Frankenflash....

I've been having so much fun with my new 90mm macro lens that I figured it was time to step it up a notch. What I needed was a dedicated macro flash.

So one day last week I decided to check out Henry's to see what a macro flash was going for...

$869.99?!?

Ummm... yea; that's not gonna happen.

So what's a guy to do? Well, how about make my own....

I remember a while back I saw something on DYI Photography about making your own out of a Pringles can. Well, I like Pringles.... I was pretty sure I had a can kicking around somewhere. So I set out to make a macro flash unit for myself.

It's a pretty simple process;

1. Find Pringles
2. Eat Pringles
3. Take the empty can and wash it out
4. Take your flash unit and trace out the head on the side of the can.
5. Cut out hole 
6. Insert flash into the hole in the Pringles can
7. Attach can and flash to camera

The Franken-macro-Flash!!!

It's.... ALIVE!!!

Frankenflash on Nikon D5000

Now I know it's not pretty. It doesn't exactly scream "Pro Photographer" and yea, that's a fabric softener sheet attached to the front (hey, it needed diffusion somehow, right?). But the real question is:

"Does it work?"

No Flash 5 Seconds, ISO 200 F8

This first shot is of a coin (Yea, I didn't have anything else available...). Not super exciting I admit. It's pretty flat overall. The shutter speed was 5 seconds in order to get the Aperture value I was looking for. I shot this at F8, any less and the whole thing wouldn't have been in focus because at the distance I was working my depth of field was about 2mm.

On Camera Flash 1/60th, ISO 200 F8

Now this shot is better. The shutter speed is more manageable and the F Stop is the same as the first pic. It is a little washed out and there still isn't a lot of depth. The flash is the little pop up unit that comes with most camera's. The problem with those is that they're directly over the lens and therefore they blast light directly at the subject. The way you get depth with a flash is to move it off axis from the lens.

Now for the shot with my Nikon SB 600 flash unit:

Ummm... Yea.... That one didn't turn out. It seems that although the SB 600 is a good flash unit, it sits much higher above the lens than the pop flash. The end result? It missed the coin... completely. All I got on that frame was black. It seems at F8 and 1/60 of a second, there isn't quite enough light to make an exposure when the flash misses the subject.

Frankenflash 1/60th, ISO 200 F8

And last but not least; the FRANKENFLASH! It's well lit, it's got a little depth, the light isn't as harsh as direct flash (see? the Fabric softener sheets aren't that dumb after all...) and the flash isn't pointed directly at the subject; it's slightly offset from the lens so it actually helps pick up detail in the coin! Not too bad for $2.99!

As an added bonus, the DYI macro light also acts as a snoot when you're shooting larger subjects. I managed to track down a larger subject for the experiment with this setup...

Unfortunately my subject said something about "Fire bad..." and stormed out before we could get started so I had to go with my back up plan....

No flash

So here's our subject. the pic looks pretty good but the shutter speed is low (around 5 seconds I think). I had to use a tripod and remote to keep it still enough to shoot that slow. Sure, it's fine for a static subject but not so great if your subject is alive... or undead for that matter. The background is a little odd too; it's actually black but because the exposure is so long it's blown out to a certain extent.

Pop Up Flash

Once again, better but not perfect. The background is more of a muted grey as opposed to the mucky beige in the last one. The flash lights up both the subject and the background because you can't control where it's gonna fall. That's the one problem with a pop up flash.

Nikon SB 600

And even better! The light is more controlled but it's got a little more angle to it now. The pic was taken in portrait mode (holding the camera on it's side for those that don't know) which is why the light seems to be coming in from slightly to the right (the flash is offset from the camera by at least 6 inches). It's definitely not diffused though. Great for mood but not so good for illumination.

Nikon SB 600

Now this is what I was going for! The background is dark because the light is falling where I want t to. That is what a snoot is designed for. It's diffused so it looks more even overall even though it's still falling on the subject from slightly to the right. All in all, complete success!

With this kind of setup, you can make almost any subject look good!

Well... almost any subject....

Oh, and one more thing. I picked up an iPad 2 late last week. I figure I'll probably post a mini review once I get up to speed with it. Not sure how I'm gonna use it for photography but I'm sure I'll figure it out....