Godox MF-R76 Macro flash - my first use of it. Part 1.

Black ant I photographed with the ring flash Godox MF-R76 flash and Nikon Z 105 macro lens.

Well, I must say that I am disappointed by the flash.  Although it gives nice, even light, the sad fact is that it is underpowered for the work I do.  I found that it consistently underexposed my images if my aperture ever exceeded f/16 while using my 105 Nikkor Z lens while at the 1:1 reproduction ratio.  Most of my macro shots I use the 105 and a small aperture in order to maximize depth of field.  In comparison, my SB200 kit does a superior job when using these settings, and at a lower ISO too.

There are a couple of fixes, but none of them are satisfactory.  I could shoot at a higher ISO, but that would incur digital noise and reduce the quality of the image.  I could shoot at lower apertures but would then restrict depth of field.  Thirdly, I could use a 50 mm or so macro lens and reduce my shooting distance by half, but then I also have to be that much closer in order to obtain the same magnification and would likely scare away my subjects.  Then, under studio shooting conditions, I could shoot dozens of images, all at low ISO/aperture values and then stack them to improve depth of field.  Although I have done this in the past, it is a lot of work and not my thing when I am out in the field hoping to find something cool without killing it and bringing it home.

I have an old SB-29 Nikon flash that is meant for film cameras, it works on digital cameras as long as I keep it on manual mode and shoot at full or 1/4 power.  It is more powerful than the Godox, although the light isn't quite as even.  I am camping right now and brought with me both my macro kits.  I have the Zfc Nikon camera with the Z105 macro and Godox flash for one set up and my trusty D7200 with three SB200 flashes mounted onto the end of the lens.  I also have the old 105 mm D series Nikkor micro lens that I use with it.  Although the old system is somewhat antiquated, it still performs well.  The problem is that the D7200 has the wireless controller for the SB200 flashes but the Zfc does not, which means that if I want to use the SB200s on my Z system, I will have to use a Controller - My SB900 flash will do that, but now I have another component to my system making it that much more bulky.

The good news is that I will use the Godox flash for my stacking work and will get very good lighting from it.  I can also use it when shooting with bellows or extension tubes as the flash is connected to the camera by way of the hotshoe.  I will play with it a bit more to see what else it can or can't do,

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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