Macro Flash for Sony Alpha 7ii

gardenersassistant wrote:

g8r26 wrote:

I would like to find a Marco ring flash for my Sony 7ii that will use the TTL system in the camera. Does anyone have any suggestion that won't break the bank but give me that what I want?

A Google search found the Nissin MF18. Here is a review that I found informative.

There are several issues to be aware of with ring flashes:

• Some use LEDs and are not very powerful. I get the impression that this one is not one of those, although I haven't seen it definitively stated.
• When photographing something with a reflective surface you can get "onion ring" reflections that some people don't like. (Or in this case, it would be partial onion rings as the ring is in two distinct parts which don't meet. In fact it has an ability I've not come across before, which is that the two parts can be pushed apart to make more of a "broken oval" than a "broken circle" to widen the angle from which light falls on the subject.)
• Although the flash is described as having its own diffusion built in, you may want to add diffusion of your own. That can be difficult to arrange with a ring flash.

That said, the reviewer linked above was obviously happy with it.

I bought one to try it on my A7sii. It gave a message like "This accessory is not compatible and cannot be used". In aperture priority mode with the flash set to TTL the flash simply didn't respond when I pressed the shutter button. It did work in manual mode but the results were poor with my usual test subjects and I couldn't see how I would be able to set up effective diffusion to improve the results.

I am returning the flash.

Here are some comparisons to give an indication of what I didn't like about the illumination I was getting from the ring flash. Now,  it is important not to be misled by single comparisons because results can sometimes vary a lot depending on the exact angle on the subject and magnification. However, I got a consistent pattern of results and I think these comparisons are a fair indication of what I was seeing.

Be aware that some of the time I was probably using higher magnifications than you would be using (but the second example was relatively low magnification). And I was using deliberately "difficult" subjects (ones which I use to test each new and adjusted setup that I try). The ring flash worked fine at relatively low magnifications with subjects with matt surfaces. It might be fine for flowers for example. (I noticed that the Nissin promotional examples were of flowers.) I would not expect good results with a lot of insects, spiders etc (which is what I use flash for).