I was recently lent a rather unique and useful flash adapter by the folks at Ray-Flash. It’s an adapter that fits over specific strobe and camera combinations in order to make the strobe usable as a ring flash. For those not familiar with a ring flash, in professional photography studios it is a circular flash that typically uses an accompanying softbox and special adapter to allow shots to be taken through the hole in the middle of the light. What Ray-Flash has done is simplify this setup and adapt it to already existing Canon and Nikon strobes (specifically the Nikon SB-800 and SB-900 and Canon Speedlite 580EX and 580EXII).
Check out the range of Ray-Flash Ring Flash Adapters on Amazon.
In use, the Ray-Flash is a simple device to handle; just slide it over the strobe and lock down the dial on top to make a snug fit. It will fit around most lens except the larger zooms with barrels beyond 80mm in diameter or so (noting that any LENGTH zoom will work, such as a 70-200mm if you like). If you have velcro on your flash, for use with gels, bounces or softboxes, you may experience some trouble as the fit is very specific and tight for the strobes. The ring flash adapter has many small channels to basically funnel light from the strobe along paths and spread it evenly around the circumference of the lens. In practice the adapter is very easy to slide on and off and dead simple to use. This set of diagrams from Ray-Flash’s site shows just how easy.
Of course, this diagram is showing the install without a camera attached. You’ll want to install the unit while the strobe is on a camera as the strobe mounts back to front and the Ray-Flash mounts front to back. Also, once attached, the Ray-Flash does cover focus assist lights on strobes that use them, but does not change any TTL functions of the camera.
Let’s take a look at a quick self portrait I shot after unpacking the adapter and eagerly tinkering with it. My setup is a Canon 7D with a Speedlite 580EXII strobe. First, a shot taken at 1.5 meters with the Ray-Flash removed. (ISO 100, 1/60 sec, f/4, 48mm equivalent)
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