Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II macro flash for EOS cameras

Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II

Canon has updated it’s old macro ring flash with the introduction of the Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II. Designed for specialist applications – you see these in just about every police forensic themed program on TV, and also small wildlife and other objects. The new macro flash features two high brightness white LED focussing lamps to aid accurate focus in dark conditions. The two flash tubes can be controlled separately with either ratio control or manual power settings. Furthermore for more creative macro work the macro flash will also function as a Speedlite master controlling up to 3 groups of Speedlites using an optical (infra-red – according to Canon) triggering system. As the photo below shows there appears to be a charge indicator, I really hope this is to show the remaining battery capacity.

Personal Functions can change the colour of the LCD backlight for enhanced legibility

In line with other Speedlite flashes and EOS DSLR cameras launched since 2007, the Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II can be configured from the camera LCD menu. This is a real timesaver and in many cases makes it much simpler to access extended features. The macro flash models MR-14EX and MT-24EX have not previously provided this, and also it means that the flash should be controllable with the Canon EOS Utility software when tethered shooting.

Optical master flash – no radio control

Like it’s predecessor the you need to set the flash Custom Function 5 to 1 to be able to use 3-groups of off-camera Speedlites, by default the macro flash will only trigger Speedlites in group C. Personally I am a little surprised that Canon have not included their incredible radio flash triggering system in this new macro flash. However on the positive side this means the flash can control a huge range of current and older models of Canon Speedlite plus several third party alternatives. Pairing the Macro Ring Lite with a 430EX II to be used as a background light would make creative macro photography quite simple.

Direct fit to Macro lenses

The MR-14EX II fits directly on the front of the Canon Macro Lenses, but if you are fortunate enough to own the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens then you will also need the 67C adapter ring and for the EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens you will need the 72C adapter.

For extended use and super fast recycling the optional CP-E4 battery pack can be connected.

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More details of this latest macro flash can be found on the Canon website.

4 Responses to Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX II macro flash for EOS cameras

Simon 12 February, 2014
Nice article. Is there anyway to use a ring flash and also bounce another light off the ceiling? I’d love to lose my orange backgrounds at events 🙂
- Brian Worley 12 February, 2014
  The MR-14EX and the new MR-14EX II can also trigger other Speedlites using pulses of light. So this means you can have the MR-14EX trigger your off-camera 580EX II as a slave.
  However the MR-14EX only has a guide number of 14m at ISO 100, so at f/1.4 you might get 10m range, but at f/5.6 it’s more like 2.5 metres. I’m not sure a macro ring lite is powerful enough for event portraits.
  You might be better off with an Orbis ring flash on the 580EX.
  - Simon 15 February, 2014
    Thanks Brian. I’ve only got a RayFlash adapter. Any suggestions for using that and still triggering off-camera flash somewhere else in the room?
    - Brian Worley 15 February, 2014
      Actually it’s the same, assuming you are using the 580EX or 580EX II in the ray flash. If the 580EX / 580EX II is on the camera hotshoe then it needs to be set as a master, then it can also trigger other Speedlites that are slaves. You could be using the on-camera ray flash in E-TTL and have the second off-camera flash set to manual if it’s on a stand lighting say the background. It’s output would be the same since the “background” flash is not moving relative to the background. So you set it up, dial in the manual power on the flash and backgrounds would be the same brightness all day.
      One thing to remember is the that the slave flash needs to “see” the light from the master, turning the body of the slave flash towards the master will help a lot.
      Maybe you should join this Simon – http://www.p4pictures.com/product/camera-speedlite-flash-workshop-oxford/