Ring Light for Macro
February 8, 2006
This homemade ring light is a nifty idea, but it’s a pretty poor execution. I think I might have to make up something like this, though… I imagine I can use a UV filter as a base. Or, just make something which mounts around the front of the camera.
Then again, a true ring ling would probably be best.
There was one that came across the hack sites recently that was done with some sort of light source, but the ring was made by sandwiching two pieces of white foam together with the negative of a dount/torus in it. the light came in from a side, then would bounce around this “negative donut” which surrounded the lens. It seemed like a much better way to get equal/balanced light around the entire lens.
I’m not even sure where to look for it at this point. perhaps the make blog?
This was actually linked from the Make blog. :\
The design you are talking about is how the ‘proper’ ones are made.
There are also the white ones here, but for that price I could buy a real macro flash.
Maybe I’ll cobble together something similar to what you are describing and see what I can come up with. I think the hardest part will be finding white foam… But I guess as long as it’s all even…
get a thick piece of white planters foam from your local crafts store
(the foam you put in a pot, and shove fake/dried plants into)
or some styrofoam from.. uh. something that um.. came in styrofoam. heh.
Oh, heh. I didn’t know it came in white. I wonder if carving that, then covering it in hot melt glue would provide enough structure and a nice bit of diffusion.
I have tons of white styrofoam if you need some.
Oh, thanks. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet… One thing I’ll probably want is something especially fine grained.
Well, I’ve got the stuff that comes with dell pc’s. That stuff works really well with a heat cutter to get a really nice perfectly smooth edge.
Something like this works great:
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page169.html
Ah, neat… Thanks. :) I’m not sure what (if anything) that I’m going to do yet, but I’ll keep that in mind…
Those cutters i believe are available at crafts stores, as well as some gaming stores. people love to build settings for warhammer style games with that foam stuff, so i think the tools are usually available where game supplies are sold. ;)
found it.
http://www.dennisonbertram.com/hackmaster/2005/02/build-your-own-ring-flash.htm
Homemade ring light? Sounds kinky..