Opteka RL-12 Digital Macro LED Ring Light Flash for Canon EOS, Nikon, Sony Alpha, Olympus & Pentax Digital SLR Cameras

Do not settle for less. With a color temperature close to daylight (5000K) and a extended battery life (up to 200 minutes), the Opteka RL-12 surpasses all of the current ring lights on the market.

Attaching the Ring Flash to the front of the lens of your cameras enable illumination of subject in Macro Close - Up photography at a shooting distance of up to approximately 31.5 inches. One thing your camera built-in Speedlight may not be able to do.

The Automatic Macro Ring Light is the convenient and creative lighting solution for copying documents, medical, dental, nature and small subject photography at short working distances where built-in and conventional flash units are hard to use. Utilizing a circular tube as its light source for just the right amount of illumination, in certain situations, it might even be the only way possible to light your subject.

Specifications
Lamp Type:12 LED's
Modeling Light:Yes, continuous mode
Lens Mount Size:52mm, 58mm, 67mm, & 72mm
Power Source:4 AAA Batteries (included)
Angle of Coverage:Approx. 60°
Dimensions:5" X 5" X 1" (127 X 127 X 25mm)
Weight (with batteries):5.5 oz (155g)

What's in the box
~ RL-12 Ring Light
~ 4 AAA Batteries
~ 52mm Adapter
~ 58mm Adapter
~ 67mm Adapter
~ 72mm Adapter

The new Pentax AF160FC ring flash I got for Chrimbo mounted on my K10D and attached to my 50mm on extension tubes macro setup.

It's making better than 1:1 macro magnifications hand-held a complete doddle compared to what I used to go through. I also couldn't get close enough on full extension without vignetting the flash or suffering crippling shadows before, whereas now the illumination even at a few cm is so wonderfully even and glorious and stepping down to a sensible aperture is so easy.

I'm really looking forward to getting out there and using it properly now I actualy officially have it.

Just in case this pops up on a search for what one's like: It's really simple to use, gives great light with a stonkingly massive guide number which you can throttle back for super close work and works nicely if you go for directional light from half a ring. The construction is very robust and the cable will stretch to the most ridiculous bellows/extension and stacked lenses setup. It's worth every penny.

You will, however, blind your subject forever if you use it for portraits. Well not forever but in my experience they don't half moan so get them to look past the lens.

My diy ring flash essentially is a double cone with a bach wall connecting the two cone layers. The complete inside is covered with reflective aluminum foil. The smallest inner diameter of the double cone is about 8cm (3.2") which is sufficient for all the lenses I use for portrait or macro work (Pentax DA*55, Sigma 17-70, Sigma 105 macro). At the top you can see the "adapter" which fits over the built in flash of the K20D.
Viewed from the front you notice a black segment at the top of the ring flash. It has three functions: 1. It prevends the light from the built in flash hitting the photo subject directly. 2. It stabilizes the ring flash. 3. It is the bacside of a triangular reflective splitter, which sends the light of the built in flash to the left and right.
The light yield of the diy ring flash isn't perfect, as you may guess. from comparison shoots I estimate that you get about 1.3 stops less light from the ring flash compared to the naked built in flash. So some 40 % of your flash output reach the subject. Not especially good, but still enough to do some reasonable shooting.

L1) CANON 100MM F/2.8 MACRO USM EF

Bring small things into full-sized view with the Canon EF 100mm macro USM lens. Macro lenses can uncover detail that would be impossible to detect by the eye and give new perspective to extremely minute subjects such as insects or the petals of a small flower, and this lens is no exception. The lens offers such features as a three-group floating system for exceptional close-up performance; a secondary diaphragm that blocks stray light at f/2.8, which increases contrast when shooting wide open; a ultra-sonic monitor (USM) that provides outstanding autofocusing speed at all focusing distances; a wide manual focusing ring with smooth action; and full-time manual focus even in AF mode. The first lens in its class to feature inner focusing, the lens carries a one-year warranty.
Focal length: 100mm
Maximum aperture: 1:2.8
Lens construction: 12 elements in 8 groups
Diagonal angle of view: 24 degrees
Focus adjustment: Inner focusing system with USM
Closest focusing distance: 1 foot (film plane to subject)
Filter size: 58mm
Dimensions: 3.1 inches in diameter, 4.7 inches long
Weight: 21.1 ounces