Macro Ring Light

!Mycodelic Jan 15, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

I was debating purchasing a macro ring light for my Cannon 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens used with a Canon Rebel T3. It's one of the cheaper LED continuous light ones for about $30-$40 dollars. Is it a worthwhile purchase for macro photography? I shoot a lot of macro foliage like moss and fungi.

Thank you very much for your help!

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Devious Comments

~hedwards Jan 16, 2013

I'm not sure a system like this is going to be good for mosses. The main problem being the evenness of the light. For documenting coins and jewelery the ring light is probably alright, but I can't imagine being able to get interesting light from it.

You'll likely get better results out of a cheap home made beer can reflector.

!Mycodelic Jan 16, 2013 Hobbyist Photographer

Wonderful! Thank you very much Shurakai-Stock for the advice! I think I shall do just that.

~eyeballman Jan 16, 2013

QPCard makes outstanding neutral targets for color-balancing.

I've used both the 3-step ([link]) and 4-step ([link]) targets for many years with excellent results.

~Shurakai-Stock Jan 16, 2013 Professional Photographer

I don’t see much of a downside. LED lights are pretty bright these days, so you might not even have to crank your ISO up all that much for hand-held stuff. My only recommendation would be to do a colour test before you get it out into the real world. Go to a photo store (someplace that deals in pro gear, not just a photofinishing place) and buy a standard grey card. Shoot that with the ring light and use it to set a custom white balance, just in case the LEDs have a bit of colour cast to them.

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