Ray Flash - First impressions

[dkspook]

Wee, my long-awaited Ray Flash is finally in my hands. And by that, I mean on my flash which in turn is on my camera. Got home from vacation today and it was sitting here waiting for me. This is not a detailed review (yet), just my initial impressions.

Build quality & overall physical appearance? Plastic, but solid. Surprisingly snug fit. Be 100% sure to get the one that fits your choice of flash and camera. I have an ungripped 5D with a speedlite 580EX II, so I ordered the RAC170-2 model. Full list here.

Light? Beautiful. Yes, there is a dark spot at the top, due to the design of the darn thing. Yes, it means that those circular catchlights won't be 100% circular. If that is a big thing to you, feel free to spend a 1000£ on a dedicated ring flash + power pack. Dark spot in question:


Does it use any power? Heck no. It is a passive mod for your flash. A circle of shiny reflective-y shiny channels of shiny stuff guiding the light from your flash around and releasing it just right... somehow. It's been a long day. Did I mention shiny?

Initial verdict: This might just be my new favorite mod for fill-light. Stay tuned, more to come.

Any random snaps from around the house? I thought you'd never ask!







...more to come. Can't wait to get some proper shots with this thing

 

[classcams]

All deflected front flash must have a light loss. If you have a flash meter can you give few statistics for instance 1 meter may give you F5.6 or 1 foot F11. By the way the little boy has a hot spot right between the eyes.

 

[DiddyDave]

All deflected front flash must have a light loss. If you have a flash meter can you give few statistics for instance 1 meter may give you F5.6 or 1 foot F11.

I've seen these used and recommended by Mark Cleghorn to good effect. Of course there is some light loss, but these things aren't really intended to be used far from the subject are they, so any decent flash will simply up its power output to adjust (these do still allow iTTL flash btw)

I expect studio chaps will simply use them in manual mode anyway to then trigger any other flash units for background/rim lighting

Quite fancy one myself so I look forward to more hands-on comments & examples dkspook

Last time I looked these were about £180 - did you get a better price btw :shrug:

DD

 

[dkspook]

All deflected front flash must have a light loss. If you have a flash meter can you give few statistics for instance 1 meter may give you F5.6 or 1 foot F11. By the way the little boy has a hot spot right between the eyes.

Sure there's a light loss - simple physics

I don't have a flash meter, so I can't tell you exactly how big of a loss there is - But as DiddyDave points out, a ring flash isn't something you'll use to light up a room. Mine will be used as fill, either balancing against the ambient or using 2 more speedlites to do the heavy lifting. Have some shoots coming up and I can't wait to do proper portraits with this thing.

I've seen these used and recommended by Mark Cleghorn to good effect. Of course there is some light loss, but these things aren't really intended to be used far from the subject are they, so any decent flash will simply up its power output to adjust (these do still allow iTTL flash btw)

I expect studio chaps will simply use them in manual mode anyway to then trigger any other flash units for background/rim lighting

Quite fancy one myself so I look forward to more hands-on comments & examples dkspook

Last time I looked these were about £180 - did you get a better price btw :shrug:

DD

Yep, full E-TTL/i-TTL with the Ray Flash, that's the beauty of it. I can trigger seperate strobes for rim/background/whatever light, setting them off via pc-sync & my skyports, while firing the 580EX II w. rayflash in E-TTL from the hot shoe. Then it's just a matter of dialing in the FEC to taste and be happy as a clam

More examples will be coming, as soon as I shoot 'em.

I did get a nice deal: 102£ is what I paid. The Ray Flash is made in The Czech Republic, so here's how to do it:

1) Search for "ray flash" on google.cz
2) Sift through the results and find the cheapest price.
3) Ring up your mate and his czech mother and explain
4) Transfer the cash to your buddys cousin in The Czech Republic
5) Have the czech mate (bad pun, sorry) place the order
6) Have the czech cousin receive the order and forward it to you.

Easy, no sweat at all. Only thing you need is a Czech buddy

 

[dkspook]

Can't stop playing with this thing. Just took it off camera and tried something out:



580EX II @ 1/32, handheld just outside the frame. Gotta try this some more... Nice softish light this way.

I need to get hold of some better looking models. For some odd reason I'm always tired and unshaved when I shoot myself. Hm, I must be the next Kurt Cobain.