R1c1

Mackillan

Senior Member
I have purchased an R1C1 in the hopes of doing macro?
Can anyone tell me what aaperture settings and shutter speeds for the following?
Bees
Hummingbirds
Flies
Dragon flies
 

nickt

Senior Member
I don't know anything about that flash, but assuming it works like a regular speedlight... I would shoot in manual mode at your maximum regular sync speed (1/250?) and a fairly high f stop for good depth of field. Maybe f16 or higher, see how your lens does.

You don't want to go too low on shutter speed, you don't want sunlight to give you a double exposure effect. Keeping the shutter high along with a small aperture will give you a nice sharp picture exposed only by the flash.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
I have purchased an R1C1 in the hopes of doing macro?
Can anyone tell me what aaperture settings and shutter speeds for the following?
Bees
Hummingbirds
Flies
Dragon flies


I never know if to offer an opinion or just keep quiet. Because, the R1C1 may not be the best choice for like hummingbirds. It is a very low powered flash, only about half the power of the little internal flash. Its feature is to be tiny, and mount on a lens.

Hummingbird wings are so fast, and are a special challenge. Speedlights are fast too, and will stop incredible motion, but only when at low power levels. The low power is what makes them fast. See hummingbird photography - Google Search about all you need to know hummingbirds. Too much flash power is never a problem for hummingbirds.

A speedlight like the SB-700 has a duration of 1/25,000 second if at 1/64 power (manual page H-17). This speed will stop hummingbird wings (but it is best done in the shade, to overpower the ambient, which could still blur the wings). But it has a lot more power than the R1C1, so there is still some usable power left when at 1/64 power. So its 1/64 power might be used at say f/7 at two feet at ISO 400, which seems feasible for hummingbirds (camera is more distant, but the flashes are up close). :) The R1C1 will do 1/64 power, but would have to be near f/1 in the same place (which is not realistic).

Insect situations don't need the same extreme speed, higher power levels could be used, which is more range. The R1C1 is designed more for extreme closeups, like 1:1 macro. which are very close. But hummingbirds are much larger, and distances are relatively farther.
 
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singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
You won't get close enough to a hummingbird to use the mini flashes. Here's a shot from my back yard. Heavy crop, D7000 w/80-200 2.8 and 2 SB-800s triggered with SU-800 (part of R1C1), shot at dusk. I'm about 15' from the subject.
JFS_5585.jpg
 

Mackillan

Senior Member
That was stupid of me to mention R1c1 in the same sentence as hummingbirds. I was planning on using an 80-400 in sunlight on hummingbirds. In sunlight would I need a light?
 

WayneF

Senior Member
That was stupid of me to mention R1c1 in the same sentence as hummingbirds. I was planning on using an 80-400 in sunlight on hummingbirds. In sunlight would I need a light?

Yes, if you want to freeze the wings, you need a flash in lieu of sunlight. Otherwise all you have to stop motion of the wings is shutter speed. Hummingbird wings need about 1/25,000 second, which speedlights at low power can do (like 1/64 power level), but shutters cannot.
To minimize the sunlight (which the shutter speed will cause blur), but can put the feeder in the shade, of a tree or the house.

You need the telephoto lens to stand back and not scare the birds, but the low power speedlight flash will have to be up much closer.

Read up some at https://www.google.com/search?q=hummingbird+photography
 
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