Nikon R1C1 flash for Macro Photography

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Rookie Roy

Rookie Roy

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Is anyone using the Nikon R1C1 Flash with their Z8 or Z9 for macro photography? It is not clear to me if it is compatible with a Z8 or Z9. I was wondering if this is a good system for night macro photography in Costa Rica? If not, what are you using for night macro photography?
 
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I have been using the R1 Flash with my Z8 quite a bit, Z7II also. It is fully compatible with the Z cameras. I do not have the C1 component of this kit. At the time I purchased it you could buy the full kit or just the R1 with all the other parts of the kit for less money. Probably still the case today. I purchased just the R1 quite a few years ago and used the onboard flash of my D750 to trigger the remote units. When I moved up to the D850 and lost the onboard I chose to buy the SB500 rather than the C1 controller since I could use it both to trigger remote units and as a very good flash with features including HSS. These units are old now but it continue to work well. I have never used it at night but I could try that out for you if you would like. As with the Godox mentioned above, not waterproof and probably no weather sealing at all.
 
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The R1C1 is compatible with your bodies.

It comes with lots of bits in a quiet large size plastic box that are not particularly convenient to use outdoors.

I bought mine in 2007 and still use it occasionally.

There are new other brand distinctly lower price flash systems introduced over the subsequent 16 years that I presume perform better than this "ancient" Nikon system.

The R1C1 kit includes the SU 800 that when mounted on a Nikon body hot shoe controls a range of Nikon flash units for conventional flash photography.
I understand but cannot confirm there are more affordable independent brand alternatives to the SU 800.

If buying now rather than 16 years ago I doubt the Nikon would be a front runner as a purchase for me.
 
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I have the R1C1 Flash having used it on my Z cameras (Z7ii and Z8). It does a good job but I have since switched to using an on camera flash - SB700 or SB910 with a AK Diffuser. I find this new set up softens the light much better and prevents the harsh highlights/hotspots you get with twin lights or ring lights. I could not diffuse the light enough on the R1C1 set up. The AK Diffuser (there are other brands) is made for your camera/lens and is about $100-$125.
 
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I have and use the R1C1 flash,but have not used it yet on my Z9. It works just fine on my D850.

If you decide to use it, I suggest you just buy the Su 800 and one flash unit, SB-R200. I mount my flash on a Really Right Stuff ring and not the attachment rings that come with the R1C1 kit. The RRS ring allows for more separation of the flash from the camera. Used wirelessly, flash is TTL/BL. I do not think RRS makes those rings anymore. Wimberley might have a flash bracket that will work with the SB-R200. If you decide to get the R1C1 think through how you are going to attach the flash or flashes. I add a diffuser to the SB-R200 if needed.
 
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There is a new generation of superb macro flash diffusers made by such entrepreneurial companies as AK (US) and Cygnustech (Australia). Some of these are reviewed in this article,
https://wildmacro.de/the-best-flash-diffusers-for-macro-photography/. The best of these include small LED lights for focusing in dim light. They can be used with a regular external flash unit, and users seem to swear by them.
 
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I was eyeing the AK diffuser until I got an R1 kit for free.

calcal said:
I have been using the R1 Flash with my Z8 quite a bit, Z7II also. It is fully compatible with the Z cameras. I do not have the C1 component of this kit. At the time I purchased it you could buy the full kit or just the R1 with all the other parts of the kit for less money. Probably still the case today. I purchased just the R1 quite a few years ago and used the onboard flash of my D750 to trigger the remote units. When I moved up to the D850 and lost the onboard I chose to buy the SB500 rather than the C1 controller since I could use it both to trigger remote units and as a very good flash with features including HSS. These units are old now but it continue to work well. I have never used it at night but I could try that out for you if you would like. As with the Godox mentioned above, not waterproof and probably no weather sealing at all.
Click to expand...
I have mine paired with an SB-700. Works well but I wish I know a way to turn off the SB-700's flash to save battery.
 
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Macro is a new world to me. I purchased the Nikon R1S1 system and it seems to work well for me. I have (4) flash units but mostly just use 2 of them. The kit does come with diffusers that attach to flash units. I thought about purchasing the diffuser from Ak & Cygnustech but for now Im just going to experiment with the R1S1 system. I did find a deal online that's why I purchased this system.

