I am using a Canon 1DsII with a Canon 100 macro. I am using this for nature shots such as flowers, insects etc. Lighting is clearly an issue for indoor work. From what I can deduce, the macro twin seems to be the recommended route rather than the macro ring. This is a new arena for me. I would appreciate any direction from those with experience.
Thank you in advance.
Carl Laskin

BTW...I have actually been around LL for a few years. I had to re-register to fix a posting error. I'll get beyond it.

I'm no expert, but the ring flash will give you flat lighting (no modelling-style shadows for a 3D effect), whereas the twin flash can give directional lighting by having one flash head on lower power, or reflect one flash head off a reflector. I think the twin flash will give you better results in most situations.

IIRC, the ring flash has individually adjustable power levels for each side, so that isn't really an issue.

The macro twin lights are detachable from their mounts on the front of the lens attachment also, giving much more flexibility in placement for more control of the direction of the light... this aspect alone would be worth it over the ring flash...

Just my .02



*steve

OK! I didn't know that! (But now you mention it, I think I do remember - it must be obviously that I don't own one myself.)

Thank you all for your comments.
Carl

Jonathan,
Thank you for your comments. Are you suggesting that I can get the same flexibility from a ring flash that I can from the twin?
Carl

Yes. From B&H:

True but the two halves of the ring flash will be closer together than the two macro lights so you will get less pronounced modelling. That's fine for very close but not so good for not so close e.g. 1:4. Macro lights give excellent results on flowers and fungi, I'm not so sure about the ring flash.

Leif

The twin flash will give you more control than the ring flash. However for indoor work with flowers and anything else that is not running away or waving in the wind I would use a sturdy tripod and focus slide with ambient light from a window by preference and perhaps a reflector or two.

I share your preference for natural light. I've never liked the unnatural black backgrounds in flash photos, though that is a personal judgement. But I find that fill flash can help lift an image.

Presumably the macro and ring flashes both allow you to dial in e.g. -2 stops fill flash, in addition to having one tube fire at a stop or two less than the other? I know Nikon allow this and I presume Canon do too.

Leif

Lester,
Thank you very much for your thoughts and comments.
Carl

You'd be amazed what you can do with a small single flash like the 220EX and a reflector: Flash on a Wimberley, Kirk or RRS flash arm -- or even a Stroboframe flash bracket -- say high left to the subject, reflector (12" silver or soft-gold, or a softer look if you use white) held level right about same distance away from the subject as the flash. This will almost always generate a very pleasing 2:1 lighting ratio which you can vary by moving the reflector closer to or farther from the subject. Use this as supplemental lighting to ambient at say +1 stop and you will have a tough time telling it from natural light

I personally prefer the Wimberley as it folds pretty compact: http://www.tripodhead.com/products/flash-bracket-main.cfm

I used to use ordinary flashes on brackets for macro in the old FD manual days. This is OK, but heavy and bulky for use in the field.

I don't use flash for much other than insect macro so a special macro flash will be more useful. If macro is a side interest it is probably worth considering brackets.

My experience with macro is with unmoving small archaeological objects, down to about the size of a small fingernail. I've used a ring flash, never the twin flash, but my best shots have always come with natural light and reflectors. I've got some of those small collapsible ring reflectors in silver, gold and white, that are about the size of a dinner plate, and I've found that you can get much subtler effects and (I think) better color transitions than with flash; I've always thought that the flash was just too close, and too directional, but then, I've never used the twin flash arrangement. With the reflectors, you can focus and then look directly at the object (instead of through the viewfinder) and manipulate the light until it's exactly like you want it, before firing the camera.

My biggest problem was that I used to do this outdoors in the desert in the Middle East and I'd sweat so badly that sometimes I couldn't see...

JC

The more specific (or limited) your application, the more specialized you can make your setup. If you contemplate a wide variety of subjects and shooting circumstances, then versatility will be the key.

I have owned a ring light for a long time, but haven't mounted it on the camera in at least 5 years. It's a case that I also own multiple strobes and reflectors, and especially with live subjects in the field something else always seems to work better in terms of the results I want. Hard to beat the ring light for convenience on really close shots, but for my uses it is limited to only that situation.

In my uses the ring light is best with a 50mm macro, but progressively less useful with 100mm and 200mm macro lens which stretch yourshooting distance. If you aren't right down to minimum focusing distances with your 100, you may find the narrow incident angle between your subject and the light will precludes effective use of the side lighting features of the ring.