Let's Talk ABR800 For A Moment

Alright,

This year I really want to focus on doing more portrait and fashion style shooting and I've always liked the ring light look in photos.

Here's what I have for lighting gear at the moment, 2 x Sunpak 383, 1 x SB28, Canon Macro Twin Light, stands, umbrellas, cybersyncs.

I guess my question is two fold.

Firstly, how versatile is the ABR800, on the site they mention it can be hand held if needed, is this practical? I've also read in the past that it can be used as a regular strobe does it work as well for this as your standard AB800?

Secondly I've seen lots of the 'DIY Ring Lights' does anyone have experience with any of these? Most of the ones I've seen have lots of unevenness or dead spots with the light, do these tend to show up in the pictures or is the effect minimal?

I guess in the end I don't know if I'd use the 'ring light effect' enough to justify the cost, but at the same time I'd like to get a strobe or two and augment my speedlights with them. If I can pull off a DIY ring light that gets me 95% of the way there just using a speedlight though that might not be such a bad plan either. :/

Are you folks with the ABR800 happy you bought it?
Kurt

I feel a ringlight is a very specific light source. Although it can be hand held I don't really think it's practical; heavy and big. Sure you can put a ringlight on a stand and trigger it remotely, that doesn't make it a regular strobe. You'll still get that ring light effect and there are hardly any modifiers that'll fit (softboxes, beauty dish, snoot, etc).
Personally I would buy lights that are more versatile first and then maybe add a ringlight, but that's just personal.
Of all the DIY ringflashes out there this one impressed me the most.

Thanks for the reply. I was actually under the impression that with the ABR800 the normal modifiers would fit, I guess that's incorrect and will likely make a big difference for me.

I don't really have an area to do a studio type setup, my house is pretty small and all the ceilings are just 8', I was mostly interested in the ring light because of the specific effect from it and I was under the impression it would work with most of the AB modifiers.

That DIY ringlight you linked looks like it might work out well. I could use my two sunpaks or maybe even put in the two heads from my Macro Twin Light if it would be possible for it to output enough power.

Maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board. :/ I'm not sure I'd use a ring light enough to justify the cost if that's all it'll be able to do, but I sure do like the effect.

Kurt

Milamug wrote in post #7467249
=Milamu'g;7467249]
Of all the DIY ringflashes out there this one impressed me the most.

That does seem to work extremely well for the price.... next question... will my wife miss a few of her stainless mixing bowls??

You can get the Moon kit with the ring flash which is a pretty big octabox type of light source.

The AB is a good product for the money.

Basically it's a ringflash that can definately be used handheld, that's what it's designed for. But AB also have various accessories that mean that it can double up as an ordinary studio flash, although whether it's then as good as a product designed to be a studio flash is of course open to debate.

Ringflashes are useful tools, especially the 'real' ones (macro ones are only good for macro photography and the adapters that go on hotshoe flashes that I've seen all seem to have output and build quality problems) but they produce a very specific type of flat lighting that only suits certain subjects, some of the time. A bit like fisheye lenses really, very useful if not overused.