I got into a situation recently where I needed some cool (temperature) illumination for a macro series at work and picked up the Sony Ring Light. At first I was not sure if I was going to be satisfied with the light vs flash design, but quickly came to see why it was built as a light. In the past I've nearly always run into unwanted shadows in the finished product (35mm flim) because a modeling lamp just cannot produce the same effects. Most of what macro I do is technical/engineering reference shots. The light format gives sort of a 'what you see is what you get' view. I was able to do the final lay up in about half the time it normally takes!
As a side note, I was unhappy with the adapter rig for the control box; sat very high ontop of the camera, and could in my opinion under certain circumstances induce vibration. I bravely disassembled the new unit only to discover that it would be a fairly simple task to remove the standard shoe arangement (2 screws), buff down the supplied Sony type shoe adapter, and use the same 2 screws to attach it directly to the control head. This reduced the overall height by nearly 5/8"(!). Just in case anyone else here has a similar interest.
Best to all, JJ