Neewer RF1 Macro Ring Flash review: a smart close-up contender for Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras

If you go online and look for photographic accessories ranging from anything from camera batteries and grips to tripods, stands and other paraphernalia, it won’t be long before Neewer pops up in the results. The company has been going about its business since 2011 and has built a good reputation for designing and manufacturing quality kit at very affordable prices.

Despite a rapidly growing range of accessories in all areas, Neewer is best known for its lighting systems, which include flashes, LED panels, ring lights, video lights and related add-ons like soft boxes, brollies, reflectors, and triggers, to name but a few. The item I’m reviewing here is the Neewer RF1 Macro Ring Flash, which comes in dedicated options to suit Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. I went for the Nikon dedicated version but all three aim to be among the best macro ring flash options currently available, especially if you’re on a tight budget.

Neewer RF1: Specifications

Neewer RF1: Price

What price a good macro flash kit? Own-brand options from camera manufacturers typically command serious money, like the Canon MR-14EX II Macro Ring Lite Flash at around $590 / £600 / AU$865 and the Nikon R1 Close-Up Speedlight Remote Kit at around $580 / £550 / AU$600, the latter also needing a Nikon SU-800 commander unit at $300 / £350 / AU$380, if your camera doesn’t have a pop-up flash capable of triggering it. By stark contrast, the Neewer RF1 Macro Ring Flash only costs around $108 / £130 / AU$168, despite coming in three dedicated options for Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. That makes it potentially a top bargain buy.

Neewer RF1: Design & Handling

The RF-1 looks instantly familiar if you’re accustomed to ring flash kits. Eminently suitable for macro photography, it’s based on two separate control and flash units, joined together by a stretchable curly cable. As usual, the control unit slots into your camera’s hotshoe, while the flash unit mounts onto the front end of your lens. Some photographers use this type of flash for creating halo-shaped catchlights in people’s eyes during portraiture, but extreme close-up macro photography is their main claim to fame.

Typical of the breed, the control unit looks like the bottom half of a regular flashgun, but without the bounce/swivel flash tube on top. The control layout is also like that of many conventional flashguns, with a backlit LCD display panel and a collection of buttons and dials. Indeed, there’s the time-honored row of four context-sensitive buttons just below the LCD, along with dedicated buttons for Mode and Menu, and a Test button. There’s also a rotary dial with a Set button at its center. This again is fairly common, although many flashguns substitute the rotary dial for a 4-way pad.

The layout of controls and their operation is mostly intuitive, quick, and easy to use. For example, the Mode button comes with no unwanted surprises and simply cycles through the various TTL auto metering, Manual, and Multi (programmable strobe) modes on offer. In each of these modes, the left-hand and right-hand buttons of the 4-button strip are labeled on the LCD screen as Ratio and LED, respectively. I like that the illumination for the info screen lights up when you press any of the buttons or turn the rotary controller, making it easy to see and use in the dark.

My only slight complaint is that the rotary controller can be more fiddly to use than a 4-way pad. For example, the latter often enables full EV step changes if you press the left or right button, and smaller incremental changes of 1/3EV if you press up or down (or vice versa). The rotary dial isn’t too much of a faff if you’re adjusting TTL flash exposure in 1/3EV increments through a maximum of +/-3EV, but it can be a bit of a chore going through the whole 1/128^th to 1/1 power range in 1/3EV increments when using Manual mode.

The cable joining the control unit and flash unit is a heavy-duty affair and features anti-stress cushioning at each end. Naturally, the whole idea of the ring flash is that it connects to the front of your lens, whether it’s a macro or regular optic. Lenses come with a fairly vast range of attachment threads so it’s good news that the RF1 is supplied with no less than eight separate attachment rings. They go from little to large, the whole set comprising 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72 and 77mm rings.

There are four lock/release latches for securely fixing the flash unit to whichever attachment ring you’re using, all of which have the same outer diameter. There’s a pair of spring-loaded pushbuttons on either side of the flash unit to enable quick and easy fitment and detachment.

Like many macro ring flash units, the RF1 features two separate semi-circular flash tubes, one on each side. This is by far my preferred arrangement, as it allows the power output of each side to be set independently, using the Ratio function. Each side tube isn’t quite a full semi-circle, which leaves space for two LED lamps, one at the top and one at the bottom. You can turn these on and off with the LED function, using them for AF-assist, modelling, or for filling in the blanks between the two side tubes when taking a shot.

Increasingly, I’ve seen flashguns for sale that feature a rechargeable Li-ion battery pack, which tends to deliver excellent stamina and very fast recycle speeds between full-power flashes. The RF1 is a more old-school design, based on the use of four AA batteries. Alkaline batteries are moderately suitable but recycle speeds tend to drop off noticeably after fairly little use, and you have to throw them away afterwards. I much prefer using a set of the best rechargeable AA batteries, which maintain relatively fast recycle speeds until they’re exhausted, after which you can simply charge them up and use them over and over again.

