Marumi DRF14 Macro Ring Flash
Marumi DRF14 Ring Flash
I love taking macro shots, and long dreamed of buying a ring flash so that I could light them properly, but I could never really justify spending several hundred pounds for what is a fairly dedicated use. And then this Marumi piece of kit (in Canon and Nikon compatible forms) was released about six months ago, for under £100, and I decided to give it a whirl.
It takes the form of a flashgun shaped attachment which sits in the hotshoe of your camera, and has a wire leading to the ring flash itself. This is secured to the end of your lens using one of the adaptor rings – 55, 58, 62 and 67mm rings are provided which should cover most macro lenses (my Tamron SP AF 90mm macro, for example, has a 55mm filter size).
As you can probably guess from the model number, the guide number for the flash unit is 14m/46ft (at ISO 100), which is the equivalent of the Canon MR-14EX (but almost a quarter the price). The flash takes four AA batteries, and recycle time is around 4 seconds when batteries are fully charged (in my experience).
As you’d expect for the price, there are a couple of negatives to begin with: the build quality isn’t the best, the unit is entirely plastic and wouldn’t survive any kind of abuse or impact (and if you’ve knocked your tripod over as many times as I have, then that is a concern). Also, the adaptor rings have a habit of getting stuck on the end of the lens and are difficult to grip. In fact, I’ve given up trying to remove the one on my Tamron, it’s stuck solid! (Learn from my mistake, don’t tighten them all the way!)
So, it’s cheap, and it’s (supposedly) equal in power to the more expensive options out there – but how does it actually perform?
photo by P. Broome
Surprisingly well is the answer (check out the sample photos)! While you don’t quite get the complete ring effect (due to the flash bulb not being a full circle), the lighting is suitably all encompassing and non-directional, and the colour temperature produced is nice and neutral. I manage to get an average of about 120 shots from one charge of my Energizer 2000mAh AA batteries. Exposure control isn’t a problem, as you get full automatic TTL control of flash power (but not e-TTL), so you don’t have to worry about manual flash settings (just use the Flash Exposure compensation on your camera to tweak the amount of flash, if necessary).
I would question the quoted Guide range though, as when I tried using the flash for some portraits I found the maximum working distance (over which decent lighting control could be maintained) was probably closer to 5m than 14. But having said that, when shooting ring flash portraits you generally wouldn’t want to be further away than that anyway. (Thanks to John for pointing out that this shows that the flash is actually performing as promised, as I’d forgotten to divide the guide range by the aperture I was using! Gah…)
photo by P. Broome
If you’re contemplating this purchase I’d recommend you first to think about how much use it will honestly get. Do you shoot a lot of macros indoors? If so, it will be an excellent purchase that at this price you’re unlikely to regret. If you’re thinking of buying it purely as a cheap option for ring flash portraiture then you’d be best off trying it out first, to make sure it’s powerful enough for your needs. An alternative in this case could be to buy a ring flash adaptor for your main flashgun instead (these are available for the 580EX and the SB800 for about £180).
While we’re on the subject, if you’re shooting with studio flash strobes - here’s a little trick for creating a fake ‘ring flash portrait look’ . Place a single strobe direct on to the subject, then position the camera directly in front of it (on the tripod of course – and far enough away so that it doesn’t get too hot). This creates a simulated ring flash look, as the light comes from all around the camera but not from where the camera is masking it.
10 Comments to Marumi DRF14 Macro Ring Flash
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I got one of these after seeing your cool photos ageeees ago and I really like it. However when I tried it for portraits I always got major red eye problems (that I’m wayy to lazy to fix so gave up) and my cats got wierd green eye (I had to try it out on someone!)
Hmm, I’ll have to try it again for some portraits… can’t say I experienced the red-eye problem the last time though. I’ll report back with my findings!
Good review.
Guide of 14m, ISO 100 Aperture f2.8
Distance = 14/2.8 = 5m exactly. So the Marumi performed as it said on the box.
Think I may buy one.
I have just purchased the Marumi with the intention of trying it out with portraits. Having played with it today, I haven’t found it particularly helpful. Images appear the same with or without the ringflash and the glow effect often associated with the ringflash is non-existent. Am I doing something wrong?
Do you mean you notice no difference between using the ringflash and using an ordinary flash – or that the flash isn’t working at all? If the latter….
Silly question, but – are you sure it’s firing? If it is then it might be a sync problem (i.e. it’s not firing in time with the shutter) – which could be for a number of reasons: mostly either the model you’ve purchased is incompatible with your camera; you’re using a shutter speed above the minimum for the unit (I think it only works up to 1/150sec).
If you think it’s firing okay, how far away from the subject are you? Get in close, and use a wide aperture.
If all of this fails, you could have a dodgy unit. (Try it on a friend’s camera if you can, to reinforce your argument before contacting the supplier).
If the former… you won’t get the big fashion ‘glow’ effect that the powerful ‘professional’ units give you. What you will get is a non-directional light source (so fewer shadows) – which will work best in close-up head/shoulder shots.
I’ve mostly used my Marumi ringflash for macro shots, which it performs wonderfully on. But I have also taken a few self-portraits with it, and I’ve found the light to be nice and flattering.
I just purchased the Marumi DRF14 ring flash for taking macro shots with my Nikon D90 but I am having problems. Sometimes it works and other times the flash fires but I end up with a completely black picture being recorded. Have I just been unlucky and got a duff unit or is their a flash sync problem that can be corrected in camera some how?
Is there any difference with your exposure settings between the times it works and times it doesn’t? (I.e. different shutter speed?) If not, then I would suspect a dodgy unit (really need to try it on somebody else’s camera to verify that though). Make sure your batteries are nice and fresh too (or fully charged if using rechargeables).
Having a quick look on online it seems that people either love or hate this product – which seems to suggest that their are quite a few ‘dodgy’ ones out there…
Ahoy!
FYI, there is a very similar ringflash called the Delta DRF-14 which appears to be exactly the same as the Marumi (could be re-branded). The thing is that the Delta version is available for all mounts.
Type Delta DRF-14 into evilBay and see for yourself. The UK price is circa £74.00 (€85.00). There will be a suffix letter added to identify mount, ie; Delta DRF-14 S (for Sony).
Just some heads-up but would like to know what the guru’s have to say.
I have been searching out the Marumi TTL Macro Ring Flash DRF14 for Nikon to use with a D1, any insight would be grateful.