geoff F]

I think it really depends on what you want to photograph, as Andy said.

I did consider one of the expensive Canon lights but eventually thought the equipment was too cumbersome and a bit fragile for the way that I work in the wild. I suspect that the first time my tripod fell over (a common occurance with me) would be the end of the light. Chasing furtive insects through the undergrowth always has it's risks; but inanimate subjects like flowers, etc are a lot simpler.

So, for occasional use, I still remove my lens hood and use the camera in built flash but with all manual settings which does take a bit of getting used to. Keep your fingers under the lens while focusing and be prepared to increase the ISO to achieve a suitable shutter speed and aperture.

However, if a ring light sounds suitable for you they will give a more even light without any risk of shadow problems.

[BillyPilgrim]

Cheers for the replies. I think I'll wait until my extension tubes and focus rail arrive and do a bit of experimenting with my external flash before deciding whether or not to buy one.