 Kevin Harley |
better flash difuser I bought a gary font lightsphere, it works pretty well with a good light ceiling, but I am finding when I direct the flash right at the subject that the light output from the difuser cup is really poor. Does anybody know of any good quality difusers that are relatively compact and not the cheap plastic covers that will work with 430 and 580 speedlites?
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Mark Feldstein |
Greetings Kevin: It's more likely that the output from your flash is the culpret rather than the difuser. And I think you'll find that the ceiling height makes a big difference (assuming the Lightsphere is meant for ceiling bounce and I don't think it is.) Lumiquest makes another light difuser but the cover density is probably about the same as the Lightsphere. You could determine the guide number at ISO 100 with your flash, drop Gary fong an e-mail and see what he thinks, or just try it with a more powerful flash and see if that solves your problem. Take it light. ;>) Mark
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Kevin Harley |
Mark, that's just it, when the flash power is increased a couple steps the over exposure of the shots becomes very evident. This only happens when I use the lightsphere as non-bounce and I only do so when I am photographing wedding receptions with a less than desirable setup. You know 30-40 foot ceilings kind thing where bouncing the flash isn't possible. I've seen a collapsable cloth type diffuser before but never could recall the name of it. I know it would be way more convenient due to it's compact size so it wouldn't take up a lot size in my camera bag. I am finding the lightsphere makes absolutely no difference in 90% of the cases using bounce flash though, funny how that works...
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Suzanne Colson |
My vote goes for the Demb Flip-it. Technically I can't say why, but my flash shots are better, IMO, then any of the diffusers I have used. http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/
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Mark Feldstein |
Well Kevin, again I don't know the light output of your strobe nor how many stops the difuser cuts that output say at highest power settings. There are quite a few variables to your question, including the types of set-ups you mentioned and of course, the reflective value of the scene, like white wedding dresses and tux shirts vs. dark coats and suits. There are a number of outfits that make portable, on-flash softboxes with fabrics that have varying degrees of translucency but once more, how effective they are using your flash is something you need to ask the sofbox manufacturer like Chimera or Photoflex's Lightdome kit might be exactly what you need. http://www.photoflex.com/Photoflex_Products/LiteDome_xs_Kit_1/index.html I've used an old portable light dome softbox over the years and it works quite well with a Vivitar 285HV or my newer Nikon SB800. But those units both have pretty high guide numbers. Take a look at the Lumiquest rig. Folds up and slips into your gear bag.
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Kevin Harley |
Mark, Oddly when I am looking at his site he never actually shows one example with the lightsphere directly pointed towards the subject and only using it with bounce which I'll be honest, I think my regular bounce without actually produces more natural skin tones. I have a 580ex and 430ex flash that I use with my 30D for weddings and I take most of the shots at weddings using a 24-70mm 2.8L lens so usually getting the right light isn't overly difficult. Is there a better external flash I could use for a 30D that will work with a 5D as well?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Don't think that sphere was made to be pointed straight forward, hence the hole in the top of it. It's made to work in the same exact way of rubber banding a note card around a flash with the head pointed up. Bounce from the light going up and bounce from the note card. You saying you get overexposure when you increase the output sounds like you're leaving something out about what you're doing. I'm not getting why you're surprised of overexposure if you increase output without changing aperture. If you're looking for a diffused look from something that's physically small enough to fit on top of a flash head, you may be expecting the range of the soft look to be far more than what you can get from a small sized diffuser.
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Mark Feldstein |
There ya go Kevin, I think Greg's answer is right on. It's a diffuser not a softbox. The note card technique Greg mentioned, is essentially to provide your flash with a built-on ceiling (the card itself) to bounce your light off of. I've done it and it works well. Give that a shot and compare the results to the Fong diffuser. M.
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Christopher A. Vedros |
I watched Gary Fong's infomercial about the lightsphere a long time ago. From what I remember, the dramatic examples he showed were taken rather close to the subject. They compared using the bare flash aimed directly at the subject to using the lightsphere with the flash pointed straight up. Pointing the bare flash directly at the subject at a close distance produced harsh lighting and hot spots. Big surprise there, huh? Aiming the flash straight up and putting the milk jug gizmo on it produced more diffused light with no hot spots. It also greatly reduces the effective range of your flash. I like the Lumiquest Softbox. It velcros right onto the flash, and folds up for easy storage. It does a good job of diffusing the flash without cutting your power drastically. Chris A. Vedros
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Melissa Williams |
has anyone ever tried the LUMIQUEST PROMAX FLASH BOUNCE?
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Michael Melcher |
Wow so many things come to mind as I read the original photographer's comments about the Gary Fong solution. First of all Its necessary to consider that his observations might not be based on the most current "technology" being offered by both Canon and Gary Fong. Although many photographers prefer Gary Fong's, I believer its called "cloud" dome which is made of a white translucent material, Gary himself in his DVD seems to have a preference for a clear dome. Secondly is the dome adapter, of which there are 3. The newest of these is made of a highly reflective silver colored plastic and has an additional reflective surface protruding from one edge. The idea here is that the photographer will align this surface with the back of the camera thus causing the dome to throw additional light forward to add additional front light to the exposure. A combination of a clear dome with the silver reflector should be evaluated to see if that provides enought "front" light to handle the distances being discussed. Another consideration is the flash unit itself because, in reality 580EX is not the most powerful or advanced flash that Canon makes. This position is held by the 580EX II. Having used a rented 580EX with my 30D on several occasions before buying my 580EX II, I can say with confidence that the newer unit is significantly better. I don't know the relative guide numbers, but I do believe the "II" unit has slightly more power. The main difference, however, is the way in which the newer unit interfaces with the E-TTL-II circuitry on both the 30D and 5D bodies. The latter doing a much better job of taking full advantage of the both camera bodies' capabilities. Finally is the concept of ISO. Gary Fong recommends in is video that his domes be used in their vertical positions with the flash unit twisted 90o to allow for rapid switching between horizontal and vertical shots. I do this and I find the dome works quite well for both types of framing. I also have no compunction about using a relatively high ISO (usually 640-800). This is because one of the reasons I chose my 5D over a 40D was the fact that the full frame sensor performs wonderfully at ISO's above 800. To sumarize my rambling of the past few paragraphs I suggest that you try to test drive a 580EX II with a clear Gary Fong clear dome and a silver reflector before you decide to write off this option. PS: I do not consider myself to be a professional photographer, but I do have several event photos that I have published on flicker. All of these photos were taken using a Canon 5D with a 24-105 F4L lens and a 580EX II flash with a Gary Fong cloud dome and silver reflector. The URL to these photos is www.flickr.com/photos/profe_miguel.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
White note card technology has also advanced since 2007.
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Oliver Anderson |
I use the Sto-fen difusser as do a lot of photographers...even the ones from TMZ on TV so you know it must be great...it works SUPER on the Brittany photos.
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