| Author: | | Junior Member Registered: December, 2006 Location: Esperance, Australia Posts: 28 | | Review Date: August 19, 2015 | Not Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 1 |
| Pros: | Cheap | | Cons: | Hotshoe connection fell apart after 2nd use | |
To be fair, getting a flash and not just a ring light for this price was pretty good. I figured it was worth a try, given the price of Pentax, Sigma, Metz, etc. Thankfully, I only wasted $50.
The flash output itself wasn't too bad. It certainly needed tweaking to get the right exposure, but for the price, I wasn't expecting something that did the thinking for me. My macro photography focuses on flora; often very, very tiny flora. This was much easier to carry around with me in the bush than carrying around my normal flash attached by a hotshoe cord (very awkward).
BUT the build quality is rubbish. Literally. After very light usage (2 hours?), no knocks, etc, the hotshoe connection literally fell apart while attached to the camera when it sitting on the car seat next to me. I could not believe my eyes. Do not waste your money on this.
| | | | | | | Otis Memorial Pentaxian Registered: March, 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Posts: 42,007 | | Review Date: September 18, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 2 |
| Pros: | Inexpensive | | Cons: | Not accurately spec'ed | |
Pros:- Mounts to lens filter threads and includes multiple adapters
- Provides even illumination within usable range (see below for details on what constitutes usable range)
- Daylight balanced
- Reasonably well-built
Cons:- Advertised guide number of 18m is wildly optimistic
- Auto-thyristor functionality not usable at close range
- Inappropriate for true macro photography with short focal length lenses
- No battery-saver timeout feature. Leave it turned on and it will stay on until the batteries die.
- No adapter included for 49mm filter threads.
- No provision for manual operation other than full intensity
Build: Reasonably sturdy plastic. Better than expected to be honest.
In Use:
Despite the various negatives regarding this flash, it is a great reasonable value for what it does. It provides even, essentially shadow-free lighting and is usable at distances from about 1 meter to about 10 centimeters of the subject. Useful frontal illumination essentially disappears when closer than about 10 cm from the front of the flash. As a result macro photography using shorter focal lengths (say 35mm or 50mm) may not work as well as expected. This is a common short-fall of ring-type flash.
Another short-fall at close range is loss of meaningful auto-thyristor functionality due to the location of the sensor. The unit needs to be a pretty fair distance from the subject for the sensor to read the light bounced from the subject. The sensor itself is mounted outboard of the flash ring and has a lens that gives it a very wide view. In short, the auto-thyristor function is high positional. For many uses (e.g. small product shots on a uniform, fairly large background sheet) this would be quite acceptable, but poses a problem for field conditions where leaves and what not might be in the sensor field of view.
Does this mean that you can't use this flash for macro, even with a longer lens? Fortunately, no! It depends on patience and ingenuity. All you have to do is to set the flash for manual (full power) discharge and determine an appropriate aperture for your subject. This is more difficult than you might imagine. The published guide number of 18(m) is fantasy and the actual guide number varies by distance to subject (due to the non-focused nature of the flash beam). I did a couple of test setups and determined the real world guide number at one meter subject distance to be about 4.5(m) @ ISO 100. This decreases somewhat as you move closer to about 3(m) at 20 cm. As a result, the practical solution is to estimate the appropriate aperture, chimp, adjust and shoot again. A lens supporting apertures down to f/32 is helpful here as might be a ND filter.
Summary:
For ISO 100- Subject 0.5 to 1 meter: auto mode at f/4 or f/5.6
- Subject 0.5 to 0.2 meter: auto mode at f/8 or manual mode (find aperture by trial/error)
- Subject closer than 0.2 meter: manual mode at f/16 or smaller
One other thing that I should address is suitability for portrait use. It can be done. I would suggest a 35mm-55mm focal length lens and working distance of about 1 meter. I was able to nicely balance ambient light shooting in Av mode on my K10D. High key work should be a snap, though I would caution that the eye glint is an alarming ring shape 
P.S. I realize that my analysis is in conflict with GibbyTheMole's review below. I have had very mixed results shooting A mode, f/8 at ISO 200 that varied from completely black to completely washed out for shots at close range. It might be my flash and it might help too if I were shooting with a longer lens.
P.P.S. I have revised my rating down to 2 for this flash and its clones. It has not left its box for at least two years and has very little utility in the field. I have yet to find a use for which it is consistently suitable.
Note: This product was unavailable from B&H as of early September 2013 and may no longer be in production. I got mine on sale from Adorama.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2006 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 797 | | Review Date: March 23, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: N/A |
|
GibbyTheMole, thanks for the review.
I just like to add that there are two models available:
Both are offered with free shipping.
Disclaimer. I am not affliated with DataVision.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 2,275
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 22, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Plenty of light output, even coverage, auto & manual modes, decent build quality, low cost. | | Cons: | Hardwired cord between power pack and flash head, battery cover a little difficult to remove, no 49mm ring included, no variable power in manual mode. | |
Looking to get into some macro insect and nature photography, but not having the budget for an expensive ring flash, I picked this one up from Datavision for $50 new, with free shipping... a typical price for this flash.
Flash comes with short manual and set of adapter rings for 52 thru 67mm. Oddly, no 49mm ring was included, but you can easily use a 49mm to 52mm filter step up ring to mount to 49mm filter threads.
Taking a few test shots of a printed white page with a K-x DSLR & 100mm 1:1 macro lens, the lighting was uniformly even all across the frame with no visible hotspots... Nice!
Moving the switch on the power pack to the "A" (auto) position, a sensor on the flash reads the light output and varied flash power accordingly. It worked exceptionally well with the lens at f:8 at ISO200. Moving the switch to "M" (manual) fires the flash at full power, which overexposes for close 1:1 work, even when shooting at f:16 and ISO 200. You're much better off using the flash in auto mode for macro work, and switching to manual to get full power only for longer-range shots.
Build quality is pretty decent. All parts are finished well and fit together properly. Removing the battery cover with the batteries in place takes some effort (I presume) because of upward pressure on the cover from the batteries. I would have preferred a user-replaceable cord between the power pack and the flash head, although I suppose if the cord did break it would be possible for a handy person to solder a new one in place. The cord looks to be of reasonably good quality, so I doubt it would ever be an issue.
Refresh time is lightning-fast at only 2 to 3 seconds.
There's a red plastic lens on the front of the power pack with the Vivitar logo that looks like the red lens on flashes with optical slave capability. As this is a macro flash and there's also no mention of that feature in the manual, I'm guessing it's purely cosmetic.
As of this writing I think this is a brand new product they just came out with. There's no information on the Vivitar website, and not a lot of info elsewhere. The specs on this model are far better than the old Vivitar Macrolight 5000. The old unit had a 10 second recycle time, this new DR-5000 is 2 to 3 seconds. The old one had a guide number of 5. The DR-5000 is 18. Plus, the old model's power pack was built onto the ring, adding bulk and weight to the end of the lens. This one is a better design, in my opinion.
UPDATE: Since writing this review, I've taken many insect & flower macro shots with this flash, and it has never let me down. It provides even, natural light, and when set to auto "A" mode at f:8 & ISO 200, exposure is consistently correct. Can't ask for more.
BOTTOM LINE: Considering a used old model Vivitar Macroflash 5000 or other entry-level ring flash will set you back $50 or more, this one new at $50 is a no-brainer. It's basic, but it does the job well. I would totally buy it again.
| | |
