With eyes on stalks, this ingenious camera lighting device is an affordable friend for macro photography and bug hunters

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Godox has just launched an ingenious contraption for extreme close-up photography that offers a precision macro lighting set-up that insect and plant photographers will love. The Godox MA2 Flexible Macro Twin Light is a hotshoe-mounted device that has two LEDs on a pair of stalk-link arms. The power and the color temperature of each of these lights can be independently controlled from the panel that sits on top of the camera.

For further lighting control, each LED lamp has a hotshoe above and below, allowing you to place one or two mini strobes on each side to enable shorter effective exposures to freeze movement and to use small apertures to maximize depth of field.

The maximum weight of the flash units used needs to be under 90g. But thankfully highly-affordable units, such as the Godox iM20 (around $28/£25 a piece) have become popular of late, since camera manufacturers have stopped providing a built-in pop-up flash.

Although the flash units cost extra, the basic unit is supplied with a large diffuser panel to ensure even lighting from the lighting rig. A bigger diffuser box is available as an optional accessory.

The LED panels are powered by an integral 3300mAh lithium-ion battery, which is said to give over three hours of running time at 100% brightness. This is recharged via a USB-C connector, which takes 2 hours and 20 minutes to recharge. The panels offer a color range from 2800-6500K.

The Godox MA2 Flexible Macro Twin Light will for $79 / £69 and is expected to be in stock by the middle of September.

Above: YouTube video showing the Godox MA2 in operation

See our full guide the best ring flash for macro photography