canon
“Just send out one dude and a 5D Mark 2…”
Mysterious Aussie caught on a 5D Mark II, bigging up the 5D Mark II!
Reader Query: External Canon Flash
“I am just about to buy the 430ex flash. Now that can go straight onto my camera, right? I guess its going to take a heck of a lot of fiddling to get that thing working right. Do i need a remote for it while its on my camera, or will it work in sync?
As for off-camera flash, well I’ve started reading the strobist blog but I guess I will have to compile a list of what I need to buy… What do you recommend? Stand and umbrella? What kind of remote system do you have for using your flash off-camera?
I’m guessing that I need to purchase a hot shoe adaptor as I dont have the socket on my 400D …or do I? lol.. are these specific for Canon only or can i get one on eBay? I think that’s my main question for now 
” - Kerrie.
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…) › Continue reading
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