Best flash to use with Nikon 105mm Micro lens

Saxodave (e2 Member)

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20 Jun 2011 - 5:20 PM

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I would like to buy a flash to go with my Nikon D90 and 105mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor lens but I am not sure what to go for. Ring flash or not? Can I use a more conventional flash - either hotshoe mounted or off camera - as the 105mm lens does give a little more distance between lens and subject compared to shorter focal length micro/macro lenses.

Andy_Cundell

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20 Jun 2011 - 6:04 PM

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Hiya Saxodave

I have a D90 and a Nikon 105 macro. I use a Nikon SB900 either on the hotshoe or off camera on remote. I was looking for a ring flash but other things are on my list of things to save for first! Would be interested to hear what you buy if you get a flashring.

Andy

Paul Morgan (e2 Member)

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20 Jun 2011 - 6:12 PM

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Quote: or if you are feeling really flush one of these?

Forgot to add, it only gets used on my lensbaby`s, that "one of these" would be a little over the top for me

Overread

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20 Jun 2011 - 7:07 PM

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Quote: Or if you are feeling really flush one of these?

Yeah I was going to buy one of them until my wife saw the price and pressed the delete button! "But they use them on CSI" I cried!

Just show her the price on the Canon one and that should make the Nikon look nice and cheap


As for lighting in general my advice is that the best flash to go for first with macro is a speedlite flash. A regular good flash unit (SB something in nikon talk). I say this because macro flashes are very specific and often limited only to macro work; good for what they do, but very specific; meanwhile a speedlite flash can do very good macro lighting and has the power and versatility to be used in almost any other area of photography- so it really broadens your scope.

With that you'll also want an offcamera flash cable, a form of diffusion and a bracket. The cable can come from Nikon; the bracket I prefer a RAM-Mount approach similar to thisRam mount bracket. All the parts added up are about as much as a regular bracket will cost and yet this approach is much more stable than the cheap brackets (able to hold even a heavy 580EX2 without any wobble nor creep).
RAM-Mount's website

The diffuser can be anything from a Lumiquest softbox (regular size) through to a Coke can! The gear set there has more shots and details of how to make it and the guys stream shows a lot of examples of the light that such a setup can give.

Paul Morgan (e2 Member)

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20 Jun 2011 - 8:30 PM

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Not cheap are they

After purchasing my E3 I was given a choice of freebies and opted for the FL50R, I didn`t fancy the macro flash

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-olympus-fs-stf22-twin-flash-set/p1002696

Saxodave (e2 Member)

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20 Jun 2011 - 10:50 PM

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Thanks for your thoughts all of you. My main experience of macro + flash was with my Canon T90 and Canon ML2 ring flash which worked superbly. The current Nikon macro-flash set-up is definitely out of my price range but looks fantastic. I would like a dedicated flash system and don't really want to go down the manual flash route.

So...I think I am looking at a Nikon SB unit that doesn't cost the Earth. What could I go for secondhand? How far in the Nikon flash back- catalogue can I go for compatibility with my D90?

I like the RAM Mount that Overread mentioned. It looks solid.

Thanks again.