I have not used it at night but that will be my next step.

I do have some pictures on my FB page .
 
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As has been mentioned, there are newer, cheaper models available but my R1C1 has served me well for over 20 years now without any issues. I added the diffusers from Trik Bits which are a nice accessory. The entire kit is a bit bulky but not so much that it keeps me from using it.
www.macrodiffuser.com

Macro Diffuser

Welcome to macro diffusers, if your looking for ways to help improve the lighting in your macro pictures this will be a great start to improving your images. Available for the following. canon MT-24EX Twin lite flash, canon MT-26EX Twin lite flash, and the Yongnuo YN24EX E TTL Macro flash.
www.macrodiffuser.com www.macrodiffuser.com
 
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Leno77 said:
I have the R1C1 Flash having used it on my Z cameras (Z7ii and Z8). It does a good job but I have since switched to using an on camera flash - SB700 or SB910 with a AK Diffuser. I find this new set up softens the light much better and prevents the harsh highlights/hotspots you get with twin lights or ring lights. I could not diffuse the light enough on the R1C1 set up. The AK Diffuser (there are other brands) is made for your camera/lens and is about $100-$125.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response and advise. Others also like and recommend the AK Diffusers. I was wondering if you tried using diffusers on the sb-200’s such as those made Trik Bits?
 
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I've not used the Trik Bits but find them interesting. I had thought of making my own but then went the way of AK Diffuser. Since a British company, the cost would be about $120 US with shipping, etc.
 
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Rookie Roy said:
Is anyone using the Nikon R1C1 Flash with their Z8 or Z9 for macro photography? It is not clear to me if it is compatible with a Z8 or Z9. I was wondering if this is a good system for night macro photography in Costa Rica? If not, what are you using for night macro photography?
Click to expand...
The R1C1 is far superior to any other setup for macro photography. The tiny speedlights are controlled by a Nikon SU-800 mounted on the hot show and is 100% reliable. It also makes it easy and fast to adjust the relative output of the two speedlights for a more natural look. Having only a single key light results in unnatural looking pictures as in nature there is a main light with the sun and fill light from the surroundings and the option of using a small reflector for fill lighting.

I have adjusted the output with underwater strobes by having one flash twice as far from the subject or by attaching a 1-stop ND filter to one of the flash units but this is not the best option for land based macro shooting.

I have speedlights from third party companies and three of the Nikon SB-800 speedlights and two Quantum Qflash but did not hestitate to buy the Nikon R1C1 kit. The kit includes various sizes of adapters for lenses that have a different filter size as well as diffusers. I needed the SU-800 for my other iTTL SB-800 speedlights to be able to use them off the camera. The SB-5000 would be an option but it provides no real advantages over my 3 SB-800 speedlights and it would cost me $2,000 to buy three of them.

The R1C1 kit is very portable and easy to use with small quick moving subjects and venomous ones where one does not have time to move a lightstand or reflectors into position.
 
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Salve a tutti, uso il kit R1C1 da anni, credo sia tra i migliori, se non il migliore. Oltre ai tanti accessori in dotazione ci sono dei piccoli morsetti progettati appositamente dalla RRS per collegare i piccoli flash SR200 a staffe come la Wimberlay in modo tale da poterli posizionare come si vuole e non solo intorno all'obiettivo come con gli accessori in dotazione. Con queste aggiunte si può fare di tutto.
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Rookie Roy said:
Is anyone using the Nikon R1C1 Flash with their Z8 or Z9 for macro photography? It is not clear to me if it is compatible with a Z8 or Z9. I was wondering if this is a good system for night macro photography in Costa Rica? If not, what are you using for night macro photography?
Click to expand...
I have been using dual R1 Flashes from before 2000 I think, with Nikons up from a D80, D750 using the pop up flash as a controller. With the D780 I lost the pop-up flash. I found a used SB900 in master mode. It is a big flas so I looked for a smaller flash that could work in master mode. I tried some of the smaller godox that claimed the master option but I haven,t been able to decode how to do it. Local Henry's staff found me a used SU-800, much less than the original. Works well now with Z 6ii and Z 8.
 

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