Orbis Ring Flash System

Orbis Ring Flash System

What is it?

The Orbis system from EnlightPhoto is a gadget that transforms your harsh off camera flash into a gorgeous shadowless ring flash.
However, it can not only be used as a conventional ring flash, but off camera it forms light akin to a beauty dish or softbox, giving beautiful form to the light.

As most of you photographers out there reading this will know, light is the essence of all photography, without the knowledge of harnessing the light sources available to you, it can turn a potentially stunning image into a wreck.

The Orbis gives you even more flexibility with the lighting available to you, and it does it in a smart way.

Design

You simply connect your off camera flash into the space in the bottom, which moves the flash inside, where the light shooting out of it, conforms to the radial flash head and streams forth out of the translucent cover in a shower of soft light.

The fact that the system is so easy to get accustomed to, simple to handle and just WORKS as you expect it to, is a testament to the great design from the developers.
It has a great feel, it is plastic but does not feel flimsy at all and has a reassuring weight to it without being TOO overbearing and heavy.

There is an adjustable clip inside the bottom which grabs onto your flash and is set to work with most (if not all) commercially available flash units, and even works with TTL.

‘The Orbis fits every flash except the discontinued Vivitar 286, every camera including mirrorless CSC compacts and with an 87mm lens tunnel, nearly every lens including most ‘L’ series Canon lenses and Nikon f2.8 zooms.’ - EnlightPhoto website

Usability

As previously mentioned, the Orbis is a simple design that just works, you won’t have to worry too much about fiddling with anything, and you mostly just slot in the flash and go.
It is a rather bulky thing if hand holding, but as I have quite large hands I didn’t really find it an issue, and I don’t think it will be a deal breaker even so.

The one thing is (which I assume is unavoidable due to the what we want the unit to do anyway) is that it is fairly top heavy and tends to lean forward if your flash head mechanism isn’t the strongest and you tilt down. Not a huge issue, but worth mentioning.

There is also the Orbis arm which is very handy and seems to help with any complaints people could really have with the usability of the item. It has 2 adjustable sliders that form an ‘S’ shape, that you connect your flash to and your camera to on either end.
This holds the flash in place for your camera to slide through the donut shaped centre of the Orbis, and essentially makes it 1 unit that you can just carry around without hand holding both items separately. Perfect for when you want to just use the Ring flash style without tiring your arms too much.

Conclusion

I haven’t yet had the time to go out and do TOO much practicing and formal shots with the Orbis, but I most certainly will be using it in the future and testing it in our magazine shoots (I’ll link them so you know at the time).

For me this unit is a dream, it gives you the lighting options that typically only the more expensive units could offer, while being affordable and easy to use. There is not a whole lot that you could have fault with on this, especially if you consider the value of the light it is putting out compared to the price of unit itself.

Have no reservations about telling you to go and buy it if this is the type of creative system you are looking to use.
It has so many options, whether you do Fashion photography, simple portraits, Macro work, you can find a use for this I assure you.


Anyway if you want to head over and take a look at the Orbis system you can follow the links below.

Orbis Arm – AMAZON


Orbis System - AMAZON


Be sure to check out their site for even more goodies over at
http://enlightphotopro.com/


And go follow them on Twitter for updates - @EnlightPhotoPro