Anyone used the new Ray Flash or Orbis ring flashes? I'm interested and curious to know your thoughts particularly outside and in reception/party settings.... samples would be nice
Tony Hoffer wrote:
The ones I mentioned attach to hotshoe flashes, so there's no power source needed, which is why I'm interested. Know anything of them?
The local camera store has those in stock but the sales staff mock them. But mocking is for people who fear not the final chuckle.
i would be interested too, tony.
i asked this question a while back in the lighting forum about preferred ring flashes but the answers didn't really pertain to the wedding atmosphere or use.
I use the profoto ones and have tried the elinchrom ones - the profoto ones are great and the other ones basically suck. The ones that stick on the little flash look silly and appear to be the kind of thing that would merely wind up breaking the flash.
It is not very expensive at all to rent the stuff - rent a profoto ring and the B2 battery. This can be had for abot $70 a day or weekend.
I suspect that the do it yourself gizmos made from tape and pans work better than the cheap attachments that you buy.
I'm not worried about the expense of the studio units, I just don't/won't a carry studio battery pack with me at weddings, so I'd only get one if it was pretty portable.
I bought the ray flash at wppi...haven't really got it out since I got back, but the reason I was sold was they had a live demo rockin one right in the booth. Don't see why it won't work, that's why I bought one.
We've got one (the ray flash I think...). Here are my thoughts...
1) The light is nice, but not as nice as a studio ring flash. In the context of a wedding or engagement it works pretty well however as you also don't have the weight and set up time problems that a full studio ring would bring you.
2) It can put some unwelcome pressure on the flash. It's pretty light but still stresses the flash head some...
3) You have to like the effect it produces. Of course, you don't have to use it directly on the flash. I use it as an off camera slave sometimes because it can produce a different quality of light that way.
4) it takes a lot of practice. Not the easiest accessory to use and get good results from. I like it overall but it's not something you can just pop on an expect to have great success every time.
Tony I had the opportunity to borrow a Ray Flash for a few shots (I am now trying to find them). My opinion was the unit worked extremely well and the light was softer and less prone to shadows than a normal ring flash. It would appear to be a very useful tool and great value for the money. I watched a friend you the Orbis unit and it also would appear to work quite well from looking at his photos. The Orbis unit is designed to be hand held either over (around) the lense or adjacent to the camera. That would appear to be it's bonue and problem since holding the camera and a fairly large flash unit with the other hand can be a bit of an issue depending on the camera and lense.
I picked one up a couple weeks ago and took it out for a shoot. One thing I noticed is that with shorter lenses, you'll often get "flash back" into the lens which shows up as a big circle of light on the edge of the frame. I had to line the inside edge of mine with black gaffers tape to hide the light a bit.
A couple of shots from my session.
Used as fill light only
and from another shoot. Dialed down and used as fill light.
Tony,
I'm digging them... I sat through the Ray flash-ring flash demo at PhotoExpo in NYC and thought it was pretty cool. They had a model on site and were taking shots with and without... it looked pretty cool.
I looked at the Ray Flash last year, but couldn't justify the expense.
Now that they're 1/3 cheaper I may revisit a purchase. I just need to wait until I decide on my next camera purchase.
(I'm torn between the Nikon D700 and Canon 5D Mark II.)
As a fill light (and sometimes master for a two-light setup), I can really imagine some good shots coming from them.
