The best ringflash for macro photography in 2024

Canon Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II
(Image credit: Future)

The best ringflash has traditionally been strongly recommended purchase for any macro photographer. If you're on the lookout for interesting plants and insects to capture with your macro lens, you need a way to provide a quick bit of fill light, especially if you keep finding yourself inadvertently casting great big shadows over the things you're trying to photograph! There are alternative solutions nowadays using carefully positioned LED panels, but the ringflash is a brilliant integrated solution to the problems of lighting creepy-crawlies and the like. 

A ring flash has the additional advantage that it can provide enough light to allow you to stop down the aperture enough to get your whole subject in focus. The built-in flash on your camera won't cut it, and hotshoe flashguns often won't work too well with macro lenses, with the two getting in the way of each other. And LED panels will struggle to give enough power to give the aperture and shutter speed combination you need for moving subjects.

Chris George headshot
Chris George

Chris has been writing about photography professionally for nearly 40 years and has tested hundreds of different cameras – and has used a wide variety of macro set-ups and ringflash units. He has been the editor of What Camera, N-Photo, PhotoPlus, Video Camera, and Digital Camera magazines.

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

Chris George

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography. 

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.

With contributions from