Ring Flash Adapters

I've just been looking at the ringflash adapters that are available from eBay for around £50 (these are the things that attach to a 580EX flash). I know the 'proper' branded items are more like £180 and, to be honest, I've no idea whether even these are any good, let alone the bargain basement eBay version.

I'm generally a big believer in "you get what you pay for", but if I'm not buying a proper macro flash (which at the moment, I'm not) then I'd hate to miss out on a cheaper alternative.

Any ideas on whether these things are any good?

OK...how about asking more generally "are ring flash adapters that fit on to the front of a hotshoe flash any good"?

Thanks...A

anthonyi wrote in post #7733287
OK...how about asking more generally "are ring flash adapters that fit on to the front of a hotshoe flash any good"?

Thanks...A

HI Anthony,

Not too long ago I owned and reviewed the Ray Flash Ring Flash Adapter.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=641386

Hope that helps a little.

Robert, that's a very useful thread to have read - thank you.

Robert's thread says it best.

Somebody bought one of these things to a studio session once and we tried it out and came to a similar conclusion. Even ignoring the wedge it was not really getting the "studio ringflash" look although I'm not sure I quite have the right words to describe the differences (not specular enough perhaps? it's a lot more diffuse surface than the studio head version), unfortunately we didn't have the "real" one that day so couldn't do a side by side comparison. It was also fairly unpleasant for the model since it needed the flash firing close to full power and the long flash duration and on-axis light makes it pretty blinding. Maybe I'm the only person that considers this however

Since you asked about macro presumably you want it for that - in which case it may be more suitable if a little awkward due to the size and shape. See above.

I wanted it for both really, but I don't really want to be stuck with something that just does a poor job so I'm going to avoid the cheaper eBay version I mentioned and think again.

Thanks all.

Also don't let "not the real studio ringflash look" put anybody off (also this is a matter of opinion if my reading of all the discussion online is anything to go by), after all if we all just immitated each other photography would be real boring There are people who are very happy with their ray flash adapters. On-axis fill at close range is probably a very good application for example.

Yes good points - but it's the cheaper copy I was referring to...

The Ray flash I'll think more on.

As an aside though, I do think it's a shame that having spent £180 on one of these devices, to get it to perform it's necessary to ghetto it with gels, however neat the job can be made.

Glad I could be of help.

I tried to be objective in my review and there were certain things about the Ray Flash that I liked but there weren't enough reasons to keep it.

I think it worked best on macro but it's still flat lighting and may not be appealing to some.

The Ray Flash did not give that very classic ring light 'look' but even if that wasn't a concern the real problem is that you do need to work at fairly high power levels and without an external battery for the power and recycle times it's not efficient, and you need to work at close range to really do a good job. It probably works best as a fill light but in my opinion, despite the price being much lower than any other ring light, I don't think it's worth the cost or trouble to get it working properly.

Considering the current popularity and demand for ring flash I think we're going to see many more devices like this on the market in the future and perhaps some of them might be better. Maybe we'll even see some good competition for the PCB ABR800.