Introduction: Hello, I'm a newcomer to this group, but I have been an amateur photographer for about 45 years. Within the last few years, I had done some photo articles for "Radio World," Cover for "Sight and Sound," "MRT magazine," and BE Radio. Mostly technical. My day job WAS software development. ***Looking for a Ringlight flash for nature macro closeups?*** Forget the Digi-slave L-Ring Ultra II LED Ring Light if you want depth of field and low ISO numbers. I was looking for an inexpensive alternative to Canon's 0.00 E-TTL Ringlight flash. I was attracted to the Ultra II for it's 0.00 price tag. I ultimately returned it, possibly with 15% restocking fee. Reason, WEAK! This Ringlight flash might be good for setups like eBay photography using a tripod, but when I tried to use it on some outdoor plants, the power just isn't there. Even with ISO 3200 on my Canon 20D, I had to use either a fairly wide f stop or lower speed. It just doesn't cut the mustard. It would make a good night flashlight also. In the meantime, I tried using my Sunpak 383 in manual mode with remote trigger chord, holding the camera with one hand and the flash with another with pleasing results. I was able to move the flash anywhere I wanted, next to the lens, below the flowers, backlight, etc. All things you can't do with a ringlight flash. I was easily able to shoot at ISO 100, f32, 1/200 second. Not only that, I was even able to stack the Canon 100mm macro lens on the end of my complete set of extension tubes for significantly more magnification. The Sunpak did the job. I was still interested in a ring light, so after returning the Ultra II, I thought my only option was to go for broke on the Canon MR-14EX TTL Ring Lite Flash. Then I decided to allow myself a cooling off period, which lasted about 4 hours. After doing some of the research that I should have done in the first place, I found recommendations to use an extension arm flash bracket with references to ("Close-ups in Nature" by John Shaw) such as the Kirk Macro Flash Bracket [URL]http://www.kirkphoto.com/brackets.html#extenarm[/URL] This would accomplish what I had already done by twisting myself into a pretzel to hold the flash in various positions. I had tried to find a review of the Ultra II, but found none. So, if no one has said it as yet, let this be a mini-review. My newest page: Butterfly Milkweeds [URL]http://www.j-hawkins.com/BFMilkweed.html[/URL] Most close-ups were done by either using ISO 400 or pushing ISO 100 in Photoshop. I discovered it was a better idea to use the higher ISO speed (400) if you don't have enough light. But it's even better to use a good flash setup and use ISO 100. Enjoy, Jim Hawkins - Part time freelance writer/photographer. Home: [URL]http://www-j-hawkins.com/[/URL] e-mail: radiopage01 (AT) j-hawkins (DOT) com PS: Using a high enough ISO to get a proper exposure with some noise is better than pushing a low ISO because the lack of detail data is replaced with a less desirable, plaid like pattern, which is harder to get rid of than evenly distributed noise.
