Canon MR-14EX for "Hand Held" Macro shots?.....

[mypoppy31]

I've just been a bit stunned at seeing some Macro shots on PBase taken with a Canon MR-14EX Ring Lite. What stunned me was that they were all taken "hand held".... and there was no visible camera shake at all!.. and shot after shot, there simply was no camera shake...

And, these shots were taken with a Canon 100 2.8 Macro lens. My camera is a Canon Rebel XT (350D)

So,my question is: Can you shoot "hand held" using a Canon MR-14EX Ring Lite?

[Slimsphotos]

Hi

Simple answer is yes. I use a 5d, with Canon 100mm macro and MT-14, nearly always handheld as I don't take the tripod around the forest with me. Can be a heavy bundle, but you just figure out a way of holding yourself steady, arms tucked in, etc, and obviously don't shoot at too slow a speed.
I'm still working on it myself, and getting my keeper rate up, but as I refuse to crouch down in the middle of nettles and tightly packed thorn bushes, still need some adapting.
Heres an example of one of mine last week handheld with the above rig.


Chris

[troypiggo]

Hi mypoppy.

As Chris mentioned above, it's certainly possible. Shutter speeds up around 1/200s or so and practice. You might be interested in the LordV patented super-macro-camera-steadierizer, otherwise known as a beanpole.

[racketman]

if the flash is the dominant light source any movement will be frozen, its the normal way to shoot macro. Shooting with natural light is much trickier.