Hisham's Macro Rig

Hisham Marmin's Macro rig. You can find his blog here, and his Facebook page here.

You can also find more macro rigs here.

His macro rigs consists of Pentax K5, SMC Pentax D FA Macro 100mm F2.8 WR3, Pentax AF160C Macro Ring Flash. However, instead of using the ring flash the way it is intended to be, i.e mounted onto the front of the lens, this is what he does. The images here should be self explanatory! 

Side view. Yes, it's another great example of adapting the concave diffuser I use for my MP-E65/MT-24EX for a lens with bigger working distance.


You can also see that he uses a wooden ruler, a few rubber bands, and surgical tape to put the whole rig together.


Front view








You get O shaped catch light in the subject's eyes if you use the ring flash the conventional way i.e directly on the front of the lens.


However, by holding the ring flash on a ruler and diffuse the light with a concave diffuser, you get very nice, even light like this!


Other sample images:




Fly


Jumping spider


More macro rigs here.


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CW's macro rig

CW's macro rig. Canon 7D, Tamron SP90 (and extension tubes), 270EX II, FMMB and concave diffuser. You can find some info on FMMB here and here.

More macro rigs here.

All images by Cheewai.

270EX II (wireless) on FMMB (Front Mounted Macro Bracket, which allows the speedlight unit to always stay in front even as you zoom and the lens extends out.

You can find some info on FMMB here and here. There are other options as well besides FMMB as mentioned here.

The same setup from a different angle.


Side view, with a big concave diffuser attached.

This is a great example of how one can adapt the concave diffuser idea originally designed for the smaller working distance of the MP-E65 for a longer lens like the SP90, or 100mm or 105mm.  I personally prefer lightweight yet flexible setup like this rather than big speedlight off hot shoe, on equally heavy macro flash bracket, or big speedlight on hot shoe with snoot diffuser. 

It is not very clear from the image above what the diffuser is like. It is an adaptation of the smaller concave diffuser I am using, only bigger!




Sample images: Canon 7D, Tamron SP90, 270EX II, full flash, concave diffuser.


Nice, soft light thanks for the concave diffuser.


No diffuser. See the harsh light, spectral highlight and hard/harsh shadow.


More macro rigs here.

MT24EX concave diffuser quick update

As mentioned in this post, I have been testing this simple yet effective diffuser for my Canon MT24EX twin flash. It's a variation of SteB1's cup diffuser. He's one of the most brilliant macro experts I've met online!

The front of the diffuser does tend to get in the way when i try to approach my subjects. I trimmed a bit off the PP material on the front and the side but ended up with light spill, resulting in part of the image being brighter than the rest of the image. The affected area is normally on the sides.

The solution, is, however, really simple.

40D, MPE65 lens, MT24EX Twin Flash, DIY Diffuser

I use 3M medical tape to hold the concave diffuser onto the MT24EX adatper, but you can use moldable plastic to DIY a better and more secure way of holding the diffuser in place.


While i've trimmed away the front and side of the transparent PP material, I left the polystyrene protruding beyond the transparent housing.

40D, MPE65 lens, MT24EX Twin Flash, DIY Diffuser

Sometimes I bend the polystyrene sheet back a little to prevent light spill and to prevent the background from  becoming too bright, or to prevent the diffuser from getting in the way.

40D, MPE65 lens, MT24EX Twin Flash, DIY Diffuser

MT24EX is lighter and more hassle free to use than a diffused speedlight on a flash bracket, but more expensive. With the MT24EX, when the working distance changes from 4 inches (1:1) to 2 inches (3:1), all I need to do is the click the flash heads all the way down. I normally leave it at one click up when shooting at anything between 1:1 to 2:1.

A diffused speedlight on a flash bracket is, of course, slightly heavier.

Weight aside, it is really troublesome to have to adjust the ballheads to re-position your diffuser when the working distance changes! Of course, you don't always have to use the 580EX II / 430EX (or equivalence). The 270EX will work just fine, as demonstrated in these great macro rigs from my friends.

