Model Portfolios New York Photographer John Ricard presents a Photography Tutorial showing differences between a Rayflash and a Ringflash … Rayflash Ringflash Profoto Nikon Photography Tutorial John Ricard Models Fashion Beauty
Ringflash VS Rayflash
17
December
Category: General
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This is a really good demonstration.
But the voices are sooo annoying! I’m sorry, but it’s really annoying. It’s either monotone, phlegm-y or slow.
Awesome comparison though
The Canon 580 flash is set to 1/1 and depending on the distance you will have to adjust the f stop between 4.5 – 11 all depends on the effect as far as flash recycle time you will need to have a battery pack for the flash ($149.00) to reduce the recycle time by 5 seconds with flash on 1/1.
Can someone tell me what is the difference with the ray flash in comparison to the coco flash. The coco flash I saw on Amazon looks identical to the Ray flash the difference is the price $59.00 compared to the ray Flash of 199.00. I like to know if anyone knows the difference.
I have more trouble getting the ray flash to work for me indoors than I do outside. I get beautiful pictures outdoor. I believe the settings are good based on what I played with so far just not there yet but working on it. Do you have any suggestios?
Your videos are very good I appreciate the online mentoring.
John you were using the Nikon for the shots. I use a Canon and have the ray flash and I do get good light with it sometimes more than I want up to 10 feet.
I have the canon 50D on set it ISO 100 and AP between F7.1 and 9 for best lighting. I have the canon speedlight 580 flash. I didn’t use my light meter I was basically going on the camera meter and what kind of affect I want.
I have the canon speedlight 580 flash set at 1/1 based on the ray flash recomendations.
Nice comparison. I use an Alien Bees ABR800 Ring Flash with interesting results. Though, I find sometimes it’s too bright, especially when I shoot with a small depth of field under f/9 or f/11. But, I’m shooting headshots and tight portraits up really close to the flash so I can get those nice catch lights in the eyes. With the flash at lowest power and camera at lowest ISO, aperture needs to be up around f/16 to get a good exposure, which is sometimes too high for my taste.
As far as I could tell, the light from the Ray Flash was evenly distributed. Keep in mind, as pointed out in the video, you have to aim the camera inside a ring flash properly in order to have an even light spread from any Ring Flash. If you don’t do that, you can have too much light on the model’s legs, for example, and less light on her face. You have to position the camera inside the ring light to avoid that.
great review!
thanks a lot, I was quite skeptical about the price and bought a O.FLASH for 40$, kind of a replica, but came out that the light is not distributed equally on the entire ring, the lower part has less light while the upper part is way more luminous, maybe it’s because of its worst quality.
I think I’m gonna buy the original one.
Just a question: did you find that the light was not equally distributed on the ray ring flash or not??
thanks again.
lol I was kind of kidding use what you feel gives you the best image. There all good for one mood or another.
The Top Pros can do what they want I don’t care to follow them. But Dam 5-7 Foot PF? Talk about highlights! Went from supper soft light to supper harsh. Next will be bare bulb an inch from the nose lol. Ya the word of the day kids is do they Photos PoP!
I ll check out those other videos too Thanks for the tips!
It’s not outdated, its just that the top pros tend to stop using a lighting style when it gets really popular with the masses. Parabolic reflectors are popular now with some pros because the masses haven’t started using them yet.
But there is nothing really “outdated” about you or me using a Ring Flash in 2009.
Thanks for the response.
So what your saying is that the RingFlash is kinda dated and used?
You like that grey shadow around the model? thought it was one of the evils you had to live with, with a RingFlash. Cool!
I ll check out your other video
Peace!
Ring flash was popular in fashion magazines a few years back and still is to some degree. So if you shoot with a ring flash it can look like a “real” fashion image.
The look of ringflash is rather harsh -almost like an on camera flash. The skin can be shiny at times and the contrast in the image is high. I like the shadow caused by the ringflash. I don’t know how to create that look without a ringflash.
The Monica “Boy is Mine” video was lit with a ringflash. Check it out on You Tube.
Oh ok thought you said you had to sit in one spot and when you move the lens up or down you have to adjust the RF. I was thinking my way would give you more wiggle room.
What is the RF look anyhow? No shadows on the model, Highlights and round flash point in the eye. Can you not achieve the same look with out the RF? You can lose that grey shadow around the model which your stuck with, with a RF.
I might be missing something again I never worked with a RF but almost bought one
Thanks again
If you move a bit closer, and shoot at maybe 5.6 or 7.1, I think the Ray Flash and your camera flash will put out enough light that you won’t have to shoot at high ISO.
I don’t see how that would give you freedom to move around. If it will do so by using the umbrellas as a primary light source and the ring as a fill, then the shot won’t really look like a ring light shot… And that sort of defeats the purpose of using a ring light.
I don’t have a problem working around the limitations of a ring light. I don’t use it for an entire session. I use it for one look and then I move on to something else.
What about using some silver umbrellas along side of you or behind you. This should give you the highlights and circle in the eyes. It will get rid of that funny gray halo shadow around the person too! But the biggest thing it will give you more freedom to move around.
My personal conclusion was that the photos looked pretty similar. The main difference was that the Ray Flash puts out much less power than a standard Ringflash. And yes, using a Ringflash can be very restricting.
WoW thanks for that video! I was thinking of getting a ringflash from AlienBees but I didn’t realize your movements where so restricted. I did notice a huge difference in your photos off of youtube the first photos popped and had better color the second ones where flat.
thanks again!
Ohh okay, ive never used that lens, but the only things ive heard about it were bad. So shooting with the rayflash at a bigger aperture can you dial down the iso very much, or is it just not very powerful??
I was at f/11 because I felt the lens wasn’t a very good one so I wanted to shoot at a smaller aperture than normal. I’ve since learned that “diffraction” can rob full frame images of sharpness at f/11. So today I am more likely to shoot at f/9 or f/10 when I am using the D3 in the studio.
You can definately get sharp images at f/8 however, and I do a lot of shooting at f/8.
Why do you want to be shooting at f11?
alien bees has a ” ring flash ” that will run you about 399$
I was shooting from very far away. I was shooting full length with an 85mm lens. If you were shooting closer, at f5.6 I think the Ray Flash would work just fine.
The main thing is that the quality of light looks very much like a “real” ring light. Therefore, I think it is a worthwhile purchase -especially at the lower price it sells for today than when it first came out.
There are some limitations to the Ray Flash, but that is true for all photo gear.
As I only have a D80, I really don’t want to be raising the iso any further than I have to. How would the Rayflash handle headshots, as there would be a lot less fall off from shooting from 5/6 feet away?
Preach!!!!!