Ringlight test, ABR800

thanks man, i do love that pic of myself with my 2 main vices.

Your theme song should be "Cigs and Alchohol" !! If you havent heard it, the song is by the band Oasis and it's a classic!! Check it out, it's awesome..

checking iTunes right now, thanks for the recommendation

which lens have you guys used it with? what is the circumference of the middle hole

The center hole is 4 inches in diameter and should accomade most lenses.
I've used it with the 24-70L and 70-200L.

i want to try one of these very badly

Had mine for quite a while. It's in beta and Paul has been keeping me up constantly with the improvement changes. It's light, fast, powerful.
ex.

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I tried one, wasn't impressed, returned it and got my $400.00 back. At normal shooting distances (8 to 10 feet using a mid-telephoto lens to prevent distortion) the catchlights looked like what I see in the above images, point light sources, not "donut" shaped catchlights. In fact I got the same catchlight from the ABR800 ring light that I do from my 62 inch umbrella. So I built my own "ring light" that will give me flat lighting and donut shaped catchlights. The image below was my first attempt.

Benji

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can anyone take a photo of it mounted to the camera ?

http://www.alienbees.c​om/abr800.html

Ringflash has its place, and as Johneric8 says fashion or cutting edge photography is where it fits, and as he also says, "was the type of look the Clothes designer wants so this is what they will get."

For those who are NOT in the fashion shooting, the last statement is an important one. If you are trying to shoot conventional portraits that flatter the portrait sitter and makes them want to buy a photo (or to use a headshot for publicity) you want to make them PRETTY or handsome (in the case of males). Ringlights feature the CLOTHES and part of that is to DEemphasize the attractiveness of the mannequin (the model)! So it doesn't suprise me to hear Benji, who does great portraiture, say that he was not satisfied with it.

OTOH, his subsituted lighting rig, in lieu of the ringlight, does leave a very distracting (unattractive) catchlight in the eyes!

Benji, if you use the Moon Unit with the ABR800, especially with the ring mask, you will get the ring catchlights as you are looking for. What sort of setup did you build?

A big one. One big enough that I can use a telephoto lens at 8 to 10 feet and still be able to shoot a 3/4 length portrait while shooting through the hole in the center (which is 32 inches in diameter.)

I guess I don't understand why anyone would want flat lighting without the donut shaped catchlights. I thought that was part of the "glamour"of a ring light. Heck if I want flat lighting I use the Olan Mills tried and true two identical units at a 45 degree angle. Saves me $400.00!

I built my ring light out of a bunch of left over stuff I have collected over the years, added another $100.00 in hardware store parts. For the flash units I raided them from several of my seldom used sets (I have a seperate hair light for each set.) If I need that hair light back I can "steal" it back from the ring light quickly and easily.

A/C powered flash units is something I have an abundance of. I just counted them. 26 all told!

Benji

The glamour of the ring flash isn't the donut shaped highlights, but the way it creates the shadowless light. Not flat light, but shadowless. There is a small but important distinction there.

I'm not sure why the image Benji showed is as flat as it is. Usually the ring flash gives you a more specular shadowless light such as the one Gaylord H showed, or this one http://farm1.static.fl​ickr.com …001622_94f1eae6​4a.jpg?v=0

Its not flat per se, but it has a specularity, a lack of any shadow, and still gives you depth that I think is the main attraction to ring flash. Especially for fashion designers. It shows clothing very well, and keeps the texture of the clothing which allows the viewer to 'feel' the fabric. And thats important to them in catalog and advertising.

I like the cost of the AB ring flash, but I feel it won't hold up for rigous studio use. I think the plastic they used is the brittle kind that seems to crack and break easily when dropped or bumped hard. But on the other hand, its very light weight and easy to use while mounted on the camera. I may upgrade to the White Lighting version when it comes out if its more heavy duty. If not, I'll just get a Profoto Pro-7, but was hoping to save some bucks with the AB or WL units.
I like the look of a ring flash for some subjects, but don't really care for the donut shaped catchlights. So I usually retouch them out and add a specular point catchlight instead. But there are many others that just love those catchlights for their eerie feel in close up full face portraits.

Too much time pondering equipment here at times guys.. Look, a homemade ringflash will work fine as well, it's really knowing how and when to use it. It also works well for up close and personal face shots of models albeit, they have perfect skin and features. Flat lighting is okay for portraits if the model is exceptional. If I can get clearance from the catalog shoot I did you will see just how effective the rignflash can be when used in the right enviroment. It really does wonders on putting focus on apparel. Hey, if you just want a light to have fun with get it !!