   
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Concave Diffusers

Since the concave diffusers seem to be in the trend now, and the light from these were really well diffused with no hot spots, I had to make myself a pair of concave diffusers as well.

Prior to this, I have been using my version of "cup diffuser" for the MPE65 1X-5X macro lens / MT24EX macro twin flash combo for a couple of months now and loving the light from it. More about the cheap yet great DIY Concave Diffuser here.

About a week ago, I tested out the "concave top diffusers". It looks like this:

the opening on the one on the right hand side goes onto the MT-24EX flash head. The one on the left is upside down for comparison


the same pair from a different angle


The opaque concave tops are from those toy capsules widely available from toy vending machines in most convenient stores/sundry shops in Malaysia.



how it looks like when fitted onto the MT-24EX and MP-E65


front view of the setup


The housing, as you can see, are from Justea packet drink (Tetra Pak drink packaging). It was actually quite a task to make the housing fit snugly onto the MT24EX flash heads. However, you can use this moldable plastic to make housings that fit nicely onto the flash heads.
 


lower angle


Surprisingly, additional layer of diffusion from the concave top actually almost doesn't cause any loss of light as evident in the following quick tests:

without the concave top, i.e only with tent/cup diffuser. At 1:1, ISO100, F11, 1/200, i need 1/4th flash power to light the scene.


with the concave top and also the tent/cup diffuser i.e extra diffusion. At 1:1, ISO100, F11, 1/200, i need the same 1/4th flash power to light the scene.


Now the 100% crop images of the above:

without the concave top diffusers:


with the concave top diffusers. Noticeably nicer/less harsh specular highlight there.


However, even with the slightly better handling of highlight, my latest concave tops plus cup/tent diffuser still can't pass the ultimate test: the golden tortoise beetle! In fact, i failed miserably :D

blown highlight all over, even at -2 FEC (flash exposure compensation).


Maybe I need to look for some Vellum paper to replace the polyfoam sheet I'm using for the cup/tent? Still looking for a shop in town that sells it.

To be fair to the awesome tent/cup diffuser and concave tops, I need to point out that I had tried shooting a golden tortoise beetle with just natural light and still ended with blown highlight. But next time, I'll try to use a CPL.

Note: the concave top diffuser is the brainchild of SteB1 (Stephen). If you would like to read more about his excellent analysis of various diffusion methods, check out the following:

Some Ideas on Macro Flash Diffusion

and

Concave Flash Diffuser Test

New Diffuser for the MT-24EX, again!

As you are aware of, I have had a new and improved diffuser since February 2010. Loving the light from it. Sample shots as below:

All images shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X macro lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash with DIY Diffuser.



Sample shots:




There is just this one thing that bothers me though - the twin catch lights in subjects with big reflective eyes, such as my favorite spider - jumping spider! In the image above, the highlight/catch lights in the eyes have been toned down in PP. It was much brighter originally!

Now compare it to another jumper shot lit with a big bowl diffuser:


I prefer a single, bigger catch light like this.


For more lighting comparison, please check out A Comparison of Different Lighting Setups.

Now a couple of sample shots from the newest diffuser:

The dome is transparent PP material from a mineral water bottle, covered with 2 layers of polystyrene sheets. Idea from Stephen's cup diffuser (SteB1) on Juza forum.


I used 3M medical tape to hold the concave diffuser in place. But i think I will get some moldable plastic to DIY a better holder!

3M medical tape


Moldable Plastic

Now the sample shots:




Definitely nicer catch lights in the spider's eyes. However, the catch lights seem to be much brighter in the smaller pair of front-facing eyes though.

More to be improved on the newest diffuser. Perhaps a more opaque material Stay tuned.

Edit: slightly improved version of the cheap but great DIY Concave Diffuser is  here.