D5100 dental photography tips (macro flash help)

Hi guys. New here, and need some help.

I'm looking to get my sister a present.. she will basically need a macro lens and a macro flash to photograph teeth (true colors and matching shades of color are very important).

There's a few websites that have kits for sale - most with a D7000 - I guess because the D7K can be used in commander mode so that the macro flash acts as a slave.

My D5100 can't do that.

Are there any macro flashes that you would recommend for the D5100? I don't want to buy another body just for this purpose.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

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Thanks

I would think all you would need is a good Macro lens and a ring flash.

Many, Many years ago I owned a camera store and we were the Yashica/Contax dealer in the area and we carried the Yashica Dental Camera Yashica Dental Eye - No Longer For The Teeth - Lomography

It was a sweet little camera for macro work

I have to say, I've never considered what kind of set up you would want to use in order to shoot teeth. So it'll be interesting to see what people suggest for you.

Oh, and welcome to Nikonites!

I'm not certain that the commander mode would work well for that. The ring flash that I saw (third party) plugged on the hot shoe of the camera and were controlled by the top unit. I think just a ring flash would be better, even if it is manual (probably even better). She'd have to do a few tests for exposure and then shoot away.

​Just my opinion.

I agree that probably my route will end up being just getting a macro lens and a ring flash.

But which ring flash would you suggest for the D5100? I don't trust some 3rd party flash for $50... I'm willing to spend some decent money as long as it's pretty good quality. It would be nice if Nikon made it.

Matching colours and shades requires a structured workflow and probably shooting in manual mode to remove variation. If you take 5 shots with TTL flash you will get 5 versions of the truth. Just a thought.

My mum's a dentist & a professor in a dental college.
I've seen them get by with a regular camera & a ring flash..
you would definitely need a ring type cos the light would be in a small region & not very harsh.
For the D5100, R1C1 would be perfect, though it's quite expensive..
if not you can take a look at the other third party ring lights

After doing some research... I'm looking at the Nikkor 40mm f2.8 Macro lens, the 52mm adapter, and Sigma EM-140 DG Macro Ring Flash... All together would cost about $640.
This I would pair with the D5100...
Most of the dental "kits" that are online are about 2k. I think I can save money by getting the inexpensive 40mm macro lens instead of the more expensive ones, as well as getting the sigma ring flash vs the R1C1 (it's really not needed - all she would need is to take pics of teeth.. so it would have to be good at 1 thing and 1 thing only.. I can't justify getting the R1C1 system).
Any other comments before I purchase it?

The 40MM macro is an excellent lens. I have one and love it.

Hi!

A 40mm Macro would be a bad choice for dental photography. You need a 40mm Macro at least, that's because you need to get aways from the teeth so that your ringflash can work properly. I'm a dentist, and teacher at university and I also give dental photography courses.

You can go for a Nikon 60mm f/2.8 AF-D, search for it on ebay. Because it is a Fx format lens, on the DX Nikon 5100 sensor, it will be equivalent to a 90mm lens. Nissin macro ring flash is also agreat choice.

Have fun