An alternative to using AA batteries is that you can power the RF1 from an external power pack. This is available as an optional extra, and has a connection cable that plugs into a socket on the front panel of the control unit, revealed by pulling out a weather-resistant flap.

An excellent accessory that’s supplied as part of the standard kit is a selection of white, red, yellow and green color filters. Each comes as a pair and fits individually over the left and right semi-circular flash tubes, so you can even mix and match if you feel the need. The white pair have added value, as I’ll come to in a moment.

Neewer RF1: Performance

When using flash in general shooting, especially outdoors or when bouncing it off high ceilings or distant walls, it can be easy to feel there’s never enough power. I found quite the opposite with the RF1. I tested it with my Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro, which like many macro lenses has a working distance of about 6 inches from the front of the lens to the subject when using the shortest focus distance, for maximum macro magnification. That puts the flash unit incredibly close to what you’re shooting, so very little power is required.

I found that the TTL automatic flash metering worked with a good degree of accuracy and consistency but I prefer using manual mode for macro shooting and most other scenarios, so I can be in complete control. Switching to manual, I dialed in the absolute minimum of 1/128^th power for both sides of the flash unit. At a 6-inch range, I found that with my camera’s sensitivity at its base ISO 100 setting, I still had to use a really narrow aperture of f/22 for a properly exposed result. Yes, I know that narrow exposures are great for macro photography, so you can get more than a negligible amount of depth of field. Even so, the minimum power setting puts things pretty much on the limit.

That’s where I found the white color filters came in most useful. As well as diffusing the flash from the tubes, they cut down the effective output by about 1EV, enabling an aperture of f/16 rather than f/22 at my lens’s shortest focus distance. It would be even more necessary if your macro lens has a shorter minimum focus distance that you want to take advantage of.

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Neewer claims a maximum power output of Gn 15 (Guide number, ISO 100, meters). When testing flashguns, I invariably find that the maximum output doesn’t quite live up to the manufacturer’s claims but, in this case, the RF1 delivered on its Gn 15 promise. Going down to the minimum power setting for using both tubes, I got a power of Gn 1.8, theoretically equating to the use of an f/1.8 aperture when shooting at a distance of 1 meter, with a sensitivity of ISO 100. Naturally, you’re a lot closer than a meter from the subject in macro photography, hence the need for a much narrower aperture for a correct exposure.

Like most flashguns, large and small, recycling speeds are pretty much instantaneous through most of the power range. I didn’t notice any delay at all at settings from 1/128^th up to 1/8^th power, using both left and right tubes. Recycling slowed down to 1 second at 1/4 power, 2.2 seconds at half power and 3.8 seconds for full power, using both sides in all cases. That’s slower than the 2.7 seconds claimed by Neewer but pretty much what I’d expect.

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Neewer RF1: Lab Results

We test all available features for each flashgun that goes through out labs. To test power output, we used a Sekonic flash meter placed at a distance of one meter from each flashgun. We check the complete range of manual power settings, in one-stop increments. Based on a sensitivity of ISO 100, the figures correlate directly with the Gn (Guide number) in meters. The results are double-checked by taking shots of a gray card with the appropriate lens apertures and using the camera’s histogram display in playback mode.

We also check the speed with which each flashgun can recycle to a state of readiness, throughout its range of power settings, culminating in a full-power flash. We use freshly charged Ni-MH rechargeable batteries for this, or the supplied rechargeable Li-ion battery pack where featured in some flashguns.

The table below shows both the power output (Gn, ISO 100, meters) at each full EV step through the complete power range, from minimum to maximum output. The recycle speed in seconds is shown for the same settings. The tubes of both sides of the flash unit were used at the same power settings throughout the tests.

Neewer RF1: Verdict

I really like the Neewer RF1. It works great as a macro ring light, giving me all the power I need (actually, rather more than I need) along with excellent versatility. And yes, it really is versatile, with separate left and right flash tubes and the availability of ratio settings between them, LED supplemental lights top and bottom, a huge range of eight attachment rings, plus a handy color/diffuser set of four pairs of filters.

There’s yet more versatility in the provision of TTL auto, manual, and programmable repeat flash modes, while build quality feels reassuringly robust. I found the rotary dial a bit fiddly for manual power adjustments, and recycling after a full power flash could be faster. However, overall performance is excellent, making the Neewer great value at the price.

Alternatives

The K&F Concept KF-150 Macro Ring Flash is similar in having dual flash tubes and two LED lamps. It’s available in Canon and Nikon dedicated versions, but not for Sony. It works well overall, but TTL flash metering wasn’t compatible with my Nikon Z6 II and Z fc mirrorless cameras.