Using LED ring lights (not flash) for macro insects

Joseph S Wisniewski wrote:

Antique Eruption wrote:

Hello, I have been using a Vivitar 55mm f2.8 macro on my Fuji system a little while, and would like to bring a bit more light to bear on the subjects I photograph. I'm CLUELESS about flash and don't want to go through that learning curve at this stage in my photography life. Also, whilst I am now using Topaz DeNoise for other nature photography, I am yet to use it with macro. I will do that as I start getting back out into the garden for some macro opportunities, but I'd like to explore ring LED lighting that can attach to the front filter mount so that I have a little less noise to clean up in the first place. However, I read that a constant light source can introduce softness. What experience do the macroistas here have of this phenomenon?

Yep.

I haven't seen very many commercial LED ringlights that can put out enough power to get up into the shutter speed range needed for the sharpest macro shots.

Remember, pictures are taken by energy (in watt-seconds). That's power x duration. If your small ringlight puts out 2 watts (common in ringlights that run of AA batteries) and you shoot at 1/250 sec, you've got a whole 0.008 watt-seconds of energy. A single "speed light" style flash typically can pop 80 watt-seconds into a full power flash, and that's with a duration of about 1/800 second. So, nearly 4x the blur-killing speed, and 10,000 times more energy to let you use smaller apertures and lower ISOs.

Even if you used a very slow, blurry 1/10 second with the ringlight, that's only 0.2 watt-seconds. The flash would still give you 400 times more energy.

Seriously, the "learning curve" to learn how to use a real flash and get sharp, well lit, controlled results is a lot shorter than the learning curve to pile hack after hack trying to get sharp shots from insufficient light.

Now, there are devices called "hybrid" LED ringlights that can light the LEDs steadily with 1-2 watts, but can also store a few watt-seconds of energy in a capacitor and dump that into the LED ring in a short pulse to get a higher energy dose for your exposure. Some do around 4 watt-seconds, which is still substantial at macro distances.

But you still need to learn flash if you want to use a hybrid flash.

Would the IBIS in my camera resolve that issue

Not with your lens. For IBIS to work properly, it needs to know the amount the sensor needs to shift with a given shift of lens angle or position. In order to make that happen, the camera needs exact information on focus distance and lens rear node to sensor distance. Modern autofocus macro lenses provide that information to your camera, but your old Vivitar can't.

If you want actual help from a stabilization system, you really need to look at the Fuji 60mm f/2.4 or 80mm f/2.8.

(likewise solid technique) or is the reported problem more to do with the use of a steady light? Again, I am not seeking to use flash.

Why not? It's an optimal solution to your problem, and it won't scare the bugs before you're ready to shoot. Like I said: you've got to learn something, either flash or "heroic" levels of camera holding and LED lighting.

Thank you Joseph. The truth hurts. I'll have a good think on this.