From the Invisible Hand Department
Adam Smith would be so proud.Effective January 1st of this year, ExpoImaging has dropped the price on the Ray Flash ring flash adapter to $199.95. ExpoImaging notes that the price drop is a result of their now being able to purchase the Ray Flash direct from the manufacturer, which removes a layer of distribution costs.
(Heck that's cool by us. We'll take a price drop if it is result of an alien abduction yielding the formula for transparent aluminum if that's what it takes.)
They are kicking the new price point off with a contest, in which the winner will see his or her Ray Flash photo used in an ad. (Rights stay with the shooter.) ExpoImaging also is kicking in lotsa merch for the winning entry.
More details here.
(Photo ©2008 David Maynard)
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by David, at 8:15 AM.
21 Comments:
..and I thought the price drop was in response to competition in their space >cough< Orbis >cough<
well now i feel good that i dug around and found that Short Images is the developer/manufacturer of the ray flash and north americans were being gorged compared to EU pricing.
good old Adam Smith rules.
at $199 i see buying one as a companion to my saturn flash which i love. we are all happy to get a 1/2 stop more light for another hundred bucks.
Has anyone ever measured (with a flash meter) the output of one of these things attached to a flash unit of known power?
I'm interested in one of these gizmos but would like to know what guide number it will give me with my 580EX.
I`m more than a little bit curious what this thing could do for me.
But.....I think a see a problem.
I own a nikor 24-70/70-200 2.8G and it looks like these lenses are so long they will cast a shadow.
Or did I just miss the possibility of moving the ring back and forth the correct for the lenght of the lens?
I`m more than a little bit curious what this thing could do for me.
But.....I think a see a problem.
I own a nikor 24-70/70-200 2.8G and it looks like these lenses are so long they will cast a shadow.
Or did I just miss the possibility of moving the ring back and forth the correct for the lenght of the lens?
@kaaterskill-
Apples and oranges, to a degree. Same company, older model -- thicker, less efficient. That model has always been less money.
@RONIN-
The company you mentioned in your (unmoderated) comment simply imports from an asian company that pirated the Ray Flash design, which is why I will not help to support them by publicizing them in this site.
Thanks for understanding.
-D
No support for the 550EX (how many of them must there be out there?) means I can't use one, much as I'd like to.
Gotta love competition.
These units drop a LOT of light, regardless of what they tell you in the brochure.
Just take a look at the promo shot from Expoimaging. Does anybody see the problem here?
Shallow DOF @ close range = Fast aperture = More light from the flash = Hiding the fact that you're dropping a lot of stops.
For me, I've found I need to shoot at f4.0-5.6 at ISO 400 if I want a decent effect and recycle time.
But, they are a lot of fun and add a new dimension to your lighting.
To Anonymous above,
The company has listed the guide numbers on the site. Use the link that David has provided and scroll down a little bit.
Hope that helps.
I see someone was paying attention in economics class... I was beginning to think that no one knew who Adam Smith was or his "Invisible Hand."
"The company you mentioned in your (unmoderated) comment simply imports from an asian company that pirated the Ray Flash design, which is why I will not help to support them by publicizing them in this site."
OK, what am I missing? Looking at the Nov. 14th and 21st posting on this blog, does not look like "not help to support them by publicizing them in this site".
Anonymous-
Orbis' design is significantly different from Ray Flash, and was in development concurrent to Ray Flash's development.
They are not the ripoff company that I am talking about.
-D
transparent aluminum? David once again subtley hits at his inner "trekkie". Were you wearing spock ears while typing?
As of January 1, 2009, ExpoImaging is proud to announce that we now have a direct purchasing agreement with the Ray Flash's manufacturer, allowing for a new retail price of $199.95.
So who is ExpoImaging side-stepping to get this lower price?
Who cares? It's cheaper in the end which is most important to my wallet. Instead of the product switching hands 5 times and getting marked up 5 times as well it is now a direct sale so to speak.
further WPPI09 tradeshow discounts insight??
These modifiers really do work, but just like any modifier, you'll need to get that strobe to pump out a lot of juice to get a decent depth of field. That may just mean waiting longer or opening up that aperture. Keep in mind that these small strobes were never meant to be turned into a ring flash. This really is a specialty item. For great recycle times and power, you'll need to spring for a full-sized ring flash at at least double the cost.
I'm skeptical about the "efficient product chain management" to shave 100$ off of the price. Adam Smith has this one right. Their market share got eaten away by the 100$ knockoff. 300$ is a huge investment for someone in this hobby. 200$ vs. 100$ for the knockoff is still a large gap, but much closer, and makes the choice less clear between the high-quality, R+D'ed product, and the chintzy Chinese knockoff. Even at 150$ vs. 100$ you'd still have people scratching their heads.
A few days ago i bought a ray flash on the german ebay site for 99€ ( it´s about 130$) directly from the manufacturer. :-)
99€ was a price for me that i could and would pay for this flash adapter but not more.
so Karbon,
would you be kind enough to post the website where we can buy a ray flash for 99€.
i hate being the victim of globalization
. thanks
@haaterskill:
i wrote in my comment that i bought it on the german EBAY site. Last week there were some Ray Flashes for this price. The seller name is "oksurf".
Any idea why ring flash doesn't cause red-eye? It puts the flash closest to the lens axis - which is exactly what CAUSES red eye in a compact camera? Just wondering...
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