On board. I started at wide-open (f/3.5), and thought it was way too soft. There wasn’t a crisp line to be had anywhere. After I cranked up to f/11, I knew I wouldn’t be able to support a shutter speed to get any sort of decent shot without a tripod, and there was enough wind that day that even the flowers were moving targets, so a tripod would have been moot anyway. So I put the flash on manual 1/8 (since nikon’s ttl doesn’t work with non-metering lenses) got an okay reslut, but was still worried about motion between being hand-held and windy. I then put the flash at full power, and the shutter at 1/200, and liked the results. So, I left it like that. The flash at full power was also bright enough to help negate the effects of the sun. Out of the photos above, the housefly taken under full, thick forest canopy. The bullfrog was at a shady edge of a pond, the bumblebee in urban shade (2-3 story buildings and sparse trees) and the dragonfly and beetles in full midday sun.
Does this make me think it’s okay just keep using onboard flash? Sure, for the time being. But now, more than ever, I want a ringlight (short of doing this, which has been pointed out already as looking like something I would do). Or a dual flash like that guy with the crazy macro had. I’ve already got ideas bouncing in my head about grabbing a cheapo, secondhand non-ttl flash unit, ripping out the single strobe, running some wires, a clamp, and two strobes from disposable cameras to do the same thing in a more, ummm, budget-engineered manner.
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