DIY Ring Flashes

[frittsphoto]

Has anyone completed any number of these DIY ring flashes that are out there? I'm very tempted to make one, specifically this one. I know that they're not going to be super powerful but for macro work they may be great.

There are so many options out there and I'd like to make one of them but I was hoping someone could tell me if they'd done one and if they were or weren't impressed with it.

[Nicole]

I tried making one from these directions: Readers Projects - The CD Spindle Ringflash | DIYPhotography.net

It was so frustrating from things being difficult to cut and just generally difficult to put together that I almost went out and bought an Orbis that day. I thought it worked ok-ish, but that was until I had something else to compare it to. This one seems to be better constructed so I think it would work better than one using a CD spindle.

[frittsphoto]

Originally Posted by Nicole

I tried making one from these directions: Readers Projects - The CD Spindle Ringflash | DIYPhotography.net

It was so frustrating from things being difficult to cut and just generally difficult to put together that I almost went out and bought an Orbis that day. I thought it worked ok-ish, but that was until I had something else to compare it to. This one seems to be better constructed so I think it would work better than one using a CD spindle.

Haha. I usually get to that point with DIY projects too. "Fine, I'll just go buy it"

Yeah, one of the reasons I like the one I found is that it looks kinda professional and I think it would hold together nicely. Might be a beast to make though. And I have to think that there would be a pretty significant difference, top to bottom on the lighting and it will probably keep you from being able to zoom / manually focus... it is only $20 or so, maybe I should just make it my weekend project.

[Nicole]

I'd be curious to see how it turns out (sheer curiosity really), so if you do decide to make one yourself, post back with some results!

[candleman]

i made my own one.. and got pretty decent results.

heres the thread when i was doing mine

heres the actual "how i made it" post.

i made it specifically for this shot.





i still have it.. but i've never tried any macro.

as you can see its pretty similar to your design.. i just stuffed the flash in the hole at the bottom (made sure the hole was just big enough) and used the flash as a handle... that way i'd never drop my flash.

the hard part is cutting the hole on the side.. my plastic was cracking like crazy.. so i taped it up.

its "not bad" it does the job.. it is shadowless... but i havnt had any real experience with an Orbis or any "real" $$$ ringflashes