What is a macro ring flash?

Usually, the ring flash is mostly used for macro shooting, and the ring luminous body can give the object a light environment with uniform irradiation and no obvious one-sided shadow, similar to the shadowless lamp on the operating table. Some photographers also use high-power ring flash in portrait shooting, in order to eliminate the obvious outline shadow left on the back of portrait after the orientation of ordinary single-point flash.

Below, this article will teach you to shoot good macro works.

Macro is a subject that people often shoot. However, to shoot good macro works, not only patience and excellent photography technology are needed, but also higher requirements for equipment are required. For example, you may need a macro lens and a tripod that can be easily adjusted. If you want to go further, you may need light compensation equipment, and the macro ring flash specially built for macro photography is the ultimate weapon of macro light compensation.

What do you know about macro ring flash?

Different from the ordinary hot shoe flash, the macro ring flash specially designed for macro photography often has a split structure, the control part is installed on the hot shoe of the fuselage flash, and the lamp cap part is directly installed in front of the lens. The purpose of this is to make the light source as close as possible to the subject, so that the light will not be blocked by the lens. This paper takes Canon's macro ring flash system as an example to provide a detailed reference for everyone to understand macro ring flash.

Speaking of Canon's current macro flash system, there are two main models for you to choose from. One is the macro ring flash MR- 14EX, which is the standard macro ring flash (Canon has just released its upgraded model, Mr-14EXII); The other is the higher-end macro dual-lamp flash MT-24EX, which is more playable and of course more expensive. These two kinds of macro flashlights are put in front of the author, which is naturally expensive. Therefore, the protagonist of this paper is MT-24EX with double lamp caps. Well, before it's too late, let's learn what macro flash is.

What is macro flash and what is its use?

For rigorous macro photography, the biggest challenge is not the lens, but the lighting. Imagine that when we want the magnification of 1: 1, the distance from the front end of the lens to the subject is often measured in centimeters. In this case, the use of ordinary flash or ever-burning lamp may be blocked by the lens, and the expected light distribution effect cannot be achieved. The macro ring flash installed in front of the lens can solve this problem well.

The reason why it is designed as a ring or double lamp holder is the same as the shadowless lamp in the operating room in principle. Use multiple light sources to counteract shadows, so that a softer light and shadow effect can be obtained. Of course, the soft light effect of macro ring flash is also conditional. The closer the shooting distance, the better the effect will be. If you flash a portrait with a macro ring, it will be harder. This principle will be extended: the bigger the light source, the closer it is and the softer it is. Let's make up for it first, not here.

It is worth noting that Canon's two macro ring flashlights are installed with a diameter of 58mm, which means that they can perfectly match Canon's old 100 micron lens. However, if you are a new lens with 100 micron, you need a 58-to-67 adapter ring to use it, and the price is about 200 RMB.

Canon MT-24EX is still very adjustable, which gives us more room to choose lighting. Although it looks complicated, this thing is actually quite convenient to adjust. The above mainly shows Canon MT-24EX lamp. Compared with its little brother MT- 14EX, the adjustable range is relatively small, and the position of the annular lamp holder is fixed, so we can only adjust the light ratio of the lamps on both sides of AB, so I won't say much here. After understanding the basic structure of macro flash, let's start shooting.

How to use macro ring flash? How big is the adjustment?

I believe that friends who play with lights should be familiar with the control part of Canon MT-24EX, and all kinds of information are displayed on the screen. It can be seen that this macro ring flash supports ETTL metering (which can be simply considered as automatic gear) and also has the main control function. In addition to its own AB double lamp holder, it can also wirelessly control the third slave lamp (that is, the C lamp). From the author's experience, this is very useful because we

In addition to ETTL, there is no doubt that Canon MT-24EX also supports M-range full manual operation, and the output range of each lamp holder can be adjusted from full power to the lowest 1/64. We can accurately define the light ratio of two lamp holders to achieve the desired lighting effect.

Well, the functions and basic usage of Canon MT-24EX are almost covered. It can be seen that the adjustable range of the lamp is still very large, and various lighting effects can be arranged according to your own ideas. For example, if you think that AB double lights are equally bright and can't highlight the texture well, then you should brighten one as the main light and dim the other as the supplementary light. Change this a little, and the texture will be much better immediately. Next, we enter the real shooting session.

The closer the actual combat link is, the better the effect will be.

Let's share with you some usage methods of Canon MT-24EX. Friends who play with lighting should know that coaxial light (light in the same position as the lens) can eliminate shadows well, but it will not get any good results in highlighting materials. Therefore, the author has prepared a Canon 580EXII flash for use as subordinate C light. Putting C light in the opposite direction can not only outline the outline, but also better shape the detailed texture of the coin surface.

Canon MT-24EX's double lampholders have better soft light effect when the distance is close. As the distance between the lampholders and the subject increases, the light will become harder and harder. Is there any way to remedy it? We'll talk later.

In addition, the two lamp caps of Canon MT-24EX can not only rotate around the lens, but also be removed by hand and installed on a tripod. This design greatly broadens the fun of playing with lights.

Advanced practical DIY soft mask makes the flash softer.

When the shooting distance is not particularly small, the soft light effect of macro ring flash will be greatly reduced (because the lamp holder is a point light source, it will become a ray if it is far away. . ), it will give people a dazzling sense of sharpness. What if you want softer light? It's simple. DIY with soft mask is enough, and the effect will be improved immediately.

Soft light cover special for DIY macro double lamp holder

Well, yes, you are right. This is a soft light solution. Put a translucent white plastic bag in front of the lamp holder to turn a point light source into a surface light source. The light will naturally be much softer. Although it looks like a village, the effect is really good. Looking at it from another angle, if Canon MT-24EX has any shortcomings and no good soft light scheme and accessories, it should be regarded as a place that can be improved.

Canon MT-24EX can also be used as a coaxial fill light when not taking macro shots, such as portraits. In this case, the shadow on the front of the subject can be well eliminated, and the effect is good.

Ok, how to play macro ring flash, I believe everyone should know about it. Compared with Canon MT-24EX, the younger brother Canon MT- 14EX has similar functions, but the adjustable range of the lamp holder is weaker and the power is smaller. Of course, the price will be cheaper. Friends who like to shoot macro, may wish to choose a suitable macro ring flash according to their own needs and budget. I believe that with such a sharp weapon in hand, photos will naturally be moved to a higher level.